diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16486-8.txt | 10958 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16486-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 250741 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16486-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 278158 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16486-h/16486-h.htm | 11758 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16486-h/images/image_01.jpg | bin | 0 -> 18700 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16486-h/images/image_02.jpg | bin | 0 -> 5953 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16486.txt | 10958 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 16486.zip | bin | 0 -> 250562 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
11 files changed, 33690 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16486-8.txt b/16486-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df90ef8 --- /dev/null +++ b/16486-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10958 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to +Arthur Orton, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: August 8, 2005 [EBook #16486] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CELEBRATED CLAIMANTS FROM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Sankar Viswanathan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + CELEBRATED + + CLAIMANTS + + FROM + + PERKIN WARBECK TO ARTHUR ORTON. + + + + + + _SECOND EDITION._ + + + London: + CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY. + + 1874. + + + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This book is intended much less to gratify a temporary curiosity than +to fill an empty page in our literature. In our own and in other +countries Claimants have been by no means rare. Wandering heirs to +great possessions have not unfrequently concealed themselves for many +years until their friends have forgotten them, and have suddenly and +inopportunely reappeared to demand restitution of their rights; and +unscrupulous rogues have very often advanced pretensions to titles and +estates which did not appertain to them, in the hope that they would +be able to deceive the rightful possessors and the legal tribunals. +When such cases have occurred they have created more or less +excitement in proportion to the magnitude of the claim, the audacity +of the imposture, or the romance which has surrounded them. But the +interest which they have aroused has been evanescent, and the only +records which remain of the vast majority are buried in ponderous +legal tomes, which are rarely seen, and are still more rarely read, by +non-professional men. The compiler of the present collection has +endeavoured to disinter the most noteworthy claims which have been +made either to honours or property, at home or abroad, and, while he +has passed over those which present few remarkable features, has +spared no research to render his work as perfect as possible, and to +supply a reliable history of those which are entitled to rank as +_causes célèbres_. The book must speak for itself. It is put forward +in the hope that, while it may serve to amuse the hasty reader in a +leisure hour, it may also be deemed worthy of a modest resting-place +in the libraries of those who like to watch the march of events, and +who have the prudent habit, when information is found, of preserving a +note of it. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + + + JACK CADE--THE PRETENDED MORTIMER, + + LAMBERT SIMNEL--THE FALSE EARL OF WARWICK, + + PERKIN WARBECK--THE SHAM DUKE OF YORK, + + DON SEBASTIAN--THE LOST KING OF PORTUGAL, + + JEMELJAN PUGATSCHEFF--THE SHAM PETER III., + + OTREFIEF--THE SHAM PRINCE DIMITRI, + + PADRE OTTOMANO--THE SUPPOSED HEIR OF SULTAN + IBRAHIM, + + MOHAMMED BEY--THE COUNTERFEIT VISCOUNT DE + CIGALA, + + THE SELF-STYLED PRINCE OF MODENA, + + JOSEPH--THE FALSE COUNT SOLAR, + + JOHN LINDSAY CRAWFURD--CLAIMING TO BE EARL + OF CRAWFURD, + + JOHN NICHOLS THOM--_ALIAS_ SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY, + + JAMES ANNESLEY--CALLING HIMSELF EARL OF + ANGLESEA, + + CAPTAIN HANS-FRANCIS HASTINGS--CLAIMING TO + BE EARL OF HUNTINGDON, + + REBOK--THE COUNTERFEIT VOLDEMAR, ELECTOR + OF BRANDENBURG, + + ARNOLD DU TILH--THE PRETENDED MARTIN + GUERRE, + + PIERRE MEGE--THE FICTITIOUS DE CAILLE, + + MICHAEL FEYDY--THE SHAM CLAUDE DE VERRE, + + THE BANBURY PEERAGE CASE, + + JAMES PERCY--THE SO-CALLED EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND, + + THE DOUGLAS PEERAGE CASE, + + ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS--THE PRETENDED EARL + OF STIRLING, + + THE SO-CALLED HEIRS OF THE STUARTS, + + JOHN HATFIELD--THE SHAM HONOURABLE ALEXANDER + HOPE, + + HERVAGAULT--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, + + MATURIN BRUNEAU--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF + FRANCE, + + NAÜNDORFF--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, + + AUGUSTUS MEVES--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF + FRANCE, + + RICHEMONT--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, + + THE REV. ELEAZAR WILLIAMS--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS + XVII. OF FRANCE, + + THOMAS PROVIS CALLING HIMSELF SIR RICHARD + HUGH SMYTH, + + LAVINIA JANNETTA HORTON RYVES--THE PRETENDED + PRINCESS OF CUMBERLAND, + + WILLIAM GEORGE HOWARD--THE PRETENDED + EARL OF WICKLOW, + + AMELIA RADCLIFFE--THE SO-CALLED COUNTESS + OF DERWENTWATER, + + ARTHUR ORTON--WHO CLAIMED TO BE SIR ROGER + CHARLES DOUGHTY TICHBORNE, BART., + + + + + + +JACK CADE--THE PRETENDED MORTIMER. + + +Henry VI. was one of the most unpopular of our English monarchs. +During his reign the nobles were awed by his austerity towards some +members of their own high estate, and divided between the claims of +Lancaster and York; and the peasantry, who cared little for the claims +of the rival Roses, were maddened by the extortions and indignities to +which they were subjected. The feebleness and corruption of the +Government, and the disasters in France, combined with the murder of +the Duke of Suffolk, added to the general discontent; and the result +was, that in the year 1450 the country was ripe for revolution. In +June of that year, and immediately after the death of Suffolk, a body +of 20,000 of the men of Kent; assembled on Blackheath, under the +leadership of a reputed Irishman, calling himself John Cade, but who +is said in reality to have been an English physician named Aylmere. +This person, whatever his real cognomen, assumed the name of Mortimer +(with manifest allusion to the claims of the House of Mortimer to the +succession), and forwarded two papers to the king, entitled "The +Complaint of the Commons of Kent," and "The Requests of the Captain of +the Great Assembly in Kent." Henry replied by despatching a small +force against the rioters. Cade unhesitatingly gave battle to the +royal troops, and having defeated them and killed their leader, Sir +Humphrey Stafford, at Seven Oaks, advanced towards London. Still +preserving an appearance of moderation, he forwarded to the court a +plausible list of grievances, asserting that when these were +redressed, and Lord Say, the treasurer, and Cromer, the sheriff of +Kent, had been punished for their malversations, he and his men would +lay down their arms. These demands were so reasonable that the king's +troops, who were far from loyal, refused to fight against the +insurgents; and Henry, finding his cause desperate, retired for safety +to Kenilworth, Lord Scales with a thousand men remaining to defend the +Tower. Hearing of the flight of his majesty, Cade advanced to +Southwark, which he reached on the 1st of July, and, the citizens +offering no resistance, he entered London two days afterwards. Strict +orders had been given to his men to refrain from pillage, and on the +same evening they were led back to Southwark. On the following day he +returned, and having compelled the Lord Mayor and the people to sit at +Guildhall, brought Say and Cromer before them, and these victims of +the popular spite were condemned, after a sham trial, and were +beheaded in Cheapside. This exhibition of personal ill-will on the +part of their chief seemed the signal for the commencement of outrages +by his followers. On the next day the unruly mob began to plunder, and +the citizens, repenting of their disloyalty, joined with Lord Scales +in resisting their re-entry. After a sturdy fight, the Londoners held +the position, and the Kentishmen, discouraged by their reverse, began +to scatter. Cade, not slow to perceive the danger which threatened +him, fled towards Lewis, but was overtaken by Iden, the sheriff of +Kent, who killed him in a garden in which he had taken shelter. A +reward of 1000 marks followed this deed of bravery. Some of the +insurgents were afterwards executed as traitors; but the majority even +of the ringleaders escaped unpunished, for Henry's seat upon the +throne was so unstable, that it was deemed better to win the people by +a manifestation of clemency, rather than to provoke them by an +exhibition of severity. + + + + +LAMBERT SIMNEL--THE FALSE EARL OF WARWICK. + + +After the downfall of the Plantagenet dynasty, and the accession of +Henry VII. to the English throne, the evident favour shown by the king +to the Lancastrian party greatly provoked the adherents of the House +of York, and led some of the malcontents to devise one of the most +extraordinary impostures recorded in history. + +An ambitious Oxford priest, named Richard Simon, had among his pupils +a handsome youth, fifteen years of age, named Lambert Simnel. This +lad, who was the son of a baker, and, according to Lord Bacon, was +possessed of "very pregnant parts," was selected to disturb the +usurper's government, by appearing as a pretender to his crown. At +first it was the intention of the conspirators that he should +personate Richard, duke of York, the second son of Edward IV., who was +supposed to have escaped from the assassins of the Tower, and to be +concealed somewhere in England. Accordingly, the monk Simon, who was +the tool of higher persons, carefully instructed young Simnel in the +_rôle_ which he was to play, and in a short time had rendered him +thoroughly proficient in his part. But just as the plot was ripe for +execution a rumour spread abroad that Edward Plantagenet, earl of +Warwick, and only male heir of the House of York, had effected his +escape from the Tower, and the plan of the imposture was changed. +Simnel was set to learn another lesson, and in a very brief time had +acquired a vast amount of information respecting the private life of +the royal family, and the adventures of the Earl of Warwick. When he +was accounted thoroughly proficient, he was despatched to Ireland in +the company of Simon--the expectation of the plotters being that the +imposition would be less likely to be detected on the other side of +the channel, and that the English settlers in Ireland, who were known +to be attached to the Yorkist cause, would support his pretensions. + +These anticipations were amply fulfilled. On his arrival in the +island, Simnel at once presented himself to the Earl of Kildare, then +viceroy, and claimed his protection as the unfortunate Warwick. The +credulous nobleman listened to his story, and repeated it to others of +the nobility, who in time diffused it throughout all ranks of society. +Everywhere the escape of the Plantagenet was received with +satisfaction, and at last the people of Dublin unanimously tendered +their allegiance to the pretender, as the rightful heir to the throne. +Their homage was of course accepted, and Simnel was solemnly crowned +(May 24, 1487), with a crown taken from an effigy of the Virgin Mary, +in Christ Church Cathedral. After the coronation, he was publicly +proclaimed king, and, as Speed tells us, "was carried to the castle on +tall men's shoulders, that he might be seen and known." With the +exception of the Butlers of Ormond, a few of the prelates, and the +inhabitants of Waterford, the whole island followed the example of the +capital, and not a voice was raised in protest, or a sword drawn in +favour of King Henry. Ireland was in revolt. + +When news of these proceedings reached London, Henry summoned the +peers and bishops, and devised measures for the punishment of his +secret enemies and the maintenance of his authority. His first act was +to proclaim a free pardon to all his former opponents; his next, to +lead the real Earl of Warwick in procession from the Tower to St. +Paul's, and thence to the palace of Shene, where the nobility and +gentry had daily opportunities of meeting him and conversing with him. +Suspecting, not without cause, that the Queen-Dowager was implicated +in the conspiracy, Henry seized her lands and revenues, and shut her +up in the Convent of Bermondsey. But he failed to reach the active +agents; and although the English people were satisfied that the Earl +of Warwick was still a prisoner, the Irish persisted in their revolt, +and declared that the person who had been shown to the public at St. +Paul's was a counterfeit. By the orders of the Government a strict +watch was kept at the English ports, that fugitives, malcontents, or +suspected persons might not pass over into Ireland or Flanders; and a +thousand pounds reward was offered to any one who would present the +State with the body of the sham Plantagenet. + +Meanwhile John, earl of Lincoln, whom Richard had declared heir to the +throne, and whom Henry had treated with favour, took the side of the +pretender, and having established a correspondence with Sir Thomas +Broughton of Lancashire, proceeded to the court of Margaret, +dowager-duchess of Burgundy--a woman described by Lord Bacon as +"possessing the spirit of a man and the malice of a woman," and whose +great aim it was to see the sovereignty of England once more held by +the house of which she was a member. She readily consented to abet the +sham Earl of Warwick, and furnished Lincoln and Lord Lovel with a body +of 2000 German veterans, commanded by an able officer named Martin +Schwartz. The countenance given to the movement by persons of such +high rank, and the accession of this military force, greatly raised +the courage of Simnel's Irish adherents, and led them to conceive the +project of invading England, where they believed the spirit of +disaffection to be as general as it was in their own island. + +The news of the intended invasion came early to the ears of King +Henry, who promptly prepared to resist it. Having always felt or +affected great devotion, after mustering his army, he made a +pilgrimage to the shrine of our Lady of Walsingham, famous for +miracles, and there offered up prayers for success and for the +overthrow of his enemies. Being informed that Simnel and his gathering +had landed at Foudrey, in Lancashire, the king advanced to Coventry to +meet them. The rebels had anticipated that the disaffected provinces +of the north would rise and join them, but in this they were +disappointed; for the cautious northerners were not only convinced of +Simnel's imposture, but were afraid of the king's strength, and were +averse to league themselves with a horde of Irishmen and Germans. The +Earl of Lincoln, therefore, who commanded the invading force, finding +no hopes but in victory, determined to bring the matter to a speedy +decision. The hostile armies met at Stoke, in Nottinghamshire, and +after a hardly-contested day, the victory remained with the king. +Lincoln, Broughton, and Schwartz perished on the field of battle, with +four thousand of their followers. As Lord Lovel was never more heard +of, it was supposed that he shared the same fate. Lambert Simnel, with +his tutor the monk Simon, were taken prisoners. The latter, as an +ecclesiastic, escaped the doom he merited, and, not being tried at +law, was only committed to close custody for the rest of his life. As +for Simnel, when he was questioned, he revealed his real parentage; +and being deemed too contemptible to be an object either of +apprehension or resentment, Henry pardoned him, and made him first a +scullion in the royal kitchen, and afterwards promoted him to the +lofty position of a falconer. + + + + +PERKIN WARBECK--THE SHAM DUKE OF YORK. + + +Although Lambert Simnel's enterprise had miscarried, Margaret, +dowager-duchess of Burgundy, did not despair of seeing the crown of +England wrested from the House of Lancaster, and determined at least +to disturb King Henry's government if she could not subvert it. To +this end she sedulously spread abroad a report that Richard, duke of +York, the second son of Edward IV., had escaped the cruelty of his +uncle Richard III., and had been set at liberty by the assassins who +had been sent to despatch him. This rumour, although improbable, was +eagerly received by the people, and they were consequently prepared to +welcome the new pretender whenever he made his appearance. + +After some search, the duchess found a stripling whom she thought had +all the qualities requisite to personate the unfortunate prince. This +youth is described as being "of visage beautiful, of countenance +majestical, of wit subtile and crafty; in education pregnant, in +languages skilful; a lad, in short, of a fine shape, bewitching +behaviour, and very audacious." The name of this admirable prodigy was +Peterkin, or Perkin Warbeck, and he was the son of John Warbeck, a +renegade Jew of Tournay. Some writers, and among others Lord Bacon, +suggest that he had certain grounds for his pretensions to royal +descent, and hint that King Edward, in the course of his amorous +adventures, had been intimate with Catherine de Faro, Warbeck's wife; +and Bacon says "it was pretty extraordinary, or at least very +suspicious, that so wanton a prince should become gossip in so mean a +house." But be this as it may, the lad was both handsome and crafty, +and was well suited for the part which he was destined to play. + +Some years after his birth, the elder Warbeck returned to Tournay, +carrying the child with him; but Perkin did not long remain in the +paternal domicile, but by different accidents was carried from place +to place, until his birth and fortunes became difficult to trace by +the most diligent inquiry. No better tool could have been found for +the ambitious Duchess of Burgundy; and when he was brought to her +palace, she at once set herself to instruct him thoroughly with +respect to the person whom he was to represent. She so often described +to him the features, figures, and peculiarities of his deceased--or +presumedly deceased--parents, Edward IV. and his queen, and informed +him so minutely of all circumstances relating to the family history, +that in a short time he was able to talk as familiarly of the court of +his pretended father as the real Duke of York could have done. She +took especial care to warn him against certain leading questions which +might be put to him, and to render him perfect in his narration of the +occurrences which took place while he was in sanctuary with the queen, +and particularly to be consistent in repeating the story of his escape +from his executioners. After he had learnt his lesson thoroughly, he +was despatched under the care of Lady Brampton to Portugal, there to +wait till the fitting time arrived for his presentation to the English +people. + +At length, when war between France and England was imminent, a proper +opportunity seemed to present itself, and he was ordered to repair to +Ireland, which still retained its old attachment to the House of York. +He landed at Cork, and at once assuming the name of Richard +Plantagenet, succeeded in attracting many partizans. The news of his +presence in Ireland reached France; and Charles VIII., prompted by the +Burgundian duchess, sent him an invitation to repair to Paris. The +chance of recognition by the French king was too good to be idly cast +away. He went, and was received with every possible mark of honour. +Magnificent lodgings were provided for his reception; a handsome +pension was settled upon him; and a strong guard was appointed to +secure him against the emissaries of the English king. The French +courtiers readily imitated their master, and paid the respect to +Perkin which was due to the real Duke of York; and he, in turn, both +by his deportment and personal qualities, well supported his claims to +a royal pedigree. For a time nothing was talked of but the +accomplishments, the misfortunes, and the adventures of the young +Plantagenet; and the curiosity and credulity of England became +thoroughly aroused by the strange tidings which continued to arrive +from France. Sir George Nevill, Sir John Taylor, and many English +gentlemen who entertained no love for the king, repaired to the French +capital to satisfy themselves as to the pretensions of this young man; +and so well had Warbeck's lesson been acquired, that he succeeded in +convincing them of his identity, and in inducing them to pledge +themselves to aid him in his attempt to recover his inheritance. + +About this time, however, the breach between France and England was +lessened, and when friendly relations were restored, Henry applied to +have the impostor put into his hands. Charles, refusing to break faith +with a youth who had come to Paris by his own solicitation, refused to +give him up, and contented himself with ordering him to quit the +kingdom. Warbeck thereupon in all haste repaired to the court of +Margaret of Burgundy; but she at first astutely pretended ignorance +of his person and ridiculed his claims, saying that she had been +deceived by Simnel, and was resolved never again to be cajoled by +another impostor. Perkin, who admitted that she had reason to be +suspicious, nevertheless persisted that he was her nephew, the Duke of +York. The duchess, feigning a desire to convict him of imposture +before the whole of her attendants, put several questions to him which +she knew he could readily answer, affected astonishment at his +replies, and, at last, no longer able to control her feelings, "threw +herself on his neck, and embraced him as her nephew, the true image of +Edward, the sole heir of the Plantagenets, and the legitimate +successor to the English throne." She immediately assigned to him an +equipage suited to his supposed rank, appointed a guard of thirty +halberdiers to wait upon him, and gave him the title of "The White +Rose of England"--the symbol of the House of York. + +When the news reached England, in the beginning of 1493, that the Duke +of York was alive in Flanders, and had been acknowledged by the +Duchess of Burgundy, many people credited the story; and men of the +highest rank began to turn their eyes towards the new claimant. Lord +Fitzwater, Sir Simon Mountfort, and Sir Thomas Thwaites, made little +secret of their inclination towards him; Sir William Stanley, King +Henry's chamberlain, who had been active in raising the usurper to the +throne, was ready to adopt his cause whenever he set foot on English +soil, and Sir Robert Clifford and William Barley openly gave their +adhesion to the pretender, and went over to Flanders to concert +measures with the duchess and the sham duke. After his arrival, +Clifford wrote to his friends in England, that knowing the person of +Richard, duke of York, perfectly well, he had no doubt that this young +man was the prince himself, and that his story was compatible with the +truth. Such positive intelligence from a person of Clifford's rank +greatly strengthened the popular belief, and the whole English nation +was seriously discomposed and gravely disaffected towards the king. + +When Henry was informed of this new plot, he set himself cautiously +but steadily and resolutely to foil it. His first object was to +ascertain the reality of the death of the young prince, and to confirm +the opinion which had always prevailed with regard to that event. +Richard had engaged five persons to murder his nephews--viz., Sir +James Tirrel, whom he made custodian of the Tower while his nefarious +scheme was in course of execution, and who had seen the bodies of the +princes after their assassination; Forrest, Dighton, and Slater, who +perpetrated the crime; and the priest who buried the bodies. Tirrel +and Dighton were still alive; but although their stories agreed, as +the priest was dead, and as the bodies were supposed to have been +removed by Richard's orders, and could not be found, it was impossible +to prove conclusively that the young princes really had been put to +death. + +By means of his spies, Henry, after a time, succeeded in tracing the +true pedigree of Warbeck, and immediately published it for the +satisfaction of the nation. At the same time he remonstrated with the +Archduke Philip on account of the protection which was afforded to the +impostor, and demanded that "the theatrical king formed by the Duchess +of Burgundy" should be given up to him. The ambassadors were received +with all outward respect, but their request was refused, and they were +sent home with the answer, that "the Duchess of Burgundy being +absolute sovereign in the lands of her dowry, the archduke could not +meddle with her affairs, or hinder her from doing what she thought +fit." Henry in resentment cut off all intercourse with the Low +Countries, banished the Flemings, and recalled his own subjects from +these provinces. At the same time, Sir Robert Clifford having proved +traitorous to Warbeck's cause, and having revealed the names of its +supporters in England, the king pounced upon the leading conspirators. +Almost at the same instant he arrested Fitzwater, Mountfort, and +Thwaites, together with William D'Aubeney, Thomas Cressener, Robert +Ratcliff, and Thomas Astwood. Lord Fitzwater was sent as a prisoner to +Calais with some hopes of pardon; but being detected in an attempt to +bribe his gaolers, he was beheaded. Sir Simon Mountfort, Robert +Ratcliff, and William D'Aubeney were tried, condemned, and executed, +and the others were pardoned. + +Stanley, the chamberlain, was reserved for a more impressive fate. His +domestic connection with the king and his former services seemed to +render him safe against any punishment; but Henry, thoroughly aroused +by his perfidy, determined to bring the full weight of his vengeance +upon him. Clifford was directed to come privately to England, and cast +himself at the foot of the throne, imploring pardon for his past +offences, and offering to condone his folly by any services which +should be required of him. Henry, accepting his penitence, informed +him that the only reparation he could now make was by disclosing the +names of his abettors; and the turncoat at once denounced Stanley, +then present, as, his chief colleague. The chamberlain indignantly +repudiated the accusation; and Henry, with well-feigned disbelief, +begged Clifford to be careful in making his charges, for it was +absolutely incredible "that a man, to whom he was in a great measure +beholden for his crown, and even for his life; a man to whom, by every +honour and favour, he had endeavoured to express his gratitude; whose +brother, the Earl of Derby, was his own father-in-law; to whom he had +even committed the trust of his person by creating him lord +chamberlain; that this man, enjoying his full confidence and +affection, not actuated by any motive of discontent or apprehension, +should engage in a conspiracy against him." But Clifford persisted in +his charges and statements. Stanley was placed under arrest, and was +subsequently tried, condemned, and beheaded. + +The fate of the unfortunate chamberlain, and the defection of +Clifford, created the greatest consternation in the camp of Perkin +Warbeck. The king's authority was greatly strengthened by the +promptness and severity of his measures, and the pretender soon +discovered that unless he were content to sink into obscurity, he must +speedily make a bold move. Accordingly, having collected a band of +outlaws, criminals, and adventurers, he set sail for England. Having +received intelligence that Henry was at that time in the north, he +cast anchor off the coast of Kent, and despatched some of his +principal adherents to invite the gentlemen of Kent to join his +standard. The southern landowners, who were staunchly loyal, invited +him to come on shore and place himself at their head. But the wary +impostor was not to be entrapped so easily. He declined to trust +himself in the hands of the well-disciplined bands which expressed so +much readiness to follow him to death or victory; and the Kentish +troops, despairing of success in their stratagem, fell upon such of +his retainers as had already landed, and took 150 of them prisoners. +These were tried, sentenced, and executed by order of the king, who +was determined to show no lenity to the rebels. Perkin being an +eye-witness of the capture of his people, immediately weighed anchor, +and returned to Flanders. + +Hampered, however, by his horde of desperadoes, he could not again +settle quietly down under the protecting wing of the Duchess Margaret. +Work and food had to be found for his lawless followers; and in 1495 +an attempt was made upon Ireland, which still retained its preference +for the House of York. But the people of Ireland had learnt a salutary +lesson at the battle of Stoke, and Perkin, meeting with little +success, withdrew to Scotland. At this time there was a coolness +between the Scottish and English courts, and King James gave him a +favourable reception, being so completely deceived by his specious +story, that he bestowed upon him in marriage the beautiful and +virtuous Lady Catherine Gordon, the daughter of the Earl of Huntly, +and his own kinswoman. Not content with this, the King of Scots, with +Perkin in his company, invaded England, in the hope that the adherents +of the York family would rise in favour of the pretender. In this +expectation he was disappointed, and what at first seemed likely to +prove a dangerous insurrection ended in a mere border raid. + +For a time Warbeck remained in Scotland; but when King James +discovered that his continued presence at his court completely +prevented all hope of a lasting peace with England, he requested him +to leave the country. The Flemings meanwhile had passed a law barring +his retreat into the Low Countries. Therefore, after hiding for a time +in the wilds of Ireland, he resolved to try the affections of the men +of Cornwall. No sooner did he land at Bodmin, than the people crowded +to his banners in such numbers, that the pretender, hopeful of +success, took upon himself for the first time the title of Richard +IV., king of England. Not to suffer the expectation of his followers +to languish, he laid siege to Exeter; but the men of Exeter, having +shut their gates in his face, waited with confidence for the coming of +the king. Nor were they disappointed. The Lords D'Aubeney and Broke +were despatched with a small body of troops to the relief of the city. +The leading nobles offered their services as volunteers, and the king, +at the head of a considerable army, prepared to follow his advanced +guard. Perkin's followers, who numbered about 7000 men, would have +stood by him; but the cowardly Fleming, despairing of success, +secretly withdrew to the sanctuary of Beaulieu. The Cornish rebels +accepted the king's clemency, and Lady Gordon, the wife of the +pretender, fell into the hands of the royalists. To Henry's credit it +must be mentioned that he did not visit the sins of the husband upon +the poor deluded wife, but placed her in attendance upon the queen, +and bestowed upon her a pension which she continued to enjoy +throughout his reign, and even after his death. + +It was a difficult matter to know how to deal with the impostor +himself. It would have been easy to make the privileges of the church +yield to reasons of state, and to take him by violence from the +sanctuary; but at the same time it was wise to respect the rights of +the clergy and the prejudices of the people. Therefore agents were +appointed to treat with the counterfeit prince, and succeeded in +inducing him, by promises that his life would be spared, to deliver +himself up to King Henry. Once a captive, he was treated with derision +rather than with extreme severity, and was led in a kind of mock +triumph to London. As he passed along the road, and through the +streets of the city, men of all grades assembled to see the impostor, +and cast ridicule upon his fallen fortunes; and the farce was ended by +the publication of a confession in which Warbeck narrated his real +parentage, and the chief causes of his presumption to royal honours. + +But although his life was spared, he was still detained in custody. +After a time he escaped from prison, and fled to the Priory of Sheen, +near Richmond, where he desired the prior, who was a favourite with +the king, to petition for his life and a pardon. If Henry had listened +to the advice of his counsellors he would have taken advantage of the +opportunity to rid himself of this persistent disturber of his peace; +but he was content to give orders that "the knave should be taken out +and set in the stocks." Accordingly, on the 14th of June 1499, Warbeck +was exposed on a scaffold, erected in the Palace Court, Westminster, +as he was on the day following at the Cross on Cheapside, and at both +these places he read a confession of his imposture. Notwithstanding +this additional disgrace, no sooner was he again under lock and key, +than his restless spirit induced him to concoct another plot for +liberty and the crown. Insinuating himself into the intimacy of four +servants of Sir John Digby, lieutenant of the Tower, by their means he +succeeded in opening a correspondence with the Earl of Warwick, who +was confined in the same prison. The unfortunate prince listened +readily to his fatal proposals, and a new plan was laid. Henry was +apprised of it, and was not sorry that the last of the Plantagenets +had thus thrust himself into his hands. Warbeck and Warwick were +brought to trial, condemned, and executed. Perkin Warbeck died very +penitently on the gallows at Tyburn. "Such," says Bacon, "was the end +of this little cockatrice of a king." The Earl of Warwick was beheaded +on Tower Hill, on the 28th of November 1499. + + + + +DON SEBASTIAN--THE LOST KING OF PORTUGAL. + + +King Sebastian of Portugal, who inherited the throne in 1557, seems, +even from his infancy, to have exhibited a remarkable love of warlike +exercises, and at an early age to have given promise of distinguishing +himself as a warrior. At the time of his accession, Portugal had lost +much of her old military prestige; the Moors had proved too strong for +her diminished armies; the four strongholds of Arzilla, +Alcazar-Sequer, Saphin, and Azamor, had been wrested from her; and +Mazagan, Ceuta, and Tangier alone remained to her of all her African +possessions. Consequently, the tutors of the boy-king were delighted +to see his warlike instinct, and carefully instilled into his mind a +hatred of the Paynim conquerors. + +The lesson was well learnt, and from the moment King Sebastian reached +his 14th year (the period of his majority), it was evident that all +his thoughts centred on an expedition to Africa, to revive the former +glories of his house, and to extend his empire even beyond its former +limits. In 1574 he set out, not to conquer the land, but simply to +view it, and with youthful audacity landed at Tangier, accompanied by +only 1500 men. Finding no opposition to his progress, he organized a +hunting expedition among the mountains, and actually put his project +into execution. The Moors, by this time thoroughly incensed by his +audacity, mustered a force and attacked his escort, but he succeeded +in beating them off, and escaped in safety to his ships, and reached +his kingdom unharmed. + +This peculiar reconnaissance only strengthened his resolution to wrest +his former possessions from the Moslems; and although Portugal was +impoverished and weak, he resolved at once to enter on a crusade +against Muley Moluc and the Moors. The protests of his ministers were +unheeded; he laid new and exorbitant imposts on his people, caused +mercenaries to be levied in Italy and the Low Countries, and +reluctantly persuaded his uncle, Philip I. of Spain, to promise a +contingent. His preparations being at last completed, and a regency +established, he put to sea in June 1578. His armament consisted of +9000 Portuguese, 2000 Spaniards, 3000 Germans, and some 600 +Italians--in all, about 15,000 men, with twelve pieces of artillery, +embarked on fifty-five vessels. + +On the 4th of August the opposing forces met. The Moorish monarch, who +was stricken with a fatal disorder, was carried on a litter to the +field, and died while struggling with his attendants, who refused to +allow him to rush into the thick of the fight. The Portuguese were +routed with great slaughter, notwithstanding the valour with which +they were led by Don Sebastian. Two horses were killed under the +Christian king; the steed on which he rode was exhausted, and the +handful of followers who remained with him entreated him to surrender. +Sebastian indignantly refused, and again dashed into the middle of the +fray. From this moment his fate is uncertain. Some suppose that he was +taken prisoner, and that his captors beginning to dispute among +themselves as to the possession of so rich a prize, one of the Moorish +officers slew him to prevent the rivalry ending in bloodshed. Another +account, however, affirms that he was seen after the battle, alone and +unattended, and apparently seeking some means of crossing the river. +On the following day search was made for his body, Don Nuno +Mascarcuhas, his personal attendant, having stated that he saw him put +to death with his own eyes. At the spot which the Portuguese noble +indicated, a body was found, which, though naked, Resende, a valet of +Sebastian, recognised as that of his master. It was at once conveyed +to the tent of Muley Hamet, the brother and successor of Muley Moluc, +and was there identified by the captive Portuguese nobles. That their +grief was sincere there could be no doubt; and the Moorish king having +placed the royal remains in a handsome coffin, delivered them for a +heavy ransom to the Spanish ambassador, by whom they were forwarded to +Portugal, where they were buried with much pomp. + +But although the nobles were well content to believe that Sebastian +was dead, the mob were by no means equally satisfied that the story of +his fate was true, and were prepared to receive any impostor with open +arms. Indeed, in some parts of Portugal, Don Sebastian is supposed by +the populace to be still alive, concealed like Roderick the Goth, or +our own Arthur, in some hermit's cell, or in some enchanted castle, +until the fitting time for his re-appearance arrives, when he will +break the spell which binds him, and will restore the faded glory of +the nation. During the incursions of Bonaparte, his appearance was +anxiously expected, but he delayed the day of his coming. But if the +real Sebastian remains silent, there have been numerous pretenders to +his throne and his name. + +In 1585 a man appeared who personated the dead king. He was a native +of Alcazova, and a person of low birth and still lower morals. In his +earlier days he had been admitted into the monastic society of Our +Lady of Mount Carmel, but had been expelled from the fraternity on +account of his misconduct. Even in his later life, when, by pretended +penitence, he succeeded in gaining re-admission, his vices were found +so far to outweigh his virtues and his piety that it was necessary +again to confide him to the tender mercies of a sacrilegious world. He +fled to the hermitage of Albuquerque, and there devotees visited him. +Widows and full-blooded donnas especially frequented his cell; and the +results of his exercises were such that the Alcalde threatened to lay +hands upon him. Once more he disappeared, but only to turn up again in +the guise of Don Sebastian. Two of his accomplices who mixed among the +people pointed out his resemblance to the lost monarch: the credulous +crowd swallowed the story, and he soon had a respectable following. +Orders from Lisbon, however, checked his prosperous career. He was +arrested and escorted by 100 horsemen to the dungeons of the capital. +There he was tried and condemned to death. The sentence was not, +however, carried into effect; for the imposture was deemed too +transparent to merit the infliction of the extreme penalty. The +prisoner was carried to the galleys instead of the scaffold, and +exhibited to visitors as a contemptible curiosity rather than as a +dangerous criminal. So ended the first sham Sebastian. + +In the same year another pretender appeared. This was Alvarez, the son +of a stone-cutter, and a native of the Azores. So far from originating +the imposture, it seems to have been thrust upon him. Like the youth +of Alcazova, after being a monk, he had become a hermit, and thousands +of the devout performed pilgrimages to his cell, which was situated on +the sea-coast, about two miles from Ericeira. The frequency and +severity of his penances gained him great celebrity, and at last it +began to be rumoured abroad that the recluse was King Sebastian, who, +by mortifying his own flesh, was atoning for the calamity he had +brought upon his kingdom. At first he repudiated all claim to such +distinction; but after a time his ambition seems to have been aroused; +he ceased to protest against the homage of the ignorant, and consented +to be treated as a king. Having made up his mind to the imposture, +Alvares resolved to carry it out boldly. He appointed officers of his +household, and despatched letters, sealed with the royal arms, +throughout the kingdom, commanding his subjects to rally round his +standard and aid him in restoring peace and prosperity to Portugal. +The local peasantry, in answer to the summons, hastened to place +themselves at his service, and were honoured by being allowed to kiss +his royal hand. Cardinal Henrique, the regent, being informed of his +proceedings, despatched an officer with a small force to arrest this +new disturber of the public tranquillity; but on the approach of the +troops Alvares and his followers took to the mountains. The cardinal's +representative, unable to pursue them into their inaccessible +fastnesses, left the alcalde of Torres Vedras at Ericeira with +instructions to capture the impostor dead or alive, and himself set +out for Lisbon. He had scarcely reached the plain when Alvares, at the +head of 700 men, swooped down upon the town and took the alcalde and +his soldiers prisoners. He next wrote to the cardinal regent, +ordering him to quit the palace and the kingdom. He then set out for +Torres Vedras, intending to release the criminals confined there, and +with their assistance to seize Cintra, and afterwards to attack the +capital. On the march he threw the unfortunate alcalde and the notary +of Torres Vedras, who had been captured at the same time, over a high +cliff into the sea, and executed another government official who had +the misfortune to fall into his clutches. The corregedor Fonseca, who +was not far off, hearing of these excesses, immediately started at the +head of eighty horsemen to oppose the rebel progress. Wisely +calculating that if he appeared with a larger force Alvares would +again flee to the hills, he ordered some companies to repair in +silence to a village in the rear, and aid him in case of need. He +first encountered a picked band of 200 rebels, whom he easily routed; +and then, being joined by his reinforcements, fell upon the main body, +which his also dispersed. Alvares succeeded in escaping for a time, +but at last he was taken and brought to Lisbon. Here, after being +exposed to public infamy, he was hanged amid the jeers of the +populace. + +Nine years later, in 1594, another impostor appeared, this time in +Spain, under the very eyes of King Philip, who had seized the +Portuguese sovereignty. Again an ecclesiastic figured in the plot; but +on this occasion he concealed himself behind the scenes, and pulled +the strings which set the puppet-king in motion. Miguel dos Santos, an +Augustinian monk, who had been chaplain to Sebastian, after his +disappearance espoused the cause of Don Antonio, and conceived the +scheme of placing his new patron on the Lusitanian throne, by exciting +a revolution in favour of a stranger adventurer, who would run all the +risks of the rebellion, and resign his ill-gotten honours when the +real aspirant appeared. He found a suitable tool in Gabriel de +Spinosa, a native of Toledo. This man resembled Sebastian, was +naturally bold and unscrupulous, and was easily persuaded to undertake +the task of personating the missing monarch. The monk, Dos Santos, who +was confessor to the nunnery of Madrigal, introduced this person to +one of the nuns, Donna Anna of Austria, a niece of King Philip, and +informed her that he was the unfortunate King of Portugal. The lady, +believing her father-confessor, loaded the pretender with valuable +gifts; presented him with her jewels; and was so attracted by his +appearance that it was said she was willing to break her vows for his +sake, and to share his throne with him. Unfortunately for the +conspirators, before the plot was ripe, Spinosa's indiscretion ruined +it. Having repaired to Valladolid to sell some jewels, he formed a +criminal acquaintance with a female of doubtful repute, who informed +the authorities that he was possessed of a great number of gems which +she believed to be stolen. He was arrested, and on his correspondence +being searched, the whole scheme was discovered. The rack elicited a +full confession, and Spinosa was hung and quartered. Miguel dos Santos +shared the same fate; but the Donna Anna, in consideration of her +birth, was spared and condemned to perpetual seclusion. + +The list of pretenders to regal honours was not even yet complete. In +1598, a Portuguese noble was accosted in the streets of Padua by a +tattered pilgrim, who addressed him by name, and asked if he knew him. +The nobleman answered that he did not. "Alas! have twenty years so +changed me," cried the stranger, "that you cannot recognise in me your +missing king, Sebastian?" He then proceeded to pour his past history +into the ears of the astonished hidalgo, narrating the chief events of +the African battle, detailing the circumstances of his own escape, and +mentioning the friends and events of his earlier life so fluently and +correctly that his listener had no hesitation in accepting him as the +true Sebastian. The news of the appearance of this pretender in Padua +soon reached Portugal, and spread with unexampled rapidity throughout +the country. Philip II. was gravely disturbed by the report, knowing +that his own rule was unpopular, and that the people would be disposed +to rally round any claimant who promised on his accession to the +throne to relieve them from the heavy burdens under which they +groaned. He therefore lost no time in forestalling any attempt to oust +him from the Portuguese sovereignty; and despatched a courier to +Venice, demanding the interference of the authorities. The governor of +Venice, anxious to please the powerful ruler of the Spanish peninsula, +issued an order for the immediate expulsion of "the man calling +himself Don Sebastian;" but the "man" had no intention of being +disposed of in this summary manner. Immediately on receipt of the +order he proceeded to Venice, presented himself at court, and declared +himself ready to prove his identity. The Spanish minister, acting upon +his instructions, denounced him as an impostor, and as a criminal who +had been guilty of heinous offences, and demanded his arrest. He was +thrown into prison; but when the charges of the Spanish minister were +investigated, they failed signally, and no crime could be proven +against him. At the solicitation of Philip, however, he was kept under +arrest, and was frequently submitted to examination by the +authorities, with a view of entrapping him into some damaging +admission. At first he answered readily, and astonished his +questioners by his intimate knowledge of the inner life of the +Portuguese court, not only mentioning the names of Sebastian's +ministers and the ambassadors who had been accredited to Lisbon, but +describing their appearance and peculiarities, and recounting the +chief measures of his government, and the contents of the letters +which had been written by the king. At length, after cheerfully +submitting to be examined on twenty-eight separate occasions, he grew +tired of being pestered by his questioners, and refused to answer +further interrogatories, exclaiming, "My Lords, I am Sebastian, king +of Portugal! If you doubt it, permit me to be seen by my subjects, +many of whom will remember me. If you can prove that I am an impostor, +I am willing to suffer death." + +The Portuguese residents in Italy entertained no doubt that the +pretender was their countryman and their monarch, and made most +strenuous exertions to procure his release. One of their number, Dr. +Sampajo, a man of considerable eminence, and of known probity, +personally interceded with the governor of Venice on his behalf. He +was told that the prisoner could only be released upon the most ample +and satisfactory proof of his identity; and Sampajo, confident that he +could procure the necessary evidence, set out forthwith for Portugal. +After a brief stay in Lisbon, he returned with a mass of testimony +corroborating the pretender's story; and, what was naturally +considered of greater importance, with a list of the marks which were +on the person of King Sebastian. The accused was stripped, and on his +body marks were found similar to those which had been described to Dr. +Sampajo. Still the authorities hesitated; and explained that in a +matter of such importance, and where such weighty interests were +involved, they could not act on the representations of a private +individual; but if any of the European powers should demand the +release of their prisoner it would be granted. + +Nothing daunted by their failure, the believers in the claims of the +so-called Sebastian endeavoured to enlist the sympathy of the foreign +potentates on behalf of one of their own order who was unjustly +incarcerated and deprived of his rights. In this they failed; but at +last the government of Holland, which had no love for Philip, espoused +the cause of his rival, and despatched an officer to Venice to see +that justice was done. A day was appointed for the trial, and the +prisoner being brought before the senate, presented his claims in +writing. Witnesses came forward who swore that the person before them +was indeed Sebastian, although he had changed greatly in the course of +twenty years. Several scars, malformed teeth, moles, and other +peculiarities which were known to be possessed by the king, were +pointed out on the person of the pretender, and the evidence was +decidedly favourable to his claims; when, on the fifth day of the +investigation, a courier arrived from Spain, and presented a private +message from King Philip. The proceedings were at once brought to a +close; and, without further examination, the prisoner was liberated, +and ordered to quit the Venetian territory in three days. He +proceeded to Florence, where he was again arrested by command of the +Grand Duke of Tuscany. The reason for this harsh treatment is not very +clearly apparent, but it was probably instigated by the Spanish +representative at the Florentine court; for no sooner did the news +that he was in confinement reach Philip, than he demanded the delivery +of the prisoner to his agents. The duke at first refused to comply +with this request, but a threatened invasion of his dominions led him +to reconsider his decision, and the unfortunate aspirant to the +Portuguese sceptre was handed over to the Spanish officials. He was +hurried to Naples, then an appanage of the Spanish crown, and was +there offered his liberty if he would renounce his pretensions; but +this he staunchly refused to do, saying, "I am Sebastian, king of +Portugal, and have been visited by this severe punishment as a +chastisement for my sins. I am content to die in the manner that +pleases you best, but deny the truth I neither can nor will." + +The Count de Lemnos, who had been the minister of Spain at Lisbon when +Sebastian was on the throne, at that time was Viceroy of Naples, and +naturally went to visit the pretended king in prison. After a brief +interview, he unhesitatingly asserted that he had never seen the +prisoner before; whereupon the pretended Sebastian exclaimed, "You say +that you have no recollection of me, but I remember you very well. My +uncle, Philip of Spain, twice sent you to my court, where I gave you +such-and-such private interviews." Staggered by this intimate +knowledge of his past life, De Lemnos hesitated for a minute or two, +but at last ordered the gaoler to remove his prisoner, adding to his +command the remark, "He is a rank impostor,"--a remark which called +forth the stern rebuke, "No, Sir; I am no impostor, but the +unfortunate King of Portugal, and you know it full well. A man of your +station ought at all times to speak the truth or preserve silence!" + +Whatever the real opinion of De Lemnos may have been, he behaved +kindly to his prisoner, and treated him with no more harshness than +was consistent with his safe-keeping. Unfortunately, the life of the +ex-ambassador was short, and his successor had no sympathy for the +_soi-disant_ king. On the 1st of April 1602, he was taken from his +prison and mounted upon an ass, and, with three trumpeters preceding +him, was led through the streets, a herald proclaiming at +intervals:--"His Most Catholic Majesty hath commanded that this man be +led through the streets of Naples with marks of infamy, and that he +shall afterwards be committed to serve in the galleys for life, for +falsely pretending to be Don Sebastian, king of Portugal." He bore the +ordeal firmly; and each time that the proclamation was made, added, in +clear and sonorous tones, "And so I am!" + +He was afterwards sent on board the galleys, and for a short time had +to do the work of a galley slave; but as soon as the vessels were at +sea he was released, his uniform was removed, and he was courteously +treated. What ultimately became of him was never clearly ascertained, +but it is certain that on more than one occasion he succeeded in +confounding his opponents, and by his startling revelations of the +past led many who would fain have disputed his identity to express +their doubts as to the justice of his punishment. The probability is +that he was a rogue, but he was a clever one. Rumour says he died in a +Spanish fortress in 1606. + + + + +JEMELJAN PUGATSCHEFF--THE FICTITIOUS PETER III. + + +The reign of Catherine II. fills one of the darkest pages of Russian +history. This lustful and ambitious empress waded to the throne +through her husband's blood--bloodshed was necessary to establish her +rule; infamous cruelties characterised her whole reign, and no +princess ever succeeded in making herself more heartily detested by +her subjects than the vicious daughter of Anhalt Zerbst. Plot after +plot was concocted to oust her from her high estate; and impostor +after impostor appeared claiming the imperial purple; but the empress +held her own easily, and suppressed each successive rebellion without +difficulty, until Pugatscheff appeared at the head of the Cossacks, +and threatened to hurl her from her throne, and dismember the empire. + +Jemeljan Pugatscheff Was the son of Jemailoff Pugatscheff, a Cossack +of the Don, and was born near Simonskaga. His father was killed on the +field of battle, and left him to the care of an indifferent mother, +who deserted him and sought the embraces of a second husband. An +uncle, pitying the lad's desolation, carried him to Poland, where he +picked up the French, Italian, German, and Polish languages, and +distinguished himself by his aptitude for learning. After a time he +returned to Russia, and took up his abode among the Cossacks of the +Ukraine, who, attracted alike by his bodily vigour and his mental +accomplishments, elected him one of their chiefs. He was not, however, +contented with the comparative quiet of Cossack life, and longed for +some greater excitement than was afforded by an occasional raid +against the neighbouring tribes. Accordingly, taking advantage of the +law promulgated by Peter III.,--that any Russian might leave the +country and enter the service of any power not at war with the +empire,--he entered the army of the King of Prussia. On the conclusion +of peace he obtained a command in the Russian army, and served for a +considerable time. At last his regiment was relieved, and Pugatscheff +was allowed to return home. On his return he found the Cossacks of the +Ukraine gravely dissatisfied with the government and the empire. The +viciousness of the court had been reported to them; they were +oppressed both by the clergy and the judges, and they only wanted a +leader to break out into open revolt. Pugatscheff saw the golden +opportunity, and presented himself. But spies were numerous, the +garrisons were strong, and it was necessary to proceed with caution. +In order the better to conceal his designs, he entered the service of +a Cossack named Koshenikof, and after a short time succeeded in +gaining the adhesion of his master to his cause. The friends and +kinsmen of Koshenikof were one by one, under oath of secrecy, informed +of the plot, and by degrees the rebellious scheme was perfected. +Pugatscheff was elected chief; and as he bore a strong resemblance to +the murdered emperor, it was resolved that he should present himself +to the people as Peter III. Accordingly, rumours were assiduously +circulated that the emperor was still alive; that a soldier had been +killed in his stead; and that although he was in hiding, he would +shortly appear, and would avenge himself upon his enemies. Thousands +listened and believed, and only waited for the first sign of success +to join the movement. But the government was on the alert. Pugatscheff +and his master were suspected and denounced; and while the latter was +arrested, the former with difficulty escaped. In a few days, however, +he succeeded in surrounding himself with 500 adherents, and marched at +their head to the town of Jaizkoi, which he summoned to surrender. The +answer was sent by 5000 Cossacks who had orders to take him prisoner. +Strong in his faith in his fellow-countrymen, Pugatscheff advanced +towards this formidable force, and caused one of his officers to +present them with a manifesto explaining his claims, and his reasons +for taking up arms. The general in command seized the document, but +the men, who had no great love for the empress, insisted that it +should be read. Their request was refused, and 500 of them at once +deserted their standards and joined the ranks of the rebel chief. +Alarmed by this defection, the Russian general withdrew to the +citadel, while Pugatscheff encamped about a league off, hoping that +further desertions would follow, and that the place would fall into +his hands. In this he was disappointed; for his fellow-countrymen, +although disloyal at heart, did not wish to commit themselves to a +desperate undertaking which might involve them in ruin, and were +disposed to wait until some success had attended the insurrection. The +500 who had precipitately chosen the rebellion had induced about a +dozen of their officers to join them; but these men, suddenly +repenting, refused to break their oath of allegiance, and were at +once hanged from the neighbouring trees. Finding further persuasion +fruitless, Pugatscheff wisely refrained from any attempt to reduce the +fortress, and marched his band towards Orenburg. On the way he secured +large accessions to his force, and in a few days found himself at the +head of 1500 men. With this army he attacked the fortified town of +Iletzka, which offered no resistance--the garrison passing over to +him. The commandant consented to share in the enterprise with his +followers, but Pugatscheff wanted no commandants or men of +intelligence who might interfere with his schemes, and gave orders for +his immediate execution. The cannon captured at Iletzka were then +pointed against Casypnaja, which yielded after a brief struggle. Thus +fortress after fortress fell into the hands of the reputed emperor, +who gladly received the common soldiery, but mercilessly slew their +leaders. + +By this time the news had spread abroad throughout Southern Russia +that Peter III. was not dead, but was in arms for the recovery of his +throne and for the redress of the grievances under which his people +were suffering. Crowds of Cossacks heard the intelligence with joy, +and hastened to cast in their lot with the army of Pugatscheff. +Talischova, a powerful fortress, defended by 1000 regular troops, fell +before his assault; and the false Peter soon found himself possessed +of numerous strongholds, a formidable train of artillery, and a +fighting force of 5000 men. Considering himself strong enough to +attempt the reduction of Orenburg, the capital of the southern +provinces, he marched against it. Here, however, he encountered a +stubborn resistance, and attack after attack was repulsed with heavy +loss. These repeated failures did not discourage the pretender or his +adherents. The Cossacks continued to flock to his banners, and when +General Carr, who had been despatched from Moscow to suppress the +revolt, arrived in the neighbourhood of Orenburg, he found the rebel +chief at the head of 16,000 soldiers. An advanced guard, which was +sent to harass his movements, fell into the hands of Pugatscheff, who +nearly exterminated it, and straightway hanged the officers who were +made captive, according to his usual custom. Emboldened by his +success, he attacked the main body, and ignominiously defeated it in +the open field; and Carr, panic-struck, fled to the capital, leaving +General Freyman, if possible, to oppose the advance of the +revolutionists. The result of this decisive victory was soon apparent. +Province after province declared in favour of the pretender, chief +after chief placed his sword at his service, and Pugatscheff began to +play the emperor in earnest. He conferred titles upon his most +distinguished officers, granted sealed commissions, and constructed +foundries and powder manufactories in various places. + +Catherine, by this time thoroughly alarmed, despatched another army to +the Ukraine under General Bibikoff, an experienced and resolute +officer. He arrived at Casan in February 1774, and issued a manifesto, +exposing Pugatscheff's imposture, and calling upon the rebels to lay +down their arms. Pugatscheff replied by another manifesto, declaring +himself the Czar, Peter III., and threatening vengeance against all +who resisted his just claims. He also caused coin to be impressed with +his effigy, and the inscription "_Redivivus et Ultor_." In the +meantime he continued to lay siege to Orenburg and Ufa. But Bibikoff +was not a man to remain inactive, and lost no time in attacking him. +Again and again he was defeated, the siege of the two strongholds was +raised, and on more than one occasion his army was dispersed, and he +was left at the head of only a few hundred followers. But, if the +Cossack hordes could be easily dissipated, they could rally with equal +ease; and on several occasions, when the rebellion seemed to be +completely crushed, it suddenly burst out afresh, and Pugatscheff, who +was supposed to be hiding like a hunted criminal, appeared at the head +of a larger force than ever. Thus at one time scarcely 100 men +followed him to a retreat in the Ural Mountains: in a few days he was +at the head of 20,000 men, and took Casan by storm, with the exception +of the citadel, which resisted his most determined attacks. Here he +perpetrated the greatest atrocities, until the imperial troops arrived +and wrested the town from his grasp, seizing his artillery and his +ammunition. For a time his position appeared desperate, and he fled +across the Volga, but only to re-appear again at the head of an +enormous force, and, as a conqueror, fortress after fortress yielding +at his summons. At length a Russian army under Colonel Michelsohn +overtook him and gave him battle. Pugatscheff held a strong position, +had 24 pieces of artillery and 20,000 men, but his raw levies were no +match for the regular troops. His position was turned, and a panic +seized his followers, who deserted their guns and their baggage, and +fled precipitately, leaving 2000 dead and 6000 prisoners behind them. +Pugatscheff himself made for the Volga, closely pursued by the Russian +cavalry, who cut down the half of his escort before they could embark. +With sixty men he succeeded in escaping into the desert, and at last +it was evident that his game was played out. The only three outlets +were soon closed by separate detachments of the imperial troops, and +the fugitives were thus confined in an arid waste without shelter, +without provisions, and without water. The situation was so hopeless +that each man only thought of saving himself, and Pugatscheff's +companions were not slow to perceive that their sole chance of life +lay in sacrificing their leader. Accordingly, they fell upon him while +he was ravenously devouring a piece of horseflesh--the only food which +he could command--and, having bound him, handed him over to his +enemies. As Moscow had shown some sympathy for him, he was carried in +chains to that city, and was there condemned to death. Several of his +principal adherents likewise suffered punishment at the same time. + +On the 23d of January 1775, Pugatscheff and his followers were led to +the place of execution, where a large scaffold had been erected. Some +had their tongues cut out, the noses of others were cut off, eighteen +were knouted and sent to Siberia, and the chief was decapitated--his +body being afterwards cut in pieces and exposed in different parts of +the town. He met his fate with the utmost fortitude. + + + + +OTREFIEF--THE SHAM PRINCE DIMITRI. + + +On the death of Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible, the Russian throne +was occupied by Boris Godunoff, who had contrived to procure the +murder of Dimitri, or Demetrius, the younger brother of Feodor. For a +time he governed well; but the crafty nobles beginning to plot against +him, he had recourse to measures of extreme cruelty and severity, so +that even the affections of the common people were alienated from him, +and universal confusion ensued. Advantage was taken of this state of +affairs by a monk named Otrefief, who bore an almost miraculous +likeness to the murdered Dimitri, to assume the name of the royal +heir. At first he proceeded cautiously, and, retiring to Poland, by +degrees made public the marvellous tale of his wrongs and of his +escape from his assassins. Many of the leading nobles listened to his +recitals and believed them. In order to render his campaign more +certain, the pretender set himself to learn the Polish language, and +acquired it with remarkable rapidity. Nor did he rest here. He +represented to the Poles that he was disposed to embrace the Catholic +faith; and by assuring the Pope that if he regained the throne of his +ancestors, his first care should be to recall his subjects to their +obedience to Rome, he succeeded in securing the patronage and the +blessing of the Pontiff. Sendomir, a wealthy boyard, not only espoused +his cause, and gave him pecuniary help, but promised him his daughter +Marina in marriage whenever he became the Czar of Muscovy. Marina +herself was no less eager for the union, and through Sendomir's +influence the support of the King of Poland was obtained. + +News of the imposture soon reached Moscow, and Boris instantly +denounced Dimitri as an impostor, and sent emissaries to endeavour to +secure his arrest. In this, however, they were unsuccessful; and the +false Dimitri not only succeeded in raising a considerable force in +Poland, but also in convincing the great mass of the Russian +population that he really was the son of Ivan. In 1604 he appeared on +the Russian frontier at the head of a small but efficient force, and +overthrew the army which Boris had sent against him. His success was +supposed by the ignorant peasantry to be entirely due to the +interposition of Providence, which was working on the side of the +injured prince, and Dimitri was careful to foster the delusion that +his cause was specially favoured by heaven. He treated his prisoners +with the greatest humanity, and ordered his followers to refrain from +excesses, and to cultivate the goodwill of the people. The result was +that his ranks rapidly increased, while those of the czar diminished. +Even foreign governments began to view the offender with favour; and +at last Boris, devoured by remorse for the crimes which he had +committed, and by chagrin at the evil fate which had fallen upon him, +lost his reason and poisoned himself. + +The chief nobles assembled when the death of the czar was made known, +and proclaimed his son Feodor emperor in his stead; but the lad's +reign was very brief. The greater part of the army and the people +declared in favour of Dimitri, and the citizens of Moscow having +invited him to assume the reins of power, Dimitri made a triumphal +entry into the capital, and was crowned with great pomp. At first he +ruled prudently, and, had he continued as he began, might have +retained his strangely acquired throne. But after a time he gave +himself up to the gratification of his own wild passions, and lost the +popularity which he really had succeeded in gaining. He disgusted the +Russians by appointing numerous Poles, who had swelled his train, to +the highest posts in the empire, to the exclusion of meritorious +officers, who not only deserved well of their country, but also had +claims upon himself for services which they had rendered. These Polish +officers misconducted themselves sadly, and the people murmured sore. +The czar, too, made no secret of his attachment to the Catholic faith; +and while by so doing he irritated the clergy, he provoked the boyards +by his haughty patronage, and disgusted the common people by his +cruelty and lewdness. At last the murmurs grew so loud and +threatening, that some means had to be devised to quiet the popular +discontent, and Dimitri had recourse to a strange stratagem. The widow +of Ivan, who had long before been immured in a convent by the orders +of Boris, and had been kept there by his successor, was released from +her confinement, and was induced publicly to acknowledge Dimitri as +her son. The widowed empress knew full well that her life depended +upon her obedience; but notwithstanding her outward consent to the +fraud, the people were not satisfied, and demanded proofs of Dimitri's +birth, which were not forthcoming. Discontent continued to spread, and +at length the popular fury could no longer be restrained. According to +his promise, the sham czar married Marina, the daughter of the Polish +boyard. The very fact that she was a Pole made her distasteful to the +Russians; but that fact was rendered still more offensive by the +manner of her entrance into the capital, and the treatment which the +Muscovites received at the bridal ceremony. The bride was surrounded +by a large retinue of armed Poles, who marched through the streets of +Moscow with the mien of conquerors; the Russian nobles were excluded +from all participation in the festivities; and the common people were +treated by their emperor with haughty insolence, and held up to the +scorn of his foreign guests. A report also became rife that a timber +fort, which Dimitri had erected opposite the gates of the city, had +been constructed solely for the purpose of giving the bloodthirsty +Marina a martial spectacle, and that, sheltered behind its wooden +walls, the Polish troops and the czar's bodyguard would throw +firebrands and missiles among the crowds of spectators below. This +idle rumour was carefully circulated; the clergy, who had long been +disaffected, went from house to house denouncing the czar as a +heretic, and calling an their countrymen to rise against the insolent +traducer of their religion; and the secret of his birth and imposition +was everywhere proclaimed. The people burst into open revolt, and, +headed by the native prince Schnisky, rushed to storm the imperial +palace. The Polish troops broke their ranks and fled, and were +massacred in the streets. Dimitri himself sought to escape by a +private avenue in the confusion; but watchful enemies were lying in +wait for him. He was overtaken and killed, and his body was exposed +for three days in front of the palace, so that the mob might wreak +their vengeance upon his inanimate clay. Marina and her father were +captured, and after being detained for a little time were set at +liberty. + +By the death of the impostor, the throne was left vacant, and the +privilege of electing a new czar reverted to the people. Schnisky, who +had headed the revolt, made good use of his opportunity and +popularity, and while the people were exulting over their success, +contrived to secure the empire for himself. But when the heat of +triumph died away, the nobles were chagrined because they had elevated +one of their own number to rule over them, and the reaction against +the new czar was as strong and as rapid as the extraordinary movement +in his favour had been. The Muscovite nobles were determined to oust +him from his newly-found dignities, and for this purpose adopted the +strange expedient of reviving the dead Dimitri. It mattered little to +them that the breathless carcase of the impostor had been seen by +thousands. They presumed upon the gullibility of their countrymen, +and, asserting that Dimitri had escaped and was prepared to come +forward to claim his throne, endeavoured to stir up an insurrection. +The cheat, however, was not popular, and the sham czar of the nobles +never appeared. + +But although the nobles failed in their attempt to foist another +Dimitri upon their fellow-countrymen, the Poles, who were interested +for their countrywoman Marina, were not discouraged from trying the +same ruse. They produced a flesh-and-blood candidate for the Russian +sceptre. This person was a Polish schoolmaster, who bore a striking +likeness to the real Dimitri, and who was sufficiently intelligent to +play his part creditably. To give a greater semblance of truth to +their imposture, they succeeded in persuading Marina to abet them; +and not only did she openly assert that the new Dimitri was her +husband, but she embraced him publicly, and actually lived with him as +his wife. + +At the time that this impostor appeared, Sigismund declared war +against Russia, and his marshal Tolkiewski succeeded in inflicting a +terrible defeat on Schnisky. Moscow yielded before the victorious +Poles; and in despair Schnisky renounced the crown and retired into a +monastery. But no sooner was the diadem vacant than a host of false +Dimitris appeared to claim it, and the chief power was tossed from one +party to another during a weary interregnum. At last, in 1609, +Sigismund, who had remained at Smolensko while his marshal advanced +upon Moscow, proclaimed his own son Vladislaf to the vacant +sovereignty, and the pretended Dimitri sank into obscurity. Others, +however, arose; and although some of them perished on the scaffold, it +was not until 1616 that Russia was freed from the last of the +disturbing impostors who attempted to personate princes of the race of +Ivan the Terrible. + + + + +PADRE OTTOMANO--THE SUPPOSED HEIR OF SULTAN IBRAHIM. + + +In the year 1640, there lived in Constantinople one Giovanni Jacobo +Cesii, a Persian merchant of high repute throughout the Levant. This +man, who was descended from a noble Roman family, was on most intimate +terms with Jumbel Agha, the Sultan's chief eunuch, who sometimes gave +him strange commissions. Among other instructions which the merchant +received from the chief of the imperial harem, was an order to procure +privately the prettiest girl he could find in the slave marts of +Stamboul, where at this time pretty girls were by no means rare. +Jumbel Agha intended this damsel as an adornment for his own +household, and a personal companion for himself, and particularly +specified that to her beauty she should add modesty and virginity. +Cesii executed his orders to the best of his ability, and procured for +the bloated and lascivious Agha a Russian girl called Sciabas, as fair +as a _houri_, and apparently as timid as a fawn. Unfortunately, +notwithstanding her innocent demeanour, it only too soon became +apparent that her virtue was not unimpeachable, and that ere long she +would add yet another member to the household of her new master. +Jumbel Agha, who was at first wroth with his pretty plaything, after +the heat of his passion had passed, consented to forgive her if she +would divulge the name of the father of her expected offspring; but +the fair one, although frail, was firm, and despising alike threats +and cajoleries, declined to give any hint as to its paternity. +Thereupon her master handed her over to his major-domo to be re-sold +for the best price she would fetch; but before she could be disposed +of she was brought to bed of a goodly boy. + +Some time after the child was born, the Agha, moved either by +curiosity or compassion, expressed a strong desire to see it, and when +it was brought into his presence, was so captivated by its appearance, +that he loaded it with gifts, and gave orders that it should be +sumptuously apparelled, and should remain with its mother in the house +of the major-domo until he had decided as to its future fate. Just +about this time the Grand Sultana had presented her Lord Ibrahim with +a baby boy; and proving extremely weak after her delivery, it was +found necessary to procure a wet-nurse for the heir to the sword and +dominions of Othman. No better opportunity could have offered for +Jumbel Agha. He at once introduced his disgraced slave and her "pretty +by-blow" to his imperial mistress, who accepted the services of the +mother without hesitation. For two years mother and child had their +home in the grizzled old palace on Seraglio Point, until at last the +Sultan began to display such a decided preference for the nurse's boy, +that the jealousy of the Sultana was aroused, and she banished the +offenders from her sight. Her anger was also excited against the +unfortunate Agha, who had been the means of introducing them into the +harem, and she set herself to plot his ruin. Her dusky servitor was, +however, sufficiently shrewd to perceive his danger, and begged +Ibrahim's permission to resign his office, in order to undertake the +pilgrimage to Mecca. At first his request was refused; for Jumbel Agha +was a favourite slave, and whoever obtains leave to go the holy +pilgrimage is _ipso facto_ made free. But the chief eunuch having +agreed to go as a slave, and to return to his post when he had +performed his devotions, Ibrahim permitted him to set out. + +A little fleet of eight vessels was ready to sail for Alexandria, and +one of these was appropriated to Jumbel Agha and his household, +amongst whom was his beautiful slave and her little son. After +drifting about for some time in the inconstant breezes off the Syrian +coast, they fell in with six galleys, which they at first supposed to +be friendly ships of the Turkish fleet, but which ultimately proved +Maltese cruisers, and showed fight. The Agha made a valiant +resistance, and fell in the struggle, as did also Sciabas, the fair +Russian--the cause of his journey and his misfortunes. The baby, +however, was preserved alive; and when the Maltese boarded their +prize, they were attracted by the gorgeously dressed child, and +inquired to whom it belonged. The answer, given either in fear or in +the hope of obtaining better treatment, was that he was the son of +Sultan Ibrahim, and was on his way to Mecca, under the charge of the +chief eunuch, to be circumcised. The captors, greatly exhilarated by +the intelligence, at once made all sail for Malta, and there the +glorious news was accepted without question. For a time the knights +were so elated that they seriously began to consult together as to the +possibility of exchanging the supposed Ottoman prince for the Island +of Rhodes, which had slipped from their enfeebled grasp. The Grand +Master of the Order and the Grand Croci had no doubt as to the +genuineness of their captive, and wrote letters to Constantinople +informing the Sultan where he might find his heir and his chief +spouse, if he chose to comply with the Frankish conditions. It is +true that Sciabas was dead, but the worthy knights had recourse to +subterfuge in dealing with the infidel, and had dressed up another +slave to represent her. Portraits also were taken of the reputed +mother and child, and were sent with descriptive letters to the +European courts. The French and Italians eagerly purchased these +representations of the beloved of the Grand Turk; but that mysterious +being himself preserved an ominous silence. Even the knights of Malta, +who hated him as a Mohammedan, nevertheless supposed that the Ottoman +ruler was human, and when he made no effort to recover his lost ones, +began to have some doubt as to the identity of the child of whom they +made so much. In their dilemma they despatched a secret messenger to +Constantinople, who contrived to ingratiate himself at the seraglio, +and lost no opportunity of inquiring whether any of the imperial +children were missing, and whether it were true that the Sultana had +been captured by the Maltese some years before. Of course his +researches were fruitless, and in 1650 he wrote to his employers +assuring them that they had all the while been on a false scent. It +was deemed best to let the imposture die slowly. Little by little the +knights forbore to boast of their illustrious hostage; by degrees they +lessened the ceremonials with which he had been treated, and at last +neglected him altogether. He was made a Dominican friar; and the only +mark of his supposed estate was the name Padre Ottomano, which was +conferred upon him more in scorn than reverence, and which he +continued to bear till the day of his death. + + + + +MOHAMMED BEY--THE COUNTERFEIT VISCOUNT DE CIGALA. + + +In the miscellaneous writings of John Evelyn, the diary-writer, there +is an account of this extraordinary impostor, whose narration of his +own adventures outshines that of Munchausen, and whose experiences, +according to his own showing, were more remarkable than those of +Gulliver. In 1668 this marvellous personage published a book entitled +the "History of Mohammed Bey; or, John Michel de Cigala, Prince of the +Imperial Blood of the Ottomans." This work he dedicated to the French +king, who was disposed to favour his pretensions. + +In this remarkable book the pretender sums up the antiquity of the +family of Cigala, entitling it to most of the crowns of Europe, and +makes himself out to be the descendant of Scipio, son of the famous +Viscount de Cigala, who was taken prisoner by the Turks in 1651. He +pretends that Scipio, after his capture, was persuaded to renounce +Christianity, and, having become a renegade, was advanced to various +high offices at the Porte by Sultan Solyman the Magnificent. Under the +name of Sinam Pasha, he asserts that his father became first general +of the Janizaries, then seraskier, or commander-in-chief of the whole +Turkish forces, and was finally created Grand Vizier of the empire. He +also maintains that various illustrious ladies were bestowed as wives +upon the new favourite; and among others the daughter of Sultan +Achonet, who gave himself birth. According to his own story he was +educated by the Moslem _muftis_ in all the lore of the Koran, and by a +series of strange accidents was advanced to the governorship of +Palestine. Here, in consequence of a marvellous dream, he was +converted, and was turned from his original purpose of despoiling the +Holy Sepulchre of its beautiful silver lamps and other treasures. His +Christianity was not, however, of that perfervid kind which demands an +open avowal; and, continuing to outward appearance a Mussulman, +he was promoted to the governorship of Cyprus and the islands. In +this post he used his power for the benefit of the distressed +Christians--redressing their wrongs, and delivering such of them as +had fallen into slavery. From Cyprus, after two years made brilliant +by notable exploits (which no man ever heard of but himself), he was +constituted Viceroy of Babylon, Caramania, Magnesia, and other ample +territories. At Iconium another miracle was performed for his +benefit; and thus specially favoured of heaven, he determined openly +to declare his conversion. At this important crisis, however, his +father-confessor died, and all his good resolutions seem to have been +abandoned. He repaired to Constantinople once more (still preserving +the outward semblance of a true believer, and ever obedient to the +muezzin's call), and was created Viceroy of Trebizonde and +Generalissimo of the Black Sea. Before setting out for his new home on +the shores of the Euxine, he had despatched a confidant named Chamonsi +to Trebizonde in charge of all his jewels and valuables, and his +intention was to seize the first opportunity of throwing off the yoke +of the Grand Signior, and declaring himself a Christian. But Chamonsi +proved faithless; and instead of repairing to the place of tryst, +plotted with the Governor of Moldavia to seize his master. Mohammed +Bey fell into the trap which they had prepared for him, but succeeded +in making his escape, although grievously wounded, after a wonderful +fight, in which he killed all his opponents. In his flight he met a +shepherd who exchanged clothes with him, and in disguise and barefoot +he contrived to reach the head-quarters of the Cossacks, who were at +the time in arms against Russia. + +In the Cossack camp there were three soldiers whom the _quondam_ +Ottoman general had released from captivity, and they, at once +penetrating the flimsy disguise of the stranger, revealed him to their +own commander in his true character. At first he was well treated by +the Cossack chief, who was anxious that the honour of his baptism +should appertain to the Eastern Greek Church; but our prince, +designing from the beginning to make his solemn profession at Rome, +and to receive that sacrament from the Pope's own hands, was neglected +upon making his resolve known. He, therefore, stole away from the +Cossacks, and, guided by a Jew, succeeded in reaching Poland, where +the queen, hearing the report of his approach, and knowing his high +rank, received him with infinite respect and at last persuaded him to +condescend to be baptized at Warsaw by the archbishop, she herself +standing sponsor at the font, and bestowing upon him the name of John. + +After his baptism and subsequent confirmation, this somewhat singular +Christian set out on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of +Loretto, and afterwards proceeded to Rome, where he was received with +open arms by Alexander VII. On his return journey through Germany he +found that the emperor was at war with the Turks; and, without +hesitation, espoused the Christian cause against the circumcised +heathen, slaying the Turkish general with his own hand, and performing +other stupendous exploits, of which he gives a detailed narration. + +As a reward for his services the German emperor created him "Captain +Guardian" of his artillery, and would have loaded him with further +honours, but a roving spirit was upon him, and he started for Sicily +to visit his noble friends who were resident in that island. On his +route he was everywhere received with the utmost respect by the +Princes of Germany and Italy; and when he arrived in Sicily, not only +did Don Pedro d'Arragon house him in his own palace, but the whole +city of Messina turned out to meet him, acknowledging his high +position as a member of the noble house of Cigala, from which it seems +the island had received many great benefits. Leaving Sicily he next +came to Rome, into which he made a public entry, and was warmly +received by Clement IX., before whom, in bravado, he drew and +flourished his dreadful scimitar in token of his defiance of the +enemies of the Church. At last, after touching at Venice and Turin, he +arrived in Paris, where he was received by the king according to his +high quality, and where he published the extraordinary narrative from +which we have taken the above statements, and which honest John +Evelyn, who was roused by his appearance in England, sets himself to +disprove. + +Right willingly does Evelyn devote himself to the task of stripping +the borrowed feathers from this fine jackdaw. After inaugurating his +work by quoting the Horatian sneer, "_Spectatum admissi risum +teneatis, amici_?" he at once plunges _in medias res_, and not mincing +his language, says:--"This impudent vagabond is a native of Wallachia, +born of Christian parents in the city of Trogovisti;" and throughout +his exposure employs phrases which are decidedly more forcible than +polite. From Evelyn's revelation it appears that the family of the +pretended Cigala were at one time well-to-do, and ranked high in the +esteem of Prince Mathias of Moldavia, but that this youth was a black +sheep in the flock from the very beginning. After the death of his +father he had a fair chance of distinguishing himself, for the +Moldavian prince took him into his service, and sent him to join his +minister at Constantinople. Here he might have risen to some eminence; +but he was too closely watched to render his life agreeable, and after +a brief sojourn in the Turkish capital returned to his native land. +Here he became intimately acquainted with a married priest of the +Greek Church, and made love to his wife; but the woman, the better to +conceal the familiarity which existed between herself and the young +courtier, led her husband to believe that he had an affection for her +daughter, of which she approved. The simple ecclesiastic credited the +story; until it became apparent that the stranger's practical fondness +extended to the mother as well as the daughter, and that he had taken +advantage of the hospitality which was extended to him to debauch all +the priest's womankind. A complaint was laid before Prince Mathias, +who would have executed him if he had not fled to the shores of the +Golden Horn. He remained in Constantinople until the death of the +Moldavian ruler, when he impudently returned to Wallachia, thinking +that his former misdemeanours had been forgotten, and hoping to be +advanced to some prominent post during the general disarrangement of +affairs. His identity was, however, discovered; his old crimes were +brought against him; and he only escaped the executioner's sword by +flight. For the third time Constantinople became his home, and on this +occasion he embraced the Moslem faith, hoping to secure his +advancement thereby. The Turks, however, viewed the renegade with +suspicion, and treated him with neglect. Therefore, driven by +starvation, he ranged from place to place about Christendom, and in +countries where he was utterly unknown concocted and published the +specious story of his being so nearly related to the Sultan, and +succeeded in deceiving many. Of his ultimate fate nothing is known. + + + + +THE SELF-STYLED PRINCE OF MODENA. + + +In the beginning of the year 1748, a small French merchantman, which +was bound from Rochelle to Martinique, was so closely chased by the +British cruisers that the captain and crew were compelled to take to +their boat. By so doing they avoided the fate of the ship and cargo, +which fell a prey to the pursuers, and succeeded in effecting a safe +landing at Martinique. In their company was a solitary passenger--a +youth of eighteen or nineteen summers, whose dignified deportment and +finely-cut features betokened him of aristocratic lineage. His name, +as given by himself, was the Count de Tarnaud, and his father, +according to his own showing, was a field-marshal in the French +service; but the deference with which he was treated by his shipmates +seemed to suggest that his descent was even more illustrious, and his +dignity loftier than that to which he laid claim. He was unattended, +save by a sailor lad to whom he had become attached after his +embarkation. This youth, called Rhodez, treated him with the utmost +deference, and, while on an intermediate footing between friendship +and servitude, was careful never to display the slightest familiarity. + +This strangely assorted couple had no sooner landed upon the island +than the _pseudo_ De Tarnaud asked to be directed to the house of one +of the leading inhabitants, and was referred to Duval Ferrol, an +officer, whose residence was situated near the spot at which he had +come on shore. This gentleman, attracted by the appearance of the +youth, and sympathising with his misfortunes, at once offered him a +home, and De Tarnaud and Rhodez took up their abode at the _maison_ +Ferrol. The hospitable advances of its proprietor were received by his +new guest in a kindly spirit, yet more as due than gratuitous; and +this air of superiority, combined with the extreme deference of +Rhodez, aroused curiosity. The captain of the vessel which had brought +the distinguished guest was questioned as to his real name, but +professed himself unable to give any information beyond stating that +the youth had been brought to him at Rochelle by a merchant, who had +privately recommended him to treat him with great attention, as he was +a person of distinction. + +Ample scope was, therefore, left for the curiosity and credulity of +the inhabitants of Martinique, who at this time were closely blockaded +by the English, and were sadly in want of some excitement to relieve +the monotony of their lives. Every rumour respecting the stranger was +eagerly caught up and assiduously disseminated by a thousand gossips, +and, as statement after statement and _canard_ after _canard_ got +abroad, he rose higher and higher in popular repute. No one doubted +that he was at least a prince; and why he had elected to come to +Martinique at such an inconvenient season nobody stopped to inquire. + +As far as could be made out from the disjointed stories which were +afloat, this mysterious individual had been seen to arrive at Rochelle +some time before the date of his embarkation. He was then accompanied +by an old man, who acted as a sort of mentor. On their arrival they +established themselves in private lodgings, in which the youth +remained secluded, while his aged friend frequented the quays on the +look-out for a ship to convey his companion to his destination. When +one was at last found he embarked, leaving his furniture as a present +to his landlady, and generally giving himself the air of a man of vast +property, although at the time possessed of very slender resources; +and that he really was a person of distinction and wealth the +colonists were prepared to believe. They only awaited the time when +he chose to reveal himself to receive him with acclamations. + +After treating him hospitably for some time, Duval Ferrol precipitated +matters by informing his strange guest, that as he did not know +anything of his past life, and was himself only a subaltern, he had +been under the necessity of informing his superior officers of his +presence, and that the king's lieutenant who commanded at Port Maria +desired to see him. The young man immediately complied with this +request, and presented himself to the governor as the Count de +Tarnaud. M. Nadau (for such was the name of this official) had of +course heard the floating rumours, and was resolved to penetrate the +mystery. He therefore received his visitor with _empressement_, and +offered him his hospitality. The offer was accepted, but again rather +as a matter of right than of generosity, and the young count and +Rhodez became inmates of the house of the commandant. + +Two days after young Tarnaud's removal to the dwelling of Nadau, the +latter was entertaining some guests, when, just as they were sitting +down to dinner, the count discovered that he had forgotten his +handkerchief, on which Rhodez got up and fetched it. Such an +occurrence would have passed without comment in France; but in +Martinique, where slavery was predominant, and slaves were abundant, +such an act of deference from one white man to another was noted, and +served to strengthen the opinions which had already been formed +respecting the stranger. During the course of the meal also, Nadau +received a letter from his subordinate, Duval Ferrol, to the following +effect:--"You wish for information relative to the French passenger +who lodged with me some days; his signature will furnish more than I +am able to give. I enclose a letter I have just received from him." +This enclosure was merely a courteous and badly-composed expression of +thanks; but it was signed _Est_, and not De Tarnaud. As soon as he +could find a decent excuse, the excited commandant drew aside one of +his more intimate friends, and communicated to him the surprising +discovery which he had made, at the same time urging him to convey +the information to the Marquis d'Eragny, who lived at no great +distance. The marquis had not risen from table when the messenger +arrived, and disclosed to those who were seated with him the news +which he had just received. A reference to an official calendar or +directory showed that _Est_ was a princely name, and the company at +once jumped to the conclusion that the mysterious stranger was no +other than Hercules Renaud d'Est, hereditary Prince of Modena, and +brother of the Duchess de Penthièvre. The truth of this supposition +was apparently capable of easy proof, for one of the company, named +Bois-Fermé, the brother-in-law of the commandant, asserted that he was +personally well acquainted with the prince, and could recognise him +anywhere. Accordingly, after a few bottles of wine had been drunk, the +whole company proceeded uproariously to Radau's, where Bois-Fermé (who +was a notorious liar and braggart) effusively proclaimed the stranger +to be the hereditary Prince of Modena. The disclosure thus +boisterously made seemed to offend, rather than give pleasure to, the +self-styled Count de Tarnaud, who, while not repudiating the title +applied to him, expressed his dissatisfaction at the indiscretion +which had revealed him to the public. + +At this time the inhabitants of Martinique were in a very discontented +and unhappy position. Their coast was closely blockaded by the English +fleet, provisions were extremely scarce, and the necessities of the +populace were utilised by unscrupulous officials who amassed riches by +victimising those who had been placed under their authority. The +Marquis de Caylus, governor of the Windward Islands, was one of the +most rapacious of these harpies; and although, perhaps, he was more a +tool in the hands of others than an independent actor, the feeling of +the people was strong against him, and it was hoped that the +newly-arrived prince would supersede him, and redress the grievances +which his maladministration had created. Accordingly Nadau, who +entertained a private spite against De Caylus, lost no time in +representing the infamy of the marquis, and was comforted by the +assurance of his youthful guest, that he would visit those who had +abused the confidence of the king with the severest punishment, and +not only so, but would place himself at the head of the islands to +resist any attempt at invasion by the English. + +These loyal and generous intentions, which Nadau did not fail to make +public, increased the general enthusiasm, and rumours of the plot +which was hatching reached Fort St. Pierre, where the Marquis de Caylus +had his head-quarters. He at once sent a mandate to Nadau, ordering the +stranger before him. A message of similar purport was also sent to the +youth himself, addressed to the Count de Tarnaud. Upon receiving it he +turned to the officers who had brought it, saying--"Tell your master +that to the rest of the world I am the Count de Tarnaud, but that to +him I am Hercules Renaud d'Est. If he wishes to see me let him come +half-way. Let him repair to Fort Royal in four or five days. I will be +there." + +This bold reply seems to have completely disconcerted De Caylus. He +had already heard of the stranger's striking resemblance to the +Duchess de Penthièvre, and the assumption of this haughty tone to an +officer of his own rank staggered him. He set out for Fort Royal, but +changed his mind on the way, and returned to St. Pierre. The prince, on +the other hand, kept his appointment, and not finding the marquis, +proceeded to Fort St. Pierre, which he entered in triumph, attended by +seventeen or eighteen gentlemen. The governor caught a glimpse of him +as he passed through the streets, and exclaimed "that he was the very +image of his mother and sister," and in a panic quitted the town. +Nothing could have been more fortunate than his flight. The prince +assumed all the airs of royalty, and proceeded to establish a petty +court, appointing state officers to wait upon him. The Marquis +d'Eragny he created his grand equerry; Duval Ferrol and Laurent +'Dufont were his gentlemen-in-waiting; and the faithful Rhodez was +constituted his page. Regular audiences were granted to those who came +to pay their respects to him, or to present memorials or petitions, +and for a time Martinique rejoiced in the new glory which this +illustrious presence shed upon it. + +It so happened that the Duc de Penthièvre was the owner of +considerable estates in the colony, which were under the care of a +steward named Lievain. This man, who seems to have been a simple soul, +no sooner heard of the arrival of his master's brother-in-law in the +island than he hastened to offer him not only his respects, but, what +was far better, the use of the cash which he held in trust for the +duke. He was, of course, received with peculiar graciousness, and +immediate advantage was taken of his timely offer. The prince was now +supplied with means adequately to support the royal state which he had +assumed, and the last lingering relics of suspicion were dissipated, +for Lievain was known to be a thoroughly honest and conscientious man, +and one well acquainted with his master's family and affairs, and it +was surmised that he would not thus have committed himself unless he +had had very good grounds for so doing. + +On his arrival at St. Pierre the prince had taken up his quarters in +the convent of the Jesuits; and now the Dominican friars, jealous of +the honour conferred upon their rivals, besought a share of his royal +favour, and asked him to become their guest. Nothing loth to gratify +their amiable ambition, the prince changed his residence to their +convent, in which he was entertained most sumptuously. Every day a +table of thirty covers was laid for those whom he chose to invite; he +dined in public--a fanfaronade of trumpets proclaiming his +down-sitting and his up-rising--and the people thronged the +banqueting-hall in such numbers that barriers had to be erected in the +middle of it to keep the obtrusive multitude at a respectful distance. + +Meanwhile vessels had left Martinique for France bearing the news of +these strange proceedings to the mother country. The prince had +written to his family, and had entrusted his letters to the captain of +a merchantman who was recommended by Lievain. And the discomfited +governor, the Marquis de Caylus, had forwarded a full account of the +extraordinary affair to his government, and had demanded +instructions. Six months passed away and no replies came. The prince +pretended to be seriously discomposed by this prolonged silence, but +amused himself in the meantime by defying M. de Caylus, by indulging +in the wildest excesses, and by gratifying every absurd or licentious +caprice which entered his head. But at last it became apparent that +letters from France might arrive at any moment; the rainy season was +approaching; the prince was apprehensive for his health; and the +inhabitants had discovered by this time that their visitor was very +costly. Accordingly, when he expressed his intention of returning to +France, nobody opposed or gainsaid it; and, after a pleasant sojourn +of seven months among the planters of Martinique, he embarked on board +the "Raphael," bound for Bordeaux. His household accompanied him, and +under a salute from the guns of the fort he sailed away. + +A fortnight later the messenger whom the governor had despatched to +France returned bearing orders to put his so-called highness in +confinement. An answer was also sent to a letter which Lievain had +forwarded to the Duc de Penthièvre, and in it the simple-minded agent +was severely censured for having so easily become the dupe of an +impostor. At the same time he was informed that since his indiscretion +was in part the result of his zeal to serve his master, and since he +had only shared in a general folly, the duc was not disposed to deal +harshly with him, but would retain his services and share the loss +with him. This leniency, and the delay which had taken place, only +served to confirm the inhabitants of Martinique in their previous +belief, and they were more than ever convinced that the real Prince of +Modena had been their guest, although neither his relatives nor the +government were willing to admit that he had been guilty of such an +escapade. + +The "Raphael" in due course arrived at Faro, where her illustrious +passenger was received with a salute by the Portuguese authorities. On +landing, the prince demanded a courier to send to Madrid, to the +chargé d'affaires of the Duke of Modena, and also asked the means of +conveying himself and his retinue to Seville, where he had resolved to +await the return of his messenger. These facilities were obligingly +afforded to him, and he arrived at Seville in safety. His fame had +preceded him, and he was received with the most extravagant +demonstrations of joy by the inhabitants. The susceptible donnas of +the celebrated Spanish city adored this youthful scion of a royal +house; sumptuous entertainments were prepared in his honour, and his +praises were in every mouth. His courier came not, but instead there +arrived an order for his arrest, which was communicated to him by the +governor in person. He seemed much astonished, but resignedly +answered, "I was born a sovereign as well as he: he has no control +over me; but he is master here, and I shall yield to his commands." + +His ready acquiescence in his inevitable fate was well thought of; and +while it excited popular sympathy in his favour, rendered even those +who were responsible for his safe-keeping anxious to serve him. +Immediately on his apprehension he was conveyed to a small tower, +which was occupied by a lieutenant and a few invalids, and very little +restraint was placed upon his movements. His retinue were allowed to +visit him, and every possible concession was made to his assumed rank. +But he was far from content, and succeeded by a scheme in reaching the +sanctuary of the Dominican convent. From this haven of refuge he could +not legally be removed by force; but on the urgent representations of +the authorities the Archbishop of Seville sanctioned his transfer, if +it could be accomplished without bloodshed. A guard was despatched to +remove him. No sooner, however, had the officer charged with the duty +entered his apartment than the prince seized his sword, and protested +that he would kill the first man that laid a finger upon him. The +guard surrounded him with their bayonets, but he defended himself so +valiantly that it became evident that he could not be captured without +infringing the conditions laid down by the archbishop, and the +soldiers were compelled to withdraw. Meanwhile news of what had been +going on reached the populace, a crowd gathered, and popular feeling +ran so high that the discomfited emissaries of the law reached their +quarters with difficulty. This disturbance made the government more +determined than ever to bring the affair to an issue. Negotiations +were renewed with the Dominicans, who were now anxious to deliver up +their guest, but his suspicions were aroused, and his capture had +become no easy matter. He always went armed, slept at night with a +brace of pistols under his pillow, and even at meal times placed one +on either side of his plate. At last craft prevailed--a young monk, +who had been detailed to wait upon him at dinner, succeeded in +betraying him into an immoderate fit of laughter, and before he could +recover himself, pinioned him and handed him over to the alguazils, +who were in waiting in the next apartment. He was hurried to gaol, +loaded with chains, and cast into a dungeon. After twenty-four hours' +incarceration he was summoned for examination, but steadily refused to +answer the questions of his judges. He was not, however, remitted to +his former loathsome place of confinement, as might have been expected +from his obstinacy, but was conveyed to the best apartment in the +prison. His retinue were meanwhile examined relative to his supposed +design of withdrawing Martinique from its allegiance to France. The +result of these inquiries remained secret, but, without further trial, +the prince was condemned to the galleys, or to labour in the king's +fortifications in Africa, and his attendants were banished from the +Spanish dominions. + +In due time he was despatched to Cadiz to join the convict gangs +sentenced to enforced labour at Ceuta. The whole garrison of Seville +was kept under arms on the morning of his departure, to suppress any +popular commotion, and resist any possible attempt at rescue. On his +arrival at Cadiz he was conducted to Fort la Caragna, and handed over +to the commandant, a sturdy Frenchman named Devau, who was told that +he must treat the prisoner politely, but would be held answerable for +his safe-keeping. Devau read these orders, and replied, "When I am +made responsible for the safe custody of anybody, I know but one way +of treating him, and that is to put him in irons." So the _pseudo_ +prince was ironed, until the convoy was ready to escort the prisoners +to Ceuta. On the voyage the pretender was treated differently from the +other galley-slaves, and on reaching his destination was placed under +little restraint. He had full liberty to write to his friends, and +availed himself of this permission to send a letter to Nadau, who had +been ordered home to France to give an account of his conduct. In this +document he mentioned the courtesy with which he was treated, and +begged the Port Maria governor to accept a handsome pair of pistols +which he sent as a souvenir. To Lievin, the Duc de Penthièvre's agent, +he also wrote, lamenting the losses which he had sustained, and +promising to make them good at a future time. His prison, however, had +not sufficient charms to retain his presence. He took the first +opportunity of escaping, and having smuggled himself on board an +English ship, arrived in the Bay of Gibraltar. The captain informed +the governor of the fort that he had on board his ship the person who +claimed to be the Prince of Modena, and that he demanded permission to +land. A threat of immediate apprehension was sufficient to deter the +refugee from again tempting the Spanish authorities: he remained on +board; and the ship sailed on her voyage, carrying with her the +prince, who was seen no more. + + + + +JOSEPH--THE FALSE COUNT SOLAR. + + +On the 1st of August 1773, a horseman, who was approaching the town of +Peronne in France, discovered by the wayside a boy, apparently about +eleven years of age, clad in rags, evidently suffering from want, and +uttering piercing cries. Stirred with pity for this unfortunate +object, the traveller dismounted, and, finding his efforts to comfort +his new acquaintance, or to discover the cause of his sorrow, +unavailing, persuaded him to accompany him to the town, where his +immediate necessities were attended to. The boy ate ravenously of the +food which was set before him, but continued to preserve the strictest +silence, and, at length, it was discovered that he was deaf and dumb. +A charitable woman, moved by his misfortunes, gave him a temporary +home, and at the end of a few weeks he was transferred to the +Bicêtre--then an hospital for foundlings--through the intervention of +M. de Sartine, the well-known minister of police. Here his conduct was +remarkable. From the first day of his entrance he shrank from +association with the other inmates, who were for the most part boys +belonging to the lower orders, and by so doing earned their ill-will, +and brought upon himself their persecution. Indeed, so uncomfortable +did his new home prove through the malignity of his fellow-pensioners, +that the health of the poor waif gave way, and it was found necessary +to remove him to the Hôtel Dieu of Paris. Here he was noticed by the +Abbé de l'Epée, who was attracted by his quiet and aristocratic +manners and gentle demeanour, and who at the same time considered +that, by reason of his intelligence, he was likely to prove an apt +pupil in acquiring the manual alphabet which the worthy ecclesiastic +had invented. Accordingly, the Abbé removed him to his own house, and +in a few months had rendered him able to give some account of himself +by signs. His story was that he had a distinct recollection of living +with his father and mother and sister, in a splendid mansion, situated +in spacious grounds, and that he was accustomed to ride on horseback +and in a carriage. He described his father as a tall man and a +soldier, and stated that his face was seamed by scars received in +battle. He gave a circumstantial account of his father's death, and +said that he, as well as his mother and sister, were mourning for him. +After his father's funeral he asserted that he was taken from home by +a man whom he did not know, and that when he had been carried come +distance he was deserted by his conductor and left in the wood, in +which he wandered for some days, until he reached the highway, where +he was discovered by the passing traveller, as above narrated. + +When this tale was made public, it naturally created great excitement, +and people set themselves to discover the identity of this foundling, +whom the Abbé de l'Epée had named Joseph. The Abbé himself was never +tired of conjecturing the possible history of his protégé, or of +communicating his conjectures to his friends. At length, in the year +1777, a lady, who had heard the boy's story, suggested a solution of +the mystery. She mentioned that in the autumn of 1773, a deaf and dumb +boy, the only son and heir of Count Solar, and head of the ancient and +celebrated house of Solar, had left Toulouse, where his father and +mother then dwelt, and had not returned. It had been given out that he +had died, but she suggested that the account of his death was false, +and that Joseph was the young Count Solar. Inquiries were instituted, +and showed that the hypothesis was at least tenable. The family of +Count Solar had consisted of his wife and a son and daughter. The son +was deaf and dumb, and was twelve years old at his father's death, +which occurred in 1773. After the decease of the old count, the boy +was sent by his mother to Bagnères de Bigorre, under the care of a +young lawyer, named Cazeaux, who came back to Toulouse early in the +following year, with the story that the heir had died of small-pox. +The mother died in 1775. + +The Abbé de l'Epée, astounded by the striking similarity between the +facts and Joseph's account of himself, at once came to the conclusion +that Providence had chosen him as the instrument for righting a great +wrong, and set himself to supply the missing links in the chain of +evidence, and to restore his ward to what he doubted not was his +rightful inheritance. He maintained that young Solar's mother, either +wearied with the care of a child who was deprived of speech and +hearing, or to secure his estates for herself or her daughter, had +given her son to Cazeaux to be exposed, and that that ruffian had made +tolerably certain of his work, by carrying the lad 600 miles from +home, to the vicinity of Peronne, and there abandoning him in a dense +wood, from which the chances were he would never be able to extricate +himself, but in the mazes of which he would wander till he died. God +alone, the Abbé declared, guided the helpless and hungry lad within +the reach of human assistance, and sent the traveller to rescue him, +opened the woman's heart to give him shelter, and brought him to +Paris, so that he might be instructed and enabled to tell his doleful +tale. + +Fired by enthusiasm, the Abbé succeeded in engaging the co-operation +of persons of the highest eminence. The Duc de Penthièvre, a prince of +the blood, espoused the cause of the wronged noble, and provided for +his support as became his supposed rank. From the same princely +source, also, funds were forthcoming to obtain legal redress for his +hardships, and to prosecute his claims before the courts. Proceedings +were instituted against Cazeaux, who was still alive, and a formal +demand was made for the reinstatement of the foundling of Peronne in +the hereditary honours of Solar. The boy was taken to Clermont, his +reputed birthplace, at which he was said to have passed the first four +years of his life in the company of his mother. It could scarcely be +supposed that those who knew the young heir, aged four, would be able +to trace much similarity to him in the claimant of seventeen. But +there was far more recognition than might have been anticipated. +Madame de Solar's father fancied that Joseph resembled his grandson, +and he was the more thoroughly convinced of his identity, because he +felt an affection for the youth which he believed to be instinctive. +The brother of the countess was convinced that Joseph was his nephew, +because he had the large knees and round shoulders of the deceased +count. The mistress of the dame-school at Clermont recognised in the +Abbé's protégé her former pupil. Several witnesses also, who could not +be positive as to the identity of the two persons, remembered that the +youthful count had a peculiar lentil-shaped mole on his back, and a +similar mole was found on the back of the claimant. As it afterwards +proved, Joseph was not completely deaf, but was shrewd enough to +conceal the fact. Consequently he succeeded in acquiring a good deal +of useful information with respect to the Solar family, and +re-produced it as the result of his own recollection when the proper +time came. + +On the other hand, the evidence against his pretensions was very +strong. Many persons in Toulouse who had been intimately acquainted +with the youthful count declared that Joseph bore no resemblance to +him; and the young countess repudiated him most emphatically, +asserting that he was not her brother, and he failed to recognise her +as his sister. However, he persevered in asserting his rights, and +claimed before the Cour du Châtelet, in Paris, the name and honours of +Count Solar; and orders were given by the court for the arrest of +Cazeaux as his abductor and exposer. The unfortunate lawyer was seized +and hurried to the Miséricorde, a loathsome dungeon below the Hotel de +Ville, at Toulouse. Next day, heavily ironed, he was thrown into a +cart, and thus set out on a journey of 500 miles to Paris. While the +cart was in motion he was chained to it; when they halted he was +chained to the inn table; at night he was chained to his bed. At +length, after seventeen wearisome days, the capital was reached, and +the prisoner was taken from his cart and cast into the vaults of the +Châtelet. After considerable and unnecessary delay, the supposed +abductor was brought to trial; and not only were the charges against +him easily disproved, but the whole of the Abbé's grand hypothesis was +destroyed beyond reconstruction. A host of witnesses came forward to +testify that the young count did not leave Toulouse under the +guardianship of Cazeaux, until the 4th of September 1773, whereas +Joseph was found at Peronne on the 1st of August. Moreover, the +contemporary history of the two youths was clearly traced, it being +shown that in November 1773, the Count Solar was at Bagnères de +Bigorre while Joseph was an inmate of the Bicêtre; and finally it was +conclusively proved that on the 28th of January 1774, the real Count +Solar died at Charlas, near Bagnères, of small-pox, having outlived +his father about a year. + +The acquittal of Cazeaux followed as a matter of course, and he was +dismissed from the bar of the Châtelet with unblemished reputation, +but broken in health and ruined in fortune. Happily for him, a M. +Avril, a rich judge of the Châtelet, who had been active against him +during his trial, repented of the evil he had done him, sought his +acquaintance, and bequeathed him a large fortune. Thus raised to +wealth, and aided by the revolution, which levelled all social +distinctions, he aspired to the hand of the widowed Countess Solar who +had lost her estates. Success crowned his suit, and his former +patroness became his wife. After their marriage the pair settled on an +estate a few leagues from Paris, where Cazeaux died in 1831 and his +wife in 1835. Joseph, who was undoubtedly the son of a gentleman, soon +ceased to interest the public, and, his pretensions having failed, +retired into comparative obscurity, accepting service in the army, and +meeting an untimely death early in the revolutionary war. + + + + +JOHN LINDSAY CRAWFURD--CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF CRAWFURD. + + +In 1808, George Lindsay Crawfurd, twenty-second Earl of Crawfurd and +sixth Earl of Lindsay, died without issue, and his vast estates +descended to his sister, Lady Mary Crawfurd. After the death of the +earl various claims were advanced to the peerage, one of them being +preferred by a person of the name of John Crawfurd, who came from +Dungannon, in the north of Ireland. When this claimant arrived at Ayr, +in January 1809, he gave himself out as a descendant of the Hon. James +Lindsay Crawfurd, a younger son of the family, who had taken refuge in +Ireland from the persecutions of 1666-1680. At first he took up his +abode at the inn of James Anderson, and from his host and a weaver +named Wood he received a considerable amount of information respecting +the family history. From Ayr he proceeded to visit Kilbirnie Castle, +once the residence of the great knightly family of Crawfurd. The house +had been destroyed by fire during the lifetime of Lady Mary's +grandfather, and had not been rebuilt--the family taking up their +residence on their Fifeshire estates. At the time of the fire, +however, many family papers and letters had been saved, and had been +stored away in an old cabinet, which was placed in an out-house. To +these Mr. Crawfurd obtained access, and found among them many letters +written by James Lindsay Crawfurd, whose descendant he pretended to +be. He appropriated them and produced them when the fitting time came. +At Kilbirnie he also introduced himself to John Montgomerie of +Ladeside, a man well acquainted with the family story and all the +vicissitudes of the Crawfurds, and one who was disposed to believe any +plausible tale. The farmer, crediting the pretender's story, spread it +abroad among the villagers, and they in turn fell into ecstacies over +the idea of a poor man like themselves arriving at an earldom, +rebuilding the ancient house of Kilbirnie, and restoring the old +glories of the place. Their enthusiasm was turned to good account. The +claimant was very poor, and stood in need of money to prosecute his +claim, and he made no secret of his poverty or his necessities, and +promised large returns to those who would help him in his time of +need. "Farms," we are told, "were to be given on long leases at +moderate rents; one was to be factor, another chamberlain, and many +were to be converted from being hewers of wood and drawers of water to +what they esteemed the less laborious, and therefore more honourable, +posts of butlers and bakers, and body servants of all descriptions." +These cheering prospects, of course, depended upon the immediate faith +which was displayed, and the amount of assistance which was at once +forthcoming. Therefore, each hopeful believer exerted himself to the +utmost, and "poor peasants and farmers, cottagers and their masters, +threw their stakes into the claimant's lucky-bag, from which they were +afterwards to draw 'all prizes and no blanks.'" Men of loftier +position, also, were not averse to speculate upon the chances of this +newly-discovered heir. Poor John Montgomerie gave him every penny he +had saved, and every penny he could borrow, and after mortgaging his +little property, was obliged to flee to America from his duns, where, +it is said, he died. His son Peter, who succeeded to Ladeside, also +listened to the seductive voice of the claimant, until ruin came upon +him, and he was compelled to compound with his creditors. + +In due time the pretender to the Crawford peerage instituted judicial +proceedings. His advocates brought forward some very feasible parole +evidence; but they mainly rested their case upon the documents which +had been discovered in the old cabinet at Kilbirnie. These letters, +when they were originally discovered, had been written on the first +and third pages; but in the interim the second pages had been filled +up in an exact imitation of the old hand with matter skilfully +contrived to support the pretensions of the new-comer. In these +interpolations the dead Crawfurd was made to describe his position and +circumstances in Ireland, his marriage, the births of his children, +and his necessities, in a manner which could leave no doubt as to the +rightful claims of the pretender. Unfortunately for his cause, he +refused to pay his accomplices the exorbitant price which they +demanded, and they, without hesitation, made offers to Lady Mary, into +the hands of whose agents they confided the forged and vitiated +letters. The result was that a charge of forgery was brought against +the claimant, and he and his chief abettor, James Bradley, were both +brought to trial before the High Court of Justiciary, in February +1812, and were sentenced to fourteen years' transportation. This +result was obtained by the acceptance of the evidence of Fanning, one +of the forgers, as king's evidence. While under sentence the claimant +wrote a sketch of his life, which was printed at Dairy, in Ayrshire, +and was published before the sentence was carried into execution. +After some delay the sham earl was shipped off to Botany Bay, and +arrived in New South Wales in 1813. Many persons in Scotland continued +under the belief that he had been harshly treated, and had fallen a +victim to the perjured statements of witnesses who were suborned by +Lady Mary Crawfurd. It was not disputed that the documents which had +been put in evidence really were forged; but it was suggested that the +forgery had been accomplished without his knowledge, in order to +accomplish his ruin. Public feeling was aroused in his favour, and he +was regarded not only as an innocent and injured man, but as the +rightful heir of the great family whose honours and estates he sought. + +During his servitude in Australia, John Lindsay Crawfurd contrived to +ingratiate himself with MacQuarrie, the governor of New South Wales, +and got part of his punishment remitted, returning to England in 1820. +He immediately recommenced proceedings for the recovery of the +Crawfurd honours; and, as his unexpected return seemed to imply that +he had been unjustly transported, his friends took encouragement from +this circumstance, and again came forward with subscriptions and +advances. Many noblemen and gentlemen, believing him to be injured, +contributed liberally to his support and to the cost of the +proceedings which he had begun. At last the case came,--and came under +the best guidance--before the Lords Committee of Privileges, to which +it had been referred by the king. Lord Brougham was counsel in the +cause, and he publicly expressed his opinion that it was extremely +well-founded. Many of the claimant's adherents, however, were deterred +from proceeding further in the matter by the unfavourable report of +two trustworthy commissioners who had been appointed to investigate +the affair in Scotland. On the other hand, Mr. Nugent Bell, Mr. William +Kaye, and Sir Frederick Pollock, with a host of eminent legal +authorities, predicted certain success. Thus supported, the pretender +assumed the _rôle_ of Earl of Crawfurd, and actually voted as earl at +an election of Scotch peers at Holyrood. Unfortunately for all +parties, the claimant died before a decision could be given either for +or against him. His son, however, inheriting the father's pretensions, +and also apparently his faculty for raising money, contrived to find +supporters, and carried on the case. Maintaining his father's +truthfulness, he declared that his ancestor, the Hon. James Lindsay +Crawfurd, had settled in Ireland, and that he had died there between +1765 and 1770, leaving a family, of which he was the chief +representative. On the other hand, Lord Glasgow, who had succeeded by +this time to the estates, insisted that the scion of the family who +was supposed to have gone to Ireland, and from whom the pretender +traced his descent, had in reality died in London in 1745, and had +been buried in the churchyard of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. It was +finally proved that a record remained of the death of James Lindsay +Crawfurd in London, as stated, and 120 genuine letters were produced +in his handwriting bearing a later date than that year. The decision +of the House of Lords was--"That from the facts now before us we are +satisfied that any further inquiry is hopeless and unnecessary." This +opinion was given in 1839, and since that time no further steps have +been taken to advance the claim. Strange to say, Lord Glasgow allowed +the body of the original claimant to be interred in the family +mausoleum; and it has been more than suggested that if John Lindsay +Crawfurd was not the man that he represented himself to be, he was at +least an illegitimate offshoot of the same noble house, and that had +he been less pertinacious in advancing his claims to the earldom, he +might have ended his days more happily. + + + + +JOHN NICHOLS THOM, _ALIAS_ SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY. + + +In 1830 or 1831 a Cornishman, named John Nichols Thom, suddenly left +his home, and made his appearance in Kent as Sir William Courtenay, +knight of Malta. He was a man of tall and commanding appearance, had +ready eloquence, and contrived to persuade many of the Kentish people +that he was entitled to some of the fairest estates in the county, and +that when he inherited his property they should live on it rent free. +This pleasant arrangement agreeing with the views of a large +proportion of the agriculturists, they entertained him hospitably, and +made no secret of their impatience for the arrival of the happy time +of which he spoke. Unfortunately Thom became involved in some +smuggling transaction, and having been found guilty of perjury in +connection with it, was sentenced to six years' transportation. After +his condemnation it was discovered that he was insane, and his +sentence was not carried out, but he was removed from Maidstone gaol +to the county lunatic asylum, where he remained four years. In 1837 he +was released by Lord John Russell, who considered that he was +sufficiently recovered to be delivered up to the care of his friends. +They, however, failed to discharge their duty efficiently; and in +1838, Thom reappeared in Kent, conducting himself more extravagantly +than ever. The farmers and others supplied him with money, and he +moved about the county delivering inflammatory harangues in the towns +and villages--harangues in which he assured his auditors that if they +followed his advice they should have good living and large estates, as +he had great influence at court, and was to sit at her majesty's right +hand on the day of the coronation. He told the poor that they were +oppressed and down-trodden by the laws of the land, and invited them +to place themselves under his command, and he would procure them +redress. Moreover, he assured those whose religious convictions were +disturbed, that he was the Saviour of the world; and in order to +convince them, pointed to certain punctures in his hands, as those +inflicted by the nails of the cross, and to a scar on his side, as the +wound which had discharged blood and water. By these representations +he succeeded in attaching nearly a hundred people to himself. + +On the 28th of May he set out at the head of his tatterdemalion band +from the village of Boughton, and proceeded to Fairbrook. Here a pole +was procured, and a flag of white and blue, representing a rampant +lion, was raised as the banner which was to lead them to victory. +From Fairbrook they marched in a kind of triumphal procession round +the neighbouring district, until a farmer of Bossenden, provoked by +having his men seduced from their employment by Thom's oratory, made +an application for his apprehension. A local constable named Mears, +assisted by two others, proceeded to arrest the crazy impostor. After +a brief parley, Thom asked which was the constable; and on being +informed by Mears that he held that position, produced a pistol, and +shot the unoffending representative of the law, afterwards stabbing +him with a dagger. The wounds were almost immediately fatal, and the +body was tossed into a ditch. The remaining constables fled to the +magistrates who had authorised them to make the capture, and reported +the state of affairs. When the intelligence of Mears's death spread +abroad, the general indignation and excitement was very great, and a +messenger was despatched to fetch some soldiers from Canterbury. A +military party soon arrived, but their approach had been heralded to +Thom and his strolling vagrants, who had betaken themselves to the +recesses of Bossenden wood, where the _soi-disant_ Sir William, by his +wild gesticulations and harangues, roused his adherents to a pitch of +desperate fury. To show his own valour, as soon as the soldiers, who +were intended rather to overawe than injure the mob appeared, he +strode out from among his ignorant attendants, and deliberately shot +Lieutenant Bennett of the 45th regiment, who was in advance of his +party. The lieutenant fell dead on the spot. The soldiers, excited by +the murder of their leader, immediately returned the fire, and Thom +was one of the first killed. As he fell, he exclaimed, "I have Jesus +in my heart!" Ten of his adherents shared his fate, and many were +severely wounded. Some of the more prominent among his followers were +subsequently arrested, tried, and found guilty of participating in +Bennett's murder. Two of them were sentenced to transportation for +life; one had ten years' transportation, while six expiated their +offences by a year's imprisonment in the House of Correction. + + + + +JAMES ANNESLEY--CALLING HIMSELF EARL OF ANGLESEA. + + +Arthur Annesley, Viscount Valencia, who founded the families both of +Anglesea and Altham, was one of the staunchest adherents of Charles +II., and had a considerable hand in bringing about his restoration to +the throne. Immediately after that event his efforts were rewarded by +an English peerage--his title being Baron Annesley of Newport-Pagnel, +in the county of Buckingham and Earl of Angelsea. Besides this honour +he obtained the more substantial gift of large tracts of land in +Ireland. The first peer had five sons. James Annesley, the eldest son, +having married the daughter of the Earl of Rutland, and having been +constituted heir of all his father's English real property, and a +great part of his Irish estates, the old earl became desirous of +establishing a second noble family in the sister kingdom, and +succeeded in procuring the elevation of his second son Altham to the +Irish peerage as Baron Altham of Altham, with remainder, on failure of +male issue, to Richard his third son. + +Altham, Lord Altham, died without issue, and the title and estates +accordingly devolved upon Richard, who, dying in 1701, left two sons, +named respectively Arthur and Richard. The new peer, in 1706, espoused +Mary Sheffield, a natural daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, against +the wishes of his relatives. He lived with his wife in England for two +or three years, but was at last obliged to flee to Ireland from his +creditors, leaving Lady Altham behind him in the care of his mother +and sisters. These ladies, who cordially hated her, set about ruining +her reputation, and soon induced her weak and dissipated husband to +sue for a divorce, but, as proof was not forthcoming, the case was +dismissed. Thereupon his lordship showed a disposition to become +reconciled to his wife, and she accordingly went over to Dublin in +October 1713; and through the good offices of a friend a +reconciliation was effected, and the re-united couple, after a +temporary residence in Dublin, went to live at Lord Altham's country +seat of Dunmain, in the county of Wexford. Here, in April or May 1715, +Lady Altham bore a son, which was given to a peasant woman, named Joan +Landy, to nurse. At first the young heir was suckled by this woman at +the mansion, and afterwards at the cabin of her father, less than a +mile from Dunmain. In order to make this residence a little more +suitable for the child it was considerably improved externally and +internally, and a coach road was constructed between it and Dunmain +House, so that Lady Altham might be able frequently to visit her son. + +Soon after the birth of the child Lord Altham's dissipation and his +debts increased, and he proposed to the Duke of Buckingham that he +should settle a jointure on Lady Altham, and for this purpose the pair +visited Dublin. The effort was unsuccessful, as the estate was found +to be covered by prior securities; and Lord Altham, in a fury, ordered +his wife back to Dunmain, while he remained behind in the Irish +capital. On his return his spite against her seemed to have revived, +and not only did he insult her in his drunken debauches, but contrived +an abominable plot to damage her reputation. Some time in February +1717, a loutish fellow named Palliser, who was intimate at the house, +was called up to Lady Altham's apartment, on the pretence that she +wished to speak to him. Lord Altham and his servants immediately +followed; my lord stormed and swore, and dragged the supposed seducer +into the dining-room, where he cut off part of one of his ears, and +immediately afterwards kicked him out of the house. A separation +ensued, and on the same day Lady Altham went to live at New Ross. + +Before leaving her own home she had begged hard to be allowed to take +her child with her, but was sternly refused, and at the same time the +servants were instructed not to carry him near her. The boy therefore +remained at Dunmain under the care of a dry nurse, but, +notwithstanding his father's injunctions, was frequently taken to his +mother by some of the domestics, who pitied her forlorn condition. +When he came to an age to go to school, he was sent to several +well-known seminaries, and was attended by a servant both on his way +to them and from them; "was clothed in scarlet, with a laced hat and +feather;" and was universally recognised as the legitimate son and +heir of Lord Altham. + +Towards the end of 1722, Lord Altham--who had by this time picked up a +mistress named Miss Gregory--removed to Dublin, and sent for his son +to join him. He seemed very fond of the boy, and the woman Gregory for +a time pretended to share in this affection, until she conceived the +idea of supplanting him. She easily persuaded her weak-minded lover to +go through the form of marriage with her, under the pretence that his +wife was dead, took the title of Lady Altham, and fancied that some of +her own possible brood might succeed to the title, for the estates +were by this time well-nigh gone. With this purpose in her mind she +used her influence against the boy, and at last got him turned out of +the house and sent to a poor school; but it is, at least, so far +creditable to his father to say, that he did not quite forget him, +that he gave instructions that he should be well treated, and that he +sometimes went to see him. + +Lord Altham's creditors, as has been stated, were very clamorous, and +his brother Richard was practically a beggar: they were both sadly in +want of money, and only one way remained to procure it. If the boy +were out of the way, considerable sums might be raised by his lordship +by the sale of reversions, in conjunction with the remainder-man in +tail, who would in that case have been Lord Altham's needy brother +Richard. Consequently the real heir was removed to the house of one +Kavanagh, where he was kept for several months closely confined, and +in the meantime it was industriously given out that he was dead. The +boy, however, found means to escape from his confinement, and, +prowling up and down the streets, made the acquaintance of all the +idle boys in Dublin. Any odd work which came in his way he readily +performed; and although he was a butt for the gamins and an object of +pity to the town's-people, few thought of denying his identity or +disputing his legitimacy. Far from being unknown, he became a +conspicuous character in Dublin; and although, from his roaming +proclivities, it was impossible to do much to help him, the citizens +in the neighbourhood of the college were kindly disposed towards him, +supplied him with food and a little money, and vented their abuse in +unmeasured terms against his father. + +In 1727 Lord Altham died in such poverty that it is recorded that he +was buried at the public expense. After his death, his brother Richard +seized all his papers and usurped the title. The real heir then seems +to have been stirred out of his slavish life, and declaimed loudly +against this usurpation of his rights, but his complaints were +unavailing, and, although they provoked a certain clamour, did little +to restore him to his honours. However, they reached his uncle, who +resolved to put him out of the way. The first attempt to seize him +proved a failure, although personally superintended by the uncle +himself; but young Annesley was so frightened by it that he concealed +himself from public observation, and thus gave grounds for a +rumour--which was industriously circulated--that he was dead. +Notwithstanding his caution, however, he was seized in March 1727, and +conveyed on board a ship bound for Newcastle in America, and on his +arrival there was sold as a slave to a planter named Drummond. + +The story of his American adventures was originally published in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_, and has since been rehearsed by modern +writers. It seems that Drummond, who was a tyrannical fellow, set his +new slave to fell timber, and finding his strength unequal to the +work, punished him severely. The unaccustomed toil and the brutality +of his master told upon his health, and he began to sink under his +misfortunes, when he found a comforter in an old female slave who had +herself been kidnapped, and who, being a person of some education, not +only endeavoured to console him, but also to instruct him. She +sometimes wrote short pieces of instructive history on bits of paper, +and these she left with him in the field. In order to read them he +often neglected his work, and, as a consequence, incurred Drummond's +increased displeasure, and aggravated his own position. His old friend +died after four years, and after her death, his life having become +intolerable, he resolved to run away. He was then seventeen years of +age, and strong and nimble, and having armed himself with a +hedging-bill, he set out. For three days he wandered in the woods +until he came to a river, and espied a town on its banks. Although +faint from want of food, he was afraid to venture into it until +night-fall, and lay down under a tree to await the course of events. +At dusk he perceived two horsemen approaching--the one having a woman +behind him on a pillion, while the other bore a well-filled +portmanteau. Just as they reached his hiding-place, the former, who +was evidently the second man's master, said to the lady that the place +where they were was an excellent one for taking some refreshment; and +bread and meat and wine having been produced from the saddle-bags, the +three sat down on the ground to enjoy their repast. Annesley, who was +famished, approached closer and closer, until he was discovered by the +servant, who, exclaiming to his master that they were betrayed, rushed +at the new comer with his drawn sword. Annesley, however, succeeded in +convincing them of his innocence, and they not only supplied him with +food, but told him that they were going to Apoquenimink to embark for +Holland, and that, out of pity for his misfortunes, they would procure +him a passage in the same vessel. His hopes were destined to be very +short-lived. The trio re-mounted, and Annesley had followed them for a +short distance painfully on foot, when suddenly horsemen appeared +behind them in chase. There was no time for deliberation. The lady +jumped off and hid herself among the trees. The gentleman and his +servant drew their swords, and Annesley ranged himself beside them +armed with his hedge-bill, determined to help those who had generously +assisted him. The contest was unequal, the fugitives were soon +surrounded, and, with the lady, were bound and carried to Chester +gaol. + +It appeared that the young lady was the daughter of a rich merchant, +and had been compelled to marry a man who was disagreeable to her; and +that, after robbing her husband, she had eloped with a previous lover +who held a social position inferior to her own. All the vindictiveness +of the husband had been aroused; and when the trial took place, the +lady, her lover, and the servant, were condemned to death for the +robbery. James Annesley contrived to prove that he was not connected +with the party, and escaped their fate; but he was remanded to prison, +with orders that he should be exposed to public view every day in the +market-place; and that if it could be proved by any of the frequenters +that he had ever been seen in Chester before, he should be deemed +accessory to the robbery and should suffer death. + +He remained in suspense for five weeks, until Drummond chanced to come +to Chester on business, and, recognising the runaway, claimed him as +his property. The consequence was that the two years which remained of +his period of servitude were doubled; and when he arrived at +Newcastle, Drummond's severity and violence greatly increased. A +complaint of his master's ill-usage was made to the justices, and that +worthy was at last obliged to sell him to another; but Annesley gained +little by the change. For three years he continued with his new owner +in quiet toleration of his lot; but having fallen into conversation +with some sailors bound for Europe, the old desire to see Ireland once +more came upon him, and he ventured a second escape. He was recaptured +before he could gain the ship; and under the order of the court, the +solitary year of his bondage which remained was increased into five. +Under this new blow he sank into a settled state of melancholy, and +seemed so likely to die that his new master had pity upon his +condition, began to treat him with less austerity, and recommended him +to the care of his wife, who often took him into the house, and +recommended her daughter Maria to use him with all kindness. The +damsel exceeded her mother's instructions, and straightway fell in +love with the good-looking young slave, often showing her affection in +a manner which could not be mistaken. Nor was she the only one on +whom his appearance made an impression. A young Iroquis Indian girl, +who shared his servitude, made no secret of her attachment to him, +exhibited her love by assisting him in his work, while she assured him +that if he would marry her when his time of bondage was past, she +would work so hard as to save him the expense of two slaves. In vain +Annesley rejected her advances, and tried to explain to her the +hopelessness of her desires. She persistently dogged his footsteps, +and was never happy but in his sight. Her rival Maria, no less eager +to secure his affection, used to stray to the remote fields in which +she knew he worked, and on one occasion encountered the Indian girl, +who was also bent upon visiting him. The hot-blooded Indian then lost +her self-control, and, having violently assaulted her young mistress, +sprang into the river close by, and thus ended her love and her life +together. + +Maria, who had been seriously abused, was carried home and put to bed, +and her father naturally demanded some explanation of the +extraordinary quarrel which had cost him a slave and very nearly a +daughter. The other slaves had no hesitation in recounting what they +had seen, or of saying what they thought, and the truth came out. +Annesley's master was, however, resolved to be certain, and sent him +into her room, while he and his wife listened to what passed at the +interview. Their stratagem had the desired success. They heard their +daughter express the most violent passion, which was in no way +returned by their slave. As they could not but acknowledge his +honourable feeling and action, they resolved to take no notice of what +had passed, but for their daughter's sake to give him his liberty. +Next day his master accompanied him to Dover; but instead of releasing +him--as he had promised his wife--sold him to a planter near +Chichester for the remainder of his term. + +After various ups and downs, he was transferred to a planter in +Newcastle county, whose house was almost within sight of Drummond's +plantation. While in this employ he discovered that he was tracked by +the brothers of the Indian girl, who had sworn to avenge her untimely +fate, and nearly fell a victim to their rage, having been wounded by +one of them who lay in wait for him. By another accident, while he was +resting under a hedge which divided his master's ground from a +neighbouring plantation, he fell asleep, and did not awake until it +was perfectly dark. He was aroused by the sound of voices, and on +listening found that his mistress and Stephano, a slave on another +farm, were plotting to rob his master, and to flee together to Europe. +Repressing his desire to reveal the whole scheme to his master, he +took the first opportunity of informing his mistress that her infamy +was discovered, and that if she persevered in her design he would be +compelled to reveal all that he had overheard. The woman at first +pretended the utmost repentance, and not only earnestly promised that +she would never repeat her conduct, but by many excessive acts of +kindness led him to believe that her unlawful passion had changed its +object. Finding, however, that she could not prevail upon him either +to wink at her misdeeds or gratify her desires, she endeavoured to get +rid of him by poison; and an attempt having been made upon his life, +Annesley resolved once more to risk an escape, although the time of +his servitude had almost expired. + +On this occasion he was successful; and having made his way in a +trading ship to Jamaica, got on board the "Falmouth," one of his +Majesty's ships, and declared himself an Irish nobleman. His arrival, +of course, created a great stir in the fleet, and the affair came to +the ears of Admiral Vernon, who, having satisfied himself that his +pretensions were at least reasonable, ordered him to be well treated, +wrote to the Duke of Newcastle about him, and sent him home to +England. He arrived in October 1741. His uncle Richard had in the +meantime succeeded, through default of issue, to the honours of +Anglesea, as well as those of Altham, and became seriously alarmed at +the presence of this pretender on English soil. At first he asserted +that the claimant, although undoubtedly the son of his deceased +brother, was the bastard child of a kitchen wench. He next tried to +effect a compromise with him, and subsequently endeavoured to procure +his conviction on a charge of murder. It is also said that assassins +were hired to kill him. But it is certainly true that Annesley having +accidentally shot a man near Staines, the Earl of Anglesea spared +neither pains nor money to have him condemned. He was tried at the Old +Bailey, and being acquitted by the jury, proceeded to Ireland to +prosecute his claim to the Altham estates. On his arrival at Dunmain +and New Ross, he was very warmly received by many of the peasantry. +His first attempt to secure redress was by an action at law. An action +for ejectment was brought in the Court of Exchequer in Ireland for a +small estate in the county of Meath, and a bill was at the same time +filed in the Court of Chancery of Great Britain for the recovery of +the English estates. + +In Trinity term 1743, when everything was ready for a trial at the +next ensuing assizes, a trial at bar was appointed on the application +of the agents of the Earl of Anglesea. The case began on the 11th of +November 1743, at the bar of the Court of Exchequer in Dublin, being, +as is noted in Howell's _State Trials_, "the longest trial ever known, +lasting fifteen days, and the jury (most of them) gentlemen of the +greatest property in Ireland, and almost all members of parliament." A +verdict was found for the claimant, with 6d. damages and 6d. costs. A +writ of error was at once lodged on the other side, but on appeal the +judgment of the Court below was affirmed. Immediately after the trial +and verdict, the claimant petitioned his Majesty for his seat in the +Houses of Peers of both kingdoms; but delay after delay took place, +and he finally became so impoverished that he could no longer +prosecute his claims. + +James Annesley was twice married; but although he had a son by each +marriage, neither of them grew to manhood. He died on the 5th of +January 1760. + + + + +CAPTAIN HANS-FRANCIS HASTINGS, CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF HUNTINGDON. + + +The earldom of Huntingdon was granted by King Henry VIII. to George, +Lord Hastings, on the 8th of November 1529. The first peer left five +sons, of whom the eldest succeeded to the title on his father's +decease; but notwithstanding the multiplicity of heirs-male, and the +chances of a prolonged existence, the title lapsed in 1789, on the +death of Francis, the tenth earl, who never was married. + +In 1817, there was living at Enniskillen, in Ireland, an ordnance +store-keeper called Captain Hans-Francis Hastings, and this gentleman +there made the acquaintance of a solicitor named Mr. Nugent Bell, who, +like himself, was ardently devoted to field-sports. The friendship +subsisting between the pair was of the closest kind; and it having +been whispered about that the captain had made a sort of side-claim to +the earldom of Huntingdon, Mr. Bell questioned him about the truth of +the rumour. As it turned out, the circumstantial part of the story was +totally false; but it nevertheless was a fact that Captain Hastings +had a faint idea that he had some right to the dormant peerage. +However, as he said himself, he had been sent early to sea, had been +long absent from his native country, and had little really valuable +information as to his family history. He said that his uncle, the Rev. +Theophilus Hastings, rector of Great and Little Leke, had always +endeavoured to impress upon him that he was the undoubted heir to the +title, and that fourteen years previously he had himself so far +entertained the notion as to pay a visit to College of Arms in London, +to learn the proper steps to be taken to establish his claim; but that +when he was told that the cost of the process would be at least three +thousand guineas, he abandoned all notion of legal proceedings, which +were simply impossible because of his scanty resources. Mrs. Hastings, +who was present during the conversation, contributed all that she +knew respecting the whimsical old clergyman who had so carefully +instructed his nephew to consider himself a peer in prospective, and +particularly pointed out that the old gentleman entertained an +irreconcileable hatred of the Marquis of Hastings. It seemed also that +some time after the last earl's death, the Rev. Mr. Hastings had +assumed the title of Earl of Huntingdon, and that a stone pillar had +been erected in front of the parsonage-house at Leke, on which there +was a metal plate bearing a Latin inscription, to the effect that he +was the eleventh Earl of Huntingdon, godson of Theophilus the ninth +earl, and entitled to the earldom by descent. + +These reminiscences and suspicions could not have been poured into +more attentive ears. Mr. Bell had long been a student of heraldry, and +saw an opportunity not only of benefiting his friend, but of +signalizing himself. Accordingly he undertook to investigate the +matter, and offered, in the event of failure, to bear the whole of the +attendant expense, simply premising that, if he succeeded, he should +be recouped. On the 1st of July a letter passed between Captain +Hastings and Mr. Bell, which shows the sentiments of both parties. This +is it:-- + + "MY DEAR BELL,--I will pay you all costs in case you succeed in + proving me the legal heir to the Earldom of Huntingdon. If not, the + risk is your own; and I certainly will not be answerable for any + expense you may incur in the course of the investigation. But I pledge + myself to assist you by letters, and whatever information I can + collect, to the utmost of my power; and remain very sincerely yours, + F. HASTINGS." + "Nugent Bell, Esq." + +On the back of this letter Captain Hastings wrote: + + "By all that's good, you are mad." + +On the 17th of August Mr. Bell sailed for England, and proceeded to +Castle Donnington, where he had a very unsatisfactory interview with a +solicitor named Dalby, who had long been in the employment of the +Hastings family. Bit by bit, however, he picked up information, and +every addition seemed to render the claim of the Enniskillen captain +stronger, until at last Bell drew up a case which met the unqualified +approval of Sir Samuel Romilly, who said, "I do not conceive that it +will be necessary to employ counsel to prepare the petition which is +to be presented to the Prince-Regent. All that it will be requisite to +do is to state that the first earl was created by letters-patent to +him and the heirs-male of his body; and the fact of the death of the +last Earl of Huntingdon having left the petitioner the heir-male of +the body of the first earl, surviving him, together with the manner in +which he makes out his descent; and to pray that his Royal Highness +will be pleased to give directions that a writ of summons should issue +to call him up to the House of Lords." A petition was accordingly +prepared in this sense, and was submitted to the Attorney-General, Sir +Samuel Shepherd, who made the recommendation as suggested. After the +Attorney-General's report had received the approbation of the Lord +Chancellor, the Prince-Regent signed the royal warrant, and Captain +Hastings took his place in the House of Lords as Earl of Huntingdon. + + + + +REBOK--THE COUNTERFEIT VOLDEMAR, ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG. + + +Voldemar II., Marquis and Elector of Brandenburg, actuated by a fit of +devotion, set out from his dominions in 1322 on a pilgrimage to the +Holy Land, leaving his brother John IV. to rule in his absence. He +left no clue as to his intended route; but simply announcing his +purpose of visiting the sacred shrines of Palestine, started on his +journey accompanied by only two esquires. Four-and-twenty days after +his departure his brother John sickened and died--not without +suspicions of foul play--and Louis of Bavaria, then possessing the +empire, presented the electorate to his own eldest son as a vacant +fief of Germany. The change was quietly effected; but in 1345 a man +suddenly appeared as from the dead, proclaiming himself the missing +Voldemar, and demanding the restoration of his rights. He was of about +the same age as the elector would have been, and the story which he +told of captivity among the Saracens was sufficient to account for any +perceptible change in his gait and appearance, and in the colour of +his hair. Those who were interested in opposing his claim stoutly +asserted that he was a miller of Landreslaw, called Rebok, and that he +was a creature of the Duke of Saxony, who coveted the Brandenburgian +possessions, and who, being a relative of the family, had thoroughly +instructed him as to the private life of Voldemar. His plausibility, +and the accuracy of his answers, however, led many persons of +influence to believe that he was no counterfeit. The Emperor Charles +IV. (of Bohemia), the Primate of Germany, the Princes of Anhalt, and +the Dukes of Brunswick, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and Saxony, all +supported his pretensions; the most of the nobility of the marquisate +acknowledged him to be their prince; and the common people, either +touched with the hardships he was said to have suffered, or wearied of +Bavarian rule, lent him money to acquire his rights and drive out +Louis. All the cities declared for him except Frankfort-on-the-Oder, +Spandau, and Brisac, and war was at once begun. The victory at first +rested with the so-called Voldemar; many of the towns opened their +gates to him; and his rival Louis fled to his estates in the Tyrol, +leaving the electorate to his two brothers--a disposition which was +confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV. in 1350. There are two versions +of the death of Voldemar. Lunclavius asserts that he was finally +captured and burnt alive for his imposture; while De Rocoles maintains +that he died at Dessau in 1354, nine years after his return, and was +buried in the tombs of the Princes of Anhalt. The general impression, +however, is that he was an impostor. + + + + +ARNOLD DU TILH--THE PRETENDED MARTIN GUERRE. + + +There are few cases in the long list of French _causes célèbres_ more +remarkable than that of the alleged Martin Guerre. This individual, +who was more greatly distinguished by his adventures than by his +virtues, was a Biscayan, and at the very juvenile age of eleven was +married to a girl called Bertrande de Rols. For eight or nine years +Martin and his wife lived together without issue from their marriage, +notwithstanding masses said, consecrated wafers eaten by the wife and +charms employed by the husband to drive away the bewitchment under +which he supposed himself to labour. But in the tenth year after the +marriage a son was born, and was named Sanxi. The father's joy was of +brief duration; for having been guilty of defrauding his own father of +a quantity of corn, he was compelled to abscond to avoid the paternal +rage and the probable consequences of a prosecution. It was at first +intended that he should only stay away until the family difficulty +blew over. But Martin, once gone, was not so easily persuaded to come +back, and eight long years elapsed before his wife saw his face. At +the end of that time he suddenly returned, and was received with open +arms by Bertrande, who was congratulated by her husband's four +sisters, his uncle, and her own relations. The re-united pair lived +together at Artigues for three years in apparent peace and happiness, +and during this period two children were born to them. But suddenly +the wife Bertrande appeared before the magistrates of Rieux, and +lodged a complaint against her husband, praying "that he might be +condemned to make satisfaction to the king for a breach of his laws; +to demand pardon of God, the king, and herself, in his shirt, with a +lighted torch in his hand; declaring that he had falsely, rashly, and +traitorously imposed upon her in assuming the name and passing himself +upon her for Martin Guerre." + +The affair created no small stir in the neighbourhood, and the gossips +were driven to their wits' end to explain it. Some asserted that, +either through an old grudge or a recent quarrel, she had adopted this +method of getting quit of her husband, while others maintained that +she was naturally a woman of undecided character and opinions, and +that, as at first she had been easily persuaded that this man was her +husband, she had acted latterly on the suggestions and advice of Peter +Guerre, her husband's uncle, who pretended to have discovered that he +was an impostor, and had recommended her to apply to the authorities. +The accused himself staunchly maintained that the charge was the +result of a conspiracy between his wife and his uncle, and that the +latter had contrived the plot with a view to possess himself of his +effects. That no doubt might remain as to his identity he gave an +outline of his personal history from the time of his flight from home +to the time of his arrest, stating the reasons which induced him to +leave his wife in the first instance, and his adventures during his +absence. He said that for seven or eight years he had served the king +in the wars; that he had then enlisted in the Spanish army; and that, +having returned home, longing to see his wife and children, he had +been welcomed without hesitation by his relations and acquaintances, +and even by Peter Guerre, notwithstanding the alteration which time +and camp-life had made in his appearance. He declared, moreover, that +his uncle had persistently quarrelled with him since his return, that +blows had frequently been exchanged between them, and that thus an +evil _animus_ had been created against him. + +In answer to the interrogatories of the judge, he unhesitatingly told +the leading circumstances of his earlier life, mentioning trivial +details, giving prominent dates glibly, and showing the utmost +familiarity with petty as with important matters of family history. As +far as his marriage was concerned, he named the persons who were +present at the nuptials, those who dined with them, their different +dresses, the priest who performed the ceremony, all the little +circumstances that happened that day and the next, and even named the +people who presided at the bedding. And, as if the official +interrogatory were not sufficiently complete, he spoke, of his own +accord, of his son Sanxi, and of the day he was born; of his own +departure, of the persons he met on the road, of the towns he had +passed through in France and Spain, and of people with whom he had +become acquainted in both kingdoms. + +Nearly a hundred and fifty witnesses were examined in the cause, and +of these between thirty and forty deposed that the accused really was +Martin Guerre; that they had known him and had spoken to him from his +infancy; that they were perfectly acquainted with his person, manner, +and tone of voice; and that, moreover, they were convinced of his +identity by certain scars and marks on his person. + +On the other hand, a greater number of persons asserted as positively +that the man before them was one Arnold du Tilh, of Sagais, and was +commonly called Pansette; while nearly sixty of the witnesses--who had +known both men--declared that there was so strong a resemblance +between these two persons that it was impossible for them to declare +positively whether the accused was Martin Guerre or Arnold du Tilh. + +In this dilemma the judge ordered two inquiries--one with regard to +the likeness or unlikeness of Sanxi Guerre to the accused, and the +other as to the resemblance existing between the child and the sisters +of Martin Guerre. It was reported that the boy bore no resemblance to +the prisoner, but that he was very like his father's sisters, and upon +this evidence the judge pronounced the prisoner guilty, and sentenced +him to be beheaded and quartered. + +But the public of the neighbourhood not being so easily satisfied as +the criminal judge of Rieux, and unable to comprehend the grounds of +the decision, became clamorous, and an appeal was made on behalf of +the convict to the Parliament of Toulouse. That Assembly ordered the +wife (Bertrande de Rols) and the uncle (Peter Guerre) to be confronted +separately with the man whom they accused of being an impostor, and +when the parties were thus placed face to face, the so-called Arnold +du Tilh maintained a calm demeanour, spoke with an air of assurance +and truth, and answered the questions put to him promptly and +correctly. On the other hand, the confusion of Peter Guerre and +Bertrande de Rols was so great as to create strong suspicions of their +honesty. New witnesses were called, but they only served to complicate +matters; for out of thirty, nine or ten were convinced that the +accused was Martin Guerre, seven or eight were as positive that he was +Arnold du Tilh, and the rest would give no distinct affirmation either +one way or another. + +When the testimony came to be analysed, it was seen that forty-five +witnesses, in all, had asserted in the most positive terms that the +man presented to them was not Guerre, but Du Tilh, which they said +they were the better able to do, because they had known both men +intimately, had eaten and drank with them, and conversed with them at +intervals from the days of their common childhood. Most of these +witnesses agreed that Martin Guerre was taller and of a darker +complexion, that he was of slender make and had round shoulders, that +his chin forked and turned up, his lower lip hung down, his nose was +large and flat, and that he had the mark of an ulcer on his face, and +a scar on his right eyebrow, whereas Arnold du Tilh was a short +thickish man who did not stoop, although at the same time similar +marks were on his face. + +Among others who were called was the shoemaker who made shoes for the +undisputed Martin Guerre, and he swore that Martin's foot was three +sizes larger than that of the accused. Another declared that Martin +was an expert fencer and wrestler, whereas this man knew little of +manly exercises; and many deponed "that Arnold du Tilh had from his +infancy the most wicked inclinations, and that subsequently he had +been hardened in wickedness, a great pilferer and swearer, a defier of +God, and a blasphemer: consequently in every way capable of the crime +laid to his charge; and that an obstinate persisting to act a false +part was precisely suitable to his character." + +But the opinion on the other side was quite as firm. Martin Guerre's +four sisters had no hesitation in declaring that the accused was their +brother, the people who were present at Martin's wedding with +Bertrande de Rols deposed in his favour, and about forty persons in +all agreed that Martin Guerre had two scars on his face, that his left +eye was bloodshot, the nail of his first finger grown in, and that he +had three warts on his right hand, and another on his little finger. +Similar marks were shown by the accused. Evidence was given to show +that a plot was being concocted by Peter Guerre and his sons-in-law to +ruin the new comer, and the Parliament of Toulouse was as yet +undecided as to its sentence, tending rather to acquit the prisoner +than affirm his conviction, when most unexpectedly the real Martin +Guerre appeared on the scene. + +He was interrogated by the judges as to the same facts to which the +accused had spoken, but his answers, although true, were neither so +full nor satisfactory as those which the other man had given. When the +two were placed face to face, Arnold du Tilh vehemently denounced the +last arrival as an impostor in the pay of Peter Guerre, and expressed +himself content to be hanged if he did not yet unravel the whole +mystery. Nor did he confine himself to vituperation, but +cross-questioned Martin as to private family circumstances, and only +received hesitating and imperfect answers to his questions. The +commissioners having directed Arnold to withdraw, put several +questions to Martin that were new, and his answers were very full and +satisfactory; then they called for Arnold again, and questioned him as +to the same points, and he answered with the same exactness, "so that +some began to think there was witchcraft in the case." + +It was then directed, since two claimants had appeared, that the four +sisters of Martin Guerre, the husbands of two of them, Peter Guerre, +the brothers of Arnold du Tilh, and those who recognised him as the +real man, should be called upon and obliged to fix on the true +Martin. Guerre's eldest sister was first summoned, and she, after a +momentary glance, ran to the new comer and embraced him, crying, as +the report goes, "Oh, my brother Martin Guerre, I acknowledge the +error into which this abominable traitor drew me, and also all the +inhabitants of Artigues." The rest also identified him; and his wife, +who was the last of all, was as demonstrative as the others. "She had +no sooner cast her eyes on Martin Guerre than, bursting into tears, +and trembling like a leaf, she ran to embrace him, and begged his +pardon for suffering herself to be seduced by the artifices of a +wretch. She then pleaded for herself, in the most innocent and artless +manner, that she had been led away by his credulous sisters, who had +owned the impostor; that the strong passion she had for him, and her +ardent desire to see him again, helped on the cheat, in which she was +confirmed by the tokens that traitor had given, and the recital of so +many peculiarities which could be known only to her husband; that as +soon as her eyes were open she wished that the horrors of death might +hide those of her fault, and that she would have laid violent hands on +herself if the fear of God had not withheld her; that not being able +to bear the dreadful thought of having lost her honour and reputation, +she had recourse to vengeance, and put the impostor into the hands of +justice;" and, moreover, that she was as anxious as ever that the +rascal should die. + +Martin, however, was not to be moved by her appeals, alleging that "a +wife has more ways of knowing a husband than a father, a mother, and +all his relations put together; nor is it possible she should be +imposed on unless she has an inclination to be deceived;" and even the +persuasions of the commissioners could not move him from his decision. + +The doubts being at last dissipated, the accused Arnold du Tilh was +condemned "to make _amende honorable_ in the market-place of Artigues +in his shirt, his head and feet bare, a halter about his neck, and +holding in his hands a lighted waxen torch; to demand pardon of God, +the king, and the justice of the nation, of the said Martin Guerre, +and De Rols, his wife; and this being done, to be delivered into the +hands of the capital executioner, who, after making him pass through +the streets of Artigues with a rope about his neck, at last should +bring him before the house of Martin Guerre, where, on a gallows +expressly set up, he should be hanged, and where his body should +afterwards be burnt." It was further ordered that such property as he +had should be devoted to the maintenance of the child which had been +born to him by Bertrande de Rols. + +At the same time, the court had very serious thoughts of punishing +Martin Guerre, because his abandonment of his wife had led to the +mischief, and his desertion of his country's flag seemed to merit +censure. It was, however, finally decided that when he ran away he +"acted rather from levity than malice;" and as he had entered the +Spanish army in a roundabout way, and after considerable persuasion, +that the loss of his leg in that service was sufficient punishment. +The guilt of his wife, Bertrande de Rols, was thought even more +apparent, and that a woman could be deceived in her husband was a +proposition few could digest. Yet, as the woman's life-long character +was good, and it spoke well for her that not only the population of +Artigues, but also the man's four sisters, had shared her delusion, it +was finally determined to discharge her. + +Arnold de Tilh, the impostor, was carried back to Artigues for the +execution of his sentence, and there made a full confession. He said +that the crime had been accidentally suggested to his mind; that on +his way home from the camp in Picardy he was constantly mistaken for +Martin Guerre by Martin's friends; that from them he learned many +circumstances respecting the family and the doings of the man himself; +and that, having previously been an intimate and confidential comrade +of Guerre in the army, he was able to maintain his imposture. His +sentence was carried out in all its severity in 1560. + + + + +PIERRE MÊGE--THE FICTITIOUS DE CAILLE. + + +Scipio Le Brun, of Castellane, a Provençal gentleman, and lord of the +manors of Caille and of Rougon, in 1655 married a young lady called +Judith le Gouche. As is common in France, and also in certain parts of +Britain, this local squire was best known by the name of his estates, +and was commonly termed the Sieur de Caille. Both he and his wife +belonged to the strictest sect of the Calvinists, who were by no means +favourites in the country. Their usual residence was at Manosque, a +little village in Provence, and there five children were born to them, +of whom three were sons and two were daughters. The two youngest sons +died at an early age, and Isaac, the eldest, after living to the age +of thirty-two, died also. + +When this Isaac, who has just been mentioned, was a lad of fifteen, +his mother died, and in her will constituted him her heir, at the same +time bequeathing legacies to her daughters, and granting the life +interest of all her property to her husband. The King having revoked +the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the Sieur de Caille quitted the kingdom +with his family, which then consisted of his mother, his son Isaac, +and his two daughters. The fugitives made their home in Lausanne, in +Switzerland. In 1689 the French king, in the zeal of his Catholicism, +issued a decree, by which he bestowed the property of the Calvinist +fugitives upon their relations. The possessions of the Sieur de Caille +were therefore divided between Anne de Gouche, his wife's sister, who +had married M. Rolland, the _Avocat-Général_ of the Supreme Court of +Dauphiné, and Madame Tardivi, a relation on his own side. + +Meantime Isaac, the son of the Sieur de Caille, who was by courtesy +styled the Sieur de Rougon, assiduously applied himself to his +studies, and, as the result of over-work, fell into a consumption, of +which he died at Vevay on the 15th of February 1696. + +In March 1699, Pierre Mêge, a marine, presented himself before M. de +Vauvray, the intendant of marines at Toulon, and informed him that he +was the son of M. de Caille, at the same time telling the following +story. He said that he had had the misfortune to be an object of +aversion to his father because of his dislike to study, and because of +his ill-concealed attachment to the Catholic religion; that his father +had always exhibited his antipathy to him, and, while he was at +Lausanne, had frequently maltreated him; that rather than submit to +the paternal violence he had often run away from home, but had been +brought back again by officious friends, who met him in his flight; +that he had at last succeeded in making his escape, by the aid of a +servant, in December 1690; that, in order to avoid recapture, and to +satisfy his own desire to become a member of the Catholic Church, he +had formed the design of returning into Provence; that on his homeward +way he had been stopped by the Savoyard troops, who compelled him to +enlist in their ranks; and that he had subsequently been captured by +some French soldiers. He added that M. de Catinat, who commanded this +part of the French army, and to whom he had presented himself as the +son of M. de Caille, had given him a free pass; that he had arrived at +Nice, and had enlisted in the Provençal militia; and that having been +on duty one day at the residence of the governor, he had seen a silver +goblet carried past him which bore arms of his family, and which he +recognised as a portion of the plate which his father had sold in +order to procure the means to fly into Switzerland. The sight of this +vessel stirred up old recollections, and he burst into such a violent +paroxysm of grief that the attention of his comrades was attracted, +and they demanded the cause of his tears, whereupon he told them his +story, and pointed out the same arms impressed on his _cachet_. This +tale came to the ears of the Chevalier de la Fare, who then commanded +at Nice, and after a hasty investigation he treated his subordinate +with excessive courtesy, evidently believing him to be the man whom he +represented himself to be. + +The militia having been disbanded, the claimant to manorial rights +and broad estates repaired to Marseilles, where he fell in with a +woman called Honorade Venelle, who was residing with her mother and +two sisters-in-law. The morality of these females seems to have been +of the slightest description; and Henriade Venelle had no hesitation +in yielding to a proposal of this infamous soldier that he should +represent her husband, who was at the time serving his king and +country in the ranks of the army. The easy spouse drew no distinctions +between the real and the supposititious husband, and the latter not +only assumed the name of Pierre Mêge, but collected such debts as were +due to him, and gave receipts which purported to bear his signature. +In 1695 he enlisted under the name of Mêge, on board the galley "La +Fidèle"--a ship in which the veritable Mêge was known to have been a +marine from 1676--and served for nearly three years, when he was again +dismissed. In order to eke out a temporary livelihood he sold a +balsam, the recipe for which he declared had been given him by his +grandmother Madame de Caille. He made little by this move, and was +compelled once more to enlist at Toulon; and here it was that he met +M. de Vauvray, and told him his wonderful story. + +The intendant of marines listened to the tale with open ears, and +recommended his subordinate to make an open profession of his adhesion +to the Romish Church as a first step towards the restitution of his +rights. The soldier was nothing loth to accept this advice, and after +being three weeks under the tutelage of the Jesuits, he publicly +abjured the Calvinistic creed in the Cathedral of Toulon, on the 10th +of June 1699. + +In his act of abjuration he took the name of André d'Entrevergues, the +son of Scipio d'Entrevergues, Sieur de Caille, and of Madame Susanne +de Caille, his wife. He stated that he was twenty-three years of age, +and that he did not know how to write. The falsehood of his story was, +therefore, plainly apparent from the beginning. The eldest son of the +Sieur de Caille was called Isaac and not André; the soldier took the +name of d'Entrevergues, and gave it to the father, while the family +name was Brun de Castellane; he called his mother Susanne de Caille, +whereas her maiden name was Judith le Gouche. He said that he was +twenty-three years of age, while the real son of the Sieur de Caille +ought to have been thirty-five; and he did not know how to write, +while numerous documents were in existence signed by the veritable +Isaac, who was distinguished for his accomplishments. + +News of this abjuration having spread abroad, it reached Sieur de +Caille, at Lausanne, who promptly forwarded the certificate of his +son's death, dated February 15, 1696, to M. de Vauvray, who at once +caused the soldier to be arrested. M. d'Infreville, who commanded the +troops at Toulon, however, pretended that de Vauvray had no authority +to place soldiers under arrest, and the question thus raised was +referred from one to another, until it came to the ears of the king. +The following answer was at once sent:-- + + "The King approves the action of M. de Vauvray in arresting + and in placing in the arsenal the soldier of the company of + Ligondés, who calls himself the son of the Sieur de Caille. + His Majesty's commands are, that he be handed over to the + civil authorities, who shall take proceedings against him, + and punish him as his imposture deserves, and that the + affidavits of the real de Caille shall be sent to them." + +The soldier was accordingly conveyed to the common prison of Toulon, +and was subsequently interrogated by the magistrates. In answer to +their inquiries, he said that he had never known his real name; that +his father had been in the habit of calling him d'Entrevergues de +Rougon de Caille; that he believed he really was twenty-five years +old, although two months previously he had stated his age to be +twenty-three; that he had never known his godfather or his godmother; +that only ten years had elapsed since he left Manosque; that he did +not know the name of the street nor the quarter of the town in which +his father's house was situated; that he could not tell the number of +rooms it contained; and that even if he were to see it again he could +not recognise it. In his replies he embodied the greater part of his +original story, with the exception of the episode with regard to +Honorade Venelle, respecting which he was prudently silent. He said +that he neither recollected the appearance nor the height of his +sister Lisette, nor the colour of her hair; but that his father had +black hair and a black beard, and a dark complexion, and that he was +short and stout. (The Sieur de Caille had brown hair and a reddish +beard, and was pale complexioned.) He did not know the height nor the +colour of the hair of his aunt, nor her features, although she had +lived at Lausanne with the son of the Sieur de Caille. He could not +remember the colour of the hair, nor the appearance, nor the +peculiarities of his grandmother, who had accompanied the family in +its flight into Switzerland; and could not mention a single friend +with whom he had been intimate, either at Manosque, or Lausanne, or +Geneva. + +One would have supposed that this remarkable display of ignorance +would have sufficed to convince all reasonable men of the falsity of +the story, but it was far otherwise. The relatives of de Caille were +called upon either to yield to his demands or disprove his identity; +and M. Rolland, whose wife, it will be remembered, had obtained a +large portion of the property, appeared against him. Twenty witnesses +were called, of whom several swore that the accused was Pierre Mêge, +the son of a galley-slave, and that they had known him for twenty +years; while the others deposed that he was not the son of the Sieur +de Caille, in whose studies they had shared. The soldier was very +firm, however, and very brazen-faced, and demanded to be taken to the +places where the real de Caille had lived, so that the people might +have an opportunity of recognising him. Moreover, he deliberately +asserted that while he was in prison M. Rolland had made two attempts +against his life. He was conducted, according to his request, to +Manosque, Caille, and Rougon, and upwards of a hundred witnesses swore +that he was the man he represented himself to be. The court was +divided; but, after eight hours' consideration, twelve out of the +twenty-one judges of the Supreme Court of Provence pronounced in his +favour, and several of M. Rolland's witnesses were ordered into +custody to take their trial for perjury. + +Three weeks after this decision the soldier married the daughter of +the Sieur Serri, a physician, who had privately supplied the funds for +carrying on the case. This girl's mother was a cousin of one of the +judges, and it soon came to be more than hinted that fair play had not +been done. However, the soldier took possession of the Caille +property, and drove out the poor persons who had been placed in the +mansion by Madame Rolland. + +Honorade Venelle, the wife of Pierre Mêge, who had preserved silence +during the proceedings, now appeared on the scene, all her fury being +roused by the marriage. She made a declaration before a notary at Aix, +in which she stated that she had unexpectedly heard that Pierre Mêge +had been recognised as the son of the Sieur de Caille, and had +contracted a second marriage; and affirmed upon oath, "for the ease of +her conscience and the maintenance of her honour," that he was her +real husband, that he had been married to her in 1685, and that he had +cohabited with her till 1699; therefore she demanded that the second +marriage should be declared void. The judges, zealous of their own +honour, and provoked that their decision should be called in question, +gave immediate orders to cast her into prison, which was accordingly +done. + +The authorities at Berne meantime, believing that the decision of the +Provençal Court, which had paid no attention to the documents which +they had forwarded from Lausanne and Vevay, to prove the residence and +death of the son of the Sieur de Caille in Switzerland was insulting, +addressed a letter to the King, and the whole affair was considered by +his Majesty in council at Fontainebleau. After the commissioners, to +whom the matter was referred, had sat nearly forty times, they +pronounced judgment. The decision of the court below was upset; the +soldier was deprived of his ill-acquired wealth, was ordered to pay +damages, was handed over to the criminal authorities for punishment, +while the former holders were restored to possession of the property. + + + + +MICHAEL FEYDY--THE SHAM CLAUDE DE VERRE. + + +At the beginning of the seventeenth century, a French gentleman, named +Guy de Verré, lived with his wife and two sons at Saumur. Claude, the +elder of these children, who had a peculiar scar on his brow (which +had been left by a burn), at an early age expressed a strong desire to +become a soldier, and his father accordingly procured an ensigncy for +him in the regiment of Clanleu. In 1638 Claude de Verré left the +paternal mansion to join his regiment; and from that date till 1651 +nothing was heard of him. In the latter year, however, one of the +officers of a regiment which had been ordered to Saumur presented +himself at the chateau of Chauvigny, which was occupied by Madame de +Verré, now a widow; and no sooner had he appeared than Jacques, the +second son, observed his perfect resemblance to his missing brother. +He communicated his suspicions to his mother, who was overwhelmed with +delight, and without consulting more than her emotions, addressed the +stranger as her son. At first the officer feebly protested that he did +not enjoy that relationship, but, seeing the lady's anxiety, he at +last admitted that he was Claude de Verré, and that he had hesitated +to declare himself at first until he had assured himself that his +reception would be cordial after his eighteen years of absence. He had +no reason to doubt the maternal love and forgiveness. From the first +moment of his discovery he was acknowledged as the heir, and the happy +mother celebrated his return by great rejoicings, to which all her +friends and relatives were invited. He was presented to the members of +the family, and they recognised him readily; although they did not +fail to notice certain distinctions of feature and manner between him +and the Claude de Verré who had gone to join the regiment of Clanleu. +Still, as he answered all the questions which were put to him promptly +and correctly, and as he sustained the character of the lost son +perfectly, it was easy to suppose that absence and increasing age had +effected a slight change in him, and he was received everywhere with +marked demonstrations of friendship. M. de Piedsélon, a brother of +Madame de Verré, alone denounced him as an impostor; but his words +were unheeded, and the new comer continued to possess the confidence +of the other relatives, and of the widow and her second son, with whom +he continued to reside for some time. + +At last the day came when he must rejoin his regiment, and his brother +Jacques accompanied him into Normandy, where it was stationed, and +where they made the acquaintance of an M. de Dauplé, a gentleman who +had a very pretty daughter. Claude de Verré soon fell over head and +ears in love with this girl, who reciprocated his passion and married +him. Before the ceremony a marriage-contract was signed, and this +document, by a very peculiar clause, stipulated that, in the event of +a separation, the bridegroom should pay a reasonable sum to Madlle de +Dauplé. Jacques de Verré signed this contract as the brother of the +bridegroom, and it was duly registered by a notary. After their +marriage the happy couple lived together until the drum and trumpet +gave the signal for their separation, and Claude de Verré marched to +the wars with his regiment. + +But when released from service, instead of returning to pass the +winter with his wife, he resorted once more to Chauvigny, to the house +of Madame de Verré, and took his brother back. She was delighted to +see him again, and on his part it was evident that he was resolved to +make amends for his past neglect and his prolonged absence. +Nevertheless, during his stay at the family mansion, he found time to +indulge in a flirtation--if nothing worse--with a pretty girl named +Anne Allard. Soon after his arrival intelligence reached Saumur of the +death of the Madlle de Dauplé whom Claude had married in Normandy--an +occurrence which seemed to give him the utmost sorrow, but which did +not prevent him from marrying Anne Allard within a very short time, +his own feelings being ostensibly sacrificed to those of his mother, +who was anxious that he should settle down at home. In this instance, +also, a marriage-contract was entered into, and was signed by Madame +de Verré and her son Jacques. Not content with this proof of +affection, the mother of Claude, seeing her eldest son thus settled +down beside her, executed a deed conveying to him all her property, +reserving only an annuity for herself and the portion of the second +son. + +For some time Claude de Verré lived peacefully and happily with Anne +Allard, rejoicing in the possession of an affectionate wife, managing +his property carefully, and even adding to the attractiveness and +value of the family estate of Chauvigny. Two children were born of the +marriage, and nothing seemed wanting to his prosperity, when suddenly +a soldier of the French Gardes presented himself at Chauvigny. This +man also claimed to be the eldest son of Madame de Verré, and gave a +circumstantial account of his history from the time of his +disappearance in 1638 to the period of his return. Among other +adventures, he said that he had been made a prisoner at the siege of +Valenciennes, that he had been exchanged, and that, while he was +quartered in a town near Chauvigny, the news had reached him that an +impostor was occupying his position. This intelligence determined him +to return home at once, and, by declaring himself, to dissipate the +illusion and put an end to the comedy which was being played at his +expense. + +The revelations of the soldier did not produce the result which he had +anticipated; for, whether she was still persuaded that the husband of +Anne Allard was the only and real Claude de Verré, or whether, while +recognising her mistake, she preferred to leave matters as they were +rather than promote a great family scandal and disturbance, Madame de +Verré persisted that the new comer was not her son, for she had only +two, and they were both living with her. Of course, the husband of +Anne Allard had no hesitation in declaring the soldier an impostor, +and Jacques de Verré united his voice to the others, and repudiated +all claims to brotherhood on the part of the guardsman. + +However, affairs were not allowed to remain in this position. The new +arrival, rejected by those with whom he claimed the most intimate +relationship, appealed to a magistrate at Saumur, and lodged a +complaint against his mother because of her refusal to acknowledge +him, and against the so-called Claude de Verré for usurping his title +and position, in order to gain possession of the family property. When +the matter was brought before him the magistrate ordered the soldier +to be placed under arrest, and sent for Madame de Verré to give her +version of the affair. The lady declined to have anything to do with +the claimant, although she admitted that there were some circumstances +which told in his favour. Her brother M. Piedsélon, however, who had +refused to recognise Anne Allard's husband in 1651, was still at +Saumur, and he was confronted with the claimant. The recognition +between the two men was mutual, and their answers to the same +questions were identical. Moreover, the new comer had the scar on his +brow, which was wanting on the person of the possessor of the estate. +The other relatives followed the lead of M. Piedsélon; and ultimately +it was proved that the husband of Anne Allard was an impostor, and +that his real name was Michael Feydy. Consequently, on the 21st of May +1657, the Criminal-Lieutenant of Saumur delivered sentence, declaring +that the soldier of the Gardes was the true Claude de Verré, +permitting him to take possession of the property of the deceased Guy +de Verré, and condemning Michael Feydy to death. + +The first part of this sentence was carried out. The new Claude took +forcible possession of the mansion and estate of Chauvigny. But it was +found that Michael Feydy had disappeared, leaving his wife full power +to act for him in his absence. Anne Allard at once instituted a +suit--not against the possessor of the estates, whom she persistently +refused to acknowledge--but against Madame de Verré and her son +Jacques, and petitioned that they might be compelled to put an end to +the criminal prosecution which the soldier of the Gardes had +instituted against her husband, to restore her to the possession and +enjoyment of the mansion of Chauvigny, and the other property which +belonged to her; and that, in the event of their failure to do so, +they should be ordered to repay her all the expenses which she had +incurred since her marriage; to grant her an annuity of two hundred +livres per annum, according to the terms of her marriage-settlement; +and further, to pay her 20,000 livres as damages. + +At this stage another person appeared on the scene--none other than +Madlle de Dauplé, whom the sham Claude had married in Normandy, and +whom he had reported as dead. She also had recourse to the legal +tribunals, and demanded that Madame de Verré and her second son should +pay her an annuity of 500 livres, and the arrears which were due to +her since her abandonment by her husband, and 1500 livres for expenses +incurred by Jacques Verré during his residence with her father and +mother in Normandy. The children of Anne Allard, moreover, brought a +suit to establish their own legitimacy. + +The Avocat-Général was of opinion that the marriage contract between +Michael Feydy and Mademoiselle de Dauplé should be declared void, +because there was culpable carelessness on the father's part and on +the girl's part alike. He thought the marriage of Michael Feydy and +Anne Allard binding, because it had been contracted in good faith. +Jacques de Verré he absolved from all blame, and was of opinion that +since Madame de Verré had signed the marriage-contract it was only +just to make her pay something towards the support of Anne Allard and +her children. The Supreme Court did not altogether adopt these +conclusions. By a decree of the 31st of June 1656, it dismissed the +appeals of Anne Allard and of Madeline de Dauplé. It declared the +children of Michael Feydy and of Anne Allard legitimate, and adjudged +to them and to their mother all the property acquired by their father, +which had accrued to him by his division with Jacques de Verré, under +the name of Claude de Verré, until the signature of the matrimonial +agreement, and also the guarantee of the debts which Anne Allard had +incurred conjointly with her husband. Madame de Verré was also +condemned to pay 2000 livres to Anne Allard, under the contract which +had been signed. Of Feydy himself nothing further is known. + + + + +THE BANBURY PEERAGE CASE. + + +Since the reign of Edward III. the family of Knollys has been +distinguished in the annals of the kingdom. In those days Sir Robert +Knollys, one of the companions of the Black Prince, not only proved +himself a gallant soldier, but fought to such good purpose that he +enriched himself with spoils, and was elevated to the distinction of +the Blue Ribbon of the Garter. His heirs continued to enjoy the royal +favour throughout successive reigns; and Sir Francis Knollys, one of +his descendants, who likewise was a garter-knight in the earlier part +of the sixteenth century, espoused Catherine Cary, a grand-daughter of +the Earl of Wiltshire, and a grand-niece of Queen Anne Boleyn. Two +sons were born of this marriage, and were named Henry and William +respectively. Henry died before his father, and William, who was born +in 1547, succeeded to the family honours in 1596. He had worn them for +seven years, when King James created him Baron Knollys of Grays, in +Oxfordshire, in 1603. Sixteen years afterwards, King James further +showed his royal favour towards him by creating him Baron Wallingford, +and King Charles made him Earl of Banbury in 1626. He was married +twice during his long life--first to Dorothy, widow of Lord Chandos, +and daughter of Lord Bray, but by her he had no children; and +secondly, and in the same year that his first wife died, to Lady +Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of the Earl of Suffolk. The +couple were not well-assorted, the earl verging on three-score years, +while the lady had not seen her twentieth summer on the day of her +nuptials. Still their married life was happy, and her youth gladdened +the old man's heart, as is proved by his settlement upon her, in 1629, +of Caversham, in Berkshire, and by his constituting her his sole +executrix. In the settlement, moreover, he makes mention of "the love +and affection which he beareth unto the said Lady Elizabeth his wife, +having always been a good and loving wife;" and in the will he calls +her his "dearly-beloved wife Elizabeth, Countess of Banbury." Lord +Banbury died on the 25th of May 1632, having at least reached the age +of eighty-five. + +No inquiry was made immediately after his death as to the lands of +which he died seised; but about eleven months afterwards, a commission +was issued to the feodor and deputy-escheator of Oxfordshire, pursuant +to which an inquisition was taken on the 11th of April 1633, at +Burford, when the jury found that Elizabeth, his wife, survived him; +that the earl had died without heirs-male of his body, and that his +heirs were certain persons who were specified. Notwithstanding this +decision there appears to have been little doubt that about the 10th +of April 1627, the countess had been delivered of a son, who was +baptized as Edward, and that on the 3d of January 1631, she had given +birth to another son, who received the name of Nicholas. Both of these +children were living when the inquisition was made. The first was born +when the Earl of Banbury was in his eightieth year, and his wife +between forty and forty-one years of age, and the second came into the +world almost when his father was about to leave it, and when the +countess was between forty and forty-five. Within five weeks after the +death of the earl, her ladyship married Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who +had been on terms of intimate friendship with the family during the +deceased nobleman's lifetime, and it was plainly said that the +children of Lady Banbury were the issue of Lord Vaux, and not of the +earl. + +On the 9th of February 1640-41, a bill was filed in Chancery by +Edward, the eldest son, described as "Edward, Earl of Banbury, an +infant," by William, Earl of Salisbury, his guardian, and +brother-in-law of the Countess of Banbury. Witnesses were examined in +the cause; but after a century and a-half their evidence was rejected +in 1809 by the House of Lords. There was, however, a more rapid and +satisfactory means of procedure. A writ was issued in 1641, directing +the escheator of Berkshire "to inquire after the death of William, +Earl of Banbury;" and the consequence was that a jury, which held an +inquisition at Abingdon, found, with other matters, "that Edward, now +Earl of Banbury, is, and at the time of the earl's decease was, his +son and next heir." The young man, therefore, assumed the title, and +set out on a foreign tour. He was killed during the next year near +Calais, while he was yet a minor. His brother Nicholas, then about +fifteen years of age, at once assumed the title. In the same year Lord +Vaux settled Harrowden and his other estates upon him. His mother, the +Countess of Banbury, died on the 17th of April 1658, at the age of +seventy-three, and Lord Vaux departed this life on the 8th of +September 1661, aged seventy-four. Meantime Nicholas had taken his +seat in the House of Lords, and occupied it without question for a +couple of years. The Convention Parliament having been dissolved, +however, he was not summoned to that which followed it, and in order +to prove his right to the peerage petitioned the Crown for his writ. +This petition was heard by the Committee for Privileges, which +ultimately decided that "Nicholas, Earl of Banbury, is a legitimate +person." + +At his death he left one son, Charles, who assumed the title of Earl +of Banbury, and who petitioned the House of Lords to take his case +into consideration. After thirty years' delay, occasioned by the +disturbed state of the times, the so-called Lord Banbury having +accidentally killed his brother-in-law in a duel, was indicted as +"Charles Knollys, Esq.," to answer for the crime on the 7th of +November 1692. He appealed to the House of Lords, and demanded a trial +by his peers: it was therefore necessary to re-open the whole case. +After a patient investigation, his petition to the House of Lords was +dismissed, and it was resolved that he had no right to the earldom of +Banbury. He was consequently removed to Newgate. + +When he was placed before the judges, and was called upon to plead, he +admitted that he was the person indicted, but pleaded a misnomer in +abatement--or, in other words, that he was the Earl of Banbury. The +pleas occupied, subsequently, more than a year, during which time the +prisoner was admitted to bail. At last the House of Lords interfered, +and called upon the Attorney-General to produce "an account in +writing of the proceedings in the Court of King's Bench against the +person who claims the title of the Earl of Banbury." The +Attorney-General acted up to his instructions, and Lord Chief-Justice +Holt was heard by the Lords on the subject. Parliament, however, was +prorogued soon afterwards, and no decision was arrived at in the +matter. Meantime, the Court of King's Bench proceeded to act as if no +interference had been made, and quashed the indictment on the ground +that the prisoner was erroneously styled "Charles Knollys" instead of +"The Earl of Banbury." + +When the Lords reassembled on the 27th of November 1694 they were very +wroth, but, after an angry debate, the affair was adjourned, and +nothing more was heard of the Banbury Peerage until the beginning of +1698, when Charles Banbury again petitioned the king, and the petition +was once more referred to the House of Lords. Lord Chief-Justice Holt +was summoned before the committee, and in answer to inquiries as to +the motives which had actuated the judges of the King's Bench, +replied, "I acknowledge the thing; there was such a plea and such a +replication. I gave my judgment according to my conscience. We are +trusted with the law. We are to be protected, not arraigned, and are +not to give reasons for our judgment; therefore I desire to be excused +giving any." Mr. Justice Eyre maintained the same dignified tone, and +at length the House of Lords abandoned its fruitless struggle with the +common-law Judges. The petition of Lord Banbury was subsequently laid +before the Privy Council, when the sudden death of Queen Anne once +more put an end to the proceedings. + +When the Hanoverian princes came to the throne, Lord Banbury again +tempted fate by a new petition to the Crown. Sir Philip York, the then +Attorney-General, investigated the whole of the past proceedings from +1600 up to his time, and made a full report to the king, but no +definite decision was given. In 1740, the claimant Charles, so-called +Earl of Banbury, died in France. During his lifetime he had never +ceased to bear the title he had presented five petitions to the +Crown, demanding the acknowledgment of his rights, and neither he nor +any of his family, during the eighty years which had elapsed from the +first preferment of the claim, had ever relinquished an iota of their +pretensions. + +At his death Charles, the third assumed Earl of Banbury, left a son +called Charles, who adopted the title, and, dying in 1771, bequeathed +it to his son William, who bore it until his decease in 1776. He was, +in turn, succeeded by his brother Thomas, at whose death, in 1793, it +devolved upon his eldest son, William Knollys, then called Viscount +Wallingford, who immediately assumed the title of Earl of Banbury, and +in 1806 presented a formal petition to the Crown--a petition which was +in due course referred to the Attorney-General, and was by his advice +transferred to the House of Lords. + +Until 1806, when the claim was renewed, the pretenders to the Banbury +honours had not only styled themselves earls in all legal documents, +but they had been so described in the proceedings which had taken +place, and in the commissions which they had held; and while their +wives had been styled Countesses of Banbury, their children had borne +those collateral titles which would have been given by courtesy to the +sons and daughters of the Earls of Banbury. But, although there had +thus been an uninterrupted usage of the title for upwards of 180 +years, when William Knollys succeeded his father a new system was +practised. His father, the deceased earl, had held a commission in the +third regiment of foot, and during his father's lifetime he had been +styled in his own major-general's commission, "William Knollys, +commonly called Viscount Wallingford." But on his father's decease, +and the consequent descent of his father's claims, the title of earl +was refused to him, and therefore it was that he presented his +petition. + +The case remained in the House of Lords for nearly six years. On the +30th of May 1808 it was brought on for hearing before the Committee +for Privileges, when Sir Samuel Romilly, Mr. Gaselee, and Mr. Hargrave, +appeared for the petitioner, and the Crown was represented by the +Attorney-General and a junior counsel. A great mass of documentary and +genealogical evidence was produced; but after a most painstaking +investigation, Lords Erskine, Ellenborough, Eldon, and Redesdale came +to the conclusion that Nicholas Vaux, the petitioner, had _not_ made +out his claim to the Earldom of Banbury, and the House of Lords, on +the 11th of March 1813, endorsed their decision. + + + + +JAMES PERCY--THE SO-CALLED EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND. + + +In 1670 Jocelyn Percy, the eleventh Earl of Northumberland, died +without male issue. Up to his time, throughout the six hundred years, +the noble family of Percy had never been without a male +representative, and the successive earls had almost invariably been +soldiers, and had added to the lustre of their descent by their own +valiant deeds. But when Earl Jocelyn died, in 1670, he left behind him +a solitary daughter--whose life was in itself eventful enough, and who +became the wife of Charles Somerset, the proud Duke of Somerset--but +who could not wear the title, although she inherited much of the +wealth of the Percys. + +Jocelyn Percy was, however, scarcely cold in his grave when a claimant +appeared, who sought the family honours and the entailed lands which +their possession implied. This was James Percy, a poor Dublin +trunkmaker, who came over to England and at once assumed the title. +His pretensions aroused the ire of the dowager-countess, the mother of +Earl Jocelyn, who, on the 18th of February 1672, presented a petition +to the House of Lords on behalf of herself and Lady Elizabeth Percy, +her grand-daughter, setting forth that "one who called himself James +Percy (by profession a trunkmaker in Dublin) assumes to himself the +titles of Earl of Northumberland and Lord Percy, to the dishonour of +that family." This petition was referred, in the usual course, to the +Committee for Privileges. This was immediately followed by a petition +from the claimant, which was read, considered, and dismissed. However, +both parties appeared before the House of Lords on the 28th of +November, James Percy claiming the honours, and the countess declaring +him an impostor. Percy craved an extension of time; but, as he was +unable to show any probability that he would ultimately succeed, his +demand was refused, and his petition was dismissed--Arthur Annesley, +earl of Anglesea, alone protesting against the decision. + +Percy, however, displaying the same valour and obstinacy in the courts +which his ancestors had so often shown on the battle-fields, was not +daunted, although he was discomfited. He appealed to the common-law +tribunals, and brought actions for scandal and ejectment against +various parties, and no fewer than five of these suits were tried +between 1674 and 1681. The first adversary whom he challenged was +James Clark, whom he sued for scandal, and in whose case he was +content to accept a non-suit; alleging, however, that this untoward +result was not so much brought about by the weakness of his cause as +by the faithlessness of his attorney. In a printed document which he +published with reference to the trial, he distinctly states that the +Lord Chief-Justice, Sir Matthew Hale, was so much dissatisfied with +the decision, that in the open court he plainly asserted "that the +claimant had proved himself a true Percy, by father, mother, +grandfather, and grandmother, and of the blood and family of the +Percys of Northumberland; and that he did verily believe that the +claimant was cousin and next heir-male to Jocelyn, late Earl of +Northumberland, only he was afraid he had taken the descent too high." +It is further reported that Sir Matthew, on entering his carriage, +remarked to Lord Shaftesbury, who was standing by, "I verily believe +he hath as much right to the earldom of Northumberland as I have to +this coach and horses, which I have bought and paid for." + +His next action was against a gentleman named Wright, who had taken +upon himself to pronounce him illegitimate, and in this instance he +was more successful. The case was heard before Sir Richard Rainsford, +Sir Matthew Hale's successor, and resulted in a verdict for the +plaintiff, with £300 damages. Flushed by this victory, he took +proceedings against Edward Craister, the sheriff of Northumberland, +against whom he filed a bill for the recovery of the sum of £20 +a-year, granted by the patent of creation out of the revenues of the +county. Before this, however, in 1680, he had again petitioned the +House of Lords, and his petition was again rejected--Lord Annesley, as +before, protesting against the rejection. The litigation with Craister +in the Court of Exchequer being very protracted, the Duchess of +Somerset (who was the daughter and heiress of Earl Jocelyn) brought +the matter once more before the Lords in 1685, and her petition was +referred to the Committee of Privileges. In reply to her petition +Percy presented one of complaint, which was also sent to the +Committee. No decision, however, seems to have been arrived at, and +the reign of King James came to a close without further action. In the +first year of the reign of William and Mary (1689), Percy returned to +the charge with a fresh petition and a fresh demand for recognition +and justice. These documents are still extant, and some of them are +very entertaining. In one he candidly admits that he has been, up to +the time when he writes, in error as to his pedigree, and, abandoning +his old position, takes up fresh ground. In another, "The claimant +desireth your lordships to consider the justice and equity of his +cause, hoping your lordships will take such care therein that your own +descendants may not be put to the like trouble for the future in +maintaining their and your petitioner's undoubted right;" and lest the +_argumentum ad homines_ should fail, he asks, "Whether or no three +streams issuing from one fountain, why the third stream (though +little, the first two great streams being spent) may not justly claim +the right of the original fountain?" In addition, he appends a sort of +solemn declaration, in which he represents himself as trusting in God, +and waiting patiently upon the king's sacred Majesty for his royal +writ of summons to call him to appear and take his place and seat +according to his birthright and title, "for true men ought not to be +blamed for standing up for justice, property, and right, which is the +chief diadem in the Crown, and the laurel of the kingdom." That +summons never was destined to be issued. When the Committee for +Privileges gave in their report, it declared Percy's conduct to be +insolent in persisting to designate himself Earl of Northumberland +after the previous decisions of the House; and the Lords ordered that +counsel should be heard at the bar of the House on the part of the +Duke of Somerset against the said James Percy. + +This was accordingly done; and the Lords not only finally came to the +decision "that the pretensions of the said James Percy to the earldom +of Northumberland are groundless, false, and scandalous," and ordered +that his petition be dismissed, but added to their judgment this +sentence, "That the said James Percy shall be brought before the four +Courts in Westminster Hall, wearing a paper upon his breast on which +these words shall be written: 'THE FALSE AND IMPUDENT PRETENDER TO THE +EARLDOM OF NORTHUMBERLAND.'" The judgment was at once carried into +execution, and from that time forward the unfortunate trunkmaker +disappears from the public view. He does not seem to have reverted to +his old trade; or, at least, if he did so, he made it profitable, for +we find his son, Sir Anthony Percy, figuring as Lord Mayor of Dublin +in 1699. There can be no doubt that, although he was treated with +undue harshness, his claims had no real foundation. At first he +alleged that his grandfather, Henry Percy, was a son of Sir Richard +Percy, a younger brother of Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland--an +allegation which would have made Sir Richard a grandfather at thirteen +years of age. It was further proved that Sir Richard, so far from +having any claim to such unusual honours, died without issue. In his +second story he traced his descent to Sir Ingelram Percy, stating that +his grandfather Henry was the eldest of the four children of Sir +Ingelram, and that these children were sent from the north in hampers +to Dame Vaux of Harrowden, in Northamptonshire. He advanced no proof, +however, of the correctness of this story, while the other side showed +conclusively that Sir Ingelram had never been married, and at his +death had only left an illegitimate daughter. At any rate, whether +James Percy was honest or dishonest, "the game was worth the +candle"--the Percy honours and estates were worth trying for. + + + + +THE DOUGLAS PEERAGE CASE. + + +Rather more than a hundred years ago the whole kingdom was disturbed +by the judicial proceedings which were taken with reference to the +succession to the ancient honours of the great Scotch house of +Douglas. Boswell, who was but little indisposed to exaggeration, and +who is reported by Sir Walter Scott to have been such an ardent +partizan that he headed a mob which smashed the windows of the judges +of the Court of Session, says that "the Douglas cause shook the +security of birthright in Scotland to its foundation, and was a cause +which, had it happened before the Union, when there was no appeal to a +British House of Lords, would have left the fortress of honours and of +property in ruins." His zeal even led him to oppose his idol Dr. +Johnson, who took the opposite side, and to tell him that he knew +nothing of the cause, which, he adds, he does most seriously believe +was the case. But however this may be, the popular interest and +excitement were extreme; the decision of the Court of Session in 1767 +led to serious disturbances, and the reversal of its judgment two +years later was received with the most extravagant demonstrations of +joy. + +In the beginning of the eighteenth century, Archibald, Duke of +Douglas, wore the honours of Sholto, "the Douglas." His father, James, +the second Marquis of Douglas, had been twice married, and had issue +by his first wife in the person of James, earl of Angus, who was +killed at the battle of Steinkirk; and by his second of a son and +daughter. The son was the Archibald just mentioned, who became his +heir and successor, and the daughter was named Lady Jane. Her +ladyship, like most of the women of the Douglas family, was celebrated +for her beauty; but unhappily became afterwards as famous for her evil +fortune. In her first womanhood she entered into a nuptial agreement +with the Earl of Dalkeith, who subsequently became Duke of Buccleuch, +but the marriage was unexpectedly broken off, and for very many years +she persistently refused all the offers which were made for her hand. +At length, in 1746, when she was forty-eight years old, she was +secretly married to Mr. Stewart, of Grantully. This gentleman was a +penniless scion of a good family, and the sole resources of the +newly-wedded couple consisted of an allowance of £300 per annum, which +had been granted by the duke to his sister, with whom he was on no +friendly terms. Even this paltry means of support was precarious, and +it was resolved to keep the marriage secret. The more effectually to +conceal it, Mr. Stewart and his nobly-born wife repaired to France, and +remained on the Continent for three years. At the end of that time +they returned to England, bringing with them two children, of whom +they alleged the Lady Jane had been delivered in Paris, at a +twin-birth, in July 1748. Six months previously to their arrival in +London their marriage had been made public, and the duke had stopped +the allowance which he had previously granted. They were, therefore, +in the direst distress; and, to add to their other misfortunes, Mr. +Stewart being deeply involved in debt, his creditors threw him into +prison. + +Lady Jane bore up against her accumulated sorrows with more than +womanly heroism, and when she found all her efforts to excite the +sympathy of her brother unavailing, addressed the following letter to +Mr. Pelham, then Secretary of State:-- + + "SIR,--If I meant to importune you I should ill deserve the + generous compassion which I was informed some months ago you + expressed upon being acquainted with my distress. I take + this as the least troublesome way of thanking you, and + desiring you to lay my application before the king in such + a light as your own humanity will suggest. I cannot tell my + story without seeming to complain of one of whom I never + will complain. I am persuaded my brother wishes me well, + but, from a mistaken resentment, upon a creditor of mine + demanding from him a trifling sum, he has stopped the + annuity which he had always paid me--my father having left + me, his only younger child, in a manner unprovided for. Till + the Duke of Douglas is set right--which I am confident he + will be--I am destitute. Presumptive heiress of a great + estate and family, with two children, I want bread. Your own + nobleness of mind will make you feel how much it costs me to + beg, though from the king. My birth, and the attachment of + my family, I flatter myself his Majesty is not unacquainted + with. Should he think me an object of his royal bounty, my + heart won't suffer any bounds to be set to my gratitude; + and, give me leave to say, my spirit won't suffer me to be + burdensome to his Majesty longer than my cruel necessity + compels me. + + "I little thought of ever being reduced to petition in this + way; your goodness will therefore excuse me if I have + mistaken the manner, or said anything improper. Though + personally unknown to you, I rely upon your intercession. + The consciousness of your own mind in having done so good + and charitable a deed will be a better return than the + thanks of + JANE DOUGLAS STEWART." + +The result was that the king granted the distressed lady a pension of +£300 a-year; but Lady Jane seems to have been little relieved thereby. +The Douglas' notions of economy were perhaps eccentric, but, at all +events, not only did Mr. Stewart still remain in prison, but his wife +was frequently compelled to sell the contents of her wardrobe to +supply him with suitable food during his prolonged residence in the +custody of the officers of the Court of King's Bench. During the +course of his incarceration Lady Jane resided in Chelsea, and the +letters which passed between the severed pair, letters which were +afterwards produced in court--proved that their children were rarely +absent from their thoughts, and that on all occasions they treated +them with the warmest parental affection. + +In 1752, Lady Jane visited Scotland, accompanied by her children, for +the purpose, if possible, of effecting a reconciliation with her +brother; but the duke flatly refused even to accord her an interview. +She therefore returned to London, leaving the children in the care of +a nurse at Edinburgh. This woman, who had originally accompanied +herself and her husband to the continent, treated them in the kindest +possible manner; but, notwithstanding her care, Sholto Thomas Stewart, +the younger of the twins, sickened and died on the 11th of May 1753. +The disconsolate mother at once hurried back to the Scottish capital, +and again endeavoured to move her brother to have compassion upon her +in her distress. Her efforts were fruitless, and, worn out by +starvation, hardship, and fatigue, she, too, sank and died in the +following November, disowned by her friends, and, as she said to +Pelham, "wanting bread." + +Better days soon dawned upon Archibald, the surviving twin. Lady Shaw, +deeply stirred by the misfortunes and lamentable end of his mother, +took him under her own charge, and educated and supported him as +befitted his condition. When she died a nobleman took him up; and his +father, having unexpectedly succeeded to the baronetcy and estates of +Grantully, on acquiring his inheritance, immediately executed a bond +of provision in his favour for upwards of £2500, and therein +acknowledged him as his son by Lady Jane Douglas. + +The rancour of the duke, however, had not died away, and he stubbornly +refused to recognise the child as his nephew. And, more than this, +after having spent the greater portion of his life in seclusion, he +unexpectedly entered into a marriage, in 1758, with the eldest +daughter of Mr. James Douglas, of Mains. This lady, far from sharing in +the opinions of her noble lord, espoused the cause of the lad whom he +so firmly repudiated, and became a partisan so earnest that a quarrel +resulted, which gave rise to a separation. But peace was easily +restored, and quietness once more reigned in the ducal household. + +In the middle of 1761, the Duke of Douglas was unexpectedly taken ill, +and his physicians pronounced his malady to be mortal. Nature, in her +strange and unexplained way, told the ill-tempered peer the same tale, +and, when death was actually before his eyes, he repented of his +conduct towards his unfortunate sister. To herself he was unable to +make any reparation, but her boy remained; and, on the 11th of July +1761, he executed an entail of his entire estates in favour of the +heirs of his father, James, Marquis of Douglas, with remainder to Lord +Douglas Hamilton, the brother of the Duke of Hamilton, and +supplemented it by another deed which set forth that, as in the event +of his death without heirs of his body, Archibald Douglas, _alias_ +Stewart, a minor, and son of the deceased Lady Jane Douglas, his +sister, would succeed him, he appointed the Duchess of Douglas, the +Duke of Queensberry, and certain other persons whom he named, to be +the lad's tutors and guardians. Thus, from being a rejected waif, the +boy became the acknowledged heir to a peerage, and a long rent-roll. + +There were still, however, many difficulties to be surmounted. The +guardians of the young Hamilton had no intention of losing the +splendid prize which was almost within their grasp, and repudiated the +boy's pretensions. On the other hand, the guardians of the youthful +Stewart-Douglas were determined to procure the official recognition of +his claims. Accordingly, immediately after the duke's decease, they +hastened to put him in possession of the Douglas estate, and set on +foot legal proceedings to justify their conduct. The Hamilton faction +thereupon despatched one of their number to Paris, and on his return +their emissary rejoiced their hearts and elevated their hopes by +informing them that he was convinced, on safe grounds, that Lady Jane +Douglas had never given birth to the twins, as suggested, and that the +whole story was a fabrication. They, therefore, asserted before the +courts that the claimant to the Douglas honours was not a Douglas at +all. + +They denied that Lady Jane Douglas was delivered on July 10, 1748, in +the house of a Madame La Brune, as stated; and brought forward various +circumstances to show that Madame La Brune herself never existed. They +asserted that it was impossible that the birth could have taken place +at that time, because on the specified date, and for several days +precedent and subsequent to the 10th of July, Lady Jane Douglas with +her husband and a Mrs. Hewit were staying at the Hotel de Chalons--an +inn kept by a Mons. Godefroi, who, with his wife, was ready to prove +their residence there. And they not only maintained that dark work had +been carried on in Paris by the parties concerned in the affair, but +alleged that Sir John Stewart, Lady Jane Douglas, and Mrs. Hewit, had +stolen from French parents the children which they afterwards foisted +upon the public as real Douglases. + +The claimant, and those representing him, on their part, brought +forward the depositions of several witnesses that Lady Jane Douglas +appeared to them to be with child while at Aix-la-Chapelle and other +places, and put in evidence the sworn testimony of Mrs. Hewit, who +accompanied the newly-wedded pair to the continent, as to the actual +delivery of her ladyship at Paris upon the 10th of July 1748. They +also submitted the depositions of independent witnesses as to the +recognition of the claimant by Sir John (then Mr.) Stewart and his +wife, and produced a variety of letters which had passed between Sir +John Stewart, Lady Jane Douglas, Mrs. Hewit, and others as to the +birth. They also added to their case four letters, which purported to +emanate from Pierre la Marre, whom they represented to have been the +accoucheur at the delivery of Lady Jane. + +Sir John Stewart, Lady Jane's husband, and the reputed father of the +claimant, died in June 1764; but, before his decease, his depositions +were taken in the presence of two ministers and of a justice of the +peace. He asserted, "as one slipping into eternity, that the defendant +(Archibald Stewart) and his deceased twin-brother were both born of +the body of Lady Jane Douglas, his lawful spouse, in the year 1748." + +The case came before the Court of Session on the 17th of July 1767, +when no fewer than fifteen judges took their seats to decide it. +During its continuance Mrs. Hewit, who was charged with abetting the +fraud, died; but before her death she also, like Sir John Stewart, +formally and firmly asserted, with her dying breath, that her evidence +in the matter was unprejudiced and true. After a patient hearing seven +of the judges voted to "sustain the reasons of reduction," and the +other seven to "assoilzie the defender." In other words, the bench was +divided in opinion, and the Lord President, who has no vote except as +an umpire in such a dilemma, voted for the Hamilton or illegitimacy +side, and thus deprived Archibald Douglas, or Stewart, of both the +title and the estates. + +But a matter of such importance could not, naturally, be allowed to +remain in such an unsatisfactory condition. An appeal was made to the +House of Lords, and the judgment of the Scottish Court of Session was +reversed in 1769. Archibald Douglas was, therefore, declared to be the +son of Lady Jane, and the heir to the dukedom of Douglas. + + + + +ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS--THE PRETENDED EARL OF STIRLING. + + +The idea of colonizing Nova Scotia found great favour in the eyes both +of James VI. and Charles I., and the former monarch rewarded Sir +William Alexander of Menstrie, who actively supported the project, +with a charter, dated 12th September 1621, in which he granted to him +"All and Whole the territory adjacent to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +thenceforward to be called Nova Scotia;" and constituted him, his +heirs and assignees, hereditary Lords-Lieutenant. The powers which +were given to these Lords-Lieutenant were little short of regal; but +before the charter could be ratified by the Scotch Parliament his +Majesty died. In 1625, however, the grant was renewed in the form of +a Charter of Novodamus, which was even more liberal than the original +document. These deeds were drawn out in the usual form of Scottish +conveyances, and were ratified by the Scotch Parliament in 1633. + +In accordance with their terms Sir William despatched one of his sons +to Canada, where, acting in his father's name, he built forts at the +mouth of the St. Lawrence, and acted as a petty king during his stay. +Still the project did not flourish: colonists were scarce and shy, +and, in order to make colonization more rapid, King James hit upon the +expedient of creating Nova-Scotian baronets, and of conferring this +distinction upon the leading members of those families who most +actively engaged in the work of populating the land. His successor +Charles I., who had an equal desire and necessity for money, converted +the new order into a source of revenue by granting 16,000 acres of +Canadian soil to those who could pay well, by erecting the district +thus sold into a barony, and by attaching the honours of a baronet of +Nova Scotia thereto. The order was afterwards extended to natives of +England and Ireland, provided they became naturalized Scotchmen. + +Sir William Alexander, by unfortunate speculations, was reduced to +want; his affairs became involved, and he ultimately sold his entire +Canadian possessions to a Frenchman named de la Tour. The original +Scotch colony depended upon the crown of Scotland: it was ceded to +France by the Treaty of St. Germains, dated the 29th of March 1632; was +reconquered by Cromwell; was again surrendered in the reign of Charles +II.; and in 1713 once more became a British colony--no consideration +being paid at the last transfer to the real or imaginary claims of Sir +William Alexander. + +The worthy baronet, however, notwithstanding his misfortunes and his +impecuniosity, continued a great friend of the first Charles, who, by +royal letters patent, elevated him, on the 14th of June 1633, to a +peerage under the title of the Earl of Stirling. The earldom became +dormant in 1739. + +After a lapse of more than twenty years a claimant for these honours +appeared in the person of William Alexander; but his appeal to the +House of Peers was rejected on the 10th of March 1762, and the +Stirling Peerage was commonly supposed to have shared the common +earthly fate, and to have died a natural death. But a new aspirant +unexpectedly appeared. This gentleman, named Humphreys, laid claim not +only to the earldom of Stirling, but also to the whole territory of +Canada, in addition to the Scottish estates appertaining thereto; and, +in order to substantiate his pretensions, put forward an assumed +pedigree. In this document he declared himself to be the lineal +descendant and nearest lawful heir of Sir William Alexander, who he +said was his great-great-great-grandfather. From this remote fountain +he pretended to have come, following the acknowledged stream until he +reached Benjamin, the last heir-male of the body of the first earl, +and, diverting the current to heirs-female in the person of Hannah, +Earl William's youngest daughter, who was married at Birmingham, and +whom he represented as his own ancestress. + +In 1824, having obtained formal license to assume the surname of +Alexander, he procured himself to be served "lawful and nearest +heir-male in general of the body of the said Hannah Alexander," before +the bailies of Canongate, 1826. Then he assumed the title of Earl of +Stirling and Dovan, and, in 1830, formally registered himself as +"lawful and nearest heir in general to the deceased William, the first +Earl of Stirling." + +According to the patent of 1633, which was confined to heirs-male, +Humphreys had no claim either to the title or estates; but he based +his pretensions upon a document which, he said, had been granted by +Charles I., in 1639, to the Earl of Stirling, and which conferred upon +him, without limitation as to issue, the whole estates in Scotland and +America, as well as the honours conveyed by the original patent. This +he attempted to prove in an action in the Court of Session, which was +dismissed in 1830, as was also a similar action for a like purpose in +1833. + +But, although not officially recognised, he assumed all the imaginary +privileges of his position, granting to his friends vast districts of +Canadian soil, creating Nova-Scotian baronets at his own discretion, +and acting, if not like a king, at least like a feudal magnate of the +first degree. He caused notice after notice to be issued proclaiming +his rights, and the records of the time are filled with strange +proclamations and announcements, to which his name is attached. As a +rule, these productions are far too lengthy to be copied, and far too +involved to be readily summarized. They have all a lamentably +commercial tone, and invariably exhibit an unworthy disposition to +sacrifice great prospective or assumed advantages for a very little +ready money. Take, for instance, his address to the public authorities +of Nova Scotia, issued in 1831. In it, after informing his readers of +the steps which he had taken to assert his rights, and the prospects +which existed of their recognition, he hastens to observe that +"persons desirous of settling on any of the waste lands, either by +purchase or lease, will find me ready to treat with them on the most +liberal terms and conditions;" and throws out a gentle hint that in +any official appointment he might have to make, he would prefer that +"the persons to fill them should rather be Nova Scotians or Canadians, +than the strangers of England." At the same time he issued numerous +advertisements in the journals, reminding all whom it might concern of +his hereditary rights, and warning the world in general against +infringing his exclusive privileges. At length, having succeeded in +gaining notoriety for himself, he aroused the Scotch nobility. On the +19th of March 1832, the Earl of Rosebery proposed and obtained a +select committee of the House of Lords, with a view of impeding "the +facility with which persons can assume a title without authority, and +thus lessen the character and respectability of the peerage in the +eyes of the public;" and the Marchioness of Downshire, the female +representative of the house of Stirling, forwarded a petition to the +Lords, complaining of the undue assumption of the title by Mr. +Humphreys. + +It is somewhat remarkable that the extraordinary proceedings of this +person should have been tolerated for so long a time by the +law-officers of the Crown; but his growing audacity at last led to +their interference, and what is termed an action of reduction was +brought against him and his agent. Lord Cockburn, who heard the case, +decided, without hesitation, that his claim was not established, +declared the previous legal proceedings invalid, and demolished the +pretensions of the claimant. Under these circumstances it was +necessary to do something to strengthen those weak points in his +title, which had been pointed out by the presiding judge, and +Humphreys or his friends were equal to the emergency. A variety of +documents were discovered in the most unexpected manner, which exactly +supplied the missing links in the evidence, and the claim was +accordingly renewed. The law-officers of the Crown denied the validity +of these documents, which emanated from the most suspicious +sources--some being forwarded by a noted Parisian fortune-teller, +called Madlle le Normand; and after Mr. Humphreys had been judicially +examined with regard to them, he was served with an indictment to +stand his trial for forgery before the High Court of Justiciary, at +Edinburgh, on the 3d of April 1839. The trial lasted for five days, +and created intense excitement throughout Scotland. During the trial +it was elicited that the father of Mr. Humphreys had been a respectable +merchant in Birmingham, who had amassed considerable wealth, had gone +abroad, accompanied by his son, in 1802, and had taken up his +temporary residence in France. As he did not return at the declaration +of war which followed the brief peace, he was detained by Napoleon, +and died at Verdun in 1807. His son, the pretended earl, remained a +prisoner in France until 1815, and afterwards established himself as a +schoolmaster at Worcester. There he met with little success, but bore +an excellent character, and gained a certain number of influential +friends, whose probity and truthfulness were beyond doubt; some of +whom supported him through all his career, one officer of distinction +even sitting in the dock with him. The public sympathy was also +strongly displayed on his side. But the evidence which was led on +behalf of the Crown was conclusive, and a verdict was returned +declaring the documents to be forgeries; but finding it "Not Proven" +that the prisoner knew that they were fictitious, or uttered them with +any malicious intention. He was therefore set at liberty, and retired +into private life. Whether he was an impostor, or was merely the +victim of a hallucination, it is very difficult to say. In any case he +failed to prove himself the Earl of Stirling. + + + + +THE SO-CALLED HEIRS OF THE STUARTS. + + +After the disastrous battle of Culloden, Charles Edward Stuart, or +"The Young Pretender," as he was commonly styled by his opponents, +fled from the field, and after many hair-breadth escapes succeeded in +reaching the Highlands, where he wandered to and fro for many weary +months. A reward of £30,000 was set upon his head, his enemies dogged +his footsteps like bloodhounds, and often he was so hard pressed by +the troops that he had to take refuge in caves and barns, and +sometimes was compelled to avoid all shelter but that afforded him by +the forests and brackens on the bleak hillsides. But the people +remained faithful to his cause, and, even when danger seemed most +imminent, succeeded in baffling his pursuers, and ultimately in +effecting his escape. Accompanied by Cameron of Lochiel, and a few of +his most faithful adherents, he managed to smuggle himself on board a +little French privateer, and was at last landed in safety at a place +called Roseau, near Morlaix, in France. He was treated with great +respect at the French court, until the King of France, by the Treaty +of Aix-la-Chapelle, disowned all rivals of the House of Hanover. The +prince protested against this treaty, and braved the French court. He +was accordingly ordered, in no very ceremonious terms, to leave the +country, and betook himself to Italy, where he gave himself up to +drunkenness, debauchery, and excesses of the lowest kind. In 1772 he +married the Princess Louisa Maximilian de Stolberg, by whom he had no +children, and with whom he lived very unhappily. He died from the +effects of his own self-indulgence, and without male issue, in 1788. +His father, the Chevalier de St. George, had pre-deceased him in 1766, +and his younger brother the Cardinal York, having been debarred from +marriage, it was supposed that at the death of the cardinal the royal +House of Stuart had passed away. + +But, in 1847, a book appeared, entitled "Tales of the Century; or, +Sketches of the Romance of History between the Years 1746 and 1846, by +John Sobieski and Charles Edward Stuart," and it immediately created a +considerable stir in literary circles. It was at once evident that the +three stories which the work contained were not intended to be read as +fictions, but as a contribution to the history of the period; or, in +other words, the authors meant the public to understand that Prince +Charles Edward Stuart left a legitimate son by his wife Louisa de +Stolberg, and that they themselves were his descendants and +representatives. + +The first of these "Tales of the Century" is called "The Picture," and +introduces the reader to a young Highland gentleman, named Macdonnell, +of Glendulochan, who is paying a first visit, in 1831, to an aged +Jacobite doctor, then resident in Westminster. This old adherent of +the cause feels the near approach of death, and is oppressed by the +possession of a secret which he feels must not die with him. He had +promised only to reveal it "in the service of his king;" and believing +it for his service that it should live, he confides it to the young +chief. "I will reveal it to you," he says, "that the last of the Gael +may live to keep that mysterious hope--_They have yet a king._" + +He then narrates how, in the course of a tour which he had made in +Italy, in 1773, a lingering fascination compelled him to remain for +some days in the vicinity of St. Rosalie, on the road from Parma to +Florence; how he had often walked for hours in the deep quiet shades +of the convent, ruminating on his distant country, on past events, +and on coming fortunes yet unknown; and how, while thus engaged one +evening, his reverie was disturbed by the rapid approach of a carriage +with scarlet outriders. He gained a momentary glimpse, of its +occupants--a lady and gentleman--and recognised the prince at once, +"for though changed with years and care, he was still himself; and +though no longer the 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' of our faithful +_beau-ideal_, still the same eagle-featured royal bird which I had +seen on his own mountains, when he spread his wings towards the south; +and once more I felt the thrilling talismanic influence of his +appearance, the sight so dear, so deeply-rooted in the hearts of the +Highlanders--_Charlie, King of the Gael_." + +On the same evening, while the doctor was pacing the aisles of St. +Rosalie, he was disturbed from his meditation by a heavy military +tread and the jingling of spurs, and a man of superior appearance, but +equivocal demeanour, strode towards him, and demanded to know if he +were Dr. Beaton, the Scotch physician. On receiving an affirmative +answer, he was requested to render assistance to some one in need of +immediate attendance, and all hesitation and inquiry was attempted to +be cut short by the announcement--"The relief of the malady, and not +the circumstances, of the patient is the province of the physician, +and for the present occasion you will best learn by an inspection of +the individual." + +A carriage was in waiting, but, in true romantic style, it was +necessary that the doctor should consent to be blindfolded; an +indignity to which he refused to submit, until the stranger, with +effusive expressions of respect for his doubts, said the secret would +be embarrassing to its possessor, as it concerned the interest and +safety of the most illustrious of the Scottish Jacobites. The doctor's +reluctance now changed into eagerness; he readily agreed to follow his +guide, and was conveyed, partly by land and partly by water, to a +mansion, which they entered through a garden. After passing through a +long range of apartments, his mask was removed, and he looked round +upon a splendid saloon, hung with crimson velvet, and blazing with +mirrors which reached from floor to ceiling, while the dim perspective +of a long conservatory was revealed at the farther end. His conductor +rang a silver bell, which was immediately answered by a little page, +richly dressed in scarlet. This boy entered into conversation in +German with the cavalier, and gave very pleasing information to him, +which he, in turn, communicated to the doctor. "Signor Dottore," said +he, "the most important part of your occasion is past. The lady whom +you have been unhappily called to attend met with an alarming accident +in her carriage not half an hour before I found you in the church, and +the unlucky absence of her physician leaves her entirely in your +charge. Her accouchement is over, apparently without more than +exhaustion; but of that you will be the judge." + +The mention of the carriage and the accident recalled to Dr. Beaton his +hasty vision of the prince, but, before he could collect his confused +thoughts, he was led through a splendid suite of apartments to a small +ante-room, decorated with several portraits, among which he instantly +recognised one of the Duke of Perth and another of King James VIII. +Thence he was conducted into a magnificent bed-chamber, where the +light of a single taper shed a dim glimmer through the apartment. A +lady who addressed him in English led him towards the bed. The +curtains were almost closed, and by the bed stood a female attendant +holding an infant enveloped in a mantle. As she retired, the lady drew +aside the curtains, and by the faint light which fell within the bed, +the doctor imperfectly distinguished the pale features of a delicate +face, which lay wan and languid, almost enveloped in the down pillow. +The patient uttered a few words in German, but was extremely weak, and +almost pulseless. The case was urgent, and the Scotch doctor, +suppressing all indication of the danger of which he was sensible, +offered at once to write a prescription. + +For this purpose he was taken to a writing-cabinet which stood near; +and there, while momentarily reflecting upon the ingredients which +were to form his prescription, he glanced at a toilet beside him. The +light of the taper shone full upon a number of jewels, which lay +loosely intermixed among the scent bottles, as if put off in haste and +confusion; and his surprise was great to recognise an exquisite +miniature of his noble exiled prince, Charles Edward, representing him +in the very dress in which he had seen him at Culloden. The lady +suddenly approached, as if looking for some ornaments, and placed +herself between him and the table. It was but an instant, and she +retired; but when the doctor, anxious for another glimpse, again +turned his eyes to the table, the face of the miniature was turned. + +His duty done, he was led from the house in the same mysterious manner +in which he was admitted to it; but not until he had taken an oath on +the crucifix "never to speak of what he had seen, heard, or thought on +that night, unless it should be in the service of his king--King +Charles." Moreover, he was required to leave Tuscany the same night, +and, in implicit obedience to his instructions, departed to a seaport. +Here he resumed his rambles and meditation, having still deeper food +for thought than when he was at St. Rosalie. + +On the third night after his arrival, while strolling along the beach, +his attention was attracted by an English frigate, and in answer to +his inquiries he was told that her name was the "Albina," and that she +was commanded by Commodore O'Haleran. The doctor lingered on the shore +in the bright moonlight, and was just about to retire when he was +detained by the approach of a horseman, who was followed by a small +close carriage. In the horseman he recognised his mysterious guide of +St. Rosalie, and waited to see the next move in the game. The carriage +stopped full in the moonlight, near the margin of the water. A signal +was given by the cavalier, and in response the long black shadow of a +man-of-war's galley shot from behind a creek of rocks, and pulled +straight for the spot where the carriage stood. Her stern was backed +towards the shore. A lady alighted from the carriage, and as she +descended the doctor observed that she bore in her arms some object +which she held with great solicitation. An officer at the same time +leaped from the boat and hastened towards the travellers. The doctor +did not discern his face, but, from the glimmer of the moonlight upon +his shoulders, saw that he wore double epaulettes. It may therefore be +conjectured that this was Commodore O'Haleran himself. He made a brief +but profound salute to the lady, and led her towards the galley. Then, +says the doctor,-- + +"As they approached the lady unfolded her mantle, and I heard the +faint cry of an infant, and distinguished for a moment the glisten of +a little white mantle and cap, as she laid her charge in the arms of +her companion. The officer immediately lifted her into the boat, and +as soon as she was seated the cavalier delivered to her the child; +and, folding it carefully in her cloak, I heard her half-suppressed +voice lulling the infant from its disturbance. A brief word and a +momentary grasp of the hand passed between the lady and the cavalier; +and, the officer lifting his hat, the boat pushed off, the oars fell +in the water, and the galley glided down the creek with a velocity +that soon rendered her but a shadow in the grey tide. In a few minutes +I lost sight of her altogether; but I still distinguished the faint +measured plash of the oars, and the feeble wail of the infant's voice +float along the still water. + +"For some moments I thought I had seen the last of the little bark, +which seemed to venture, like an enchanted skiff, into that world of +black waters. But suddenly I caught a glimpse of the narrow boat, and +the dark figures of the men, gliding across the bright stream of +moonlight upon the tide; an instant after a faint gleam blinked on the +white mantle of the lady and the sparkle of the oars, but it died away +by degrees, and neither sound nor sight returned again. + +"For more than a quarter of an hour the tall black figure of the +cavalier continued fixed upon the same spot and in the same attitude; +but suddenly the broad gigantic shadow of the frigate swung round in +the moonshine, her sails filled to the breeze, and, dimly brightening +in the light, she bore off slow and still and stately towards the +west." + +So much for the birth. Doctor Beaton, at least, says that Louisa de +Stolberg, the lawful wife of the young pretender, gave birth to a +child at St. Rosalie in 1773, and that it was carried away three days +afterwards in the British frigate "Albina," by Commodore O'Haleran. + +In the next story, called "The Red Eagle," another stage is reached. +The Highland chief who went to visit Dr. Beaton in Westminster has +passed his youth, and, in middle age, is astounded by some neighbourly +gossip concerning a mysterious personage who has taken up his quarters +in an adjacent mansion. This unknown individual is described as +wearing the red tartan, and as having that peculiar look of the eye +"which was never in the head of man nor bird but the eagle and Prince +Charlie." His name also is given as Captain O'Haleran, so that there +can be no difficulty in tracing his history back to the time when the +commodore and the mysterious infant sailed from the Mediterranean port +toward the west. Moreover, it seems that he is the reputed son of an +admiral who lays claim to a Scottish peerage, who had married a +southern heiress against the wishes of his relatives, and had assumed +her name; and that his French valet is in the habit of paying him +great deference, and occasionally styles him "Monseigneur" and +"Altesse Royal." As if this hint were not sufficient, it is +incidentally mentioned that a very aged Highland chief, who is almost +in his dotage, no sooner set eyes upon the "Red Eagle" than he +addressed him as Prince Charlie, and told his royal highness that the +last time he saw him was on the morning of Culloden. + +In the third and last of the tales--"The Wolf's Den"--the "Red Eagle" +reappears, and is married to an English lady named Catherine Bruce. +His pretensions to royalty are even more plainly acknowledged than +before; and in the course of the story the Chevalier Græme, +chamberlain to the Countess d'Albanie, addresses him as "My Prince." +The inference is obvious. The Highland hero with the wonderful eyes +was the child of the pretender; he espoused an English lady, and the +names on the title-page of the book which tells this marvellous +history lead us to believe that the marriage was fruitful, and that +"John Sobieski Stuart" and "Charles Edward Stuart" were the offspring +of the union, and as such inherited whatever family pretensions might +exist to the sovereignty of the British empire. + +This very pretty story might have passed with the public as a mere +romance, and, possibly, the two names on the title-page might have +been regarded as mere _noms de plume_, if vague reports had not +previously been circulated which made it apparent that the motive of +the so-called Stuarts was to deceive the public rather than to amuse +them. + +There seemed, indeed, to be little ground for believing this romantic +story to be true, and when it was made public it was immediately rent +to pieces. One shrewd critic, in particular, tore the veil aside, and +in the pages of the _Quarterly Review_ revealed the truth. He plainly +showed the imposture, both by direct and collateral evidence, and +traced the sham Stuarts through all the turnings of their tortuous +lives. By him Commodore O'Haleran, who is said to have carried off the +child, is shown to be Admiral Allen, who died in 1800, and who +pretended to have certain claims to the earldom of Errol and the +estates of the Hay family. This gentleman, it seems, had two sons, +Captain John Allen and Lieutenant Thomas Allen, both of whom were +officers in the navy. The younger of these, Thomas, was married on the +2d of October 1792 to Catherine Manning, the daughter of the Vicar of +Godalming. In this gentleman, Lieutenant Thomas Allen, the reviewer +declares the prototype of the mysterious "Red Eagle" may clearly be +recognised; and he works his case out in this way:--The "Red Eagle" +calls himself captain, and is seen in the story in connection with a +man-of-war, and displaying remarkable powers of seamanship during a +storm among the Hebrides; Thomas Allen was a lieutenant in the navy. +The "Red Eagle" passed for the son of Admiral O'Haleran; Thomas Allen +for the son of Admiral Carter Allen. The "Red Eagle" married Catherine +Bruce, sometime after the summer of 1790; Thomas Allen married +Catherine Manning in 1792. In the last of the three "Tales of the +Century," Admiral O'Haleran and the mysterious guide of Dr. Beaton are +represented as endeavouring to prevent the "Red Eagle" from injuring +the prospects of his house by such a _mesalliance_ as they considered +his marriage with Catherine Bruce would be; and there is a scene in +which the royal birth of the "Red Eagle" is spoken of without +concealment, and in which the admiral begs his "foster son" not to +destroy, by such a marriage, the last hope that was withering on his +_father's_ foreign tomb. In his will Admiral Allen bequeathed his +whole fortune to his eldest son, and only left a legacy of £100 to +Thomas; so that it may reasonably be inferred that his displeasure had +been excited against his youngest born by some such event as an +imprudent marriage. This Thomas Allen had two sons, of whom the elder +published a volume of poems in 1822, to which he put his name as John +Hay Allen, Esq.; while the marriage of the other is noted in +_Blackwood's Magazine_ for the same year, when he figures as "Charles +Stuart, youngest son of Thomas Hay Allen, Esq." These are the +gentlemen who, more than twenty years later, placed their names to the +"Tales of the Century," and styled themselves John Sobieski Stuart and +Charles Edward Stuart, thus seeking to persuade the world that they +were the direct heirs of Prince Charlie. + +There can be no doubt as to their motive; but is it probable, or even +possible, that the occurrences which they describe with so much +minuteness could ever have taken place? The imaginary Dr. Beaton's +story as to the birth is altogether uncorroborated. What became of the +attendants on the Princess Louisa, of the lady who was in the +bed-chamber, of the nurse who held the child in her arms, and of the +little page who announced the advent of the royal heir to the +mysterious guide? They knew the nature of the important event which is +said to have taken place, yet they all died with sealed lips, nor, +even "in the service of the king," revealed the fact that an heir had +been born. The officers and crew of the frigate, also, must have +gossiped about the commodore's midnight adventure, and the strange +shipment of a lady and child off the Italian coast on a moonlight +night; but not one of them ever gave a sign or betrayed the fact. Such +secrecy is, to say the least, very unusual. Then, returning to Prince +Charlie himself, it is indisputable that when his wife left him in +disgust in 1780, he had no recourse to his imaginary son to cheer his +old age, but turned instinctively to Charlotte Stuart, his +illegitimate child, for sympathy. In July 1784 he executed a deed, +with all the necessary forms, legitimating this person, and bestowing +upon her the title of Albany, by which he had himself been known for +fourteen years, with the rank of duchess. To legitimate his natural +daughter, and give her the reversion of his own title, was very unlike +the action of a _pseudo_-king who had a lawful son alive. In 1784, +also, when the pretender executed his will, he left this same Duchess +of Albany, of his own constitution, all that he possessed, with the +exception of a small bequest to his brother the cardinal, and a few +trifling legacies to his attendants. To the duchess he bequeathed his +palace at Florence, with all its rich furniture, all his plate and +jewels, including those brought into the family by his mother, the +Princess Clementina Sobieski, and also such of the crown jewels of +England as had been conveyed to the continent by James II. If the +claimant to the British throne had had a son, would he have alienated +from him not only his Italian residence and the Polish jewels which he +inherited from his mother, but also the crown jewels of England, which +had come into his possession as the descendant of a king, and which +were, by the same right, the inalienable property of his legitimate +son? + +The Duchess of Albany very evidently knew nothing of the existence of +her supposed half-brother. She survived her father Prince Charles +Edward for two years. Before her decease she sent to the cardinal the +whole of the crown jewels, and at her death she left him all her +property, with the exception of an annuity to her mother, Miss +Walkinshaw, who survived her for some time, and who was known in +Jacobite circles as the Countess of Alberstroff. + +The conduct of the Princess Louisa, the reputed mother of the child, +was equally strange. When she left her old debauched husband, she +found consolation in the friendship and intimacy of the poet Alfieri, +who at his death left her his whole property. Cardinal York settled a +handsome income upon her, and her second lover--a Frenchman, named +Fabre--added to her store. She survived till 1824, when her alleged +son must have been in his fifty-first year; yet at her death all her +property, including the seal and the portrait of Prince Charles +Edward, were left to her French admirer, and were by him bequeathed to +an Italian sculptor. + +Cardinal York, also, betrayed no knowledge that his brother ever had +had a son. When Prince Charles Edward died the cardinal adopted all +the form and etiquette usual in the residence of a monarch, and +insisted upon its observance by his visitors, as well as by his own +attendants. He published protests asserting his right to the British +crown, and caused medals to be struck bearing his effigy, and an +inscription wherein he is styled Henry the Ninth, King of Great +Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., &c. This he neither +could nor would have done had he been aware of the existence of his +brother's son, who had a prior claim to his own. Moreover, when the +Princess Louisa left her husband, he exerted himself to the utmost of +his ability to serve her; carried her to Rome; and succeeded in +procuring for her a suitable establishment from his brother. Surely, +in return for his great services, she would have informed him of the +existence of her son, if any such son had ever been born! When the +pretender's health began to give way Cardinal York was among the first +to hasten to his assistance, and, discarding all previous +disagreements, renewed his friendship with him, and persuaded him to +make his home in Rome for the last two years of his life. Yet Prince +Charles in his old age, and with death before his eyes, never revealed +the secret of St. Rosalie to his brother, but permitted him to assume a +title to which he had not the shadow of a claim. In his will also, +Cardinal York betrays his ignorance of any heir of his brother, and +bequeaths his possessions to the missionary funds of the Romish +Church. Dr. Beaton alone seems to have been worthy of trust. + +As far as Admiral Allen is concerned, it is not only unproven that he +was a Tory or a Jacobite, but it is almost certainly shown that he was +a Whig, and would have been a very unlikely person to be entrusted +either with the secrets, or the heir, of Prince Charlie. Had Charles +Edward been in a situation to confide so delicate a trust to any one, +it is impossible to conceive that he would have selected any other +than one of his staunchest adherents; yet John and Charles Hay Allen +ask the public to believe that the charge was entrusted to one whose +political relations seem to have been with the opposite party. They +declare that the "Red Eagle" was aware of his real parentage prior to +1790; yet in the notice of Thomas Allen's marriage, which occurred two +years later, he is expressly described as the son of Admiral Allen, +and in the admiral's will he is distinctly mentioned as his son. As +the reviewer, who has been quoted so freely, remarks: "What +conceivable motive could induce the officer entrusted by Charles +Edward with the care of the only hope of the House of Stuart to leave +in his will, and that will, too, executed in the year of his death, a +flat denial of the royal birth of his illustrious ward? The fact is +utterly irreconcilable with the existence of such a secret, and +appears absolutely conclusive. There was no occasion for the admiral +stating in his will whose son Thomas Allen was. He might have left him +£100 without any allusion to his parentage; but when he deliberately, +and, as lawyers say, _in intuitu mortis_, assures us that this +gentleman, the father of those who assume names so directly indicative +of royal pretensions, was his own son, we are inclined to give him +credit for a clearer knowledge of the truth than any now alive can +possess." + +Such is the story, and such is its refutation. It has had many +believers and many critics. That it was advanced in earnest there can +be no doubt, and the pretenders were well known in London circles. +The elder of them, "John Sobieski Stuart," died in February 1872; but +before his decease solemnly appointed his successor, and passed his +supposed royal birthright to a younger member of the same family--a +birthright which is worthless and vain. + + + + +JOHN HATFIELD--THE SHAM HONOURABLE ALEXANDER HOPE. + + +In the latter half of last century a farmer in one of the northern +counties had in his house a very pretty girl, who passed as his +daughter, and who supposed that he was her father. The damsel was +industrious and virtuous as well as beautiful, and as she grew to +maturity had many applicants for her hand. At last, as it became +apparent that she would not long remain disengaged or single, her +reputed father explained to her that she was not his daughter, but was +an illegitimate child of Lord Robert Manners, who had all along paid +for her support, and who was disposed to grant her a wedding portion +of £1000, provided she married with his sanction. The news soon +spread, and the rustic beauty became a greater toast than ever when it +was known that she was also an heiress. Among others who heard of her +sudden accession to fortune was a young fellow called John Hatfield, +then employed as a traveller by a neighbouring linen-draper. He lost +no time in paying his respects at the farm-house, or in enrolling +himself in the number of her suitors, and succeeded so well that he +not only gained the affections of the girl, but also the goodwill of +the farmer, who wrote to Lord Robert Manners, informing him that +Hatfield held a good position and had considerable expectations, and +that he was anxious to marry his daughter, but would only do so on +condition that her relatives approved of the union. Thereupon his +lordship sent for the lover, and, believing his representations to be +true, gave his consent at the first interview, and on the day after +the marriage presented the bridegroom with £1500. + +The fellow was in reality a great scamp. A short time after he got the +money he set out for London, purchased a carriage, frequented the most +famous coffee-houses, and represented himself to be a near relation of +the Rutland family, and the possessor of large estates in Yorkshire. +The marriage portion was soon exhausted, and when he had borrowed from +every person who would lend him money he disappeared from the +fashionable world as abruptly as he had entered it. Little was heard +of his movements for several years, when he suddenly turned up again +as boastful, if not as resplendent, as ever. By this time his wife had +borne three daughters to him; but he regarded both her and them as +hateful encumbrances, and deserted them, leaving them to be supported +by the precarious charity of her relations. The poor woman did not +long survive his ill-usage and neglect, and died in 1782. Hatfield +himself found great difficulty in raising money, and was, at last, +thrown into the King's Bench prison for a debt of £160. Here he was +very miserable, and was in such absolute destitution that he excited +the pity of some of his former associates and victims who had retained +sufficient to pay their jail expenses, and they often invited him to +dinner and supplied him with food. He never lost his assurance; and, +although he was perfectly well aware that his real character was +known, still continued to boast of his kennels, of his Yorkshire park, +and of his estate in Rutlandshire, which he asserted was settled upon +his wife; and usually wound up his complaint by observing how annoying +it was that a gentleman who at that very time had thirty men engaged +in beautifying his Yorkshire property should be locked up in a filthy +jail, by a miserable tradesman, for a paltry debt. + +Among others to whom he told this cock-and-bull story was a clergyman +who came to the prison to visit Valentine Morris, the ex-governor of +St. Vincent, who was then one of the inmates; and he succeeded in +persuading the unsuspecting divine to visit the Duke of Rutland, and +lay his case before him as that of a near relative. Of course the +duke repudiated all connection with him, and all recollection of him; +but a day or two later, when he remembered that he was the man who had +married the natural daughter of Lord Robert Manners, he sent £200 and +had him released. + +Such a benefactor was not to be lost sight of. The duke was appointed +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1784, and had scarcely landed in Dublin +when Hatfield followed him to that city. On his arrival he engaged a +splendid suite of apartments in a first-rate hotel, fared sumptuously, +and represented himself as nearly allied to the viceroy; but said that +he could not appear at the castle until his horses, carriages, and +servants arrived from England. The Yorkshire park, the Rutlandshire +estate, and the thirty industrious labourers were all impressed into +his service once more, and the landlord allowed him to have what he +liked. When the suspicions of Boniface were aroused by the non-arrival +of the equipages and attendants he presented his bill. Hatfield +assured him that his money was perfectly safe, and that luckily his +agent, who collected the rents of his estate in the north of England, +was then in Ireland, and would give him all needful information. The +landlord called upon this gentleman, whose name had been given to him, +and presented his account, but of course without success; and Hatfield +was thrown in the Marshalsea jail by the indignant landlord. By this +time he was thoroughly familiar with the mysteries of prison life as +it then existed, and had scarcely seated himself in his new lodging +when he visited the jailer's wife and informed her of the relationship +in which he stood to the lord-lieutenant. The woman believed him, gave +him the best accommodation she could, and allowed him to sit at her +table for three weeks. During this time he sent another petition to +the new viceroy, who, fearing lest his own reputation should suffer, +released him, and was only too glad to ship him off to Holyhead. + +He next showed himself at Scarborough in 1792, and succeeded in +introducing himself to some of the local gentry, to whom he hinted +that at the next general election he would be made one of the +representatives of the town through the influence of the Duke of +Rutland. His inability to pay his hotel bill, however, led to his +exposure, and he was obliged to flee to London, where he was again +arrested for debt. This time the wheel of Fortune turned but slowly in +his favour. He lingered in jail for eight years and a-half, when a +Miss Nation, of Devonshire, to whom he had become known, paid his +debts, took him from prison, and married him. + +Abandoning his Rutlandshire pretensions, he now devoted himself to +business, and persuaded a Devonshire firm, who knew nothing of his +antecedents, to take him into partnership, and also ingratiated +himself with a clergyman, who accepted his drafts for a large amount. +Thus supplied with ready money he returned to London, where he lived +in splendid style, and even went so far as to aspire to a seat in the +House of Commons. For a time all appeared to go well; but suspicions +gradually arose with regard to his character and his resources, and he +was declared a bankrupt. Deserting his wife and her two children, he +fled from his creditors. For some time nothing was heard of him, but +in July 1802 he arrived in Keswick, in a carriage, but without any +servant, and assumed the name of the Honourable Alexander Augustus +Hope, brother of the Earl of Hopetoun, and member of Parliament for +Linlithgow. + +In his wanderings he became acquainted with an old couple called +Robinson, who kept a little hostelry on the shore of the Lake of +Buttermere, and who had one daughter who was locally known as "The +Beauty of Buttermere." The handsome colonel at once began to lay siege +to this girl's heart, and was the less loth to do so because it was +rumoured that old Robinson had saved a considerable sum during a long +lifetime. But with his usual prudence, he thought it well to have two +strings to his bow, and finding that there was an Irish officer in +Keswick who had a ward of good family and fortune, and of great +personal attractions, he procured an introduction as the Honourable +Colonel Hope of the 14th regiment of foot. He failed with the ward, +but he was more successful with the Irishman's daughter. Her consent +was given, the trousseau was ordered, and the wedding-day was fixed. +But the lady would not agree to a secret ceremony, and insisted that +he should announce his intended nuptials both to her own and his +friends. This he agreed to do, and pretended to write letters +apprising his brother, and even proposed a visit to Lord Hopetoun's +seat. The bride's suspicions were, however, roused by the strange air +of concealment and mystery which surrounded her intended husband; the +desired answers to his letters came not, and she refused to resign +either herself or her fortune into his keeping. + +Thus baffled, he devoted all his attention to pretty Mary Robinson, +and found her less reluctant to unite her lot with that of such a +distinguished individual as Colonel Hope. The inquiries this time were +all on the gallant officer's side, and it was only when he found that +the reports as to old Robinson's wealth were well founded that he led +her to the altar of Lorton church, on the 2d of October 1802. + +On the day before the wedding the _soi-disant_ Colonel Hope wrote to a +gentleman of his acquaintance, informing him that he was under the +necessity of being absent for ten days on a journey into Scotland, and +enclosing a draft for thirty pounds, drawn on a Mr. Crumpt of +Liverpool, which he desired him to cash and pay some small debts in +Keswick with it, and send him over the balance, as he was afraid he +might be short of money on the road. This was done; and the gentleman +sent him at the same time an additional ten pounds, lest unexpected +demands should be made upon his purse in his absence. + +The Keswick folks were naturally astonished when they learned two days +later that the colonel, who had been paying his addresses to the +daughter of the Irish officer, had married "The Beauty of Buttermere," +and the confiding friend who had sent him the money at once despatched +the draft to Liverpool. Mr. Crumpt immediately accepted it, believing +that it came from the real Colonel Hope, whom he knew very well. +Meantime, instead of paying his proposed journey to Scotland Hatfield +stopped at Longtown, where he received two letters, by which he +seemed much disturbed, and returned after three days' absence to +Buttermere. Some friends of the real colonel, chancing to hear of his +marriage, paused on their way through Cumberland, at Keswick, and +wrote to their supposed acquaintance, asking him to come and visit +them. Hatfield went in a carriage and four, and had an interview with +the gentlemen, but flatly denied that he had ever assumed Colonel +Hope's name. He said his name was Hope, but that he was not the member +for Linlithgow. It was notorious, however, that he had been in the +habit of franking his letters with Colonel Hope's name, and he was +handed over to a constable. He contrived to escape, and fled first to +Chester and subsequently to Swansea, where he was recaptured. + +He was brought to trial at the Cumberland assizes on the 15th of +August 1803, charged with personation and forgery, and was found +guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed at Carlisle on the 3d +of September 1803. + + + + +HERVAGAULT--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +There is no darker page in the history of France than that whereon is +inscribed the record of the Revolution; and in its darkness there is +nothing blacker than the narration of the horrible treatment of the +young dauphin by the revolutionists. The misfortunes of his father +King Louis XVI., and of Marie-Antoinette, are sufficiently well known +throughout Europe to render the repetition of them tedious; but the +evil fate of the son has been less voluminously recorded by +historians, and it is, therefore, necessary to repeat the story at +some length to render the following narratives of claims to royalty +thoroughly intelligible. + +Louis-Charles was the second son of Louis XVI. and his consort +Marie-Antoinette, and was born at the Chateau of Versailles, on the +27th of March, at five minutes before seven in the evening. An hour +and a half later he was baptised with much ceremony by the Cardinal de +Rohan and the Vicar of Versailles, and received the title of Duke of +Normandy. Then the king, followed by all the court, went to the chapel +of the chateau, where _Te Deum_ was sung in honour of the event, and +subsequently the infant prince was consecrated a knight of the order +of the Holy Ghost. Fireworks were displayed on the Place d'Armes at +Versailles; and when the news reached Paris it is said "joy spread +itself from one end of the great city to the other; the cannon of the +Bastille responded to the cannon of the Invalides; and everywhere +spontaneous illuminations, the ringing of bells, and the acclamations +of the people, manifested the love of France for a king who, in the +flower of his youth, found his happiness in the happiness of the +people." Such was the introduction into the world of the young prince. + +Fate seemed to have the brightest gifts in store for him. On the 4th +of June 1789, the dauphin, his elder brother, died at Meudon, and the +young Louis-Charles succeeded to his honours. At this time he was +rather more than four years old, and is described as having a graceful +and well-knit frame, his forehead broad and open, his eyebrows arched; +his large blue eyes fringed with long chestnut lashes of angelic +beauty; his complexion dazzlingly fair and blooming; his hair, of a +dark chestnut, curled naturally, and fell in thick ringlets on his +shoulders; and he had the vermilion mouth of his mother, and like her +a small dimple on the chin. In disposition he was exceedingly amiable, +and was a great favourite both with his father and mother, who +affectionately styled him their "little Norman." + +His happiness was destined to be very short-lived, for the murmurs of +the Revolution could already be heard. On the 20th of July, 1791, King +Louis XVI., his family and court, fled from the disloyal French +capital in the night, their intention being to travel in disguise to +Montmèdy, and there to join the Marquis de Bouillé, who was at the +head of a large army. When they awoke the little dauphin, and began +to dress him as a girl, his sister asked him what he thought of the +proceeding. His answer was, "I think we are going to play a comedy;" +but never had comedy more tragic ending. The royal party were +discovered at Varennes, and brought back to the Tuileries amid the +hootings and jeers of the mob. "The journey," says Lamartine, "was a +Calvary of sixty leagues, every step of which was a torture." On the +way the little girl whispered to her brother, "Charles, this is not a +comedy." "I have found that out long since," said the boy. But he was +brave, tender to his mother, and gravely courteous to the commissioner +of the Assembly who had been deputed to bring them back. "Sir," he +said, from his mother's knee, "you ask if I am not very sorry to +return to Paris. I am glad to be anywhere, so that it is with mamma +and papa, and my aunt and sister, and Madame de Tourzel, my +governess." + +There soon came the wild scene in the Tuileries, and the sad +appearance of the dethroned king in the Assembly, with its still more +lamentable ending. Louis XVI. was carried to the prison of the Temple. +This building had originally been a fortress of the Knights Templars. +In 1792, the year in which it received the captive monarch, it +consisted of a large square tower, flanked at its angles by four round +towers, and having on the north side another separate tower of less +dimensions than the first, surmounted by turrets, and generally called +the little tower. It was in this little tower that the royal family of +France were located by the commune of Paris. Here the king spent his +time in the education of his son, while the best historian of the boy +says he devoted himself to comforting his parents: "Here he was happy +to live, and he was only turned to grief by the tears which sometimes +stole down his mother's cheeks. He never spoke of his games and walks +of former days; he never uttered the name of Versailles or the +Tuileries; he seemed to regret nothing." + +On the morning of the 21st January, 1793, Louis XVI. was carried to +the scaffold, and suffered death. On the previous day, at a final +interview which was allowed, he had taken the dauphin, "his dear +little Norman," on his knee, and had said to him, "My son, you have +heard what I have just said"--he had been causing them all to promise +never to think of avenging his death--"but, as oaths are something +more sacred still than words, swear, with your hands held up to +Heaven, that you will obey your father's dying injunction;" and, adds +his sister, who tells the story, "My brother, bursting into tears, +obeyed; and this most affecting goodness doubled our own grief." And +thus father and son parted, but not for long. + +On the 1st of July the Committee of Public Safety passed a decree, +"That the son of Capet be separated from his mother, and committed to +the charge of a tutor, to be chosen by the Council General of the +Commune." The Convention sanctioned it, and it was carried into effect +two days later. About ten o'clock at night, when the young dauphin was +sleeping soundly in his bed, and the ex-queen and her sister were busy +mending clothes, while the princess read to them, six municipal guards +marched into the room and tore the child from his agonized mother. +They conveyed him to that part of the Tower which had formerly been +occupied by his father, where the "tutor" of the commune was in +waiting to receive him. This was no other than a fellow called Simon, +a shoemaker, who had never lost an opportunity of publicly insulting +the king, and who, through the influence of Marat and Robespierre, had +been appointed the instructor of his son at a salary of 500 francs a +month, on condition that he was never to leave his prisoner or quit +the Tower, on any pretence whatever. + +On the first night, Simon found his new pupil disposed to be +unmanageable. The dauphin sat silently on the floor in a corner, and +not all his new master's threats could induce him to answer the +questions which were put to him. Madame Simon, although a terrible +virago, was likewise unsuccessful; and for two days the prince mourned +for his mother, and refused to taste food, only demanding to see the +law which separated him from her and kept them in prison. At the end +of the second day he found that he could not persist in exercising his +own will, and went to bed. In the morning his new master cried in his +elation, "Ha, ha! little Capet, I shall have to teach you to sing the +'Carmagole,' and to cry '_Vive la République!_' Ah! you are dumb, are +you?" and so from hour to hour he sneered at the miserable child. + +On one occasion, in the early days of his rule, Simon made his pupil +the present of a Jew's harp, at the same time saying, "Your she-wolf +of a mother plays on the piano, and you must learn to accompany her on +the Jew's harp!" The dauphin steadily refused to touch the instrument; +whereupon the new tutor, in a passion, flew upon him and beat him +severely. Still he was not cowed, although the blows were the first +which he had ever received, but bravely answered, "You may punish me +if I don't obey you; but you ought not to beat me--you are stronger +than I." "I am here to command you, animal! my duty is just what I +please to do; and '_vive la Liberté, l'Egalité_.'" By-and-by personal +suffering and violence had become only too common occurrences of his +daily life. + +About a week after the dauphin was transferred from the little tower, +a rumour spread through Paris that the son of Louis XVI. had been +carried off from the Temple Tower, and crowds of the sovereign people +flocked to the spot to satisfy themselves of its truth. The guard, who +had not seen the boy since he had been taken from his mother's care, +replied that he was no longer in the Tower; "_and from that time the +popular falsehood gained ground and strength continually_." In order +to quiet the public apprehension, a deputation from the Committee of +Public Safety visited Simon, and ordered him to bring down "the +tyrant's son," so that the incoming guard might see him for +themselves. They then proceeded to cross-question Simon as to the +manner in which he discharged his duties. When that worthy had +satisfied them as to his past treatment, he demanded decisive +instructions for his future guidance. + +"Citizens, what do you decide about the wolf-cub? He has been taught +to be insolent, but I shall know how to tame him. So much the worse if +he sinks under it! I don't answer for that. After all, what do you +want done with him? Do you want him transported?" + +"No." + +"Killed?" + +"No." + +"Poisoned?" + +"No." + +"But what then?" + +"We want to get rid of him!" + +The guard saw him and questioned him, and some of them even +sympathized with him and tried to comfort him; but Simon came and +dragged him away with a rough "Come, come, Capet, or I'll show the +citizens how I _work_ you when you deserve it!" + +When the commissaries returned to the Convention they were able to +announce that the report which had stirred up the populace was false, +and that they had seen Capet's son. From this time forward Simon +redoubled his harshness; beat the boy daily; removed his books and +converted them into pipe-lights; cut off his hair, and made him wear +the red Jacobin cap; dressed him in a scarlet livery, and compelled +him to clean his own and his wife's shoes, and to give them the most +abject obedience. At last the boy's spirit was thoroughly broken, and +Simon not only did as he had said, and forced his victim to sing the +"Carmagnole," and shout "_Vive la République!_" but made him drunk +upon bad wine, and when his mind was confused forced him to sing lewd +and regicide songs, and even to subscribe his name to foul slanders +against his mother. + +It might be supposed that the Convention was thoroughly satisfied with +its worthy subordinate who had done his peculiar work so effectively, +but he was considered too costly, and was ousted from his post. It was +resolved that the expenses of the children of Louis Capet should be +reduced to what was necessary for the food and maintenance of two +persons, and four members of the Council-General of the Commune agreed +to superintend the prisoners of the Temple. A new arrangement was +made, and a novel system of torture was inaugurated by Hébert and +Chaumette, two of the most infamous wretches whom the Revolution +raised into temporary notoriety. The wretched boy was confined in a +back-room which had no window or connection with the outside except +through another apartment. His historian describes it vividly--"The +door of communication between the ante-room and this room was cut down +so as to leave it breast high, fastened with nails and screws, and +grated from top to bottom with bars of iron. Half way up was placed a +shelf on which the bars opened, forming a sort of wicket, closed by +other moveable bars, and fastened by an enormous padlock. By this +wicket his coarse food was passed in to little Capet, and it was on +this ledge that he had to put whatever he wanted to send away. +Although small, his compartment was yet large enough for a tomb. What +had he to complain of? He had a room to walk in, a bed to lie upon; he +had bread and water, and linen and clothes! But he had neither fire +nor candle. His room was warmed only by a stove-pipe, and lighted only +by the gleam of a lamp suspended opposite the grating." Into this +horrible place he was pushed on the anniversary of his father's death. +The victim did not even see the parsimonious hand which passed his +food to him, nor the careless hand that sometimes left him without a +fire in very cold weather, and sometimes, by plying the stove with too +much fuel, converted his prison into a furnace. + +This horrible place he was expected to keep clean, but his strength +was unequal to the task, and he was glad to crawl to his bed when +ordered by his guards, who refused to give him a light. Even there he +was not allowed to rest in peace, and often the commissaries appointed +to relieve those on duty would often noisily arouse him from his +pleasant dreams by rattling at his wicket, crying, "Capet, Capet, are +you asleep? Where are you? Young viper, get up!" And the little +startled form would creep from the bed and crawl to the wicket; while +the faint gentle voice would answer, "I am here, citizens, what do you +want with me?" "To see you," would be the surly reply of the watch for +the night. "All right. Get to bed. In!--Down!" And this performance +would be repeated several times before morning. It would have killed a +strong man in a short time. How long could a child stand it? + +Days and weeks and months did pass, and as they passed brought +increasing langour, and weakness, and illness. The want of fresh air, +the abandonment and the solitude, had all had their effect, and the +unfortunate dauphin could scarcely lift the heavy earthenware platter +which contained his food, or the heavier jar in which his water was +brought. He soon left off sweeping his room, and never tried to move +the palliasse off his bed. He could not change his filthy sheets, and +his blanket was worn into tatters. He wore his ragged jacket and +trousers--Simon's legacy--both day and night, and although he felt all +this misery he could not cry. Loathsome creatures crawled in his den +and over his person until even the little scullion who attended him +shuddered with horror as he glanced into the place and muttered, +"Everything is _alive_ in that room." "Yes," says Beauchesne, +"everything was alive except the boy they were killing by inches, and +murdering in detail. This beautiful child, so admired at Versailles +and at the Tuileries, would not recognise himself, his form is +scarcely human--it is something that vegetates--a moving mass of bones +and skin. Never could any state of misery have been conceived more +desolate, more lonely, more threatening than this!... And all that I +here relate is true! These troubles, insults, and torments were heaped +on the head of a child. I show them to you, like indeed to what they +were, but far short of the reality. Cowardly and cruel men, why did +you stop in your frenzy of murder? It would have been better to drink +that last drop of royal blood, than to mingle it with gall and venom +and poison; it would have been better to smother the child, as was +done by the emissaries of Richard III. in the Tower of London, than to +degrade and sully his intellect by that slow method of assassination +which killed the mind before it slew the body. He should have been +struck a year or two before; his little feet should have been aided to +mount the rude steps of the guillotine! Ah, if she could have known +the fate you were reserving for him, the daughter of Maria-Theresa +would have asked to take her child in her arms: she would have shared +her very last victory with him; and the angels would have prepared at +once the crown of the martyred and that of the innocent victim! Alas, +history is fain to regret for Louis XVII. the scaffold of his mother!" + +But the end of the torture was very near. Robespierre fell, and Simon, +the Barbarous, accompanied him in the same tumbril to the guillotine, +and shared his fate. Barras, the new dictator, made it almost his +first care to visit the Temple; and, from what his colleagues and +himself saw there, they came to the conclusion that some more +judicious control was needed than that of the rough guards who had +charge of the royal children--that a permanent agent must be appointed +to watch the watchers. Accordingly, without consulting him, they +delegated the citizen Laurent to take charge of the dauphin and his +sister. Laurent was a humane man, and accepted the appointment +willingly. Indeed he dared not have refused it; but, in common with +the rest of the public, he had heard that the boy was miserably ill +and was totally uncared for, and seems to have had a notion that he +could better his condition. + +He arrived at the Temple in the evening; but, having no idea of the +real state of the child, he did not visit his little prisoner until +the guard was changed at two o'clock in the morning. When he arrived +at the entrance-door, the foul smell emanating therefrom almost drove +him back. But he was forced to overcome his repugnance; for when the +municipals battered at the little wicket, and shouted for Capet, no +Capet responded. At last, after having been frequently called, a +feeble voice answered "Yes;" but there was no motion on the part of +the speaker. No amount of threatening could induce the occupant of the +bed to leave it, and Laurent was compelled to accept his new charge in +this way, knowing that he was safe somewhere in that dark and +abominable hole. Early next morning he was at the wicket again, and +saw a sight which caused him to send an immediate request to his +superiors to come and visit their captive. Two days later several +members of the Committee of General Safety repaired to the Temple, the +barrier and the wicket were torn down, and "in a dark room, from which +exhaled an odour of corruption and death, on a dirty unmade bed, +barely covered with a filthy cloth and a ragged pair of trousers, a +child of nine years old was lying motionless, his back bent, his face +wan and wasted with misery, and his features exhibiting an expression +of mournful apathy and rigid unintelligence. His head and neck were +fretted by purulent sores, his legs and arms were lengthened +disproportionately, his knees and wrists were covered with blue and +yellow swellings, his feet and hands unlike in appearance to human +flesh, and armed with nails of an immense length; his beautiful fair +hair was stuck to his head by an inveterate scurvy like pitch; and his +body, and the rags which covered him, were alive with vermin." +Mentally he was almost an imbecile; and in answer to all the questions +which were put to him, he only said once, "I wish to die." And this +was the son of Louis XVI., and the nearest heir to the throne of +France! + +The commissaries having given some trifling directions, went their way +to concoct a report, leaving Laurent with very indefinite +instructions. But all the human feelings of the man were roused. He +sent at once for another bed, and bathed the child's wounds. He got an +old woman to cut his hair, and comb it out, and wash him, and +persuaded one of the municipals, who had been a kind of doctor, to +prescribe for the sores, and managed to persuade his superiors to send +a tailor, who made a suit of good clothes for the dauphin. At first +the boy had some difficulty in understanding the change, but as it +dawned upon him he was very grateful. Nor did Laurent's good work stop +here. Although the Revolution was less bloody than before, it was +still very jealous; and the keeper of the Temple was not permitted to +see his prisoner, except at meal times and rare intervals. Still he +contrived to obtain permission to carry him to the top of the Tower, +on the plea that fresh air was essential to his health, and tended him +so assiduously, that while the prisoner was partially restored, and +could walk about, the strength of his custodier broke down. + +Under these circumstances he applied for an assistant, and citizen +Gomin was appointed to the duty. Citizen Gomin, the son of a +well-to-do upholsterer, had no desire to leave his father's shop to +become an under-jailer at the Temple; but his remonstrances were +silenced by the emissaries of the committee, and he was carried off at +once from his bench and his counter in a carriage which was waiting. +He was a kindly fellow, but prudent withal, and was so horrified when +he saw the condition of his charge, that he would have resigned if he +had not been afraid that by so doing he would become a suspect. As it +was he did his best to help Laurent, and by a happy thought, and with +the connivance of a good-hearted municipal, brought into the invalid's +room four little pots of flowers in full bloom. The sight of the +flowers and the undisguised mark of sympathy and affection did what +all previous kindness had failed to do--unlocked the fountains of a +long-sealed heart--and the child burst into tears. From that moment he +recognised Gomin as his friend, but days elapsed before he spoke to +him. When he did, his first remark was--"It was you who gave me some +flowers: I have not forgotten it." + +Gomin and Laurent by-and-by came to be great favourites; but the +latter was compelled to resign his post through the urgency of his +private affairs, and he was replaced by a house-painter called Lasné, +who, like Gomin, was forced to abandon his own business at a moment's +notice. He proved equally good-natured with the other two, and like +them succeeded in gaining the friendship of the dauphin. As far as he +could, he lightened his captivity and tended him with the utmost care. +But no amount of kindliness could bring back strength to the wasted +frame, or even restore hope to the careful attendants. They sang to +him, talked with him, and gave him toys; but it was all in vain. In +the month of May, 1705, they became really alarmed, and informed the +government that the little Capet was dangerously ill. No attention +was paid to their report, and they wrote again, expressing a fear that +he would not live. After a delay of three days a physician came. He +considered him as attacked with the same scrofulous disorder of which +his brother had died at Meudon, and proposed his immediate removal to +the country. This idea was, of course, regarded as preposterous. He +was, however, transferred to a more airy room; but the change had no +permanent effect. Lasné and Gomin did all they could for him, carrying +him about in their arms, and nursing him day and night; but he +continued gradually to sink. + +On the morning of the 8th of June a bulletin was issued announcing +that the life of the captive was in danger. Poor patient Gomin was by +his bedside, on the watch in more senses than one, and expressed his +profound sorrow to see him suffer so much. "Take comfort," said the +child, "I shall not always suffer so much." Then, says Beauchesne, +"Gomin knelt down that he might be nearer to him. The child took his +hand and pressed it to his lips. The pious heart of Gomin prompted an +ardent prayer--one of those prayers that misery wrings from man and +love sends up to God. The child did not let go the faithful hand that +still remained to him, and raised his eyes to Heaven while Gomin +prayed for him." A few hours later, when Lasné had relieved his +subordinate, and was sitting beside the bed, the prince said that he +heard music, and added, "Do you think my sister could have heard the +music? How much good it would have done her!" Lasné could not speak. +All at once the child's eye brightened, and he exclaimed, "I have +something to tell you!" Lasné took his hand, and bent over the bed to +listen. The little head fell on his bosom; but the last words had been +spoken, and the descendant and heir of sixty-five kings was dead. The +date was the 8th of June, 1795; and the little prisoner, who had +escaped at last, was just ten years, two months, and twelve days old. + +Lasné at once acquainted Gomin and Damont, the commissary on duty, +with the event, and they instantly repaired to the room. The poor +little royal corpse was carried from the apartment where he died into +that where he had suffered so long, the remains were laid out on the +bed, and the doors were thrown open. Gomin then repaired to the +offices of the Committee of Safety, and announced the decease of his +charge. He saw one of the members, who told him that the sitting was +ended, and advised the concealment of the fact till the following +morning. This was done. The same evening supper was prepared at eight +o'clock for "the little Capet," and Gomin pretended to take it to his +room. He left it outside, and entered the chamber of death. Many years +afterwards he described his feelings to M. Beauchesne--"I timidly +raised the covering and gazed upon him. The lines which pain had drawn +on his forehead and on his cheeks had disappeared.... His eyes, which +suffering had half-closed, were open now, and shone as pure as the +blue heaven. His beautiful fair hair, which had not been cut for two +months, fell like a frame round his face, which I had never seen so +calm." + +At eight o'clock next morning four members of the committee came to +the Tower to assure themselves that the prince really was dead. They +were satisfied and withdrew. As they went out some of the officers of +the Temple guard asked to see "the little Capet" whom they had known +at the Tuileries, and were admitted. They recognised the body at once, +and twenty of them signed an attestation to that effect. Four surgeons +arrived while the soldiers were in the room, and had to wait until it +could be cleared before they could begin the autopsy which they had +been sent to perform. By this time also everyone outside the Temple +had learned the event, except his sister, who was confined in another +part of the Tower; and the good-hearted Gomin could not muster up +courage to tell her. + +On the evening of the 10th of June the coffin which contained the body +was carried out at the great gate, escorted by a small detachment of +troops, and the crowd which had collected was kept back by gens +d'armes. Lasné was among the mourners, and witnessed the interment, +which took place in the cemetery of Sainte-Marguerite. As the +soldier-guarded coffin passed along, the people asked whose body it +contained, and were answered 'little Capet;' and the more popular +title of dauphin spread from lip to lip with expressions of pity and +compassion, and a few children of the common people, in rags, took off +their caps, in token of respect and sympathy, before this coffin that +contained a child who had died poorer than they themselves were to +live. + +The procession entered by the old gate of the cemetery, and the +interment took place in the corner on the left, at a distance of eight +or nine feet from the enclosure wall, and at an equal distance from a +small house. The grave was filled up--no mound was raised, but the +ground was carefully levelled, so that no trace of the interment +should remain. All was over. + +This is the story of M. Beauchesne, and there seems to be little +reason to doubt its truth in any essential particular. He writes with +much feeling, but he does not permit his sentiments to overcome his +reason, and has verified the truthfulness of his statements before +giving them to the public. His book is the result of twenty years' +labour and research, and he freely reproduces his authorities for the +inspection and judgment of his readers. He was personally acquainted +with Lasné and Gomin, the two last keepers of the Tower, and the +government aided him if it did not patronise him in his work. +Certificates, reports, and proclamations are all proved, and +lithographs of them are given. The book is a monument of patient +research as well as of love, and the mass of readers will find no +difficulty in believing that it embodies the truth, or that Louis +XVII. really died in the Temple on the 8th of June 1795. + + * * * * * + +But in a land such as France, it is not remarkable that the utmost +should have been made of the mystery which surrounded the fate of the +youthful dauphin, or that pretenders should have endeavoured to +personate the son of Louis XVI. The first of these was a lad called +Jean Marie Hervagault, a young scamp, who was a native of St. Lo, a +little village in the department of La Manche, and who resided there +during his early youth with his father, who was a tailor. This +precocious youth, who was gifted with good looks, and who undoubtedly +bore some resemblance to the deceased prince, ran away from home in +1796, and, by his plausible manners and innocent expression, succeeded +in ingratiating himself with several royalist families of distinction, +who believed his story that he was the son of a proscribed nobleman. +His good luck was so great that he was induced to visit Cherbourg, and +tempt his fortune among the concealed adherents of the monarchy who +were resident there; but he was quickly detected, and was thrown into +prison. + +His father, learning his whereabouts, repaired to the jail, and +implored his prodigal son to return to the needle and the shop-board +at St. Lo, but his entreaties were unavailing, and the would-be +aristocrat plainly announced his intention of wearing fine clothes +instead of making them. Accordingly, when he was released, he assumed +feminine attire, had recourse to prominent royalists to supply his +wants, and explained his disguise by mysterious allusions to political +motives, and to his own relationship to the Bourbons. The officers of +the law again laid hands on him, and threw him into prison at Bayeux, +and his father had once more to free him from custody. Still his soul +revolted at honest industry; and, although he condescended to return +to St. Lo, the shears and the goose remained unknown to him, and he +made his stay under the paternal roof as brief as possible. + +One morning in October, 1797, the honest old tailor awoke to find that +his ambitious son was missing for the third time, and heard no more of +him until he learnt that he was in prison at Châlons. He had contrived +to reach that town in his usual fashion, and when he found himself in +his customary quarters, and his further progress impeded, he informed +some of his fellow-prisoners, in confidence, that he was the dauphin +of the Temple, and the brother of the princess. They, of course, +whispered the wondrous secret to the warders, who in turn conveyed it +to their friends, and the news spread like wildfire. The whole town +"was moved, and the first impulse was to communicate to Madame Royale" +the joyful intelligence that her brother still lived. Crowds flocked +to see the interesting prisoner and to do him homage, and the +turnkeys, anxious to err on the safe side, relaxed their rules, and +permitted him to receive the congratulations of enthusiastic crowds, +who were anxious to kiss his hand and to avow their attachment to +himself and his cause. + +The authorities were less easily moved, and sentenced the sham dauphin +to a month's imprisonment as a rogue and vagabond, and, moreover, took +good care that he suffered the penalty. On his release he was loaded +with gifts by his still faithful friends, and went on his way +rejoicing, until at Vere he had the misfortune to be captured by the +police, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for swindling. +The royalists of Châlons, however, remained true to him, and when his +captivity was ended he was carried to the house of a Madame Seignes, +where he held a mimic court, and graciously received those who flocked +to do him honour. But the attentions of the police having become +pressing, he was compelled to move secretly from place to place, until +he found a temporary home in the house of a M. de Rambercourt, at +Vetry. Here he first told the full story of his adventures to a +wondering but believing audience. He glibly narrated the events which +took place in the Temple up to the removal of the miscreant Simon from +his post; but this part of the tale possessed little attraction, for +the cruelties of the shoemaker-tutor were well known; but the sequel +was of absorbing interest. + +He said that after the fall of Robespierre and his myrmidons, he +received much more lenient treatment, and was permitted to see his +sister daily, to play with her, and to take his meals in her company. +Still his health did not improve, and the compassion of his nurse +having been excited, she informed his friends without of his +condition, and it was resolved to effect his release. An arrangement +was made, and the real dauphin was placed in the midst of a bundle of +foul linen, and was then carried past the unsuspecting guards, while +a child who had been purchased for the occasion from his unnatural +parents was substituted in his place. The laundress' cart containing +the prince was driven to Passy, and there three individuals received +him, and were so certain of his identity that they at once fell on +their knees and did him homage. From their care he was transferred to +Belleville, the head-quarters of the Vendéan army, where with strange +inconsistency he was compelled to observe an incognito! Here he passed +two months disguised as a lady; and, although known to the chiefs, +concealed from the loyal army. + +Meantime the poor child who had been foisted upon the republicans was +drugged and died, and Dessault, his medical attendant, died also--the +suspicion being that both were poisoned. This miserable child, who had +thus paid the death penalty for his king was none other, the pretender +said, than the son of a rascally tailor, named Hervagault, who lived +at St. Lo! + +He further stated that, while the royalist cause was wavering, +instructions arrived from some mysterious source to send him to +England to secure his safety, and that thither he was despatched. The +Count d'Artois, he admitted, refused to acknowledge him as his nephew; +but simple George III. was more easily imposed upon, and received the +_pseudo_-dauphin with much kindness, and after encouraging him to be +of good cheer, despatched him in an English man-of-war to Ostia. At +Rome he had an interview with the Pope, and presented to him a +confidential letter which had been given to him by the English +monarch. Moreover, the pontiff prophesied the future greatness of his +illustrious visitor; and, in order to confirm his identity, stamped +two stigmata on his limbs with a red-hot iron--one on the right leg, +representing the royal shield of France, with the initial letter of +his name; and the other, on his left arm, with the inscription of +"_Vive le roi_!" + +Embarking at Leghorn, he landed in Spain, and without staying to pay +his respects to the king at Madrid hurried on to Portugal, where he +fell in love with the Princess Benedectine. This damsel, who was fair +as a _houri_, had, he declared, returned his affection, and the Queen +of Portugal had favoured his addresses; but as his friends were about +to get up a revolution (that of the 18th Fructidor) on his behalf, he +was compelled to leave his betrothed and hurry back to France. The +pro-royalist movement having failed, he was forced to conceal himself, +and to save himself by a second flight to England. But robbers, as +well as soldiers, barred his way, and, after being stripped by a troop +of bandits, he at last succeeded in reaching Châlons and his most +attentive audience. + +As it was known to those present that he had been imprisoned in +Châlons as a rogue, and had condescended subsequently to accept the +hospitality of the tailor of St. Lo, it was necessary to give some +slight explanation of circumstances which were so untoward. But his +ingenuity was not at fault, and the audacity of his story even helped +to satisfy his dupes. He admitted that when he was examined before the +authorities he had acknowledged Hervagault as his father; but he +declared that he had done so simply to escape from the rage of his +enemies, who were anxious to destroy him; and he considered that the +tailor, who had accepted royalist gold in exchange for a son, was both +bound to protect and recognise him. + +There was no doubting. Those who listened were convinced. The king had +come to take his own again; and Louis XVII. was the hero of the hour. +Royalist vied with royalist in doing him service, and the ladies, who +loved him for his beauty, pitied him for his misfortunes, and admired +him for his devotion to the Princess Benedectine, were the foremost in +endeavouring to restore him to his rights. Like devout Frenchwomen +their first thought was to procure for him the recognition of the +church, and they persuaded the curé of Somepuis to invite their +protégé to dinner. The village priest gladly did so, inasmuch as the +banquet was paid for by other folks than himself; but, being a jovial +ecclesiastic, he failed to perceive the true dignity of this +descendant of St. Louis, and even went so far as to jest with the royal +participant of his hospitality, somewhat rudely remarking that "the +prince had but a poor appetite, considering that he belonged to a +house whose members were celebrated as _bons vivants_!" The dauphin +was insulted, the ladies were vexed, and the curé was so intensely +amused that he burst into an explosive fit of laughter. The dinner +came to an untimely conclusion, and the branded of the Pope retired +wrathfully. + +But Fouché heard of these occurrences! The great minister of police +was little likely to allow an adventurer to wander about the provinces +without a passport, declaring himself the son of Louis XVI. By his +instructions the pretender was arrested, but even when in the hands of +the police lost none of his audacity. He assumed the airs of royalty, +and assured his disconsolate friends that the time would speedily come +when his wrongs would be righted, his enemies discomfited, and his +adherents rewarded as they deserved. The martyr was even more greatly +fêted in jail than he had been when at liberty. The prison regulations +were relaxed to the utmost in his favour by dubious officials, who +feared to incur the vengeance of the coming king; banquets were held +in the apartments of the illustrious captive; valuable presents were +laid at his feet; and a petty court was established within the walls +of the prison. + +But again the dread Fouché interposed; and although Bonaparte, then +consul, would not allow the sham dauphin to be treated as a political +offender, the chief of police had him put upon trial as a common +impostor. Madame Seignes was at the same time indicted as an +accomplice, she having been the first who publicly acknowledged her +conviction that Hervagault was the dauphin of the Temple. The trial +came on before the Tribunal of Justice on the 17th of February, 1802. +After a patient hearing Hervagault was sentenced to four years' +imprisonment, while his deluded admirer was acquitted. + +There was some hope in the bosoms of Hervagault's partizans that the +influence of his supposed sister, the Duchess d'Angoulême, would be +sufficient to free him from the meshes of the law, and she was +communicated with, but utterly repudiated the impostor. Meantime +appeals were lodged against the sentence on both sides--by the +prosecuting counsel, because of the acquittal of Madame Seignes, and +by the friends of the prisoner against his conviction. A new trial was +therefore appointed to take place at Rheims. + +In the interval a new and powerful friend arose for the captive in +Charles Lafond de Savines, the ex-bishop of Viviers. This ecclesiastic +had been one of the earliest advocates of the revolution; but, on +discovering its utter godlessness, had withdrawn from it in disgust, +and had retired into private life. In his seclusion the news reached +him that the dauphin was still alive, and was resolved to re-establish +a monarchy similar to that in England, and in which the church, +although formally connected with the state, would be allowed freedom +of thought and freedom of action within its own borders. His zeal was +excited, and he resolved to aid the unfortunate prince in so laudable +an undertaking. He was little disposed to question the identity of the +pretender, for the surgeons who had performed the autopsy at the +Temple Tower had told him that, although they had indeed opened the +body of a child, they had not recognised it, and could not undertake +to say that it was that of the dauphin. To his mind, therefore, there +appeared nothing extraordinary in the story of Hervagault, and he +resolved to aid him to the best of his ability. + +Recognising the deficiencies of the presumed heir to the throne of +France, he determined to educate him as befitted his lofty rank, and +declared himself willing, if he could not obtain the liberty of the +prince, to share his captivity, and to teach him, in a dungeon, his +duty towards God and man. He also entered into a lengthy +correspondence with illustrious royalists to secure their co-operation +in his plans, and even projected a matrimonial alliance for his +illustrious protégé. Nor did he offer only one lady to the choice of +his future king. There were three young sisters of considerable beauty +at the time resident in the province of Dauphiné, and he left +Hervagault liberty to select one of the three. He assured his prince +that they were the daughters of a marquis, who was the natural son of +Louis XV., and as the grand-daughters of a king of France were in +every respect worthy of sitting by his side on his future throne. But +the prisoner's deep affection for the Princess Benedictine for a time +threatened to spoil this part of the plan, until, sacrificing his own +feelings, he consented to yield to considerations of state, and placed +himself unreservedly in the hands of his reverend adviser, who at once +set out for Dauphiné, and made formal proposals on behalf of +Hervagault on the 25th of August, 1802, the anniversary of the +festival of St. Louis. + +But justice would not wait for Hymen; and while the fortunate young +ladies were still undecided as to which of them should reign as Queen +of France, the trial came on at Rheims. Crowds flocked to the town, +prepared to give their prince an ovation on his acquittal; but the law +was very stern and uncompromising. The conviction of Hervagault was +affirmed; and, moreover, the acquittal of Madame Seignes was quashed, +and she was sentenced to six months' imprisonment as the accomplice of +a man who had been found guilty of using names which did not belong to +him, and of extorting money under false pretences. + +But all the evidence which was led failed to convince his dupes, and +they subscribed liberally to supply him with comforts during his +confinement. The authorities at Paris had ordered him to be kept in +strict seclusion; but his jailers were not proof against the splendid +bribes which were offered to them, and the august captive held daily +court and fared sumptuously, until the government, finding that the +belief in his pretensions was spreading rapidly, ordered his removal +to Soissons, and gave imperative injunctions that he should be kept in +solitary confinement. + +The infatuated ex-bishop in the meantime was wandering about the +country, endeavouring by every possible means to procure his release; +and when he heard that the _pseudo_-prince was to be transferred from +one prison to another, spent night after night wandering on the high +road, or sitting at the foot of some village cross, hoping to +intercept the prisoner on his way, and perhaps rescue him from the +gens d'armes who had him in custody. Of course, he did not succeed in +his quixotic undertaking; and when he subsequently demanded admission +to see the prince in Soissons jail, he was himself arrested and +detained until the government had decided whether to treat him as a +conspirator or a lunatic. + +At Soissons, as at Vitry, Châlons, and Rheims, crowds flocked to pay +homage to the pretender, until at last Bonaparte, disgusted with the +attention which was given to this impudent impostor, caused him to be +removed to the Bicêtre, then a prison for vagabonds and suspects. The +place was thronged with the offscourings of Paris, and Hervagault +found himself in congenial quarters. Certain enjoyments were permitted +to those of the inmates who could afford to pay for them; and, as the +so-called prince had plenty of money, and spent it liberally, his +claims were as unhesitatingly recognised by his fellow-prisoners as +they had been by the royalists of the provinces. Gradually his +partizans found means to approach his person, and to procure for him +extraordinary indulgences, which were at first denied to him; but when +intelligence of this new demonstration in his favour reached the ears +of the First Consul, he at once gave orders that he should be placed +in solitary confinement, and that the ex-bishop of Viviers, who was at +large under the surveillance of the police, should be arrested and +shut up in Charenton as hopelessly mad. His instructions were fully +carried out, and the unfortunate bishop shortly afterwards ended his +days in the madhouse. + +The last commands of Bonaparte had been so precise that no one dared +to disobey them, and the sham dauphin for a time disappeared from +public view. When the period of his imprisonment was at an end, he was +turned out of the Bicêtre, with an order forbidding him to remain more +than one day in Paris--a miserable vagabond dressed in the prison +garb! During his incarceration he had gained the friendship of a Jew +named Emanuel, who had given him a letter to his wife, in which he +entreated her to treat his comrade hospitably for the solitary night +which he was permitted to spend in the capital. When Hervagault +arrived at the Rue des Ecrivains, where the Jewess lodged, she was not +at home; but a pastry-cook and his wife, who had a shop close by, +invited the dejected caller to rest in their parlour until his friend +returned. The couple were simple; Hervagault's plausibility was as +great as ever, and, little by little, he told the story of his +persecution, and passed himself off as a distressed royalist. The +sympathies of the honest pastry-cook were stirred, and he not only +invited the rogue to make his house his home, but clothed him, filled +his purse, and took him to various places of public entertainment. + +In return for this generous treatment, Hervagault in confidence +informed his new protector that he was none other than the prisoner of +the Temple; and that, when his throne was set up, the kindness he had +received would be remembered and recompensed a thousandfold. One +favour he did ask--money sufficient to carry him to Normandy. The +needful francs were forthcoming, and the deluded pastry-cook bade his +future sovereign a respectful adieu at the door of the diligence, +never again to behold him, or his money, or his reward. + +Hervagault's next appearance was in an entirely new character. He +entered on board a man-of-war at Brest, under the name of +Louis-Charles, and distinguished himself both for good conduct and +courage. But he could not remain content with the praises which he +acquired by his bravery, and once more confided the wonderful story of +his birth and misfortunes to his shipmates, many of whom listened and +believed. But the monotony of life at sea was too great for his +sensitive nerves, and he deserted, and again took to a wandering life, +trying his fortunes, on this occasion, among the royalists of Lower +Brittany. Intelligence of his whereabouts soon reached the government, +and he was arrested and again conveyed to the Bicêtre, with the +intimation that his captivity would only terminate with his life. + +By this time it was well known in France that Bonaparte's word, once +passed, would not be broken; and Hervagault, losing all hope, +abandoned himself to drunkenness and the wildest excesses. His +constitution gave way, and in a very short time he lay at the gates of +death. A priest was summoned to administer the last consolations of +religion to the dying pretender, and urged him to think on God and +confess the truth. He gazed steadily into the eyes of the confessor, +and said--"I shall not appear as a vile impostor in the eyes of the +Great Judge of the universe. Before His tribunal I shall stand, +revealed and acknowledged, the son of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette +of Austria. A Bourbon, descendant of a line of kings, my portion will +be among the blessed. There I shall meet with my august and +unfortunate family, and with them I shall partake of the common +eternal rest." Two days afterwards he died, as he had lived, with a +lie on his lips. + + + + +MATURIN BRUNEAU--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +Maturin Bruneau, the next pretender to the honours of the deceased son +of Louis XVI., was quite as great a rascal as Hervagault, but he +lacked his cleverness. Bruneau was the son of a maker of wooden shoes, +who resided at the little village of Vezin, in the department of the +Maine and Loire. He was born in 1784, and having been early left an +orphan, was adopted by a married sister, who kept him until she +discovered that he was incorrigibly vicious, and was compelled to turn +him into the streets to earn his livelihood in the best way he could. +Although Maturin was only eleven years old at the time, he found no +difficulty in providing for himself. He strayed a little distance from +home, into regions where he was personally unknown, and there accosted +a farmer whom he met, asking him for alms, and stating at the same +time that he was a little "De Vezin." The farmer's curiosity was +excited, for the Baron de Vezin was a well-known nobleman, who had +suffered sorely in the civil war of 1795, whose chateau had been +burnt, and whose estates had been devastated by the republican +soldiery; and that his son should be compelled to beg was more than +the honest agriculturist could bear. So he took the little waif home +with him, and kept him until the Viscountess de Turpin de Crissé heard +of his whereabouts, and carried him off to her own chateau at Angrie. + +In her mansion Maturin Bruneau was treated as an adopted son, and +lived in great splendour until, in 1796, a letter arrived from Charles +de Vezin, the brother of the baron, who had just returned to France, +and who informed the viscountess that she had been imposed upon, for +the only nephew he ever possessed was at that time an emigrant refugee +in England. The result was that Bruneau was thrust out of doors, and, +sent back to his native village and the manufacture of wooden shoes. +The jibes of his fellow-villagers, however, rendered his life so +miserable that the viscountess consented to receive him as a servant, +and he remained with her for a year; but his conduct was so unbearable +that she was at last compelled to dismiss him. + +After a brief sojourn with his relatives he announced his intention of +making the tour of France, and left his home for that purpose at the +age of fifteen. He seems, in the course of his wanderings, to have +fought in the Chouan insurrection in 1799 and 1800, and having been +press-ganged, deserted from his ship in an American port, and roamed +up and down in the United States for some years. When the news of +Napoleon's downfall reached that country in 1815, he returned to +France, arriving with a passport which bore the name of Charles de +Navarre. He reached the village of Vallebasseir in great destitution, +and there, having been mistaken for a young soldier named Phillipeaux, +who was supposed to have perished in the war in Spain, he picked up +all available intelligence respecting the family, and forthwith +presented himself at the house of the Widow Phillipeaux as her son. He +was received with every demonstration of affection, and made the worst +possible use of his advantages. After spending all the ready money +which the poor woman had, he proceeded to Vezin, where he was +recognised by his family, although he pretended to be a stranger. +Thence he repaired to Pont de Cé, where lived a certain Sieur Leclerc, +an innkeeper, who had formerly been a cook in the household of Louis +XVI. To this man he paid a visit, and demanded if he recognised him. +The innkeeper said he did not, whereupon he remarked on the +strangeness of being forgotten, seeing, said he, "that I am Louis +XVII., and that you have often pulled my ears in the kitchen of +Versailles." + +Leclerc, whose recollections of the dauphin were of quite a different +character, ordered him out of his house as an impostor. But it does +not fall to everybody to be familiar with the ways of a court, or even +of a royal kitchen, and a few persons were found at St. Malo who +credited his assertion that he was the Prince of France. The +government, already warned by the temporary success of Hervagault's +imposture, immediately pounced upon him, and submitted him to +examination. His story was found to be a confused tissue of +falsehoods; and after being repeatedly interrogated, and attempting to +escape, and to forward letters surreptitiously to his "uncle," Louis +XVIII., he was removed to the prison of Rouen as the son of the Widow +Phillipeaux, calling himself Charles de Navarre. When he entered the +jail he was the possessor of a solitary five franc piece, which he +spent in wine and tobacco, and he then took to the manufacture of +wooden shoes for the other prisoners in order to obtain more. As he +worked he told his story, and his fellow jail-birds were never tired +of listening to his romance. Visitors also heard his tale, and yielded +credence to it, and it was not long before everybody in Rouen knew +that there was a captive in the town who claimed to be the son of the +murdered king. + +Among other persons of education and respectability who listened and +believed was a Madame Dumont, the wife of a wealthy merchant. This +lady became an ardent partizan of the pretender, and not only visited +him, but spent her husband's gold lavishly to solace him in his +captivity. She supplied him with the richest food and the rarest +wines that money could buy. A Madame Jacquières, who resided at Gros +Caillon, near Paris, who was greatly devoted to the Bourbon family, +also came under the influence of Bruneau's agents, and finally fell a +victim to his rascality. This good lady was an ardent Catholic, and +having some lingering doubt as to the honesty of the prisoner of +Rouen, in order to its perfect solution she visited many shrines, said +many prayers, and personally repaired to the old city in which he was +confined, where she caused a nine days' course of prayer to be said to +discover if the captive were really the person he pretended to be. +This last expedient answered admirably. The Abbé Matouillet, who +celebrated the required number of masses before the shrine of the +Virgin, was himself a firm believer in Bruneau, and he had no +hesitation in assuring the petitioner that loyalty and liberality +towards the prince would be no bad investment either in this world or +the next. The Abbé then led his credulous victim into the august +presence of the clogmaker, and the poor dupe prostrated herself before +him in semi-adoration. Nor would she leave the presence until his +Majesty condescended to accept a humble gift of a valuable gold watch +and two costly rings. His Majesty was graciously pleased to accede to +the request of his loyal subject. + +Bruneau could neither read nor write, and perhaps it was as well for +himself that his education had been thus neglected, for if he had been +left to his own devices his imposture would have been very +short-lived. But he contrived to attach two clever rascals to himself, +who helped to prolong the fraud and to victimise the public. They were +both convicts, but convicts of a high intellectual type. One was +Larcher, a revolutionary priest, and a man of detestable life; while +the other was a forger named Tourly. These worthies acted as his +secretaries. On the 3d of March 1816, the priest wrote a letter to +"Madame de France" in these terms:-- + +"MY SISTER,--You are doubtless not ignorant of my being held in the +saddest captivity, and reduced to a condition of appalling misery. So +may I beg of you, if you should think me worthy of your especial +consideration, to visit me here in my imprisonment. Even should you +for an instant suspect me of being an impostor, still may I claim +consideration for the sake of your brother. The scandal and judgment +of which our family is daily the object throughout the entire kingdom +may well make you shudder. I am myself sunk in despair at the thought +of being so near the capital without being permitted to publicly +appear in it. If you determine upon coming down here you would do well +to preserve an incognito. In the meantime receive the embraces of your +unfortunate brother, THE KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE." + +This precious epistle Madame Jacquières undertook not only to forward +to the Duchess d'Angoulême, but also promised to procure the honour of +a private interview for the bearer of the missive. + +Larcher and Tourly must have been kept very busy, for the pretended +dauphin was never tired of sending appeals for assistance to the +foreign powers, of addressing proclamations to the people, and even +went so far as formally to petition the parliament that he might be +taken to Paris, in order there to establish his identity as the son of +Louis XVI. The whole of the papers issued from the prison, and they +were enormous in quantity, were signed by his secretaries with his +name. + +About the same time considerable interest was excited by a trashy +novel, called the "Cemetery of the Madeleine," which pretended to give +a circumstantial account of the life of the dauphin in the Temple. Out +of this book the secretaries and their employer proceeded to construct +"The Historical Memoirs of Charles of Navarre;" but after they had +finished their work, they found that it was so ridiculously absurd +that there was no probability that it would deceive the public for a +moment. They accordingly handed the manuscript over to a more skilful +rogue with whom they were acquainted, and this man, who was called +Branzon, transformed their clumsy narrative into a well-written and +plausible history. He did more, and "coached" the pretender in all +the petty circumstances which he could find out respecting the Bourbon +family. Manuscript copies of the "Memoirs" were assiduously +distributed in influential quarters in Rouen, and particularly among +the officers of the third regiment of the royal guard, then quartered +in the town. A copy fell into the hands of a Vendéan officer named De +la Pomelière, who recollected the story of the pretended son of Baron +de Vezins, and half-suspected a similar imposture in this instance. +With some difficulty he procured admission to the royal presence, and +induced the sham dauphin to speak of La Vendée. During the +conversation he remarked, that when the chateau of Angrie, the +residence of the Viscountess de Turpin, was mentioned, the pretender +slightly changed colour and became embarrassed. The acknowledgment +that he was acquainted with the mansion, and the accurate description +which he gave of it, gave the first clue whereby proof was obtained of +his identity with Maturin Bruneau. + +But although M. de la Pomelière, from his previous knowledge, had a +hazy idea of the truth, the uninformed public continued devoted to the +cause of the pretender; and the convict secretaries, if they failed to +stir up the educated classes, at least succeeded in entrapping the +ignorant. The prison cell of Bruneau was converted into a scene of +uninterrupted revelling. Persons of all classes sent their gifts--the +ladies supplying unlimited creature comforts for their king, while +their husbands strove to compensate for their incapacity to +manufacture dainties by filling the purse of the pretender. Nothing +was forgotten: fine clothes and fine furniture were supplied in +abundance; and the adoring public were so anxious to consider the +comfort of the illustrious prisoner, that they even subscribed to +purchase a breakfast service of Sevrès, so that the heir to the throne +might drink his chocolate out of a porcelain cup. + +Meantime Madame Jacquières had not been idle, and was ready to fulfil +her promise to send a messenger to the Duchess d'Angoulême. Her chosen +emissary was a Norman gentleman named Jacques Charles de Foulques, an +ardent Bourbonist and a lieutenant-colonel in the army. This officer +was both brave and suave, and seemed in every respect a fitting person +to act as an ambassador to the Tuileries. He was deeply religious, +very conscientious, and extremely simple. His mental capacity had been +accurately gauged by Bruneau and his associates, and care was taken to +excite his religious enthusiasm. The Abbé Matouillet plainly told him +that Heaven smiled upon the cause, and introduced him to the prince, +who administered the oath of allegiance, which the credulous Norman is +said to have signed with the seal of his lips on a volume that looked +like a book of _gaillard_ songs, but which the simple soldier mistook +for the Gospels. After several audiences, his mission was pointed out, +and Colonel de Foulques, without hesitation, agreed to proceed to +Paris, and there to place in the hands of the daughter of Louis XVI. a +copy of the "Memoirs of Charles of Navarre," and a letter from her +reputed brother. + +The latter document was produced in the court at Rouen when Bruneau +was afterwards placed at the bar, and is a very curious production. In +it the maker of clogs thus addresses "Madame Royale:"-- + +"I am aware, my dear sister, a secret presentiment has long possessed +you that the finger of God was about to point out to you your brother, +that innocent partaker of your sorrows, the one alone worthy to repair +them, as he was fated to share them. + +"I know, also, that you were surrounded by snares, and that they who +extend them for you are men of wicked ways. They believe they have +destroyed the germs of some virtues, as they succeeded in arresting +the progress of my education; but there remain to me uprightness of +principle, courage, a tendency to good, and the desire of preserving +the glory of my nation. Louis XIV. could boast of no more. + +"I know that I have been pictured to you as one who has forgotten his +dignity, and who is the slave of a love for wine. Alas! that beverage +that was forced upon me in my tenderest youth, by the ferocious +Simon, has served to fortify my constitution in the course of a most +painful life, even as it did that of the great Henry IV.; and, if I +have been addicted to the use of it in this place, it was for my +health's sake, to preserve which a more refined method would not have +so well suited me. + +"The use of tobacco was recommended to me in 1797, at Baltimore, also +on account of my health. I have profited by it. It has occasionally +served to dissipate my sense of weariness, and the thin vapour has +often caused me to forget that life might be breathed away from my +lips almost as readily. + +"I have wished, my dear sister, to speak to you as a brother. Whatever +may be the force of a custom preserved during nineteen years, I shall +know how, in sharing the fatigues of my troops, to deprive myself of +what is a pastime to them. Other occupations will but too easily +absorb me entirely. Cease to see by any other vision than your own. +Trust to the evidence of your own senses, and no other. I have +learned, through a long series of misfortunes, how to be a man, and to +be upon my guard against my fellowmen. Truth is not apt to penetrate +under golden fringes. It is, however, my divinity; and henceforward, +my sister, it will dwell with us. I grant the right of having it told +to me. It will never offend a monarch who, having contracted the habit +of bearing it, will have the courage to heed it for the benefit of his +people. + +"I dispersed the last calumny which perversity has aimed at me, when +it declared that your brother was still in the United States. No; I +had long left it when my evil destiny conducted me from Brazil (as you +will see in my "Memoirs") to France, which is anything for me but the +promised land. Heaven, to whom my eyes and hopes were ever raised, +will not fail to have in its keeping certain witnesses to my +existence. There is one to whom I presented, in 1801, at Philadelphia, +three gold doubloons, a note of twenty dollars, three shirts, a coat, +a _levite_, and two pairs of old boots. This witness, whom chance has +again brought me acquainted with here, is a certain Chaufford, son of +a baker of Rouen, well known to the keeper of the prison, and who was +on board the French fleet which sailed from Brest. This witness (of +whom I have spoken in my "Memoirs") deserted from the fleet. My +servant François meeting him in Marc Street, brought him to me. I was +then suffering in consequence of a fall from my horse, and was obliged +to go about on crutches; and it was from me that he received every +species of assistance, and it is by me that he has been reminded of it +within the walls of this odious prison, where he least of all expected +again to meet with his illustrious benefactor. + +"I conclude, my dear sister, certifying to you, by my ambassador, the +nature of my ulterior projects. He will hear of your final resolution, +and will at once return to me, after assuring you that the superior +rank to which destiny calls me is only coveted by me for the sake of +my people, and in order to share with you the grateful attachment, +which will always be for me the sweetest reward. It is the heart of +your king and brother that has never ceased to hold you dear. _He_ +presses you to that heart which the most cruel misery has not been +able to render cold towards you." + +Armed with this extraordinary document, Lieutenant-Colonel de Foulques +set out for Paris, honoured by his mission, and convinced that he had +only to present himself at the Tuileries to obtain easy access to the +duchess, and only to gain her ear to insure her co-operation in the +sacred task of placing her long-lost and ill-treated brother on the +throne of France. Of course, there were certain forms which must be +complied with, but the result was, to his mind, certain. He first +opened negotiations with M. de Mortmaur, and delivered the despatches +to his care. To his surprise they were treated with the utmost +indifference, not to say rudeness; and the Norman was still more +disgusted when told that no audience would be granted. From M. de +Mortmaur he repaired to the Duchess of Serent, and, in a letter, +craved her influence to procure for him the desired interview with +"Madame Royale." The reply was prompt and unmistakable: If he did not +leave the capital within eight days, he would be thrown into jail. + +The colonel did not wait for a week; but in an angry mood returned at +once to those who sent him, cursing the government in his heart, +stigmatizing "Madame Royale" as an unnatural sister, and considering +the king no better than other royal uncles who had occupied thrones +which belonged to their imprisoned nephews. The news of his +discomfiture did not disconcert or dishearten the plotters, and, +although their first attempt to approach the daughter of Louis XVI. +had resulted in failure, they resolved to make another attempt. Madame +de Jacquières, in particular, was very hopeful, and, with a wisdom and +modesty which did her credit, discovered that there would have been +great indelicacy in the Duchess of Angoulême granting a private +interview to a man. A female messenger ought to have been sent; and +she soon found one to repair the first blunder. + +Madame Morin, who superseded De Foulkes, was a lady of great +accomplishments and considerable intelligence. The documents which the +unsuccessful ambassador had carried with him were entrusted to the new +emissary; and, in addition, she carried with her a portrait of Charles +of Navarre, who was represented in the brilliant uniform of a general +officer of dragoons. But Madame Morin was as ill-fated as her +predecessor had been, and all her efforts to force her way into the +presence of the duchess were fruitless. The police also frightened her +as they had terrified De Foulkes, and paid a visit to her residence. +They did not make a thorough search, but gave her to understand that +if any further attempts were made to annoy the duchess they would +institute a strict perquisition--a threat which had so great an effect +upon the ambassadress that she immediately burnt her copy of the +"Memoirs," her credentials, and even the portrait of her illustrious +master and prince, and returned to the power from which she was +accredited, shamefacedly to confess that she had been equally +unfortunate with the gallant Norman colonel. + +It was evident that the hard heart of the duchess could not easily be +moved, and it was necessary to have recourse to other tactics. At this +time misery and famine were prevalent in the land, and many persons +were discontented with the rule of Louis XVIII., who was in extremely +ill health. The Abbé Matouillet saw his opportunity, and taking +advantage of the prevalent disaffection, issued a proclamation +intimating that if the people of France would place their captive king +upon the throne now occupied by a dying usurper, the liberated and +grateful sovereign would, in return, immediately fix the price of +bread at three sous per pound. Meantime, the generous offerer was +regaling himself on the fat of the land, and holding his petty court +within the walls of Rouen jail. But this last move led to energetic +action on the part of the authorities. The attempted rising was +crushed, the careless jailers were dismissed, the prisoner was placed +in solitary and comfortless confinement, and the keeper of the seals +commenced serious proceedings in order to bring him to trial. + +The chief object to be accomplished was to prove his birth, for there +were many who jumped to the conclusion that he must be the son of +Louis XVI., since he was not the son of the Widow Phillipeaux. Seeing +that his time had come, and that the government was determined to +punish him with severity, Bruneau became alarmed, and offered his new +jailers ten thousand francs to set him at liberty. The offer was +refused and reported, the prisoner was more narrowly guarded, and his +preliminary examinations were hastened. The stories which he told were +so absurd and so wildly contradictory, as to leave no doubt of the +hollowness of his pretensions; but still the difficulty remained of +proving who he really was. + +When affairs were in this stage the Viscountess Turpin, Bruneau's +first benefactress, arrived in Rouen. M. de Pomelière, the officer of +the king's guard who had suspected him from the first, had +communicated his suspicions to the viscountess, and she had come to +see him, and, if she could, to expose him. When Bruneau was confronted +with his former patroness, he at once admitted that he had enjoyed +the lady's hospitality, but declared that that fact did not render him +the less the Dauphin of France. The viscountess reproached him, and +endeavoured to ashame him; but the impudent and ungrateful scamp +turned to her with an air of mock majesty and exclaimed, "Madame, I +accept counsel from no one. I give it as I do commands. I am a +sovereign!" The members of his family were next brought from Vezin to +identify him, and had no hesitation in doing so. He denied ever having +seen them before, but frequently betrayed himself by addressing them +by their pet household names, and by contradicting them with regard to +trivial occurrences. The imposture was plain; and Bruneau, his +forger-secretary Tourly, Branzon the author of the "Memoirs," the Abbé +Matouillet, and Madame Dumont, were committed for trial as swindlers, +as the government did not deem them of sufficient importance to charge +them with high treason. + +The Abbé contrived to effect his escape from the jail, but the others +were placed in the dock, Bruneau was received with some faint cries of +"Vive Louis XVII.!" but the scamp knew that his game was played out, +and did not care to conceal his knowledge of the fact. He had made no +effort to make himself presentable; but appeared in court ill-dressed, +unshaven, and wearing a cotton night-cap on his head. It was with +difficulty that he could be compelled to respect the forms of the +court, or to preserve ordinary decency. He interrupted the opening +speech of the government prosecutor by noisy ejaculations, oaths, +filthy expletives, and immodest and insulting gestures, and when +rebuked by the judges showered down upon them all the abusive and +abominable epithets of his extensive vocabulary. + +The trial lasted for ten days, and the career of Bruneau was clearly +traced from his very childhood. As revelation after revelation was +made, and the history of crime after crime was disclosed, his +interruptions became more and more frequent and violent, until his +very accomplices shrank from him in horror, protesting that it he had +presented himself to them in the same guise when he first proclaimed +his pretensions, they would not have been seduced by him. Their +advocates pleaded on their behalf that they were dupes and not +confederates, and the plea served to exculpate the Abbé, Madame +Dumont, and Tourly. The impostor himself was condemned to five years' +imprisonment, three thousand francs fine, and a further imprisonment +of two years for his offences against the dignity of justice and the +public morality committed in open court. He was further condemned to +remain at the after-disposal of the government, and to pay +three-fourths of the expenses of the trial. Branzon, his literary +friend, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and to pay a fourth +of the expenses. When that part of the sentence was pronounced, which +referred to the cost of the proceedings, Bruneau burst into an +insulting laugh, and informed the judges that he would take care to +defray the heavy responsibility laid upon him as soon as he was able. +But, as the saying is, he laughed without his host. The subscriptions +of his dupes were lying at the Bank of France, were confiscated by the +state, and, amply served to pay the pecuniary penalty. After his +imprisonment had expired Bruneau disappeared from public view. + + + + +NAÜNDORFF--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +One evening, while Napoleon I. was still reigning at the Tuileries and +guiding the destinies of France, a stranger appeared in the +market-place of Brandenburg, in Prussia. He had travelled far, was very +tired, and sat him down to rest. But the Prussian police had then, and +have still, a deep dislike to weary tramps; and the poor wayfarer had +not been long seated when he was accosted, by the guardians of the +peace, who demanded his papers. The stranger told them he had none, +that he was very weary, that he liked the town, and that he had +resolved to take up his abode in it. The police were astounded by his +coolness, and continued to ply him with questions. They asked what his +station in life was, when he seemed a little confused; but ultimately +said he was a watchmaker. They demanded his name, and he said it was +Naündorff, but whence he had come he refused to tell; and his sole +worldly possession was a seal, which, he said, had belonged to Louis +XVI. of France. The police kept the seal, and, finding that they could +elicit no further information from the mysterious being who had thrust +himself so unceremoniously into their dull town, permitted him to +settle down quietly in Brandenburg. + +Without tools, without money, without friends, he found life hard +enough at first; but an old soldier and his sister took pity upon him, +and took him into their house. To them he first declared himself to be +Louis XVII., and narrated the manner of his escape from the Temple. He +told them all about Simon and his cruelty, and described the dungeon +in which he was confined, the iron wicket, and the loathsomeness of +the place. He said he recollected some persons attending him who, he +thought, were doctors; but he was afraid of them, and would not answer +their questions. As the result of their visit, however, he was +cleaned, his room was put in order, and the wicket was torn down. + +About this time, he said, his friends determined to rescue him; but +they found the guard at the Temple too numerous and too vigilant to +allow them to carry out their plans, or to remove him from the place. +Accordingly they hit upon a strange device, and resolved to conceal +him in the building. They determined to take him from the second floor +which he occupied, and hide him in the fourth storey of the Temple. +Sometime in June, 1795, an opiate was administered to him, and he fell +into a drowsy condition. In this state he saw a child, which they had +substituted for him in his bed, and was himself laid in a basket in +which this child had been concealed under the bed. He perceived as in +a dream that the effigy was only a wooden doll, the face of which had +been carved and painted to imitate his own. The change was effected +while the guard was relieved, and the new guard who came on duty was +content to perceive an apparently sleeping figure beneath the +bedclothes, without investigating too closely whether it were the +dauphin or not. Meantime the opiate did its work, and not even his +curiosity could prevent him from dropping off into insensibility. + +When he recovered consciousness he found himself shut up in a large +room which was quite strange to him. This room was crowded with old +furniture, amongst which a space had been prepared for him, and a +passage was left to a closet in one of the turrets, in which his food +had been placed. All other approach was barricaded. Before the +transfer had taken place, one of his friends had told him that, in +order to save his life, he must submit to hardship and suffering, for +a single imprudent step would bring destruction, not only on himself, +but on his benefactors. It was, therefore, agreed that he should +pretend to be deaf and dumb. On awaking he remembered the injunctions +of his friends, resolved that no indiscretion on his part should +endanger their safety, and waited with patience and in silence in his +dreary abode, being supplied at intervals with food, which was brought +to him during the night by one of his protectors. + +His escape was discovered on the same night on which it took place; +but the government thought fit to conceal it, and caused the wooden +figure to be replaced by a deaf and dumb boy. At the same time the +guard was doubled, to give the public the idea that the dauphin was +still in safe-keeping. This extra precaution prevented his friends +from smuggling him out of the Tower, as they had intended; but, in +order to deceive the authorities, they despatched a boy under his +name, in the direction, he believed, of Strasburg. At this time he was +about nine years and a half old, and his long imprisonment had +rendered him accustomed to suffering. Throughout the long winter he +endured the cold without a murmur; and no one guessed his +hiding-place, for the room was disused and was never opened, and if +any one had by chance entered it, he could not have been seen, as even +the friend who visited him could only reach him by crawling on +all-fours, and when he did not come the captive remained patiently in +his concealment. Frequently he waited for several days for his food; +but no murmur escaped his lips, and he was only too glad to endure +present suffering in the hope of future safety. + +While he was thus stowed away in the upper storey of the Temple Tower, +a rumour spread abroad that the dauphin had escaped, and the +government took the alarm. It was decided that the deaf and dumb boy, +who had been substituted for the doll which had taken his place, +should die, and to kill him poison was mixed with his food in small +quantities. The captive became excessively ill, and Desault, the +surgeon, was called in, not to save his life, but to counterfeit +humanity. Desault at once saw that poison had been administered, and +ordered an antidote to be prepared by a friend of his own, an +apothecary called Choppart, telling him at the same time that the +official prisoner was not the son of Louis XVI. Choppart was +indiscreet, and betrayed the confidence which had been reposed in him; +and the floating rumour reached the authorities. In alarm lest the +fraud should be detected, they removed the deaf and dumb child, and +substituted for him a rickety boy from one of the Parisian hospitals. +To make assurance doubly sure, according to Naündorff's version, they +poisoned both Desault and Choppart, and the substituted rickety boy +was attended by physicians, who, never having seen either the real +dauphin, or the deaf and dumb prisoner, naturally believed it was the +dauphin they were attending. + +After recounting further and equally remarkable adventures, Naündorff +declared that he was conveyed out of France, and was placed under the +care of a German lady, with whom he remained until he was about twelve +years of age. He could not recollect either the name or place of +residence of this lady, and only remembered that she was kind to him, +and that he used to call her "_bonne maman!_" From her custody he was +transferred to that of two gentlemen, who carried him across the sea; +but whether they took him to Italy or America he could not tell. One +of these gentlemen taught him watchmaking, a craft which he afterwards +used to very good purpose. He had a distinct recollection of an +attempt which was made to poison him, but the draught was taken by +somebody else, who died in consequence. In 1804, while in the +neighbourhood of the French frontier, near Strasburg, he was arrested, +and was cast into prison, where he remained under the strictest +guard and in the greatest misery till the spring of 1809, when he +was liberated by a friend named Montmorin, through the aid of +the Empress Josephine. Montmorin and himself then set out for +Frankfort-on-the-Maine, and during the journey the former "sewed some +papers in the collar of his greatcoat, which would form undeniable +proofs of his identity to all the sovereigns of Europe." In 1809, +according to his own showing, he was at Stralsund fighting under Major +de Schill of the Brunswick dragoons, and, when that redoubtable +officer was killed, received a blow on the head which fractured his +skull and rendered him unconscious for a long time. In 1810 he was in +Italy, where he was recognised by several old officers of Louis XVI., +who received him with every mark of loyal respect. Napoleon, he +asserted, was aware of his existence, and threatened him with death if +he disturbed the public peace; and when, on the downfall of the +usurper, he wrote to the European powers urging his claims, his +application was coldly passed over in silence, and Louis XVIII. was +raised to the throne in his stead. + +The credulous soldier and his equally simple sister believed this +wonderful tale, and pressed their royal visitor to continue to receive +their humble hospitality. Between them a letter was addressed to the +Duchess of Angoulême, announcing the existence of a brother, who would +be found to be the real man, and no counterfeit. A similar letter was +sent to the king, and another to the Duchess de Berri; but all the +three missives were careful to state that the Duke of Normandy had no +desire to sit upon the throne or to disturb the tranquillity of +France, but would be content to accept a reasonable pension and hold +his tongue--to surrender all his claims, and retire into obscurity +for ever, if he were well paid. His letters remained unanswered, but +he returned to the attack, and indulged the Duchess of Angoulême with +a multitude of letters, in which he implored her good offices for a +brother who needed only to be seen to be recognised. But the duchess +remained silent. At length he announced to the French royal family his +intention of marrying a young girl only fifteen years of age, the +daughter of a Prussian corporal. He could not, of course, expect that +such a step would be agreeable to the other members of the House of +Bourbon, but he valued his love more than his pride, and if his royal +uncle would only grant such an allowance as would enable himself and +his wife to live in a position of independence, he would trouble him +no more, and the world need never know that the son of Louis XVI. was +alive, and had perpetrated a _mésalliance_. But Louis XVIII. was +obdurate, and would not listen even to the seductive voice of Hymen. +The young couple were allowed to wed, but they had to look for their +means of livelihood elsewhere. + +For a time Naündorff was equal to the occasion, and supported the +corporal's daughter and his rising brood by cleaning the watches and +clocks of the Brandenburgers. But trouble came upon him. The house of +his next door neighbour took fire, and the watchmaker was suspected of +being the incendiary. He was arrested and thrown into prison; his wife +and children were turned into the street; and, although his innocence +was unequivocally proved, his trade was ruined, and he had to flee +from the midst of the distrustful and suspicious folks among whom he +had laboured and loved and wedded. + +By the exertions of one of the few friends who remained to him +Naündorff was appointed foreman in a watchmaking factory at Crossen, +and thither he removed, carrying with him his wife and the half-dozen +children who had blessed his union. But the distance was long, the +roads were bad, and the man was poor. When Naündorff reached Crossen +on foot with his weary and half-famished band he found that the post +which he had come to obtain had been given to another, and abandoned +himself to despair. Then the plebeian energy of the corporal's +daughter rose superior to the weakness of her royal husband. She +obtained a temporary shelter, procured needlework, and, by her unaided +efforts, managed to keep the wolf from the door. After a little delay +work was obtained for Naündorff also; and as his spirits revived his +hopes and pretensions revived also. Little by little he told his story +to his fellow-workmen, who paid no heed to it at first, but nicknamed +him in derision "the French prince." But the tale was improving as it +got older, and by-and-by he could number among his followers the +syndic of the town, one of the preachers, a magistrate, and a teacher +of languages. The syndic, in particular, was an enthusiastic partizan, +and himself addressed a letter to the Duchess of Angoulême and to the +principal courts of Europe. He also took a journey to Berlin to claim +from the authorities the seal which Naündorff said had been taken from +him by the Brandenburg police--the same seal which Louis XVI., as he +was passing to execution, had handed to Clery with his dying +injunction to deliver it to his son. The government very sharply +ordered their subordinate back to his post, telling him that they knew +nothing of Naündorff, but that they were well aware that Clery had +handed the jewel which he mentioned to Louis XVIII., who had rewarded +him with the riband of St. Louis. The syndic left Berlin in haste, and +arrived at home full of chagrin. He concealed himself from public +view, and shortly afterwards sickened and died. Naündorff declared he +had been poisoned. + +The discomfited impostor, finding that he was not likely to be able to +move the world from his retirement at Crossen, quietly disappeared +from that humble town, and was lost to the public gaze for a +considerable period. His movements about this time were very +mysterious; but it is proved with tolerable certainty that he repaired +to Paris, and his visit to the French capital may have had something +to do with the visions of Martin of Gallardon. This man was an +ignorant peasant, and, being a sort of _clairvoyant_, pretended that, +as the result of a vision, he knew that the son of Louis XVI. was +still alive. He said that, in the year 1818, while he was at mass in +the village church at Gallardon, an angel interrupted his devotions by +whispering in his ear that the dauphin of the Temple was alive, and +that he (Martin) was celestially appointed on a mission to Louis +XVIII. to inform him of the fact, and to announce to him that if he +ever dared to be formally crowned the roof of the cathedral would fall +in and make a very speedy ending of him and his court. The king was +prevailed upon to grant an interview to this impostor, and made no +secret of his message. Therefore, when year after year passed without +a formal coronation, the superstitious whispered that Louis knew +better than tempt the Divine vengeance, and, although he sat upon the +throne, was well aware that he had stolen another man's birthright, +and that the dauphin of the Temple was still alive. + +But people were beginning to forget the existence of the watchmaker of +Crossen, when one evening, in the autumn of 1831, a traveller entered +one of the best frequented inns at Berne, in Switzerland. Attached to +this inn was a parlour, in which some of the most jovial of the local +notables were accustomed to pass their evenings, gossiping over the +occurrences of the day, and whiling away an hour or so with a quiet +game at dominoes. The stranger was a pleasant-looking man, of from +forty to forty-five years of age, and preferred the good company of +the familiar parlour to the dulness of his private sitting-room, or +the staid society of the public _salon_. He said his name was +Naündorff, and by his affability soon made himself such a general +favourite that one of the leading _habitués_ of the place invited him +to his house and introduced him to his family. In private life he +shone even more brilliantly than in the mixed company of the hotel. +There was a certain dignity about his appearance which seemed to +proclaim him a greater personage than he at first claimed to be, and +his host was not greatly astonished when, after the lapse of a +fortnight, he confided to him the secret that Naündorff was merely an +assumed name, and that he was in reality the Duke of Normandy, the +disinherited heir to the French throne. The whole family rose in a +flutter of excitement at the presence of this distinguished guest in +their midst. They had no doubt of the truth of his story, and one +daughter of the house urged him to take prompt and decisive measures +to recover his crown. As far as her feeble help could go it was freely +at his service. The mouse has e'er now helped the lion; and this +enthusiastic girl was not without hope that she might render some +assistance in restoring to France her legitimate king. She became +amanuensis and secretary to Naündorff, compiled a statement from his +words and documents, laid it before the lawyers, and they pronounced +favourably, and advised the claimant to proceed without delay to Paris +and prosecute his cause vigorously. He went. + +On a May morning in 1833, the watchman of the great Parisian cemetery +at Père la Chaise discovered a dust-stained traveller sleeping among +the tombs, and shaking him up demanded his name, and his reason for +choosing such a strange resting-place. His name he said was Naündorff; +but as he only spoke German the curiosity of the guardian of the place +was not further satisfied. In a short time the same individual met a +gentleman who could speak German, who took pity upon his apparent +weakness and ignorance of the gay capital, and who, when he heard that +he had arrived on foot the night before, and was utterly destitute, +advised him to apply to the old Countess de Richemont, as one who was +proverbially kind to foreigners, and had formerly been one of the +attendants on the dauphin who died in the Temple. The stranger was +profuse in his thanks, muttered that the dauphin was not dead yet, and +set out for the Rue Richer, where the countess lived. + +He obtained easy access to the presence of the lady, and announced +himself as the Duke of Normandy. The countess acted in orthodox +fashion, and straightway fainted, but not before she had hurriedly +exclaimed that he was the very picture of his mother Marie Antoinette. +The first joyful recognition over, and all parties being sufficiently +calm to be practical, the countess produced the numerous relics which +she possessed of the happy time when Louis XVI. reigned in Versailles. +The duke recognised them all down to the little garments which he had +worn in his babyhood. She mentioned scars which were on the body of +the youthful prince, and her visitor assured her that he had similar +marks which he could show in private. The countess was wild with +delight, ordered him to be placed in the best bed the mansion could +afford, sent for a tailor, and had him clothed as befitted his rank, +and invited her royalist friends to come and pay their homage to their +recovered king. They came in crowds, and to all and sundry, the +pretender told the story of his escape from the Tower. They were +disposed to be credulous, and the majority yielding readily to the +prevalent enthusiasm, proclaimed their belief in his truth, and +promised their assistance to restore him to his own again. A few were +dubious, and one lukewarm Bourbonist remarked, "You were an extremely +clever child, and spoke French like an angel. How is it you have so +completely forgotten it?" The duke replied that thirty-seven years of +absence was surely a sufficient explanation of his ignorance; but a +few held a different opinion and retired, and by their withdrawal +somewhat damped the general enthusiasm. + +But there was a safe and certain method of arriving at the truth. The +duke was taken in haste to be confronted with the seer, Martin, who +was then living in the odour of sanctity at St. Arnould, near Dourdin. +That fanatic no sooner beheld the stranger than he hailed him as king, +and told his delighted auditory that he was the exact counterpart of +the lost prince, who had been revealed to him in a vision. The +question of identity was considered solved, the whole party proceeded +to the church to return thanks for the revelation which had been made, +and the village bells were rung to celebrate the auspicious event. The +noble ladies who were attached to the pretender influenced the +priests, the priests influenced the peasantry, and Martin, the +clairvoyant and quack, exerted a powerful influence over all. Money +was wanted, and contributions flowed in abundantly, until the +so-called Duke of Normandy found his coffers filling at the rate of +fifty thousand pounds a-year. + +Thus suddenly enriched, he set up a magnificent establishment in +Paris. His horses and carriages were among the most splendid in the +Champs Elysées, his banquets were equal to those of Lucullus, his name +was in every mouth, and people wondered why the government did not +interpose. They were afraid, said some, to touch the sacred person of +the man they knew to be king; they did not care to meddle with an +obvious impostor, whose crest was a _broken_ crown, said others; but +his partizans maintained that their silence was more dangerous than +their open enmity, and that the crafty Louis Philippe had given orders +that his rival should be assassinated. They declared that this was no +mere supposition, for late on one November evening, when the duke was +returning to his quarters in the Faubourg St. Germain, across the Place +du Carrousel, a dastardly assassin sprang upon him and stabbed him +with a dagger. Fortunately for the illustrious victim he wore a +medallion of his sainted mother, Marie-Antoinette, and the metal disc +caught the point of the weapon, and received the full force of the +blow; but nevertheless a slight wound was inflicted, and the duke +staggered home wounded and bleeding. He was too confused to report the +circumstance at any of the guard-houses which he passed, but in his +own mansion he showed the dint of the cowardly blade, and the cut on +his flesh. It was disgraceful, cried his adherents; it was ridiculous, +said his opponents; and they did not hesitate to add, that if blow +there had been it was self-inflicted. + +But if the calumny was intended to destroy the faith of Naündorff's +partizans, it failed in its effect. Their zeal waxed hotter than ever; +their contributions flowed even more freely than before into his +treasury; and they conceived the idea of solacing his misfortunes by +providing him with a wife. Unfortunately, there remained the +long-forgotten daughter of the corporal and her progeny who were alive +and well, although somewhat impoverished, at Crossen. Their existence +had to be declared, and as it was not seemly that they should be +longer separated from their illustrious lord and master, they were +sent for, and a governess was provided for the youthful princes and +princesses. It was now the turn of the lion to help the mouse. The +lady who was selected for the post was the enthusiast of Berne--the +same damsel who had acted as scribe to the wandering heir--the +daughter of the gentleman who had been the first to penetrate the thin +disguise of the illustrious stranger in the cosy parlour of the inn. + +The new governess was a real acquisition to the household, and devoted +herself more to politics than tuition. Once more the duke resumed his +habit of letter-writing, and epistles both supplicatory and minatory +were showered upon the Duchess of Angoulême and the Duchess de Berri. +To the former, however, the pretender generally wrote as to a beloved +sister, whose coldness and reluctance to receive him caused him the +keenest pain. He offered to satisfy her as to his identity by +incontrovertible proofs, and recalled one circumstance which ought to +dissipate her last lingering doubts as to his truth. He reminded her +that when the royal family were confined together in the Temple, his +aunt the Princess Elizabeth, and his mother Marie-Antoinette, had +written some lines on a paper; which paper was subsequently cut in two +and given one half to "Madame Royale," and the other half to the +dauphin. "When we meet," said the pretender, "I will produce the +corresponding half to that which you possess. It has never been out of +my possession since our fatal separation." Even this appeal failed to +move the duchess, and failed simply because she had never heard of the +existence of any such divided document. + +But the claims even of righteous claimants are apt to become wearisome +to the public, and the interest in them dies away unless it is now and +again fanned into a flame. The Duke of Normandy found it so, and +devised a new means of attracting attention. Although he had gone with +his followers to return his grateful thanks to God at the shrine of St. +Arnould, he was not a member of the Roman Catholic Church, but he +discovered the error of his past ways, and was desirous to embrace the +orthodox faith. Accordingly, he was openly received as a disciple and +proselyte in the church of St. Roche. His conversion was followed by +that of his wife and children; but it cost him a very good friend. It +was hoped that the governess would have consented to change her creed +with the others. But the Swiss girl was a good and conscientious +Protestant, and this wholesale conversion aroused her suspicions as to +the cause in which she was engaged; she reviewed the pretensions of +the duke a little more judiciously than she had ever done before, and +as the result of her investigations, threw up her post and returned to +her father, convinced that she had been ignorantly aiding an +imposture. + +But if he lost a very efficient assistant, he gained many partizans +who had only refrained from acknowledging him previously by a fear +lest the throne should be snatched from the Catholic party. These late +adherents came to pay their homage bringing gifts, and their accession +to his ranks and their contributions to his purse stimulated the duke +to still more ostentatious displays of regal magnificence. His court +grew to an alarming size, and at last a hint was sent from the +prefecture of police, that if he did not moderate his pretensions, and +behave with greater circumspection, it would be necessary for him to +have an interview with the judges of the Assize Court. The threat was +quite sufficient. Naündorff withdrew to a quiet abode in the Rue +Guillaume, and granted his interviews in a more secret manner. Indeed, +from open clamour he turned to underhand plotting, and so mysterious +was his conduct that his landlord requested him to betake himself +elsewhere. He found a yet more retired asylum, and still more +suspicious-looking friends, until the police began to suspect that a +conspiracy was on foot, and favoured him with a domiciliary visit. +They seized his papers and read them; but they treated him with no +great severity. They hired three places in the diligence which, in +1838, travelled between Paris and Calais. The duke occupied one of +these seats, and two police agents the others, and when they reached +the famous little port, his attendants placed him on board the English +packet, and watched her speeding towards Dover with the prisoner of +the Temple as a present to the English nation. + +The duke established himself at Camberwell Green, and made it his +earliest care to write to the Duchess of Angoulême, soliciting her +good offices on behalf of her unfortunate brother, who had been so +vilely treated by the government of Louis Philippe, and had been cast +out from the country over which he should have ruled. In England he +devoted himself to the manufacture of fireworks and explosive shells; +and while he obtained the commendation of the authorities at Woolwich +for his ingeniously-contrived obuses, aroused the ire of the +inhabitants of Camberwell, who could not sleep because of the +continuous explosion of concussion-shells on his premises. They +summoned him before the magistrates as a nuisance, and he transferred +his establishment to Chelsea. Here the emissaries, or supposed +emissaries, of the French king, pursued him. An attempt was made to +shoot him, and he made it a pretext for leaving a country where his +life was not safe, and retired to Delft, in Holland, where he died in +very humble circumstances, on the 10th of August, 1844. + + + + +AUGUSTUS MEVES--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +Bloomsbury has been equally honoured with Camberwell and Chelsea in +providing a home for a pretended dauphin of France, and for a dauphin +whose pretensions are not allowed to lapse, although he has himself +sunk into the grave, but are persistently presented before the public +at recurring intervals by his sons. The story which he told, and which +they continue to tell, is a curious jumble of the inventions which +preceded it--a sort of literary patchwork, without design or pattern, +and a flimsy covering either for self-conceit or imposture. + +In this case the tale is, that, about September, 1793, Tom Paine, who +was then a member of the National Convention, wrote to England to a +Mrs. Carpenter to bring to Paris a deaf and dumb boy for a certain +purpose. Deaf and dumb boys are not easily procurable, and ladies, +when entrusted with mysterious missions, have an inveterate habit of +communicating them to their personal friends. Mrs. Carpenter knew a Mrs. +Meves, a music teacher, and hastened to inform her of the strange +instructions which she had received from France, and the pair set out +to find a child to suit the requirements of Paine. They failed, and +Mrs. Meves in her chagrin told her husband of their failure. That +worthy, who was then resident in Bloomsbury Square, had a son, +supposed to be illegitimate, living in his house. The lad had been +born in 1785, was about the age required, was in delicate health, and +a burden to his father, and there was no apparent reason why he should +not occupy the precarious position intended for the deaf and dumb boy, +at least until a mute could be found to take his place. Mr. Meves, +therefore, actuated by these ideas, proceeded to France, and, as those +who now bear his name assert, succeeded in procuring an interview with +Marie-Antoinette in her dungeon in the Conciergerie, where he made the +illustrious sufferer a vow of secrecy respecting her son, which he +kept to the latest hour of his existence. And, lest there should be +any doubt about this interview, it is added that many loyalists, both +before and after, penetrated into the gloom of her prison-cell, and +all but one contrived to evade being detected. + +At the interview it was agreed that he should introduce the lad, whom +he had brought, into the Temple, and should place him under the care +of Simon, the shoemaker, till a good opportunity occurred to extricate +Louis XVII. The arrangement was no sooner made than it was carried +out. Madame Simon, who was a party to the plot, found the "good +opportunity." The dauphin was removed in the convenient basket of a +laundress--perhaps the same basket which had held Naündorff, and the +unfortunate bastard of Mr. Meves was left in his stead. On reaching +the hotel at which Mr. Meves was staying the rescued prince was +respectably attired, and, having been placed in a carriage by his new +guardian, was escorted by the Marquis of Bonneval as far as the coast +of Normandy. It is not said whether, during the long ride, Mr. Meves +felt a twinge of remorse for his heartless conduct towards the +harmless and delicate child whom he had left in the clutches of Simon; +but, at all events, he is represented as reaching England in safety +with his new charge. The liberated king took up his abode in +Bloomsbury Square, and was adopted as the son of Mr. Meves, who had +better reasons for abiding by the laws of adoption than those of +parentage. At this time he was only eight years and seven months old. + +But Mrs. Meves was not so thoroughly satisfied with the result of her +husband's mission as that astute individual was himself disposed to +be; and having learnt that the boy who had passed as her son was a +prisoner in the Temple Tower, hurried off to her friend Mrs. Carpenter +to tell her doleful tale, and to concoct measures for his release. A +renewed search was instituted for a deaf and dumb boy, and one was +found--"the son of a poor woman"--and in the month of January, 1794, +Mrs. Meves procured passports, and proceeded with this boy and a German +gentleman to Holland to the Abbé Morlet. From Holland the Abbé, the +boy, and Mrs. Meves went to Paris, "and the deaf and dumb boy was +placed in certain hands to accomplish her son's liberation at the most +convenient time, but at what precise date such was carried into effect +remains to be ascertained." + +It is, however, more than suggested that the worn-out child seen by +Lasne and Gomin, who was so abnormally reticent, was the deaf and dumb +boy; and there is a wild attempt to prove either that he never spoke +at all, or that, if the captive under their care did speak, it must +have been a fourth child who had been substituted for the mute. The +whole tale is unintelligible and incoherent; assertions are freely +made without an iota of proof from its beginning to its end. If we are +to credit the sons of the pretender, the dauphin was educated by Mr. +Meves as a musician, and knew nothing of his origin till the year +1818, when Mrs. Meves declared it to him. In the years 1830 and 1831 he +addressed letters (which were not answered) to the Duchess of +Angoulême, stating the circumstances in which he had been conveyed to +England, but making an egregious blunder as to the date, which his +sons vainly endeavour to conceal or explain. They say, also, that a +very large section of the French nobility had no hesitation in +admitting the royal descent of their father. Thus the Count Fontaine +de Moreau expressed himself convinced that the man before him was the +missing dauphin, after examining with singular interest some blood +spots on his breast, resembling "a constellation of the heavens." The +Count de Jauffroy not only called and wrote down his address--21 +Alsopp's Terrace, New Road--but declared his opinion that the British +government was perfectly aware that "at 8 Bath Place, lives the true +Louis XVII." "But, sir," the count went on to say, "the danger lies in +acknowledging you, as from the energy of your character you might put +the whole of Europe into a state of fermentation, as you are not only +King of France in right of your birth, but you are also heir to Maria +Theresa, empress of Germany." His sons add that "Louis Napoleon is +aware, and has been for many years, that the person called 'Augustus +Meves' was the veritable Louis XVII." At the time these words were +penned the Emperor of the French was alive in this country, and a +_Times'_ reviewer not unreasonably said, "If, indeed, the illustrious +exile of Chiselhurst be aware of so remarkable a fact, he will surely +soon proclaim it, together with his reasons for being aware of it. +Aspirants to the throne of France cannot touch him further; and the +triumphant proof of Augustus Meves' heirship to Louis XVI. would not +only confound the councils of Frohsdorff, but it would turn the +grandest legitimist of Europe into little better than a usurper, if, +as was said by the Count de Jauffroy, Augustus Meves must of necessity +not only be the eldest son of St. Louis, but the eldest son of Rudolf +of Hapsburg to boot." + +Napoleon passed away, and made no sign; but the sons of Augustus +Meves (who himself died in 1859) show no disposition to under-rate his +pretensions. The elder, who styles himself Auguste de Bourbon, and +upon whom the royal mantle is supposed to have fallen, is not +indifferent to the political changes of the time, and has again and +again endeavoured to thrust his claims to the French throne before the +public. In a letter dated June 17, 1871, he says--"Several articles +have recently appeared respecting the chances of the Comte de Chambord +succeeding to power, in virtue of his right of birth as the eldest +representative of legitimate monarchy. This supposition by many is +admitted; nevertheless, it is a palpable hallucination, for the +representative of legitimate hereditary monarchy by actual descent is +directly vested in the eldest son of Louis XVII. Periodically, the +Comte de Chambord issues a manifesto, basing his right for doing such +as representing, by the right of hereditary succession, the head of +the House of Bourbon. Whenever such appears, duty demands that I +should protest against his pretensions. Great the relief would indeed +be to me could the Comte de Chambord, or any historian, produce +rational argument, or rather documents, to support the supposition +that the son of Louis XVI. and Marie-Antoinette died in the Tower of +the Temple, in June, 1795. Those who believe this with such proof as +is now extant to the general public are under a hallucination. Should, +however, the Comte de Chambord or the fused party base the right of +succeeding to power on the principle of inheriting it by the law of +legitimate succession, I, the son of Louis XVII., should demand a +hearing from France, and in France's name now protest against any +political combinations that have the object in view of acknowledging +the Comte de Chambord as the legitimate heir to the throne of +France.... I owe my origin to the French revolution of 1789; for had +not Louis XVII. been delivered from his captivity in the Temple, I +should have had no existence. Being, then, the offspring of the French +revolution, it is compatible with reason that by restoring the heir of +Louis XVII. as a constitutional king, such would be acceptable alike +to revolutionists and monarchists, and so end that state of alternate +violence and repression which, ever since the revolution of 1789, has +characterised unhappy France." In a still later document, he +says:--"The Comte de Chambord I can recognise as a nobleman, and as +representing a principle acknowledged; but the House of Orleans can +only be looked upon and recognised as disloyal and renegade royalty, +deserving the obliquy of fallen honour, having forfeited its right to +all regal honours." From his lofty perch this strange mongrel king +still awaits the call of France! + + + + +RICHEMONT--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +On the 30th of October, 1834, a mysterious personage was placed at the +bar of the Assize Court of the Seine, on a charge of conspiring to +overthrow the government of Louis Philippe, and of assuming titles +which did not belong to him, for the purpose of perpetrating fraud. +This individual, who is described as a little man, of aristocratic +appearance, was another of the many pretenders who have from time to +time assumed the character of Louis XVII., and his story was so +evidently false that it would scarcely be worth mention were it not +for the fate which befell him. For several years he had been prowling +throughout France in various disguises, and under a multitude of +names, swindling the credulous public; and from being an assumed +baron, he suddenly developed himself into the dauphin of the Temple, +and laid claim to the throne. Like the other impostors, he made his +assumption profitable, and found a peculiarly easy victim in the +Marquise de Grigny, a lady aged eighty-two years, who not only gave +him all her ready-money, but would have assigned her estates to him if +the law had not interposed. So successful was he in victimizing the +public, that he could afford to keep a private printing-press at work, +and disburse large sums to stir up disturbances in various parts of +the country; and so hopeful, that he bought a plumed hat, a sword, and +a gorgeous uniform, to appear before his subjects in fitting guise on +the day of his restoration. + +The clothes-basket of the laundress was brought into requisition for +his benefit also, and in it he lay ensconced while devoted friends +were carrying him away from the Temple, and from the rascally Simon, +who was still in authority. Like Meves, he asserted that Madame Simon +aided the plot, and in the course of his trial placed a certain M. +Remusat in the witness-box, who stated that while he was in the +hospital at Parma a woman called Semas complained bitterly of the +treatment to which she was subjected, and declared loudly that if her +children knew it they would soon come to her relief. Remusat thereupon +asked her if she had any children, when she responded, "My children, +sir, are the children of France! I was their _gouvernante_!" There was +no mistaking the allusion, and her astonished hearer replied, "But the +dauphin is dead." "Not so," was the answer; "he lives; and, if I +mistake not, was removed from the Temple in a basket of linen." +"Then," added the witness, "I asked the woman who she was, and she +told me that she was the wife of a man called Simon, the former +guardian-keeper. Then I understood her assertion, 'I was their +_gouvernante_!'" + +This extraordinary piece of evidence was entirely uncorroborated, and +in reality the accused had no case. But if he was deficient in proof +of his assertions, he had abundance of audacity. At first he declined +to answer the interrogatories of the judge, and permitted that +functionary to lay bare his past life, without any attempt to dispute +his assertions; but when the witnesses were brought against him, he +broke his silence, and finally became irrepressibly talkative. The +authorities had traced his career with some care, and showed that his +real name was d'Hébert, and that he always used that name in legal +documents, such as transfers of property to himself, being shrewd +enough to know that a conveyance would be invalid if executed in a +false name. In his proclamations, however, he invariably appeared as +"Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Normandy." In private life his favourite +title was Baron Richemont, although sometimes he condescended to be +addressed as Colonel Gustave; and when imperative occasion demanded, +passed under the vulgar cognomen of Bernard. + +The agents of police tracked him under all these disguises with the +greatest facility, by means of a clue which he himself provided. +Having been a man of method, he was in the habit of keeping a +memorandum-book or diary, in which he recorded, in cypher, all his +proceedings. This interesting volume fell into the hands of the +detectives, who soon discovered the key to it, and thus enabled the +judge of the Assize Court to present the sham dauphin with a very +vivid portrait of himself drawn by his own hand. Among other +occurrences which were recorded in this diary, was a visit which had +been paid by the pretender to a certain Madame de Malabre, at Caen; +and it was specially noted that he had granted this lady permission to +erect a monument to himself in her garden, and to dedicate it to the +Duke of Normandy; and, what was a very much graver matter, that he had +visited Lyons with the express purpose of stirring up a revolution +there. In some of his letters, also, he mentioned this attempted +up-rising in the great city which rests on the twin rivers, and +asserted that the denouement approached, and that his triumph was +certain. "I am at Lyons," he added, "where I have seen the +representatives of sixty-five departments. We shall march to Paris, +and I have in the capital forces ten times greater than are necessary +to oust the rascal!" + +To follow all the evidence which was led against the prisoner would be +very tedious, and worse than useless; but one witness appeared whose +testimony is worthy of record. He was an old man, aged seventy-six, +who was very deaf, and whose voice was almost gone. It was Lasné, the +faithful keeper of the Temple. He said-- + +"Two people came to my house and asked me if the dauphin were really +dead, and if he had not been carried out of the Temple; and I told +them that the poor child died in my arms, and that though a thousand +years were to pass his Majesty Louis XVII. would never re-appear." + +Then the interrogatory proceeded:-- + +"Was he long ill?" + +"He was ill for nine months after the establishment of the commune. Dr. +Dessault prescribed several drops of a mixture which he was to take +every morning, and three consecutive times the child vomited the +medicine, and asked if it were not injurious. In order to reassure +him, Dr. Dessault took the cup and drank some of it before him, when he +said, 'Very good. You have said that I ought to take this liquid, and +I will take it;' and he swallowed it. Dr. Dessault attended him for +eight days, and every morning drank some of the medicine to reassure +the Child. When Dessault died suddenly from an apoplectic stroke, M. +Pellatan took his place and continued the same treatment. At the end +of three months the poor child died resting on my left arm." + +"Was it easy to approach the child?" + +"No, sir; it was necessary to pass through the courts of the Temple. +The applicant then knocked at a wicket. I answered the summons; and if +I recognised the person I opened the wicket. Then the visitor was +taken to the third floor, where the prince was." + +"Did he show much intelligence?" + +"Yes, sir, he was very intelligent. Every day I walked with him on the +top of the Tower, holding him under the arm. He had a tumour at his +knee, which gave him a great deal of pain." + +"But it is said that another child was substituted for him, and that +the real dauphin was smuggled out of the Tower?" + +"That is a false idea. I used to be a captain of the French Gardes in +the old days, and in that capacity I often saw the young dauphin. I +have attended him in the Jardin des Feuillants, and I am convinced +that the child who was under my care was the same. I was condemned to +death; but the events of the 9th Thermidor saved my life. I was +condemned, at the instigation of Saint-Just, who caused me to be +arrested by eight gens d'armes. I solemnly declare that the child who +died in my arms was in reality Louis XVII." + +"That he was undoubtedly the same child?" + +"Undoubtedly the same child, with the same features and the same +figure." + +More than one impostor has tripped, stumbled, and fallen over that +declaration. + +But notwithstanding Lasné's evidence, on the second morning of the +trial a printed sheet was circulated among the audience, which is a +curiosity in its way. This document, which was addressed to the jury, +was signed "Charles-Louis, Duke of Normandy," and was a sort of +protest in favour of Louis XVII., who pretended to have nothing in +common with the sham Baron Richemont. It asserted that "the secret +mover of the puppet Richemont could not be unaware the real son of the +unfortunate Louis XVI. was furnished with the requisite proofs of his +origin, and that he could prove by indisputable evidence his own +identity with the dauphin of the Temple. It was perfectly well known +that every time the royal orphan sought to make himself known to his +family, a sham Louis XVII. was immediately brought forward--an +impostor like the person the jury was called upon to judge--and by +this manoeuvre public opinion was changed, and the voice of the real +son of Louis XVI. was silenced." At the opening of the court an +advocate appeared on behalf of this second pretender; but after a +short discussion was refused a hearing. + +As far as Richemont was concerned, all his audacity could not save +him; from the beginning the evidence was dead against him; there was +no difficulty in tracing his infamous career, the public prosecutor +was merciless in his denunciation, and in his demand that a severe +sentence should be passed upon this new disturber of the state, and +Richemont's own eloquence availed him nothing. The prisoner was, +however, bold enough, and in addressing the jury, said--"The public +prosecutor has told you that I cannot be the son of Louis XVI. Has he +told you who I am? He has been formally asked, and has kept silence. +Gentlemen, you will appreciate that silence, and will also appreciate +the reasons which prevent us from producing our titles. This is +neither the place nor the moment. The competent tribunals will be +called upon to give their decision in this matter. He tells you also +that inquiries have been made everywhere; but he has not let you know +the result of these inquiries. He cannot do it!... I repeat to you +that if I am mistaken, I am thoroughly honest in my mistake. It has +lasted for fifty years, and I fear I shall carry it with me to my +tomb." + +The jury were perfectly indifferent to his appeal, and found him +guilty of a plot to upset the government of the king, of exciting the +people to civil war, of attempting to change the order of succession +to the throne, and of three minor offences in addition. The +Advocate-General pressed for the heaviest penalty which the law +allowed, and the judge condemned "Henri-Hebert-Ethelbert-Louis-Hector," +calling himself Baron de Richemont, to twelve years' imprisonment. + +Richemont listened to his sentence unmoved, and as the officers were +about to take him away, said in a low voice to those near him, "The +man who does not know how to suffer is unworthy of persecution!" + + + + +THE REV. ELEAZAR WILLIAMS--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +America also has had her sham dauphin, in the person of an Indian +missionary, whose claims have been repeatedly presented to the public +both in magazine articles and in book form. His adventures, as +recorded by his biographers, are quite as singular as those of his +competitors for royal honours. We are told that in the year 1795, a +French family, calling themselves De Jardin, or De Jourdan, arrived in +Albany, direct from France. At that time French refugees were +thronging to America; and in the influx of strangers this party might +have escaped notice, but peculiar circumstances directed attention to +them. The family consisted of a lady, a gentleman, and two children; +and although the two former bore the same name, they did not seem to +be man and wife, Madame de Jourdan dressed expensively and elegantly, +while Monsieur de Jourdan was very plainly attired, and appeared to be +the lady's servant rather than her husband. Great mystery was observed +with respect to their children, who were carefully concealed from the +public gaze. The eldest was a girl, and was called Louise; while the +youngest, a boy of nine or ten years of age, was invariably addressed +as Monsieur Louis. He was very rarely seen, even by the few ladies and +children who were admitted into a sort of semi-friendship by the +new-comers, and when he did appear seemed to be dull, and paid no +attention to the persons present or the conversation. Madame de +Jardin, who had in her possession many relics of Louis XVI. and +Marie-Antoinette, made no secret that she had been a maid of honour to +the queen, and was separated from her on the terrace of the Tuileries, +prior to her imprisonment in the Temple. She had not yet recovered +from the dreadful events of the revolution, and had a theatrical habit +of relieving her highly-strung feelings by rushing to the harpsichord, +wildly playing the Marseillaise, and then bursting into tears. Those +who had free admittance into the family of the De Jourdans had no +difficulty in tracing a resemblance between the children and the +portraits of the royal family of France; but delicacy forbade +questions, and even the most confident could only surmise that this +retired maid of honour had escaped from her native land in charge of +the children of the Temple. After remaining for a short time in +Albany, without any apparent purpose, the De Jardins sold most of +their effects, and disappeared as mysteriously as they had come. + +Later in the same year (1795) two Frenchmen, one of them having the +appearance of a Romish priest, arrived at the Indian settlement of +Ticonderoga, in the vicinity of Lake George, bringing with them a +sickly boy, in a state of mental imbecility, whom they left with the +Indians. The child is said to have been adopted by an Iroquis chief, +called Thomas Williams, _alias_ Tehorakwaneken, whose wife was +Konwatewenteta, and although no proof is offered that he was the boy +called Monsieur Louis by Madame de Jardin, and still less that he was +the dauphin of France, it is said by those who support his +pretensions, that whoever considers the coincidences of circumstance, +time and place, age, mental condition and bodily resemblance, must +admit, apart from all other testimony, that it is highly probable that +he was both the sham De Jardin and the real dauphin. + +Thomas Williams, the Iroquis chief, who had some English blood in his +veins, lived in a small log-house on the shores of Lake George. His +unpretending dwelling was about twenty feet square, perhaps a little +larger, roofed with bark, leaving an opening in the centre to give +egress to the smoke from the fire which blazed beneath it on the +floor, in the middle of the ample apartment. Around this fire were +ranged the beds of the family, composed of hemlock boughs, covered +with the skins of animals slaughtered in the chase. The fare of the +family was as simple as their dwelling-place. From cross-sticks over +the fire hung a huge kettle, in which the squaw made soup of pounded +corn flavoured with venison. They purchased their salt and spirits at +Fort-Edward; and the stream supplied them with fish, the woods and +mountains with game. Such was the early upbringing of the missionary +king. + +The boy was known as Lazar or Eleazar Williams; his reputed father, +the chief, invariably acknowledged him and addressed him as his own +son; and the lad himself could tell but little of his earlier years. +He had hazy recollections of soldiers and a gorgeous palace, and a +beautiful lady on whose lap he used to recline; but when he tried to +think closely and recall the past, his mind became confused, and +painted chiefs, shady wigwams, and the homely face of the chieftain's +squaw, obtruded themselves, and blurred the glorious scenes amid which +he faintly remembered to have lived. + +But circumstances sometimes occurred which made a deep impression even +on his weak mind. Thus, when the youthful Eleazar was one day sporting +on the lake near Fort-William, in a little wooden canoe, with several +other boys, two strange gentlemen came up to the encampment of Thomas +Williams, and took their seats with him upon a log at a little +distance from the wigwam. With natural curiosity at a circumstance +which broke in upon the usual monotony of Indian life, the boys +paddled their canoe ashore, and strolled up to the encampment to +ascertain who the strangers were, when Thomas Williams called out, +"Lazar, this friend of yours wishes to speak to you." As he approached +one of the gentlemen rose and went off to another Indian encampment. +The one who remained with the chief had every indication in dress, +manners, and language of being a Frenchman. When Eleazar came near, +this gentleman advanced several steps to meet him, embraced him most +tenderly, and when he sat down again on the log made him stand between +his legs. In the meantime he shed abundance of tears, said "Pauvre +garçon!" and continued to embrace him. The chief was soon afterwards +called to a neighbouring wigwam, and Eleazar and the Frenchman were +left alone. The latter continued to kiss him and weep, and spoke a +good deal, seeming anxious that he should understand him, which he was +unable to do. When Thomas Williams returned to them he asked Eleazar +whether he knew what the gentleman had said to him, and he replied, +"No." They both left him, and walked off in the direction in which the +other gentleman had gone. The two gentlemen came again the next day, +and the Frenchman remained several hours. The chief took him out in a +canoe on the lake; and the last which Eleazar remembered was them all +sitting together on a log, when the Frenchman took hold of his bare +feet and dusty legs, and examined his knees and ankles closely. Again +the Frenchman shed tears, but young Eleazar was quite indifferent, not +knowing what to make of it. Before the gentleman left he gave him a +piece of gold. + +A few evenings later, when the younger members of the household were +in bed, and were supposed to be asleep, Eleazar, who was lying broad +awake, overheard a conversation between the Indian chief and his squaw +which interested him mightily. The chief was urging compliance with a +request which had been made to them to allow two of their children to +go away for education; but his wife objected on religious grounds. +When he persisted in his demand she said, "If you will do it you may +send away this strange boy. Means have been put into your hands for +his education; but John I cannot part with." Her willingness to +sacrifice him, and the whole tone of the conversation, excited +suspicions in the mind of the listener as to his parentage, but they +soon passed away. Mrs. Williams at last agreed that John, one of her +own children, and Lazar, according to this story, her adopted child, +should be sent to Long Meadow, a village in Massachusetts, to be +brought up under the care of a deacon called Nathaniel Ely. It is said +that when the supposed brothers entered the village, dressed in their +Indian costume, the entire dissimilarity in their appearance at once +excited attention, and they became the subjects of general +conversation among the villagers. At Long Meadow the lads remained for +several years, and are represented as having made "remarkably good +proficiency in school learning," as exhibiting strong proofs of +virtuous and pious dispositions, and as "likely to make useful +missionaries among the heathen." This encomium seems, however, to have +been much more applicable to Eleazar than his companion; for, after +the most persistent attempts, it was found impossible to cultivate the +mind of John, whose passion for savage life was irrepressible, and who +returned home to live and die among the Indians. With Eleazar it was +different, and his biographer proudly records that he was called +familiarly "the plausible boy." + +He was as versatile as he was plausible, and in the course of his long +life played many parts besides that of Louis XVII. When he had +forgotten the early lessons of the wigwam, and had acquired the +learning and religious enthusiasm of the New Englanders, he became a +sort of wandering gospel-preacher among the Indians; but the work was +little suited to him, and he found far more congenial employment when +the war broke out between England and America, as superintendent-general +of the Northern Indian Department on the United States side. +In this office "he had under his command the whole secret corps +of rangers and scouts of the army, who spread themselves +everywhere, and freely entered in and out of the enemy's camp." In +other words, he was a sort of chief spy; and if he had been caught in +the British lines would have had a very short shrift, notwithstanding +his sanctimonious utterances, and the peculiarly sensitive conscience +of which he made a perpetual boast. About the same time he was +declared a chief of the Iroquis nation, under the name of +Onwarenhiiaki, or the tree cutter--a compliment little likely to have +been paid to an unknown man, but which would not unreasonably be +bestowed upon the son of a famous chief. Having received a severe +wound he was nursed back into life by his reputed father, and on his +complete recovery expressed his contrition for his backsliding, and +his horror of the bloodthirsty trade of war, and returned to the +peaceful work of attempting to teach and convert his dusky Indian +brethren. He deserted the Congregationalists with whom he had +previously been connected, and joined the Protestant Episcopal Church, +by which he was ordained, and to which he remained faithful during the +later years of his life. + +By this time he was convinced that he was no Indian, and believed that +he was the son of some noble Frenchman, but he scarcely ventured to +think that he was a pure Bourbon; although dim suspicions of his royal +descent sometimes haunted him, although friends assured him that his +likeness to the French king was so strong that his origin was beyond +question, and although he had certain marks on his body which +corresponded with those said to exist on the person of the dauphin. +But as he got older, the evidence in favour of his illustrious +parentage seemed to grow stronger; if he was questioned on the +subject he was too truthful to deny what he thought, and the knowledge +of his name and the number of those who believed in him rapidly +increased. At last, according to his own story, an event occurred +which placed the matter beyond all doubt. + +The Prince de Joinville was travelling in America in 1841, and what +happened in the course of his travels to the Rev. Eleazar Williams +that gentleman may be left to tell. He says--"In October 1841, I was +on my way from Buffalo to Green Bay, and took a steamer from the +former place bound to Chicago, which touched at Mackinac, and left me +there to await the arrival of the steamer from Buffalo to Green Bay. +Vessels which had recently come in announced the speedy arrival of the +Prince de Joinville; public expectation was on tiptoe, and crowds were +on the wharves. The steamer at length came in sight, salutes were +fired and answered, the colours run up, and she came into port in fine +style. Immediately she touched the Prince and his retinue came on +shore, and went out some little distance from the town to visit some +natural curiosities in the neighbourhood. The steamer awaited their +return. During their absence I was standing on the wharf among the +crowd, when Captain John Shook came up to me and asked whether I was +going on to Green Bay, adding that the Prince de Joinville had made +inquiries of him concerning a Rev. Mr. Williams, and that he had told +the prince he knew such a person, referring to me, whom he supposed +was the man he meant, though he could not imagine what the prince +could want with or know of me. I replied to the captain in a laughing +way, without having any idea what a deep meaning attached to my +words--'Oh, I am a great man, and great men will of course seek me +out.' + +"Soon after, the prince and his suite arrived and went on board. I did +the same, and the steamer put to sea. When we were fairly out on the +water, the captain came to me and said, 'The prince, Mr. Williams, +requests me to say to you that he desires to have an interview with +you, and will be happy either to have you come to him, or allow me to +introduce him to you.' 'Present my compliments to the prince,' I +said, 'and say I put myself entirely at his disposal, and will be +proud to accede to whatever may be his wishes in the matter.' The +captain again retired, and soon returned, bringing the Prince de +Joinville, with him. I was sitting at the time on a barrel. The prince +not only started with evident and involuntary surprise when he saw me, +but there was great agitation in his face and manner--a slight +paleness and a quivering of the lip--which I could not help remarking +at the time, but which struck me more forcibly afterwards in +connection with the whole train of circumstances, and by contrast with +his usual self-possessed manner. He then shook me earnestly and +respectfully by the hand, and drew me immediately into conversation. +The attention he paid me seemed not only to astonish myself and the +passengers, but also the prince's retinue. + +"At dinner-time there was a separate table laid for the prince and his +companions, and he invited me to sit with them, and offered me the +seat of honour by his side. But I was a little abashed by the +attentions of the prince, so I thought I would keep out of the circle, +and begged the prince to excuse me, and permit me to dine at the +ordinary table with the passengers, which I accordingly did. After +dinner the conversation turned between us on the first French +settlement in America, the valour and enterprise of the early +adventurers, and the loss of Canada to France, at which the prince +expressed deep regret. He was very copious and fluent in speech, and I +was surprised at the good English he spoke; a little broken, indeed, +like mine, but very intelligible. We continued talking late into the +night, reclining in the cabin on the cushions in the stern of the +boat. When we retired to rest, the prince lay on the locker, and I in +the first berth next to it. + +"The next day the steamer did not arrive at Green Bay until about +three o'clock, and during most of the time we were in conversation. On +our arrival the prince said I would oblige him by accompanying him to +his hotel, and taking up my quarters at the Astor House. I begged to +be excused, as I wished to go to the house of my father-in-law. He +replied he had some matters of great importance to speak to me about; +and as he could not stay long at Green Bay, but would take his +departure the next day, or the day after, he wished I would comply +with his request. As there was some excitement consequent on the +prince's arrival, and a great number of persons were at the Astor +House wishing to see him, I thought I would take advantage of the +confusion to go to my father-in-law's, and promised to return in the +evening when he would be more private. I did so, and on my return +found the prince alone, with the exception of one attendant, whom he +dismissed. He opened the conversation by saying he had a communication +to make to me of a very serious nature as concerned himself, and of +the last importance to me; that it was one in which no others were +interested, and therefore, before proceeding farther, he wished to +obtain some pledge of secrecy, some promise that I would not reveal to +any one what he was going to say. I demurred to any such conditions +being imposed previous to my being acquainted with the nature of the +subject, as there might be something in it, after all, prejudicial and +injurious to others; and it was at length, after some altercation, +agreed that I should pledge my honour not to reveal what the prince +was going to say, provided there was nothing in it prejudicial to any +one, and I signed a promise to this effect on a sheet of paper. It was +vague and general, for I would not tie myself down to absolute +secrecy, but left the matter conditional. When this was done the +prince spoke to this effect-- + +"'You have been accustomed, sir, to consider yourself a native of this +country, but you are not. You are of foreign descent; you were born in +Europe, sir; and however incredible it may at first sight seem to you, +you are the son of a king. There ought to be much consolation to you +to know this fact. You have suffered a great deal, and have been +brought very low; but you have not suffered more or been more degraded +than my father, who was long in exile and in poverty in this country; +but there is this difference between him and you, that he was all +along aware of his high birth, whereas you have been spared the +knowledge of your origin.' + +"When the prince said this I was much overcome, and thrown into a +state of mind which you can easily imagine. In fact, I hardly knew +what to do or say; and my feelings were so much excited that I was +like one in a dream. However, I remember I told him his communication +was so startling and unexpected that he must forgive me for being +incredulous, and that I was really between two." + +"'What do you mean,' he said, 'by being between two?' + +"I replied that, on the one hand, it scarcely seemed to me he could +believe what he said; and, on the other, I feared he might be under +some mistake as to the person. He assured me, however, he would not +trifle with my feelings on such a subject, and had ample means in his +possession to satisfy me that there was no mistake whatever. I +requested him to proceed with the disclosure partly made, and to +inform me in full of the secret of my birth. He replied that, in doing +so, it was necessary that a certain process should be gone through in +order to guard the interest of all parties concerned. I inquired what +kind of process he meant. Upon this the prince rose and went to his +trunk, which was in the room, and took from it a parchment which he +laid on the table and set before me, that I might read and give him my +determination in regard to it. There were also on the table pen and +ink and wax, and he placed there a governmental seal of France--the +one, if I mistake not, used under the old monarchy. The document which +the prince placed before me was very handsomely written in double +parallel columns of French and English. I continued intently reading +and considering it for a space of four or five hours. During this time +the prince left me undisturbed, remaining for the most part in the +room, but he went out three or four times. + +"The purport of the document which I read repeatedly word by word, +comparing the French with the English, was this: It was a solemn +abdication of the crown of France in favour of Louis Philippe by +Charles Louis, the son of Louis XVI., who was styled Louis XVII., +King of France and Navarre, with all accompanying names and titles of +honour, according to the custom of the old French monarchy, together +with a minute specification in legal phraseology of the conditions and +considerations and provisos upon which the abdication was made. These +conditions were, in brief, that a princely establishment should be +secured to me either in America or in France, at my option, and that +Louis Philippe would pledge himself on his part to secure the +restoration, or an equivalent for it, of all the private property of +the royal family rightfully belonging to me, which had been +confiscated in France during the revolution, or in any way got into +other hands." + +After excusing himself for not taking a copy of this precious document +when he had the chance, and mentioning, among other reasons, "the +sense of personal dignity which had been excited by these +disclosures," the Rev. Eleazar proceeds with his narrative:-- + +"At length I made my decision, and rose and told the prince that I had +considered the matter fully in all its aspects, and was prepared to +give him my definite answer upon the subject; and then went on to say, +that whatever might be the personal consequences to myself, I felt I +could not be the instrument of bartering away with my own hand the +rights pertaining to me by my birth, and sacrificing the interests of +my family, and that I could only give to him the answer which De +Provence gave to the ambassador of Napoleon at Warsaw--'Though I am in +poverty and exile, I will not sacrifice my honour.' + +"The prince upon this assumed a loud tone, and accused me of +ingratitude in trampling upon the overtures of the king, his father, +who, he said, was actuated in making the proposition more by feelings +of kindness and pity towards me than by any other consideration, since +his claim to the French throne rested on an entirely different basis +to mine--viz., not that of hereditary descent, but of popular +election. When he spoke in this strain, I spoke loud also, and said +that as he, by his disclosure, had put me in the position of a +superior, I must assume that position, and frankly say that my +indignation was stirred by the memory that one of the family of +Orleans had imbrued his hands in my father's blood, and that another +now wished to obtain from me an abdication of the throne. When I spoke +of superiority, the prince immediately assumed a respectful attitude, +and remained silent for several minutes. It had now grown very late, +and we parted, with a request from him that I would reconsider the +proposal of his father, and not be too hasty in my decision. I +returned to my father-in-law's, and the next day saw the prince again, +and on his renewal of the subject gave him a similar answer. Before he +went away he said, 'Though we part, I hope we part friends.'" + +And this tale is not intended for burlesque or comedy, but as a sober +account of transactions which really took place. It was published in a +respectable magazine, it has been re-produced in a book which sets +forth the claims of "The Lost Prince," and it was brought so +prominently before the Prince de Joinville that he was compelled +either to corroborate it or deny it. His answer is very plain. He had +a perfect recollection of being on board the steamer at the time and +place mentioned, and of meeting on board the steamboat "a passenger +whose face he thinks he recognises in the portrait given in the +_Monthly Magazine_, but whose name had entirely escaped his memory. +This passenger seemed well informed respecting the history of America +during the last century. He related many anecdotes and interesting +particulars concerning the French, who took part and distinguished +themselves in these events. His mother, he said, was an Indian woman +of the great tribe of Iroquis, and his father was French. These +details could not fail to vividly interest the prince, whose voyage to +the district had for its object to retrace the glorious path of the +French, who had first opened to civilisation these fine countries. All +which treats of the revelation which the prince made to Mr. Williams of +the mystery of his birth, all which concerns the pretended personage +of Louis XVII., is from one end to the other a work of the +imagination--a fable woven wholesale--a speculation upon the public +credulity." + + * * * * * + +These are but a few of the numerous sham dauphins who have at various +times appeared. One author, who has written a history of the elder +branch of the House of Bourbon, estimates the total number of +pretenders at a dozen and a half, while M. Beauchesne increases the +list to thirty. But few, besides those whose history has been given, +succeeded in gaining notoriety, and all failed to rouse the French +authorities to punish or even to notice their transparent impostures. + + * * * * * + + + + +THOMAS PROVIS--CALLING HIMSELF SIR RICHARD HUGH SMYTH. + + +Great excitement prevailed throughout England towards the close of the +year 1853, in consequence of the result of a trial which took place at +the autumn assizes at Gloucester. A person calling himself Sir Richard +Hugh Smyth laid claim to an extinct baronetcy, and brought an action +of ejectment to recover possession of vast estates, situated in the +neighbourhood of Bristol, and valued at nearly £30,000 a-year. The +baronetcy in question had become, or was supposed to have become, +extinct on the death of Sir John Smyth, in 1849, and at his decease +the estates had passed to his sister Florence; and when she died, in +1852, had devolved upon her son, who was then a minor, and who was +really the defendant in the cause. Mr. Justice Coleridge presided at +the trial, Mr. (afterwards Lord-Justice) Bovill appeared for the +claimant, and Sir Frederick Thesiger represented the defendant. + +According to the opening address of the counsel for the plaintiff, his +client had been generally supposed to be the son of a carpenter of +Warminster named Provis, and had been brought up in this man's house +as one of his family. When the lad arrived at an age to comprehend +such matters, he perceived that he was differently treated from the +other members of the household, and, from circumstances which came to +his knowledge, was led to suspect that Provis was not really his +father, but that he was the son of Sir Hugh Smyth of Ashton Hall, near +Bristol, and the heir to a very extensive property. It seemed that +this baronet had married a Miss Wilson, daughter of the Bishop of +Bristol, in 1797, that she had died childless some years later, and +that he had, in 1822, united himself to a Miss Elizabeth. The second +union proved as fruitless as the first, and when Sir Hugh himself +died, in 1824, his brother John succeeded to the title and the greater +portion of the property. By-and-by, however, certain facts came to the +ears of the plaintiff, which left no doubt on his mind that he was the +legitimate son of Sir Hugh Smyth, by a first and hitherto concealed +marriage with Jane, daughter of Count Vandenbergh, to whom he had been +secretly married in Ireland, in 1796. But, although the plaintiff was +thus convinced himself, he knew that, while he possessed documents +which placed his origin beyond a doubt, it would be extremely +difficult for a person in his humble circumstances to substantiate his +claim, or secure the services of a lawyer bold enough to take his case +in hand, and refrained from demanding his rights until 1849; in which +year, rendered desperate by delay, he went personally to Ashton Hall, +obtained an interview with Sir John Smyth, and communicated to him his +relationship and his claims. The meeting was much more satisfactory +than might have been expected. As Sir John had been party to certain +documents which were executed by his brother in his lifetime (which +were among those which had been discovered), and in which the +circumstances of the concealed marriage and the birth of the claimant +were acknowledged, it was useless for him to deny the justice of the +demand, and he recognised his nephew without demur. But the excitement +of the interview was too great for his failing strength, and he was +found dead in bed next morning. Thus all the hopes of the real heir +were dashed to the ground, for it was not to be expected that the +next-of-kin, who knew nothing of the supposed Provis, or of Sir Hugh's +marriage, would yield up the estates to an utter stranger, without a +severe struggle and a desperate litigation. He, therefore, refrained +from putting forth his pretensions, and travelled the country with his +wife and children, obtaining a precarious living by delivering +lectures; and he took no steps to enforce his rights until 1851, when, +after negotiations with several legal firms, he at length found the +means of pursuing his claims before the tribunals of his country. + +In support of the plaintiff's case a number of documents, family +relics, portraits, rings, seals, &c, were put in evidence. At the time +when the marriage was said to have taken place there was no public +registration in Ireland, but a Family Bible was produced which bore on +a fly-leaf a certification by the Vicar of Lismore that a marriage had +been solemnized on the 19th of May, 1796, "between Hugh Smyth of +Stapleton, in the county of Gloucester, England, and Jane, daughter of +Count John Samuel Vandenbergh, by Jane, the daughter of Major Gookin +and Hesther, his wife, of Court Macsherry, county of Cork, Ireland." +In the same Bible was an entry of the plaintiffs baptism, signed by +the officiating clergyman. A brooch was produced with the name of Jane +Gookin upon it, and a portrait of the claimant's mother, as well as a +letter addressed by Sir Hugh Smyth to his wife on the eve of her +delivery, in which he introduced a nurse to her. Besides these, there +were two formal documents which purported to be signed by Sir Hugh +Smyth, in which he solemnly declared the plaintiff to be his son. The +first of these declarations was written when the baronet was in +extreme ill-health, in 1822, and was witnessed by his brother John and +three other persons. It was discovered in the possession of a member +of the family of Lydia Reed, the plaintiff's nurse. The second paper, +which was almost the same in its terms, was discovered in the keeping +of an attorney's clerk, who had formerly lived in Bristol. The +following is a copy of it:-- + +"I, Sir Hugh Smyth, of Ashton Park, in the county of Somerset, and of +Rockley House, in the county of Wilts, do declare that, in the year +1796, I was married in the county of Cork, in Ireland, by the Rev. +Verney Lovett, to Jane, the daughter of Count Vandenbergh, by Jane, +the daughter of Major Gookin, of Court Macsherry, near Bandon. +Witnesses thereto--The Countess of Bandon and Consena Lovett. In the +following year, Jane Smyth, my wife, came to England, and, immediately +after giving birth to a son, she died on the 2d day of February, 1797, +and she lies buried in a brick vault in Warminster churchyard. My son +was consigned to the care of my own nurse, Lydia Reed, who can at any +time identify him by marks upon his right hand, but more especially by +the turning up of both the thumbs, an indelible mark of identity in +our family. My son was afterwards baptized by the Rev. James Symes of +Midsomer Norton, by the names of Richard Hugh Smyth; the sponsors +being the Marchioness of Bath and the Countess of Bandon, who named +him Richard, after her deceased brother, Richard Boyle. Through the +rascality of my butler, Grace, my son left England for the continent, +and was reported to me as having died there; but, at the death of +Grace, the truth came out that my son was alive, and that he would +soon return to claim his rights. Now, under the impression of my son's +death, I executed a will in 1814. That will I do, by this document, +declare null and void, and, to all intents and purposes, sett +asside(_sic_) in all its arrangements; the payment of my just debts, +the provision for John, the son, of the late Elizabeth Howell, and to +the fulfilment of all matters not interfering with the rights of my +heir-at-law. Now, to give every assistance to my son, should he ever +return, I do declare him my legitimate son and heir to all the estates +of my ancestors, and which he will find amply secured to him and his +heirs for ever by the will of his grandfather, the late Thomas Smyth +of Stapleton, Esq.; and further, by the will of my uncle, the late Sir +John Hugh Smyth, baronet. Both those wills so fully arrange for the +security of the property in possession or reversion that I have now +only to appoint and constitute my beloved brother John Smyth, Esq., +my only executor for his life; and I do by this deed place the utmost +confidence in my brother that he will at any future time do my son +justice. And I also entreat my son to cause the remains of his mother +to be removed to Ashton, and buried in the family vault close to my +side, and to raise a monument to her memory. + +"Now, in furtherance of the object of this deed, I do seal with my +seal, and sign it with my name, and in the presence of witnesses, this +10th day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1823. HUGH SMYTH (L.S.). +William Edwards. +William Dobbson. +James Abbott." + +After some proof had been given as to the genuineness of the +signatures to this and the other documents, the plaintiff was put into +the witness-box. He said that his recollections extended back to the +time when he was three years and a half old, when he lived with Mr. +Provis, a carpenter in Warminster. There was at that time an elderly +woman and a young girl living there, the former being Mrs. Reed, the +wet-nurse, and the latter Mary Provis, who acted as nursemaid. He +stayed at the house of Provis until Grace, Sir Hugh's butler, took him +away, and placed him at the school of Mr. Hill at Brislington, where he +remained for a couple of years, occasionally visiting Colonel Gore and +the family of the Earl of Bandon at Bath. From Brislington he was +transferred by the Marchioness of Bath to Warminster Grammar School, +and thence to Winchester College, where he resided as a commoner until +1810. He stated that he left Winchester because his bills had not been +paid for the last eighteen months; and, by the advice of Dr. Goddard, +then headmaster of the school, proceeded to London, and told the +Marchioness of Bath what had occurred. The marchioness kept him for a +few days in her house in Grosvenor Square, but "being a woman of high +tone, and thinking that possibly he was too old for her protection," +she advised him to go to Ashton Court to his father, telling him at +the same time that Sir Hugh Smyth was his father. She also gave him +some £1400 or £1500 which had been left to him by his mother, but +declined to tell him anything respecting her, and referred him for +further information to the Bandon family. The marchioness, however, +informed him that her steward, Mr. Davis, at Warminster, was in +possession of the deceased Lady Smyth's Bible, pictures, jewellery, +and trinkets. But the lad, finding himself thus unexpectedly enriched, +sought neither his living father nor the relics of his dead mother, +but had recourse to an _innamorata_ of his own, and passed three or +four months in her delicious company. He afterwards went abroad, and +returned to England with exhausted resources in 1826. He then made +inquiries respecting Sir Hugh Smyth, his supposed father, and +discovered that he had been dead for some time, and that the title and +estates had passed to Sir John. Under these circumstances he believed +it to be useless to advance his claim, and supported himself for the +eleven years which followed by lecturing on education at schools and +institutions throughout England and Ireland. + +Up to this time he had never made any inquiry for the things which the +Marchioness of Bath had informed him were under the care of Mr. Davis; +but, in 1839, he visited Frome in order to procure them, and then +found that Davis was dead. Old Mr. Provis, who had brought him up, was +the only person whom he met, and with him he had some words for +obstinately refusing to give him any information respecting his +mother. The interview was a very stormy one; but old Provis, who was +so angry with him at first that he struck him with his stick, quickly +relented, and gave him the Bible, the jewellery, and the heir-looms +which he possessed. Moreover, he showed him a portrait of Sir Hugh +which hung in his own parlour, and gave him a bundle of sealed papers +with instructions to take them to Mr. Phelps, an eminent solicitor at +Warminster. The jewellery consisted of four gold rings and two +brooches. One ring was marked with the initials "J.B.," supposed to be +those of "James Bernard;" and on one of the brooches were the words +"Jane Gookin" at length. + +The claimant further stated that, on the 19th of May, 1849, he +procured an interview with Sir John Smyth at Ashton Court. He said +that the baronet seemed to recognise him from the first, and was +excessively agitated when he told him who he was. To calm him, the +so-called Sir Richard said that he had not come to take possession of +his title or property, but only wanted a suitable provision for his +family. It was, therefore, arranged that Sir John's newly-found nephew +should proceed to Chester and fetch his family, and that they should +stay at Ashton Court, while he would live at Heath House. + +But the fates seemed to fight against the rightful heir. When he +returned from Chester twelve days later, accompanied by his spouse and +her progeny, the first news he heard was that Sir John had been found +dead in his bed on the morning after his previous visit. All his hopes +were destroyed, and he reverted calmly to his old trade of stump +orator, which he pursued with equanimity from 1839 till 1851. During +this time he vainly endeavoured to secure the services of a sanguine +lawyer to take up his case on speculation, and it was not until the +latter year that he succeeded; but when the hopeful solicitor once +took the affair in hand, evidence flowed in profusely, and he was at +last enabled to lay his claims before her Majesty's judges at +Gloucester assizes. Such, at least, was his own story. + +In cross-examination he stated that although Provis had two sons, +named John and Thomas, he only knew the younger, and had but little +intercourse with John, who was the elder. He described his youthful +life in the carpenter's house, and represented himself "as the +gentleman of the place," adding that he wore red morocco shoes, was +never allowed to be without his nurse, and "did some little mischief +in the town, according to his station in life, for which mischief +nobody was allowed to check him." After a lengthy cross-examination as +to his relationship with the Marchioness of Bath and his alleged +interview with Sir John Smyth, he admitted that as a lecturer he had +passed under the name of Dr. Smyth. He denied that he had ever used the +name of Thomas Provis, or stated that John Provis, the Warminster +carpenter, was his father, or visited the members of the Provis family +on a footing of relationship with them. As far as the picture, which +he said the carpenter pointed out to him in his parlour as the +portrait of his father, was concerned, and which, when produced, bore +the inscription, "Hugh Smyth, Esq., son of Thomas Smyth, Esq., of +Stapleton, county of Gloucester, 1796," he indignantly repudiated the +idea that it was a likeness of John Provis the younger, although he +reluctantly admitted that the old carpenter sometimes entertained the +delusion that the painting represented his son John, and that the +inscription had not been perceivable until he washed it with tartaric +acid, which, he declared, was excellent for restoring faded writings. +He was then asked about some seals which he had ordered to be engraved +by Mr. Moring, a seal engraver in Holborn, and admitted giving an order +for a card-plate and cards; but denied that at the same time he had +ordered a steel seal to be made according to a pattern which he +produced, which bore the crest, garter, and motto of the Smyths of +Long Ashton. However, he acknowledged giving a subsequent order for +two such seals. On one of these seals the family motto, "_Qui capit +capitur_" had been transformed, through an error of the engraver, into +"_Qui capit capitor_," but he said he did not receive it until the 7th +of June, and that consequently he could not have placed it on the deed +in which Sir Hugh Smyth so distinctly acknowledged the existence of a +son by a first marriage--a deed which he declared he had never seen +till the 17th of March. A letter was then put into court, dated the +13th of March, which he admitted was in his handwriting, and which +bore the impress of the mis-spelled seal. Thus confronted with this +damning testimony, the plaintiff turned pale, and requested permission +to leave the court to recover from a sudden indisposition which had +overtaken him, when, just at this juncture, the cross-examining +counsel received a telegram from London, in consequence of which he +asked, "Did you, in January last, apply to a person at 361 Oxford +Street, to engrave for you the Bandon crest upon the rings produced, +and also to engrave 'Gookin' on the brooch?" The answer, very +hesitatingly given, was, "Yes, I did." The whole conspiracy was +exposed; the plot was at an end. The plaintiff's counsel threw up +their briefs, a verdict for the defendants was returned, and the +plaintiff himself was committed by the judge on a charge of perjury, +to which a charge of forgery was subsequently added. + +The second trial took place at the following spring assizes at +Gloucester. The evidence for the crown showed the utter hollowness of +the plaintiff's claim. The attorney's clerk, from whom the impostor +had stated he received the formal declaration of Sir Hugh Smyth, was +called, and declared that he had written the letter which was said to +have accompanied the deed, from the prisoner's dictation; the deed was +produced at the time, and the witness took a memorandum of the name of +the attesting witnesses on the back of a copy of his letter. This +copy, with the endorsement, was produced in court. The brown paper +which the prisoner had sworn formed the wrapper of the deed when he +received it, was proved to be the same in which Mr. Moring, the +engraver, had wrapped up a seal which he had sent to the prisoner--the +very seal in which the engraver had made the unlucky blunder. It was +also clearly proved that the parchment on which the forgery had been +written was prepared by a process which had only been discovered about +ten years, and chemical experts were decidedly of opinion that the ink +had received its antique appearance by artificial means, and that the +wax was undoubtedly modern. Various startling errors and discrepancies +were pointed out in the document itself, the most noteworthy being a +reference made to Sir Hugh's wife, as "the late Elizabeth Howell," +whereas that lady was alive and in good health at the time the deed +was supposed to have been drawn up, and having been previously married +to Sir Hugh, was known as Lady Smyth up to her death in 1841, she +having survived her husband seventeen years. + +The picture, which had been produced on the first trial as a portrait +of Sir Hugh, was proved beyond all doubt to be that of John Provis, +the eldest son of the carpenter; and the prisoner's sister, a married +woman named Mary Heath, on being placed in the witness-box, recognised +him at once as her youngest brother, Thomas Provis; and said she had +never heard of his being any other, although she knew that upon taking +up the trade of lecturing he had assumed the name of "Dr. Smyth." +Several persons, who were familiarly acquainted with the carpenter's +family, also recognised him as Tom Provis; and evidence was led to +identify him as a person who had kept a school at Ladymede, Bath, and +had been compelled to abscond for disgraceful conduct towards his +pupils. They, however, failed to do so very clearly; "whereon," says +the reporter, "the prisoner, with an air of great triumph, produced an +enormous pig-tail, which up to this moment had been kept concealed +under his coat, and turning round ostentatiously, displayed this +appendage to the court and jury, appealing to it as an irrefragable +proof of his aristocratic birth, and declaiming with solemn emphasis +that he was born with it. He added also that his son was born with one +six inches long." Cocks, the engraver, proved that he was employed by +the prisoner, in January, 1853, to engrave the inscriptions on the +rings, which the prisoner had selected on the supposition that they +were antique rings; but, in fact, they were modern antiques. Mr. Moring +also gave evidence as to the engraving of the fatal seal. On this +evidence Provis was found guilty, and was sentenced to twenty years' +transportation. He retained his composure to the last, and before his +trial assigned all his right, title, and interest in the Smyth estates +to his eldest son, lest they should become forfeited to the crown by +his conviction for felony. + +His history was well known to the authorities, who were prepared to +prove, had it been necessary, that he had been convicted of +horse-stealing in 1811, and had been sentenced to death--a sentence +which was commuted; that he had married one of the servants of Sir +John Smyth, and had deserted her, and that he had fled from Bath to +escape the punishment of the vilest offences perpetrated during his +residence in the City of Springs. But it was needless to produce more +damning testimony than was brought forward. For twenty years the world +has heard nothing more of the sham Sir Richard Hugh Smyth. + + + + +LAVINIA JANNETTA HORTON RYVES--THE PRETENDED PRINCESS OF CUMBERLAND. + + +In 1866, Mrs. Lavinia Jannetta Horton Ryves, and her son, William Henry +Ryves, appeared before the English courts in support of one of the +most extraordinary petitions on record. Taking advantage of the +Legitimacy Declaration Act, they alleged that Mrs. Ryves was the +legitimate daughter of John Thomas Serres and Olive his wife, and that +the mother of Mrs. Ryves was the legitimate daughter of Henry Frederick +Duke of Cumberland and Olive Wilmot, his wife, who were married by Dr. +Wilmot, at the Grosvenor Square mansion of Lord Archer, on the 4th of +March, 1767. They also asserted that Mrs. Ryves had been lawfully +married to her husband, and that her son was legitimate; and asked the +judges to pronounce that the original marriage between the Duke of +Cumberland and Olive Wilmot was legal; that their child Olive, who +afterwards became Mrs. Serres, was legitimate; that their grandchild +Mrs. Ryves had been lawfully married to her husband; and that +consequently the younger petitioner was their legitimate son and heir. +The Attorney-General (Sir Roundell Palmer) filed an answer denying the +legality of the Cumberland marriage, or that Mrs. Serres was the +legitimate daughter of the duke. There was no dispute as to the fact +that the younger petitioner, W.H. Ryves, was the legitimate son of his +father and mother. The case was heard before Lord Chief-Justice +Cockburn, Lord Chief-Baron Pollock, Sir James Wilde, and a special +jury. + +The opening speech of the counsel for the claimant revealed a story +which was very marvellous, but which, without the strongest +corroborative testimony, was scarcely likely to be admitted to be +true. According to his showing Olive Wilmot was the daughter of Dr. +James Wilmot, a country clergyman, and fellow of a college at Oxford. +During his college _curriculum_ this divine had made the acquaintance +of Count Poniatowski, who afterwards became King of Poland, and had +been introduced by him to his sister. The enamoured and beautiful +Polish princess fell in love with Wilmot and married him, and the +result of their union was a daughter, who grew up to rival her +mother's beauty. The fact of the marriage and the existence of the +daughter were, however, carefully kept from the outer world, and +especially from Oxford, where Dr. Wilmot retained his fellowship. The +girl grew to the age of sweet seventeen, and, in 1767, met the Duke of +Cumberland, the younger brother of George III., at the house of Lord +Archer, in Grosvenor Square. After a short courtship, the duke was +said to have married her--the marriage having been celebrated by her +father on the 4th of March, 1767, at nine o'clock in the evening. Two +formal certificates of the marriage were drawn up and signed by Dr. +Wilmot and by Lord Brooke (afterwards Lord Warwick) and J. Addey, who +were present at it; and these certificates were verified by the +signatures of Lord Chatham and Mr. Dunning (afterwards Lord Ashburton). +These documents were put in evidence. The Duke of Cumberland and Olive +Wilmot lived together for four years; and, in October, 1771, while she +was pregnant, her royal mate deserted her, and, as was alleged, +contracted a bigamous marriage with Lady Anne Horton, sister of the +well-known Colonel Luttrel. George III., having been aware of the +previous union with Olive Wilmot, was very indignant at this second +connection, and would not allow the Duke of Cumberland and his second +wife to come to Court. Indeed, it was mainly in consequence of this +marriage, and the secret marriage of the Duke of Gloucester, that the +Royal Marriage Act was forced through Parliament. + +Olive Wilmot, as the petitioner's counsel asserted, having been +deserted by her husband, gave birth to a Child Olive, who ought to +have borne the title of Princess of Cumberland. The baby was baptised +on the day of its birth by Dr. Wilmot, and three certificates to that +effect were produced, signed by Dr. Wilmot and his brother Robert. But, +although the king was irritated at the conduct of his brother, he was +at the same time anxious to shield him from the consequences of his +double marriage, and for that purpose gave directions to Lord Chatham, +Lord Warwick, and Dr. Wilmot that the real parentage of the child +should be concealed, and that it should be re-baptised as the daughter +of Robert Wilmot, whose wife had just been confined. The plastic +divine consented to rob the infant temporarily of its birthright but +at the same time required that all the proceedings should be certified +by the king and other persons as witnesses, in order that at a future +time she should be replaced in her proper position. Perhaps, in +ordinary circumstances, it would not have been possible for a country +priest thus to coerce George III.; but Dr. Wilmot was in possession of +a fatal secret. As is well known, King George was publicly married to +Princess Charlotte in 1762; but, according to the showing of the +petitioners, he had been previously married, in 1759, by this very Dr. +Wilmot, to a lady named Hannah Lightfoot. Thus he, as well as the Duke +of Cumberland, had committed bigamy, and the grave question was raised +as to whether George IV., and even her present Majesty, had any right +to the throne. Proof of this extraordinary statement was forthcoming, +for on the back of the certificates intended to prove the marriage of +the Duke of Cumberland and Olive Wilmot, the following certificates +were endorsed:-- + + "This is to solemnly certify that I married George, Prince + of Wales, to Princess Hannah, his first consort, April 15, + 1759; and that two princes and a princess were the issue of + such marriage. + J. WILMOT." + + "_London, April_ 2, 176--." + + "This is to certify to all it may concern that I lawfully + married George, Prince of Wales, to Hannah Lightfoot, April + 17, 1759; and that two sons and a daughter are their issue + by such marriage. + J. WILMOT. + CHATHAM. + J. DUNNING." + +The concealed Princess Olive was meanwhile brought up, until 1782, in +the family of Robert Wilmot, to whom it was said that an allowance of +£500 a year was paid for her support by Lord Chatham. On the 17th of +May, 1773, his Majesty created her Duchess of Lancaster by this +instrument,-- + + "GEORGE R. + + "We hereby are pleased to create Olive of Cumberland Duchess + of Lancaster, and to grant our royal authority for Olive, + our said niece, to bear and use the title and arms of + Lancaster, should she be in existence at the period of our + royal demise. + + "Given at our Palace of St. James's, May 17, 1773. + CHATHAM. + J. DUNNING." + +A little before this time (in 1772) Dr. Wilmot had been presented to +the living of Barton-on-the-Heath, in Warwickshire, and thither his +grand-daughter Olive went with him, passing as his niece, and was +educated by him. When she was seventeen or eighteen years old she was +sent back to London, and there became acquainted with Mr. de Serres, an +artist and a member of the Royal Academy, whom she married in 1791. +The union was not a happy one, and a separation took place; but, +before it occurred, Mrs. Ryves, the elder petitioner, was born at +Liverpool in 1797. After the separation Mrs. Serres and her daughter +lived together, and the former gained some celebrity both as an author +and an artist. They moved in good society, were visited by various +persons of distinction, and in 1805 were taken to Brighton and +introduced to the Prince of Wales, who afterwards became George IV. +Two years later (in 1807) Dr. Wilmot died at the mature age of +eighty-five, and the papers in his possession relating to the +marriage, as well as those which had been deposited with Lord Chatham, +who died in 1778, passed into the hands of Lord Warwick. Mrs. Serres +during all this time had no knowledge of the secret of her birth, +until, in 1815, Lord Warwick, being seriously ill, thought it right to +communicate her history to herself and to the Duke of Kent, and to +place the papers in her hands. + +Having brought his case thus far, the counsel for the petitioners was +about to read some documents, purporting to be signed by the Duke of +Kent, as declarations of the legitimacy of Mrs. Ryves, but it was +pointed out by the court that he was not entitled to do so, as, +according to his own contention, the Duke of Kent was not a legitimate +member of the royal family. Therefore, resigning this part of his +case, he went on to say that Mrs. Serres, up to the time of her death +in 1834, and the petitioners subsequently, had made every effort to +have the documents on which they founded their claim examined by some +competent tribunal. They now relied upon the documents, upon oral +evidence, and upon the extraordinary likeness of Olive Wilmot to the +royal family, to prove their allegations. + +As far as the portraits of Mrs. Serres were concerned, the court +intimated that they could not possibly be evidence of legitimacy, and +refused to allow them to be shown to the jury. The documents were +declared admissible, and an expert was called to pronounce upon their +authenticity. He expressed a very decided belief that they were +genuine, but, when cross-examined, stammered and ended by throwing +doubts on the signatures of "J. Dunning" and "Chatham," who frequently +appeared as attesting witnesses. The documents themselves were +exceedingly numerous, and contained forty-three so-called signatures +of Dr. Wilmot, sixteen of Lord Chatham, twelve of Mr. Dunning, twelve of +George III., thirty-two of Lord Warwick, and eighteen of the Duke of +Kent. + +The following are some of the most remarkable papers:-- + + "I solemnly certify that I privately was married to the + princess of Poland, the sister of the King of Poland. But an + unhappy family difference induced us to keep our union + secret. One dear child bless'd myself, who married the Duke + of Cumberland, March 4th, 1767, and died in the prime of + life of a broken heart, December 5th, 1774, in France. + J. WILMOT." + "_January_ 1, 1780." + +There were two other certificates to the same effect, and the fourth +was in the following terms:-- + + "I solemnly certify that I married the Princess of Poland, + and had legitimate issue Olive, my dear daughter, married + March 4th, 1767, to Henry F., Duke of Cumberland, brother of + His Majesty George the Third, who have issue Olive, my + supposed niece, born at Warwick, April 3d, 1772. + G.R. J. WILMOT. + ROBT. WILMOT. + CHATHAM." + + "_May_ 23, 1775. + + "As a testimony that my daughter was not at all unworthy of + Her Royal Consort the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Warwick + solemnly declares that he returned privately from the + continent to offer her marriage; but seeing how greatly she + was attached to the Duke of Cumberland, he witnessed her + union with His Royal Highness, March 4th, 1767. + Witness, J. WILMOT. + WARWICK ROBT. WILMOT." + + "We solemnly certify in this prayer-book that Olive, the + lawful daughter of Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland and + Olive his wife, bears a large mole on the right side, and + another crimson mark upon the back, near the neck; and that + such child was baptised as Olive Wilmot, at St. Nicholas + Church, Warwick, by command of the King (George the Third) + to save her royal father from the penalty of bigamy, &c. + J. WILMOT. + WARWICK. + ROBT. WILMOT." + + "I hereby certify that George, Prince of Wales, married + Hannah Wheeler, _alias_ Lightfoot, April 17th, 1759; but, + from finding the latter to be her right name, I solemnized + the union of the said parties a second time, May the 27th, + 1759, as the certificate affixed to this paper will confirm." + + Witness (torn). "J. WILMOT." + + "Not to be acted upon until the king's demise." + + "With other sacred papers to Lord Warwick's care for Olive, + my grand-daughter, when I am no more. J.W." + + "MY DEAR OLIVE,--As the undoubted heir of Augustus, King of + Poland, your rights will find aid of the Sovereigns that you + are allied to by blood, should the family of your father act + unjustly, but may the great Disposer of all things direct + otherwise. The Princess of Poland, your grandmother, I made + my lawful wife, and I do solemnly attest that you are the + last of that illustrious blood. May the Almighty guide you + to all your distinctions of birth. Mine has been a life of + trial, but not of crime! + J. WILMOT." + "_January_, 1791." + + "If this pacquet meets your eye let not ambition destroy the + honour nor integrity of your nature. Remember that others + will be dependent on your conduct, the injured children, + perhaps, of the good and excellent consort of your king--I + mean the fruit of his Majesties first marriage--who may have + been consigned to oblivion like yourself; but I hope that is + not exactly the case; but as I was innocently instrumental + to their being, by solemnizing the ill-destined union of + power and innocence, it is but an act of conscientious duty + to leave to your care the certificates that will befriend + them hereafter! The English nation will receive my last + legacy as a proof of my affection, and when corruption has + desolated the land, and famine and its attendant miseries + create civil commotion, I solemnly command you to make known + to the Parliament the first lawful marriage of the king, as + when you are in possession of the papers, Lord Warwick has been + sacredly and affectionately by myself entrusted with, their + constitutional import will save the country! Should the + necessity exist for their operation, consult able and + patriotic men, and they will instruct you. May Heaven bless + their and your efforts in every sense of the subject, and so + shall my rejoiced spirit with approving love (if so + permitted) feel an exultation inseparable from the + prosperity of England. + J. WILMOT." + + "GEORGE R. + + "We are hereby pleased to recommend Olive, our niece, to our + faithful Lords and Commons for protection and support, + should she be in existence at the period of our royal + demise; such being Olive Wilmot, the supposed daughter of + Robert Wilmot of Warwick. + J. DUNNING. + ROBT. WILMOT. _January 7th_, 1780." + +Mrs. Ryves, the petitioner, was the principal witness called. She gave +her evidence very clearly and firmly, and when offered a seat in the +witness-box declined it, saying that she was not tired, and could +stand for ever to protect the honour of her family. She said she +recollected coming from Liverpool to London with her father and mother +when she was only two years and a half old, and narrated how she lived +with them conjointly up to the date of the separation, and with her +mother afterwards. It was then proposed to ask her some questions as +to declarations made by Hannah Lightfoot, the reputed wife of George +III., but the Lord Chief-Justice interposed with the remark that there +was no evidence before the court as to the marriage of the king with +this woman. The petitioner's counsel referred to the two following +documents:-- + + "_April_ 17, 1759. + + "The marriage of these parties was this day duly + solemnized at Kew Chapel, according to the rites and + ceremonies of the Church of England, by myself, + J. WILMOT. + GEORGE P. + HANNAH." + + "Witness to this marriage, + W. PITT. + ANNE TAYLER." + + + "_May_ 27, 1759. + + "This is to certify that the marriage of these parties, + George, Prince of Wales, to Hannah Lightfoot, was duly + solemnized this day, according to the rites and ceremonies + of the Church of England, at their residence at Peckham, by + myself, + J. WILMOT. + GEORGE GUELPH. + HANNAH LIGHTFOOT." + + "Witness to the marriage of these parties, + WILLIAM PITT. + ANNE TAYLER." + +Upon this, the Lord Chief-Justice again interposed, saying, "The Court +is, as I understand, asked solemnly to declare, on the strength of two +certificates, coming I know not whence, written on two scraps of +paper, that the marriage--the only marriage of George III. which the +world believes to have taken place--between his Majesty and Queen +Charlotte, was an invalid marriage, and consequently that all the +sovereigns who have sat on the throne since his death, including her +present Majesty, were not entitled to sit on the throne. That is the +conclusion to which the court is asked to come upon these two rubbishy +pieces of paper--one signed 'George P,' and the other 'George Guelph.' +I believe them to be gross and rank forgeries. The court has no +difficulty in coming to the conclusion--even assuming that the +signatures had that character of genuineness which they have not--that +what is asserted in these documents has not the slightest foundation +in fact." + +Lord Chief-Baron Pollock expressed his entire concurrence in the +opinion of the Lord Chief-Justice. After explaining that it was the +province of the court to decide any question of fact, on the truth or +falsehood of which the admissibility of a piece of evidence was +dependent, he declared that these documents did not at all satisfy him +that George III. was ever married before his marriage to Queen +Charlotte; that the signatures were not proved to be even like the +king's handwriting; and that the addition of the word "Guelph" to one +of them was satisfactory proof that the king, at that date Prince of +Wales, did not write it--it being a matter of common information that +the princes of the royal family only use the Christian name. + +Sir James Wilde also assented, characterizing the certificates as +"very foolish forgeries," but adding that he was not sorry that the +occasion had arisen for bringing them into a court of justice, where +their authenticity could be inquired into by evidence, as the +existence of documents of this sort was calculated to set abroad a +number of idle stories for which there was probably not the slightest +foundation. + +The evidence as to Hannah Lightfoot being thus excluded, the +examination of Mrs. Ryves, the petitioner, was continued. She +remembered proceeding to Brighton, in 1805, where herself and her +mother were introduced to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. +The prince had subsequently many conversations with them, and had +bestowed many kindnesses on them. She knew the Duke of Kent from a +very early age--he being a constant visitor at their house from 1805 +till the time of his death. In the spring of 1815 Lord Warwick's +disclosure was made, and the Duke of Kent acknowledged the +relationship even before he saw the proofs which were at the time at +Warwick Castle. Thither the earl went to procure them, at the expense +of Mrs. Serres, he being at this time so poor that he had not the means +to go; indeed, Mrs. Ryves asserted that sometimes the earl was so +terribly impoverished that he had not even a sheet of note-paper to +write upon. + +His mission was successful; and on his return he produced three sets +of papers, one of which he said he had received from Dr. Wilmot, +another set from Lord Chatham, and the third set had been always in +his possession. One packet was marked "Not to be opened until after +the king's death," and accordingly the seal was not broken; but the +others were opened, and the papers they contained were read aloud in +the presence of the Duke of Kent, who expressed himself perfectly +satisfied that the signatures of George III. were in his father's +handwriting, and declared that, as the Earl of Warwick might die at +any moment, he would thenceforward take upon himself the guardianship +of Mrs. Serres and her daughter. The sealed packet was opened in the +latter part of 1819, and Mrs. Ryves, when questioned as to its +contents, pointed out documents for the most part relating to the +marriage of Dr. Wilmot and the Polish princess. Among other documents +was the following:-- + + "Olive, provided the royal family acknowledge you, keep + secret all the papers which are connected with the king's + first marriage; but should the family's desertion (be) + manifested (should you outlive the king) then, and only + then, make known all the state secrets which I have left in + the Earl of Warwick's keeping for your knowledge. Such + papers I bequeath to you for your sole and uncontrolled + property, to use and act upon as you deem fit, according to + expediency of things. Receive this as the sacred will of + JAMES WILMOT." + + "_June --st_, 1789. + Witness, WARWICK." + +Mrs. Ryves maintained that up to the moment of the opening of the +sealed packet her mother had believed herself to be the daughter of +Robert Wilmot and the niece of Dr. Wilmot, and she did not know of any +Olive Wilmot except her aunt, who was the wife of Mr. Payne. When the +first information as to her birth was given to her by Lord Warwick, +she supposed herself to be the daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by +the Olive Wilmot who was afterwards Mrs. Payne, and had no idea that +her mother was the daughter of Dr. Wilmot, and was another person +altogether. There was a great consultation as to opening the packet +before the king's death; but the Duke of Kent persisted in his desire +to know its contents, and the seals were broken. The Duke of Kent died +on the 26th of January, 1820, and George III. in the following week, +on the 30th of the same month. + +Mrs. Ryves then proved the identity of certain documents which bore the +signatures of the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Kent. They were +chiefly written on morsels of paper, and elicited the remark from the +Lord Chief-Justice, that "his royal highness seemed to have been as +poor as to paper as the earl." She said that these documents were +written in her own presence. Among them were these:-- + + "I solemnly promise to see my cousin Olive, Princess of + Cumberland, reinstated in her R----l rights at my father's + demise. + EDWARD." + + "_May_ 3, 1816." + + "I bind myself, by my heirs, executors, and assigns, to pay + to my dearest coz. Olive, Princess of Cumberland, four + hundred pounds yearly during her life. + EDWARD." + "_May_ 3, 1818." + + "I bequeath to Princess Olive of Cumberland ten thousand + pounds should I depart this life before my estate of + Castlehill is disposed of. + EDWARD." + + "_June_ 9, 1819." + + "I hereby promise to return from Devonshire early in the + spring to lay before the Regent the certificates of my + dearest cousin Olive's birth. + EDWARD." + + "_Novr_. 16, 1819." + + "_Jany._ (_illegible_). + + "If this paper meets my dear Alexandria's eye, my dear + cousin Olive will present it, whom my daughter will, for my + sake, I hope, love and serve should I depart this life. + EDWARD." + + "I sign this only to say that I am very ill, but should I + not get better, confide in the duchess, my wife, who will, + for my sake, assist you until you obtain your royal rights. + + "God Almighty bless you, my beloved cousin, prays + EDWARD." + + "To Olive my cousin, and blessing to Lavinia." + +Mrs. Ryves then went on to state that, after the death of the Duke of +Kent and his father, the Duke of Sussex paid a visit to herself and +her mother. On that occasion, and subsequently, he examined the +papers, and declared himself satisfied that they were genuine. + +In her cross-examination, and in answer to questions put by the court, +Mrs. Ryves stated that her mother, Mrs. Serres, was both a clever +painter and an authoress, and was appointed landscape painter to the +court. She had been in the habit of writing letters to members of the +royal family before 1815, when she had no idea of her relationship to +them. Her mother might have practised astrology as an amusement. A +letter which was produced, and described the appearance of the ghost +of Lord Warwick's father, was in her mother's handwriting--as was also +a manifesto calling upon "the Great Powers, Principalities, and +Potentates of the brave Polish nation to rally round their Princess +Olive, grand-daughter of Stanislaus," and informing them that her +legitimacy as Princess of Cumberland had been proved. Her mother had +written a "Life of Dr. Wilmot," and had ascribed the "Letters of +Junius" to him, after a careful comparison of his MS. with those in +the possession of Woodfall, Junius's publisher. She had also issued a +letter to the English nation in 1817, in which she spoke of Dr. Wilmot +as having died unmarried; and Mrs. Ryves could not account for that, as +her mother had heard of his marriage two years previously. + +A document was then produced in which the Duke of Kent acknowledged +the marriage of his father with Hannah Lightfoot, and the legitimacy +of Olive, praying the latter to maintain secrecy during the life of +the king, and constituting her the guardian of his daughter +Alexandrina, and directress of her education on account of her +relationship, and also because the Duchess of Kent was not familiar +with English modes of education. Mrs. Ryves explained that her mother +refrained from acting on that document out of respect for the Duchess +of Kent, who, she thought, had the best right to direct the education +of her own daughter (the present queen). She also stated that her +mother had received a present of a case of diamonds from the Duke of +Cumberland, but she did not know what became of them. + +The Attorney-General, on behalf of the crown, after explaining the +provisions of the Act, proceeded to tear the story of the petitioners +to pieces, pronouncing its folly and absurdity equal to its audacity. +The Polish princess and her charming daughter he pronounced pure +myths--as entirely creatures of the imagination as Shakspeare's +"Ferdinand and Miranda." As to the pretended marriage of George III. +and Hannah Lightfoot, the tale was even more astonishing and +incredible, for not only were wife and children denied by the king, +and a second bigamous contract entered into, but the lady held her +tongue, the children were content to live in obscurity, and Dr. Wilmot +faithfully kept the secret, and preached sermons before the king and +his second wife Queen Charlotte. Not that Dr. Wilmot did not feel these +grave state secrets pressing him down, but the mode of revenge which +he adopted was to write the "_Letters of Junius!_" + +Yet Dr. Wilmot died in 1807, apparently a common-place country parson. +Surely there never was a more wonderful example of the possibility of +keeping secrets. One would have imagined that the very walls would +have spoken of such events; but although at least seven men and one +woman (the wife of Robert Wilmot) must have been acquainted with them, +the secret was kept as close as the grave for forty-three years, and +was never even suspected before 1815, although all the actors in these +extraordinary scenes seemed to have been occupied day and night in +writing on little bits of paper, and telling the whole story. In 1815 +the facts first came to the knowledge of Mrs. Serres; but, even then, +they were not revealed, until the grave had closed over every +individual who could vouch as to the handwriting. + +As far as the petitioner, Mrs. Ryves, was concerned, the +Attorney-General said he could imagine that she had brooded on this +matter so long (she being then over 70 years of age), that she had +brought herself to believe things that had never happened. The mind +might bring itself to believe a lie, and she might have dwelt so long +upon documents produced and fabricated by others, that, with her +memory impaired by old age, the principle of veracity might have been +poisoned, and the offices of imagination and memory confounded to such +an extent that she really believed that things had been done and said +in her presence which were entirely imaginary. He contended that Mrs. +Serres, the mother of the petitioner, was not altogether responsible +for her actions, and proceeded to trace her history. Between 1807 and +1815, he said, she had the advantage of becoming personally known to +some members of the royal family, and being a person of ill-regulated +ambition and eccentric character, and also being in pecuniary +distress, her eccentricity took the turn of making advances to +different members of that family. She opened fire on the Prince of +Wales in 1809, by sending a letter to his private secretary, comparing +His Royal Highness to Julius Cæsar, and talking in a mad way about the +politics of the illustrious personages of the day. In 1810 other +letters followed in the same style, and in one of them she asked, +"Why, sir, was I so humbly born?" + +Scattered about these letters were mysterious allusions to secrets of +state and symptoms of insane delusions. In one she imagined she had +been seriously injured by the Duke of York. In another, she fancied +that some one had poisoned her. In one letter she actually offered to +lend the Prince of Wales, £20,000 to induce him to grant the interview +of which she was so desirous, although in other letters she begged for +pecuniary assistance, and represented herself to be in great distress. +The letters were also full of astrology; she spoke of her "occult +studies;" and she further believed in ghosts. The manifesto to Poland +also pointed to the same conclusion as to her state of mind. A person +of such an erratic character, he said, was very likely to concoct such +a story, and the story would naturally take the turn of trying to +connect herself with the royal family. + +During the interval between the death of Lord Warwick in 1816 and +1821, when it was first made public, her story passed through no less +than three distinct and irreconcilable stages. At first she stated +that she was the daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by Mrs. Payne, the +sister of Dr. Wilmot; and in 1817 she still described herself as Dr. +Wilmot's niece. It was said that she did not come into possession of +the papers until after Lord Warwick's death, but this assertion was +contradicted by the evidence of Mrs. Ryves, as to events which were +within her own recollection, and which she represented to have passed +in her presence. + +The second stage of the story was contained in a letter to Mr. +Fielding, the Bow Street magistrate, in October, 1817. Having been +threatened with arrest, she wrote to him for protection, and in this +letter she represented herself as the natural daughter of the late +Duke of Cumberland by a sister of the late Dr. Wilmot, whom he had +seduced under promise of marriage, she being a lady of large fortune. +In connection with this stage of the story, he referred to another +letter which she wrote to the Prince-Regent in July, 1818, in which +she stated that Lord Warwick had told her the story of her birth in +his lifetime, but without showing her any documents; that he excused +himself for not having made the disclosure before by saying that he +was unable to repay a sum of £2000 which had been confided to him by +the Duke of Cumberland for her benefit; and then she actually went on +to say that when Lord Warwick died she thought all evidence was lost +until she opened a sealed packet which contained the documents. This +was quite inconsistent with the extraordinary story of Mrs. Ryves as to +the communication of the papers to her and her mother in 1815. + +The claim of legitimate royal birth was first brought forward at a +time of great excitement and agitation, when the case of Queen +Caroline was before the public; and it was brought forward in a tone +of intimidation--a revolution being threatened if the claim were not +recognised within a few hours. The documents were changed at times to +suit the changing story, and there was every reason to believe that +they were concocted by Mrs. Serres herself, who was a careful student +of the _Junius_ MSS., who was an artist and practised caligraphist, +and who had gone through such a course of study as well prepared her +for the fabrication of forged documents. The internal evidence of the +papers themselves proved that they were the most ridiculous, absurd, +preposterous series of forgeries that perverted ingenuity ever +invented. If every expert that ever lived in the world swore to the +genuineness of these documents, they could not possibly believe them +to be genuine. They were all written on little scraps and slips of +paper such as no human being ever would have used for the purpose of +recording transactions of this kind, and in everyone of these pieces +of paper the watermark of date was wanting. + +At this stage of his address the Attorney-General was interrupted by +the foreman of the jury, who stated that himself and his colleagues +were unanimously of opinion that the signatures to the documents were +not genuine. + +The Lord Chief-Justice, thereupon, immediately remarked that they +shared the opinion which his learned brethren and himself had +entertained for a long time--that everyone of the documents was +spurious. + +After some observations by the counsel for the petitioner, who +persisted that the papers produced were genuine, the Lord +Chief-Justice proceeded to sum up the facts of the case. He said it +was a question whether the internal evidence in the documents of +spuriousness and forgery was not quite as strong as the evidence +resulting from the examination of their handwriting. Two or three of +them appeared to be such outrages on all probability, that even if +there had been strong evidence of the genuineness of their +handwriting, no man of common sense could come to the conclusion that +they were genuine. Some of them were produced to prove that King +George III. had ordered the fraud to be committed of rebaptising an +infant child under a false name as the daughter of persons whose +daughter she was not; another showed that the king had divested the +crown of one of its noblest appendages--the Duchy of Lancaster--by a +document he was not competent by law to execute, written upon a loose +piece of paper, and countersigned by W. Pitt and Dunning; by another +document, also written upon a loose piece of paper, he expressed his +royal will to the Lords and Commons, that when he should be dead they +should recognise this lady as Duchess of Cumberland. These papers bore +the strongest internal evidence of their spuriousness. The evidence as +to the marriage of the Duke of Cumberland with Olive Wilmot could not +be separated from that part of the evidence which struck at the +legitimacy of the Royal Family, by purporting to establish the +marriage of George III. to a person named Hannah Lightfoot. Could any +one believe that the documents on which that marriage was attested by +W. Pitt and Dunning were genuine? But the petitioner could not help +putting forward the certificates of that marriage, because two of them +were written on the back of the certificate of the marriage of the +Duke of Cumberland with Olive Wilmot. Men of intelligence could not +fail to see the motive for writing the certificates of those two +marriages on the same piece of paper. The first claim to the +consideration of the royal family put forward by Mrs. Serres was, that +she was the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by Mrs. +Payne--a married woman. Her next claim was, that she was his daughter +by an unmarried sister of Dr. Wilmot. She lastly put forward her +present claim, that she was the offspring of a lawful marriage between +the duke and Olive, the daughter of Dr. Wilmot. At the time when the +claim was put forward in its last shape, it was accompanied by an +attempt at intimidation, not only on the score of the injustice that +would be done if George IV. refused to recognise the claim, but also +on the score that she was in possession of documents showing that +George III., at the time he was married to Queen Charlotte, had a wife +living, and had issue by her; and consequently that George IV., who +had just then ascended the throne, was illegitimate, and was not the +lawful sovereign of the realm. And the documents having reference to +George III.'s first marriage were inseparably attached to the +documents by which the legitimacy of Mrs. Serres was supposed to be +established, with the view, no doubt, of impressing on the king's mind +the fact that she could not put forward her claims, as she intended to +do, without at the same time making public the fact that the marriage +between George III. and Queen Charlotte was invalid. Could any one +believe in the authenticity of certificates like these; or was it +possible to imagine that, even if Hannah Lightfoot had existed, and +asserted her claim, great officers of state like Chatham and Dunning +should have recognised her as "Hannah Regina," as they were said to +have done? + +In another document the Duke of Kent gave the guardianship of his +daughter to the Princess Olive. Remembering the way in which that lady +had been brought up, and the society in which she had moved, could the +Duke of Kent ever have dreamed of superseding his own wife, the mother +of the infant princess, and passing by all the other distinguished +members of his family, and conferring on Mrs. Serres, the landscape +painter, the sole guardianship of the future Queen of England? They +must also bear in mind the way in which the claim had been brought +forward. The irresistible inference from the different tales told was, +that the documents were from time to time prepared to meet the form +which her claims from time to time assumed. A great deal had been said +about different members of the royal family having countenanced and +supported this lady. He could quite understand, if an appeal was made +on her behalf as an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Cumberland, +that a generous-minded prince might say, "As you have our blood +flowing in your veins, you shall not be left in want;" and, very +likely, papers might have been shown to some members of the royal +family in support of that claim which they believed to be genuine. It +was just as easy to fabricate papers showing her illegitimacy as to +fabricate those produced; and probably such papers would not be very +rigorously scrutinized. But it was not possible to believe that the +documents now produced (including the Hannah Lightfoot certificates) +had been shown to members of the royal family, and pronounced by them +to be genuine. He could not understand why the secret was to be kept +after the Duke of Cumberland's death, when there was no longer any +danger that he would incur the risk of punishment for bigamy; and why +the death of George III. should be fixed upon as the time for +disclosing it. The death of George III. was the very time when it +would become important to keep the secret, for if it had been then +disclosed, it would have shown that neither George IV. nor the Duke of +Kent were entitled to succeed to the throne. Why then should the Duke +of Kent stipulate for the keeping of the secret until George III. +died? They must look at all the circumstances of the case, and say +whether they believed the documents produced by the petitioner to be +genuine. + +The jury at once found that they were _not_ satisfied that Olive +Serres, the mother of Mrs. Ryves, was the legitimate daughter of Henry +Frederick Duke of Cumberland, and Olive his wife; that they were _not_ +satisfied that Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland was lawfully married +to Olive Wilmot on the 4th of March, 1767. On the other issues--that +Mrs. Ryves was the legitimate daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Serres, and that +the younger petitioner, W.H. Ryves, was the legitimate son of Mr. and +Mrs. Ryves--they found for the petitioner. + +On the motion of the Attorney-General, the judges ordered the +documents produced by the petitioners to be impounded. + +It may be noted, in conclusion, that if Mrs. Ryves had succeeded in +proving that her mother was a princess of the blood royal, she would +at the same time have established her own illegitimacy. The alleged +marriage of the Duke of Cumberland took place before the passing of +the Royal Marriage Act; and, therefore, if Mrs. Serres had been the +duke's daughter, she would have been a princess of the blood royal. +But that Act had been passed before the marriage of Mrs. Serres to her +husband, and would have rendered it invalid, and consequently her +issue would have been illegitimate. As it was, Mrs. Ryves obtained a +declaration of her legitimacy; but in so doing she sacrificed all her +pretensions to royal descent. + + + + +WILLIAM GEORGE HOWARD--THE PRETENDED EARL OF WICKLOW. + + +On the 22d of March, 1869, William, the fourth Earl of Wicklow, died, +without male issue. His next brother, the Hon. and Rev. Francis +Howard, had died during the late earl's lifetime, after being twice +married. By his first marriage he had had three sons, none of whom had +survived; but one son blessed his second nuptials, and he claimed the +peerage at his uncle's death. A rival, however, appeared to contest +his right in the person of William George Howard, an infant, who was +represented by his guardians as the issue of William George Howard, +the eldest son of the Hon. and Rev. Francis Howard by his first +marriage, and a certain Miss Ellen Richardson. As to the birth of the +former claimant there could be no doubt, and it was not denied that +his eldest half-brother had been married as stated; but the birth of +the infant was disputed, and the matter was left for the decision of +the House of Lords. + +The case for the infant was briefly as follows:--Mr. W.G. Howard, his +reputed father, was married to Miss Richardson, in February, 1863. +Four months after their marriage the couple went to lodge with Mr. +Bloor, an out-door officer in the customs, who resided at 27 Burton +Street, Eaton Square. Here they remained only three weeks, but during +that time appear to have contracted a sort of friendship with the +Bloor family, for, after being absent till the latter end of the +year, they returned to the house in Burton Street, and endeavoured to +procure apartments there. Mr. Bloor's rooms were full, and he was +unable to accommodate them; but, in order to be near his old friends, +Mr. Howard took apartments for his wife, at No. 32, in the same street. +Being a person of dissipated and peculiar habits, and being, moreover, +haunted by duns, he did not himself reside in the new lodgings, or +even visit there; but, by Mr. Bloor's kindness, was accustomed to meet +his wife occasionally in a room, which was placed at his service, in +No. 27. Still later, Mrs. Howard returned to lodge at Mr. Bloor's, and +occupied the whole upper portion of the house, while the lower half +was rented by one of her friends, named Baudenave. Mr. Howard, in the +meantime, remained in concealment in Ireland, and thither Mr. Bloor +proceeded in April or May 1864, and had an interview with him, at +which it was arranged that the Burton Street lodging-house keeper +should allow Mrs. Howard to be confined at his residence, and should +make every arrangement for her comfort. On the 16th of May, Mrs. +Howard, whose confinement was not then immediately expected, informed +the Bloors that she intended to leave London for a time, and set out +in a cab for the railway station. In a very short time she returned, +declaring that she felt extremely ill, and was immediately put to bed; +but there being few symptoms of urgency, she was allowed to remain +without medical attendance until Mr. Bloor returned from his work at +eight o'clock, when his wife despatched him for Dr. Wilkins, a medical +man whom Mrs. Howard specially requested might be summoned, although he +was not the family doctor, and lived at a considerable distance. At +half-past nine o'clock Mr. Bloor returned without the doctor; and was +told by his rejoicing spouse, that her lodger had been safely +delivered of a son under her own superintendence, and that the +services of the recognised accoucheur could be dispensed with. Proud +of the womanly skill of his wife, and glad to be spared the necessity +of another wearisome trudge through the streets, he gladly remained at +home, and Dr. Wilkins was not sent for several weeks, when he saw +and prescribed for the infant, who was suffering from some trifling +disorder. Unfortunately, this fact could not be proved, nor could the +doctor's evidence be obtained as to Mr. Bloor's visit, as he had died +before the case came on. But Mrs. Bloor, who attended Mrs. Howard during +her confinement; Miss Rosa Day, sister of Mrs. Bloor, who assisted her +in that attendance; Miss Jane Richardson, sister of Mrs. Howard; and Mr. +Baudenave, their fellow-lodger, were all alleged to have seen the +child repeatedly during the three following months, although it was +admitted that its existence was kept a profound secret from everybody +else. The three women above-mentioned were placed in the witness-box, +and gave their evidence clearly and firmly, and agreed with each other +in the story which they told; and, although Mrs. Bloor was rigorously +cross-examined, her testimony was not shaken. When Mr. Baudenave was +wanted he could not be found, and even the most urgent efforts of +detectives failed to secure his attendance before the court. + +On the other side it was contended that the story told on behalf of +the infant plaintiff was so shrouded in mystery as to be absolutely +incredible, and that it was concocted by the missing Baudenave, who +was said to have been living on terms of suspicious familiarity with +Mrs. Howard, and who had succeeded in inducing the witnesses to become +accomplices in the conspiracy from motives of self-interest. Evidence +was also produced to show that the birth had not taken place. A +dressmaker, who measured Mrs. Howard for a dress, a little time before +the date of her alleged confinement, swore that no traces of her +supposed condition were then visible. Dr. Baker Brown and another +medical man deposed that they had professionally attended a lady, whom +they swore to as Mrs. Howard, and had found circumstances negativing +the story of the confinement; and Louisa Jones, a servant, who lived +in the house in Burton Street shortly after the birth of the infant, +said she had never seen or heard of its existence. After the hearing +of this evidence the case was postponed. + +On its resumption Mrs. Howard produced witnesses to show that she was +at Longley, in Staffordshire, during the whole of that period of +August, 1864, to which the evidence of Dr. Baker Brown and the other +medical witness related. + +At the sitting of the court, on the 1st of March, 1870, Sir Roundell +Palmer (Lord Selborne), who represented Charles Francis Howard, the +other claimant, gave the whole case a new complexion by informing the +court that he was in a position to prove that, in the month of August, +1864, Mrs. Howard and another lady visited a workhouse in Liverpool, +and procured a newly-born child from its mother, Mary Best, a pauper, +then an occupant of one of the lying-in wards of the workhouse +hospital. In support of his assertion he was able to produce three +witnesses--Mrs. Higginson, the head-nurse, and Mrs. Stuart and Mrs. +O'Hara, two of the assistant-nurses, of whom two could swear +positively to Mrs. Howard's identity with the lady who came and took +away the child. The third nurse was in doubt. + +The Solicitor-General, who represented the infant-claimant, thereupon +requested an adjournment, in order to meet the new case thus +presented. Their lordships, however, refused to comply with his desire +until they had had an opportunity of examining Mrs. Howard; but when +that lady was called she did not appear, and it was discovered that +she had left the House of Lords secretly, and could not be found at +her lodgings or discovered elsewhere. The case was therefore +adjourned. At the next sitting, a week later, Mrs. Howard appeared +before the committee, but refused to be sworn, demanding that the +witnesses who were to be brought against her should be examined first. +As she persisted in her refusal, she was given into custody for +contempt of court, and the evidence of the Liverpool witnesses was +taken. As Sir Roundell Palmer had stated, while one of the nurses +remembered the transaction she could not be positive that Mrs. Howard +was the party concerned in it; but the two others, and Mary Best the +child's mother, had no hesitation in asserting that she was the person +who had taken away the infant from the hospital. Towards the close of +the sitting it was announced that a telegram had been received from +Boulogne, stating that the real purchasers of Mary Best's child had +been found, and that they would be produced at the next hearing of the +case to re-but the Liverpool evidence; but when the next sitting came +no Boulogne witnesses were forthcoming, and the Solicitor-General was +compelled to state that he had been on the wrong scent; but that he +would be able to refute the story which had been trumped up against +his client. Mary Best was placed in the witness-box, and, in the +course of a rigorous cross-examination, admitted that she had left the +workhouse with a baby which she had passed off as her own. She stated +that this child was given to her while she was in the workhouse, but +she could not tell either its mother's name or the name of the person +who gave it to her. She had never received any payment for it, but had +fed and clothed it at her own expense, had taken it with her to her +father's house in Yorkshire, had represented it as her own to her +family, and had paid the costs of its burial when it died. Her +relatives and friends were produced, and corroborated these facts. The +nurses, on the other hand, when recalled, denied all knowledge of this +second child, and affirmed that a child could not have been brought to +her without their knowledge. + +The court delivered judgment on the 31st of March, 1870, when the Lord +Chancellor announced that their lordships had come to the conclusion +that Charles Francis Arnold Howard had made out his claim, and was +entitled to vote at the election of representative peers for Ireland +as Earl of Wicklow; and that the infant claimant, the son of Mrs. +Howard, had failed in establishing his claim to that privilege. He +said the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Howard was undisputed, and the +real difficulty that surrounded the case was in proving the birth of +this child without the evidence usually forthcoming of such an +event--neither medical man nor nurse having been present at the birth, +or having attended either the mother or the child subsequently. The +fact that the existence of the child had been concealed from all the +world, and that it had neither been registered nor baptised, increased +the difficulties in the way of Mrs. Howard's case. It was a remarkable +fact that, up to that time, with the exception of three persons who +had undoubtedly sworn distinctly to certain circumstances, no human +being had been called who had noticed that Mrs. Howard had shown signs +of being in the family-way; and it was equally remarkable that those +who had had ample opportunity of noticing her condition at the time, +and who might have given distinct and positive evidence on the point, +had either not been called, or had refused to give evidence in the +case. Undoubtedly, as far as words could go, their lordships had had +the distinct evidence of two witnesses, who stated that they were +present when the alleged birth occurred, and of another who had stated +that he had gone to fetch the doctor, who was sent for, not because +the birth was expected to occur, but because Mrs. Howard was taken +suddenly ill. Of course, if credence could be given to the statement +of these witnesses, the case put forward by Mrs. Howard was established +beyond a doubt, and most painful it was for him to arrive at the +conclusion, as he felt bound to do, that those persons had been guilty +of the great crime of not only giving false evidence by deposing to +events that had never occurred, but of conspiring together to +endeavour to impose upon the Wicklow family a child who was not the +real heir to the title and estates attaching to the earldom. He was +bound to add that the demeanour of Mrs. Bloor and her sister Rosa Day +in the witness-box, was such that, if the case were not of such +prodigious importance, and if it had not been contradicted by all +surrounding circumstances, their statement, which they had given with +firmness and without hesitation, would have obtained credence. It was, +however, so utterly inconsistent with all the admitted facts, and with +the rest of the evidence, that he was compelled to arrive at the +painful conclusion that it was a mere fabrication, intended to defeat +the ends of justice. The evidence of Dr. Baker Brown, who had +identified Mrs. Howard as the person whom he had examined, on the 8th +of July, 1864, and who had stated to him that she had never had a +child, was very strong, and was only to be explained upon the +supposition that it was a case of mistaken identity; and that it was +her sister Jane Richardson, who was examined, and not Mrs. Howard. This +supposition, however, was entirely set aside by the Longney witnesses, +who stated that upon the occasion of the birth-day dinner party at +Longney, which had been brought forward to prove an _alibi_, both Mrs. +Howard and her sister Jane Richardson were present. It was evident, +therefore, either that the story could not be true, or that the +witnesses were mistaken as to the day on which that event had +occurred, and under these circumstances the whole evidence in support +of the _alibi_ broke down altogether. Having arrived at this +conclusion with respect to the original case set up by Mrs. Howard, it +was scarcely necessary to allude to the Liverpool story, which was +certainly an extraordinary and a singular one, and had a tendency to +damage the case of those who had set it up, although he did not see +how they could possibly have withheld it from the knowledge of their +lordships. Looking at the fact that Mary Best was proved to have been +delivered of a fair child, and that the child she took out of the +workhouse with her was a dark child, he confessed that much might be +said both in favour of and against the truth of her statement; but it +was, perhaps, as well that it might be entirely disregarded in the +present case; and, at all events, in his opinion, there was nothing in +its being brought forward which was calculated to shake their +lordships' confidence in the character of those who were conducting +the case on behalf of the original claimant. + +Lord Chelmsford next delivered a long judgment, agreeing with that of +the Lord Chancellor, and in the course of it remarked that it was +impossible to disbelieve the story of the alleged birth, as he did, +without coming to the conclusion that certain of the witnesses had +been guilty of the grave crimes of conspiracy and perjury. With +reference to the Liverpool story, he said he was satisfied that the +child brought into the workhouse by Mary Best, and taken by her to +Yorkshire, was not that of which she had been confined, although he +did not believe her statement of the way in which she had become +possessed of the child which she had subsequently passed off as her +own. + +Lords Colonsay and Redesdale concurred; and the Earl of Winchelsea, as +a lay lord, and one of the public, gave it as his opinion that the +story told by Mrs. Howard was utterly incredible, being only worthy to +form the plot of a sensational novel. He regretted that Mr. Baudenave, +the principal mover in this conspiracy, would escape unscathed. + +Their lordships, therefore, resolved that Mrs. Howard's child had no +claim to the earldom; but that Charles Francis Arnold Howard, the son +of the Hon. Rev. Francis Howard, by his second marriage, had made out +his right to vote at the election of representative peers for Ireland +as Earl of Wicklow. + + + + +AMELIA RADCLIFFE--THE SO-CALLED COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER. + + +The unhappy fate of James, the last Earl of Derwentwater, has been so +often recounted, both in prose and verse, that it is almost +unnecessary to repeat the story; but lest any difficulty should be +found in understanding the grounds on which the so-called countess now +bases her pretensions, the following short summary may be found +useful:-- + +James Radcliffe, the third and last Earl of Derwentwater, suffered +death on Tower Hill, in the prime of his youth, for his devotion to +the cause of the pretender. He is described as having been brave, +chivalrous, and generous; his name has been handed down from +generation to generation as that of a martyr; and his memory even yet +remains green among the descendants of those amongst whom he used to +dwell, and to whom he was at once patron and friend. + +When he was twenty-three years of age he espoused Anna Maria, eldest +daughter of Sir John Webb of Cauford, in the county of Dorset, and had +by her an only son, the Hon. John Radcliffe, and a daughter, who +afterwards married the eighth Lord Petre. By the articles at this time +entered into, the baronet agreed to give his daughter £12,000 as her +portion; while the earl, on his part, promised £1000 jointure rent +charge to the lady, to which £100 a-year was added on the death of +either of her parents, and an allowance of £300 a-year was also +granted as pin-money. The earl's estates were to be charged with +£12,000 for the portions of daughter or daughters, or with £20,000 in +the event of there being no male issue; while by the same settlement +his lordship took an estate for life in the family property, which was +thereby entailed upon his first and other sons, with remainder, and +after the determination of his or their estate to his brother, Charles +Radcliffe, for life; on his first or other sons the estates were in +like manner entailed. + +If the Earl of Derwentwater had been poor his Jacobite proclivities +might have been overlooked, but he was very rich, and his head fell. +Moreover, after his decapitation on Tower Hill the whole of his +immense property was confiscated, and given by the crown to the +Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital. The commissioners of to-day +assert that the property became the property of the representatives of +the hospital absolutely. On the other hand, it is contended that, by +the Act of Attainder, the property of forfeiting persons was vested in +the crown only, according to their estate, rights, and interest, and +that the earl, having only an estate for life in his property, could +forfeit no greater interest. + +His only son, although he lost his title of nobility by the attainder +of his father, was, by solemn adjudication of law, admitted tenant in +tail of all the settled estates, and the fortune of the earl's +daughter was, moreover, raised and paid thereout. The earl's son was +in possession of the estates during sixteen years; and, had he lived +to attain twenty-one, he might have effectually dealt with them, so +that they could not at any future time have been affected by the +attainder of his father, or of his uncle Charles Radcliffe. At least +so say the supporters of the self-styled countess. + +Upon the death of the martyr-earl's son, in 1791, and presumably +without issue, the life estate of Charles Radcliffe commenced, but it +vested in the crown by reason of the attainder. Not so, however, the +estate in tail of the eldest son, James Bartholomew. This boy was born +at Vincennes, on the 23d of August, 1725; but by a statute passed in +the reign of Queen Anne, he had all the rights of a subject born in +the United Kingdom; and, among others, of course, had the right to +succeed to any property to which he might be legally entitled. But the +government perceived the fix in which they were placed, and +immediately, on the death of the son of the earl, and when James +Bartholomew was an infant of the age of five years, they hurried an +Act through Parliament which declared that nothing contained in the +dictatory law of Queen Anne gave the privilege of a natural born +subject to any child, born or to be born abroad, whose father at the +time of his or her birth either stood attainted of high treason, or +was in the actual service of a foreign state in enmity to the crown of +Great Britain. This excluded the boy, and the government began to +grant leases of the estates which would otherwise have fallen to him. + +And now we begin to plunge into mystery. It is asserted that the +reported death of John Radcliffe, son of the last earl, was merely a +scheme on the part of his friends to protect him against his +Hanoverian enemies who sought his life. Some say that he died at the +age of nineteen, at the house of his maternal grandfather, Sir John +Webb, in Great Marlborough Street, on the 31st of December, 1731. +Others maintain that he was thrown from his horse, and killed, during +his residence in France. But the most recent statement is that his +interment was a sham, and was part of a well-devised plan for +facilitating his escape from France to Germany during the prevalence +of rumoured attempts to restore the Stuarts, and that, after marrying +the Countess of Waldsteine-Waters, he lived, bearing her name, to the +age of eighty-six. + +By this reputed marriage it is said that he had a son, who was called +John James Anthony Radcliffe, and who, in his turn, espoused a +descendant of John Sobieski of Poland. To them a daughter was born, +and was named Amelia. Her first appearance at the home of her supposed +ancestors was very peculiar; and the report of her proceedings, which +appeared in the _Hexham Courant_, of the 29th of September, 1868, was +immediately transferred into the London daily papers, and was quoted +from them by almost the entire provincial press. The following is the +account of the local journal, which excited considerable amusement, +but roused very little faith when it was first made public:-- + + "This morning great excitement was occasioned in the + neighbourhood of Dilston by the appearance of Amelia, + Countess of Derwentwater, with a retinue of servants, at the + old baronial castle of her ancestors--Dilston Old + Castle--and at once taking possession of the old ruin. Her + ladyship, who is a fine-looking elderly lady, was dressed in + an Austrian military uniform, and wore a sword by her side + in the most approved fashion. She was accompanied, as we + have said, by several retainers, who were not long in + unloading the waggon-load of furniture which they had + brought with them, and quickly deposited the various goods + and chattels in the old castle, the rooms of which, as most + of our readers are aware, are without roofs; but a plentiful + supply of stout tarpaulings, which are provided for the + purpose, will soon make the apartments habitable, if not + quite so comfortable as those which the countess has just + left. In the course of the morning her ladyship was visited + by Mr. C.J. Grey, the receiver to the Greenwich Hospital + estates, who informed her she was trespassing upon the + property of the commissioners, and that he would be obliged + to report the circumstance to their lordships. Her ladyship + received Mr. Grey with great courtesy, and informed that + gentleman she was acting under the advice of her legal + advisers, and that she was quite prepared to defend the + legality of her proceedings. The sides of the principal + room have already been hung with the Derwentwater family + pictures, to some of which the countess bears a marked + resemblance, and the old baronial flag of the unfortunate + family already floats proudly from the summit of the fine, + though old and dilapidated tower." + +This is a bald newspaper account; but the lady herself is an +experienced correspondent, and in one of her letters, which she has +published in a gorgeously emblazoned volume, thus gives her version of +the affair in her own vigorous way:-- + + "DEVILSTONE CASTLE, 29_th September_, 1868. + + "Here I am, my dear friend, at my own house, my roofless + home; and my first scrawl from here is to the vicarage. You + will be sorry to hear that the Lords of Her Majesty's + Council have defied all equitable terms in my eleven years' + suffering case. My counsel and myself have only received + impertinent replies from under officials. Had my lords met + my case like gentlemen and statesmen, I should not have been + driven to the course I intend to pursue. + + "I left the Terrace very early this morning, and at + half-past seven o'clock I arrived at the carriage-road of + Dilstone Castle. I stood, and before me lay stretched the + ruins of my grandfather's baronial castle; my heart beat + more quickly as I approached. I am attended by my two + faithful retainers, Michael and Andrew. Mr. Samuel Aiston + conveyed a few needful things; the gentle and docile pony + trotted on until I reached the level top of the + carriage-road, and then we stopped. I dismounted and opened + the gate and bid my squires to follow, and, in front of the + old flag tower, I cut with a spade three square feet of + green sod into a barrier for my feet, in the once happy + nursery--the mother's joyful upstairs parlour--the only room + now standing, and quite roofless. I found not a voice to + cheer me, nothing but naked plasterless walls; a hearth with + no frame of iron; the little chapel which contains the + sacred tombs of the silent dead, and the dishonoured ashes + of my grandsires. + + "All here is in a death-like repose, no living thing save a + few innocent pigeons, half wild; but there has been a + tremendous confusion, a wild and wilful uproar of rending, + and a crash of headlong havoc, every angle is surrounded + with desolation, and the whole is a monument of state + vengeance and destruction. But here is the land--the home of + my fathers--which I have been robbed of; this is a piece of + the castle, and the room in which they lived, and talked, + and walked, and smiled, and were cradled and watched with + tender affection. You never saw this old tower nearer than + from the road; the walls of it are three feet or more in + some parts thick, and of rough stone inside. The floor of + this room where I am writing this scrawl is verdure, and + damp with the moisture from heaven. It has not even beams + left for a ceiling, and the stairs up to it are scarcely + passible; but I am truly thankful that all the little + articles I brought are now up in this room, and no accident + to my men. + + "Radcliffe's flag is once more raised! and the portraits of + my grandfather and great-grandfather are _here_, back again + to Devilstone Castle (_alias_ Dilstone), and hung on each + side of this roofless room, where both their voices once + sounded. Oh! as I gaze calmly on these mute warders on the + walls, I cannot paint you my feelings of the sense of + injustice and wrong, a refining, a resenting sorrow--my + heart bleeds at the thought of the cruel axe, and I am + punished for its laws that no longer exist. I pray not to be + horror-stricken at the thoughts of the past ambition and + power of princes who cast destruction over our house, and + made us spectacles of barbarity. But, nevertheless, many + great and Christian men the Lord hath raised out of the + house of Radcliffe, who have passed away; and now, oh! + Father of Heaven! how wonderfully hast Thou spared the + remnant of my house, a defenceless orphan, to whom no way is + open but to Thy Fatherly heart. Now Thou hast brought me + here, what still awaits me? 'Leave Thou me not; let me never + forget Thee. Thou hast girded me with strength into the + battle. I will not therefore fear what man can do unto me.' + + "These are my thoughts and resolutions. But I am struggling + with the associations of this lone, lone hearth--with no + fire, no father, no mother, sister or brother left--the + whole is heartrending. I quit you now, my kind friends; I am + blind with tears, but this is womanly weakness. + + "Twelve o'clock the same day. My tears of excitement have + yielded to counter-excitement. I have just had an intrusive + visitor, who came to inquire if it is my intention to remain + here. I replied in the affirmative, adding earnestly, 'I + have come to my roofless home,' and asked 'Who are you?' He + answered 'I am Mr. Grey, the agent for her Majesty, and I + shall have to communicate your intention.' I answered, + 'Quite right, Mr. Grey. Then what _title_ have you to show + that her Majesty has a right here to my freehold estates?' + He replied, 'I have no _title_.' I then took out a parchment + with the titles and the barony and manors, and the names of + my forty-two rich estates, and held it before him and said, + 'I am the Countess of Derwentwater, and my title and claim + are acknowledged and substantiated by the Crown of England, + morally, legally, and officially; therefore my title is the + title to these forty-two estates.' He has absented himself + quietly, and I do hope my lords will not leave my case now + to under officials.--Yours truly, + AMELIA, COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER." + +Their lordships left the case to very minor officials, indeed; namely +to a person whom the countess describes as "a dusky little man" and +his underlings, and they without hesitation ejected her from Dilstone +Hall. The lady was very indignant, but was very far from being beaten, +and she and her adherents immediately formed a roadside encampment, +under a hedge, in gipsy fashion, and resolved to re-enter if possible. +From her letters it appears that she was very cold and very miserable, +and, moreover, very hungry at first. But the neighbouring peasantry +were kind, and brought her so much food eventually, that she tells one +of her friends that cases of tinned meats from Paris would be of no +use to her. The worst of the encampment seems to have been that it +interfered with her usual pastime of sketching, which could not be +carried on in the evenings under a tarpaulin, by the light of a +lantern. + +But her enemies had no idea that she should be permitted to remain +under the hedge any more than in the hall itself. On the 21st of +October, at the quarter sessions for the county of Northumberland, the +chief constable was questioned by the magistrates about the strange +state of affairs in the district, and reported that the encampment was +a little way from the highway, and that, therefore, the lady could not +be apprehended under the Vagrant Act! A summons, however, had been +taken out by the local surveyor, and would be followed by a warrant. +On that summons the so-called countess was convicted; but appealed to +the Court of Queen's Bench. + +During the winter the encampment could not be maintained, and the +weather, more powerful than the Greenwich commissioners, drove the +countess from the roadside. But in the bright days of May she +reappeared to resume the fight, and this time took possession of a +cottage at Dilston, whence, says a newspaper report of the period, "it +is expected she will be ejected; but she may do as she did before, and +pitch her tent on the high-road." On the 30th of the same month, the +conviction by the Northumberland magistrates "for erecting a hut on +the roadside," was affirmed by the Court of Queen's Bench. + +On the 17th November, 1869, while Mr. Grey was collecting the +Derwentwater rents, the countess marched into the apartment, at the +head of her attendants, to forbid the proceedings. She was richly +apparelled, but her semi-military guise did not save herself, or those +who came with her, from being somewhat rudely ejected. Her sole +consolation was that the mob cheered her lustily as she drove off in +her carriage. + +On the 5th of January, in the following year, a great demonstration in +her favour took place at Consett, in the county of Durham. A few days +previously a large quantity of live stock had been seized at the +instance of the countess, for rent alleged to be due to her, and an +interdict had been obtained against her, prohibiting her from +disposing of it. However, she defied the law, and in the midst of +something very like a riot, the cattle were sold, flags were waved, +speeches were made, and the moment was perhaps the proudest which the +heiress of the Derwentwaters is likely to see in this country. + +Such conduct could not be tolerated. The Lords of the Admiralty were +roused, and formally announced that the claims of the so-called +countess were frivolous. They also warned their tenants against paying +their rents to her, and took out summonses against those who had +assisted at the sale. On the 16th of January, the ringleaders in the +disgraceful affair were committed for trial. + +Notwithstanding this untoward _contretemps_, the countess made a +further attempt, in February, to collect the rents of the forty-two +freehold estates, which she said belonged to her. But the bailiffs +were in force and resisted her successfully, being aided in their work +by a severe snowstorm, which completely cowed her followers, although +it did not cool her own courage. On the 11th of February, 1870, the +Lords of the Admiralty applied for an injunction to prevent the +so-called countess from entering on the Greenwich estates, and their +application was immediately granted. Shortly afterwards the bailiff +acting on behalf of the countess, and the ringleaders in the Consett +affair, were sentenced to short terms of imprisonment. Thus those in +possession of the property could boast a decided victory. + +But the law courts are free to all, and the countess determined to +take the initiative. She had jewels, and pictures, and documents which +would at once prove her identity and the justice of her claim. +Unfortunately they were all in Germany, and the lady was penniless. By +the generosity of certain confiding gentlemen, about £2000 was +advanced, on loan, to bring them to this country. They came, but their +appearance was not satisfactory even to the creditors, who became +clamorous for their money. There was only one way left to satisfy +them, and Amelia, of Derwentwater, took it. The jewels and pictures +were brought to the hammer in an auction-room in Hexham--the countess +disappeared from public ken, and the newspapers ceased to chronicle +her extraordinary movements. + + + + +ARTHUR ORTON--WHO CLAIMED TO BE SIR ROGER CHARLES DOUGHTY TICHBORNE, +BART. + + +The case of Arthur Orton is too recent to need many words of +introduction. We have hardly yet cooled down to a sober realization of +the facts which, as they stand, mark the latest and most bulky of the +claimants, as not only the greatest impostor of modern or perhaps of +any days, the base calumniator who endeavoured to rob a woman of her +fair fame to gratify his own selfish ends, but as a living proof of +the height to which the blind credulity of the public will now and +again elevate itself. Arthur Orton is in prison undergoing what all +thinking men must admit to be a very lenient sentence--a sentence +which in no way meets the justice of the case; for the advent of this +huge carcase lumbering the earth with lies was nothing less than a +misfortune to the people of England. And the word misfortune, if used +even in its highest and widest sense, will in no way imply that which +has happened to a peaceful family, who have been associated with their +lands and titles as long as our history goes back, and who have had +their privacy violated, and the sanctity of their homes invaded; who +have been pilloried before a ruthless and unsympathising mob, who have +had their women's names banded from one coarse mouth to another, and +who--least misfortune of all--have had to expend large sums of money, +and great amounts of time and trouble, to free themselves from a +persecution as unparalleled as it was vicious and cruel. Those who, +having neither fame nor fortune to lose, speak lightly and think not +at all of the sorrows which were launched avalanche-like upon the +devoted heads of the Tichbornes and their connections, would do well +to ponder over what such personation as that of Arthur Orton means to +its immediate victims. It means a sudden derangement of all the ties +and sympathies by which life is made dear, a sudden shock which never +in life will be recovered. There is no member of the community, no +matter how well and how carefully he has chosen his path in life, who +would not fear to have his every action published and criticised, his +every motive analysed unfairly, and the most mischievous construction +placed upon each deed or thought found capable of perversion. How much +more terrible would it be, then, for any man to know that his wife or +mother was to be subjected to such ordeal; that for no fault +committed, for nothing but the delectation of an unscrupulous +scoundrel and his admirers, a tender and sensitive lady was to be put +to torture far worse than any physical punishment could ever have +been, even in ages and countries whose only refinement was that of +cruelty? + +Arthur Orton is in prison, but there are still many who loudly assert +their belief in his identity with the lost Sir Roger; there are others +who are quite as strong in their avowals of doubt as to the name found +for the huge mystery being the correct one; and there are again others +who, caring little who or what the man may be, affect to credit many +of his most villanous utterances. But do these people in their blind +impetuosity ever give the merits of the case one thought? do they +remember that Orton was detected in his every lie, and found as +heinously guilty as man can be detected and found guilty, when the +evidence against him admits of but circumstantial proof? They do not; +and like the man who constantly avers that the earth is flat, and his +congeners who deny the existence of a Being who is apparent in every +one of His marvellous works, the believers in Orton must be placed in +the catalogue of those who, either of malice prepense, or from mental +affliction, take the wrong view of a subject as naturally as sparks +fly upwards. If the man now in prison is Sir Roger Tichborne, then +trial by jury, the selection of our judges, and the whole basis of our +legal system--indeed, of almost every system by which calm and +peaceful government is maintained, and the right of the subject duly +regarded--must be radically wrong, and right is wrong also. If he is +not Arthur Orton, then there never was an Arthur Orton, and Wapping is +a place which has no existence out of the annals of the Tichborne +trial. + +The baronetcy of Tichborne, now Doughty-Tichborne, is not only old of +itself, and connected with vast estates, but is held by a family well +known in the history of this country, even as far as that history +goes. No _parvenu_, whose rank is the result of success in +cheesemongering or kindred pursuit, is the holder of the title, for, +as Debrett tells us, the family of Tichborne was of great importance +in Hampshire before the Conquest, and derives its name from the river +Itchen, at the head of which it had estates; "hence it was called De +Itchenbourne, since corrupted into Tichborne. Sir John de Tichborne, +knight, sheriff of Southampton, on hearing of the death of Queen +Elizabeth, immediately repaired to Winchester, and there proclaimed +King James VI. (of Scotland) as King of England. In 1621, he was +created a baronet, the honour of knighthood having been previously +conferred upon three of his sons, while his fourth son Henry was +subsequently knighted. Sir Henry, the third baronet, hazarded his life +in defence of Charles I. in several enterprises, and his estates were +sequestrated by the Parliamentarians. After the restoration he was +successively Lieutenant of the New Forest, and Lieutenant of +Ordnance." Other Tichbornes have been sufficiently prominent in their +times to leave marks on the history of the country; and altogether +riches and honours seemed, until comparatively recently, to be the +unshadowed lot of the head of the family. That, however, large estates +and long descent do not always secure perfect happiness, has been very +well shown in the great trial just past, in many ways perfectly +independent of the actual result, or of any question as to whether or +not the claimant was he whom he professed to be. + +Family differences and unpleasantnesses seem to have been the actual, +even if remote, cause of the great imposition of Arthur Orton. Had +matters been conducted as one might have anticipated they would among +people blessed with the means of gratifying every whim and caprice, +Roger Tichborne would have lived and died like other men, and his name +would never have been known except as a quiet country gentleman of +English origin and French tastes, which led him into more or less +eccentricities, and caused him to be more or less popular among his +neighbours and dependants. But this was not to be. All great families +have their secret unpleasantnesses, and in these the Tichbornes were +by no means behindhand. The Tichbornes generally had a knack of +disagreeing, and this feeling was shown in excelsis by James, the +father of Roger, and his wife, who lived abroad for many years, she +being French in every sentiment, while the husband was but +naturalized, and now and again exhibited a desire to return to his +native land. When Roger was born there was but little chance of his +ever becoming the owner of either titles or estates, and so his +education was entirely foreign, his tutors being M. Chatillon, and a +priest named Lefevre. As time wore on, it became evident that Mr. James +Tichborne would in due course become Sir James, and he felt it his +duty to secure to his son an English education. This the mother +opposed most strenuously, and it was only by artifice that the boy was +brought to England. Sir Henry Joseph Tichborne, who had succeeded to +the baronetcy in 1821, had no son, and though time after time a child +was born to him, Providence blessed him with no male heir. Again and +again a child would be born at Tichborne, but it was always a girl. +Sir Henry had seven children, of whom six lived, all celebrated for +their good looks, and their tall and handsome proportions; but all +were daughters. Still there was Sir Henry's brother, Edward +Tichborne, who had taken large estates under the will of a Miss +Doughty--which led to the present junction of the Doughty and +Tichborne properties, and to the double surname--and with them had +assumed the name of that lady, and he was after Sir Henry the next +heir. Edward had a son and daughter. But one day there came the news +to James and his wife in France, that Sir Edward's little boy had +died, and then it was that the father perceived more clearly the error +that he had made in permitting Roger to grow up ignorant of English +habits and the English tongue. Edward Doughty was an old man. His +brother James Tichborne himself was growing in years. The prospect of +Roger one day becoming the head of the old house of Tichborne, which +had once been so remote, had now become almost a certainty. It would +not do for the Lord of Tichborne to be a Frenchman; sooner or later he +must learn English, and receive an education fitting him to take the +position which now appeared in store for him. All this was clear +enough to Mr. James, but not so clear to his weak-headed and prejudiced +wife. The father did, indeed, obtain her consent to take the boy over +to England, and let him see his uncle and aunt, the Doughtys, at +Upton, in Dorsetshire, and his uncle, Sir Henry, at the ancestral home +down in Hampshire. But Roger was then but a child, and as he grew +older Mrs. Tichborne became more than ever resolute in her +determination that, come what might, her darling should be a +Frenchman. What cared she for the old Hampshire traditions? France was +to her the only land worth living in; a Frenchman's life was the only +life worthy of the name. Her dear Roger might succeed to the title and +estates, but she could not bear the thought of his going to England. +It was in her imagination a land of cold bleak rains and unwholesome +fogs. But it was worse; it was the country of a people who had been +false to their ancient faith. Even the Tichbornes, though still +Catholics, had not always been true to their religion. And so Mrs. +Tichborne planned out for the future heir of Tichborne a life of +perpetual absenteeism. He should marry into some distinguished family +in France or Italy, and little short of a Princess should share his +fortunes. If he went into the army it should be in some foreign +service. But in no case should he go to Tichborne, or set foot in +England again, if she could help it. + +James Tichborne was like many other weak men who have self-willed +wives. He put off the inevitable day as long as he could, but finally +achieved his purpose by strategy. Roger was in his seventeenth year +when the news arrived that Sir Henry had died. It was right that James +Tichborne should be present at his brother's funeral, and reasonable +that he should take with him the heir, as everyone regarded him to +be. Accordingly Roger took leave of his mother under solemn +injunctions to return quickly. But there was no intention of allowing +him to return. The boy attended the funeral of his uncle at the old +chapel at Tichborne, went to his grandfather's place at Knoyle, and +thence, by the advice of relations and friends, and with the consent +of the boy himself, he was taken down to the Jesuit College at +Stonyhurst, and there placed in the seminary with the class of +students known as "philosophers." When Mrs. Tichborne learnt that this +step had been completed her fury knew no bounds. Roger wrote her kind +and filial letters in French--ill-spelt it is true, but admirably +worded, and testifying an amount of good sense which promised well for +his manhood. But Mrs. Tichborne gave no reply, and for twelve months +the son, though longing ardently for a letter, got no token of +affection. Yet Mrs. Tichborne was not the person to see her son removed +from her control without an effort. She upbraided her husband +violently, and there was a renewal of the old scenes in the Tichborne +household; but Roger was now far away, and the danger of Mr. +Tichborne's yielding in a momentary fit of weakness was at an end. +Meanwhile the mother wrote violent letters to the heads of the +college, exposing family troubles in a way which called forth a +remonstrance from even the lad himself. What was the precise nature of +his studies at Stonyhurst, and what progress he made in them, are +questions that have been much debated, but it is certain that he +applied himself resolutely to the study of English, and made such +progress that, although he could never speak it with so much purity +and command of words as when conversing in his mother tongue, he +learnt to write it with only occasional errors in spelling and +construction. In Latin he made some little progress, and in +mathematics more. He attended voluntary classes on chemistry, and his +letters evidence an inclination for the study both of science and +polite literature. At Stonyhurst Roger may be said to have passed the +three happiest years of his life. + +During the period just mentioned, the then last of the Tichbornes made +many friends, and if he did not become what we understand as +accomplished, he was refined and sensitive. During the vacations he +used to visit his English relatives in turn; but there was one place +above all others to which he preferred to go. This was the house at +Tichborne, then in possession of his father's brother Sir Edward +Doughty. There was a certain amount of delicacy in his position +towards his uncle and his aunt Lady Doughty, which cannot but be +intelligible to any one who has the least knowledge of human failings. +It is not in the nature of things that either Lady Doughty or her +husband could have been greatly predisposed towards the youthful +stranger, and Roger was shy and reserved and over-sensitive. He had +the misfortune to stand in the place which they must once have +ardently hoped that their dead child would have lived to inherit. Sir +Edward was in failing health, and his brother James was an old man. +The time could not therefore be far distant when this youth, with his +foreign habits and his strong French accent, would take possession of +Tichborne Park with all the ancient lands. More than that, he would +come into absolute possession of the new Doughty property, including +the beautiful residence of Upton, near Poole, in Dorsetshire, for +which Sir Edward and his family had so strong an affection. It was +through Sir Edward alone that this property had been acquired, but the +lady who had bequeathed it to him had no notion of founding a second +family; in time all the lands and houses in various countries +bequeathed by her, as well as those which were purchased by trustees +under her will, were to go to swell the Tichborne estate, and to +increase the grandeur and renown of the old house. Upton was the +favourite home of the Doughtys. Sir Edward, who had been in the West +Indies, had returned thence with his black servant named Andrew Bogle, +then a boy, and had married--he and his wife doubtless for a long time +looking on Upton as their home for life. It cost them a pang to remove +even to the house at Tichborne. It was at Upton that their only +surviving child Kate had spent her early years, and to return there +and enjoy the fresh sea breezes in the summer holidays was always a +fresh source of delight. It was hard to think that even Upton must +pass from them, and that the day was probably not far distant when +there would be nothing left for them but to yield up their home and +estates to the new comer, and retire even upon a widow's handsome +jointure and the fortune of Miss Kate. But if such feelings ever +passed through the minds of the family at Tichborne, they could have +been only transient. The shy, pale-faced boy with the long dark locks, +came always to Tichborne in his holidays, making his way steadily in +the favour of that household, and this not from interested motives on +the part of Lady Doughty, as has been falsely alleged, and +triumphantly disproved, but clearly from something in the nature of +the youth which disarmed ill-feeling. Roger, despite his early +training abroad, soon showed good sound English tastes. He took +delight in country life; and though he did not bring down the +partridges in the woods, or throw the fly upon the surface of the +Itchen, with a degree of skill that would command much respect in the +county of Hants, he did his best, and really liked the out-door life. +In hunting he took delight from the time when he donned his first +scarlet coat, and he rarely missed an opportunity of appearing at "the +meet" in that neighbourhood. The time soon came when Roger had to +think of a profession, and James Tichborne again gave mortal offence +to his wife by determining that the young man should go into the +army. Among the daughters of Sir Henry, was one who had married +Colonel William Greenwood of the Grenadier Guards. Their house at +Brookwood was but half an hour's ride from Tichborne, and Roger was +fond of visiting there. Colonel Greenwood's brother George was also in +the army, and he took kindly to Roger, and determined to do his best +to get him on. So he took him one morning to the Horse Guards, and +introduced him to the commander-in-chief, who promised him a +commission. There was a little delay in keeping this promise, and the +young man did not go troubling uncles again, but took the self-reliant +course of writing direct to the Horse Guards, to remind the +Commander-in-chief of what he had said; and before long Mr. Roger +Charles Tichborne was gazetted a cornet in the 6th Dragoons, better +known as the Carabineers. He passed his examination at Sandhurst +satisfactorily, and went straight over to Dublin to join his regiment. +From Dublin he went to the south of Ireland, and twice he came over to +England on short visits. He went through the painful ordeal of +practical joking which awaited every young officer in those days, and +came out of it, not without annoyance and an occasional display of +resentment, yet in a way which conciliated his brother officers; and +few men were more liked in the regiment than Roger Tichborne, +affectionately nicknamed among them "Teesh." In 1852 the Carabineers +came over to England, and were quartered at Canterbury. They expected +then to be sent to India, but the order was countermanded, and Roger +saw himself doomed apparently to a life of inaction. There is a letter +of Roger's among the mass of correspondence which he kept up at this +period of his life, in which he notices the fact that his mother still +dwelt upon her old idea of providing him with a wife in the shape of +one of those Italian princesses of which he had heard so much, and +with whom he had always been threatened. But Roger was by this time in +love with his cousin, and his love was by no means happy. Roger had +been for years visiting at Tichborne before he had ever seen his +cousin Kate there. He had met her long before when he came over as a +child from Paris on a visit, but Miss Doughty was too young at that +time to have retained much impression of the little dark-haired French +boy, who could hardly have said "Good morning, cousin," in her native +tongue. When Roger was twenty years of age, they met for a few days at +Bath, where both had come on the melancholy duty of taking leave of Mr. +Seymour, then lying dangerously ill and near his death. Then they +parted again; Roger went to Tichborne for a long stay, but Miss +Doughty returned to school at the convent at Taunton. In the Midsummer +holidays, however, they once more met at the house in Hampshire, and +for six weeks the young cousins saw each other daily. Then Miss +Doughty went away to Scotland with her parents; and the youth took +upon himself the pleasant duty of going to see the party take their +departure from St. Katherine's Wharf. October found the party again +assembled at Tichborne Park; and there Roger took farewell of uncle, +aunt, and cousin, to go to Ireland and join his regiment; and Miss +Doughty, whose schooldays were not yet ended, went down to a convent +at Newhall, in Essex. When Roger got a short leave of absence, his +first thought was to visit his uncle and aunt, who had so affectionate +a regard for him. There was a summer visit to Upton, in Dorsetshire, +for a week, when Miss Doughty happened to be there; and there was a +visit to Tichborne in January 1850, when there were great festivities, +for Roger then attained his majority; again the cousins took farewell, +and met no more for eighteen months. No wonder Roger loved Tichborne, +with all its associations. In that well-ordered and affectionate +household he found a tranquillity and happiness to which he had been a +stranger in his own home. In his correspondence with his father and +mother at this time there were no lack of tokens of a loving son; but +no one was more sensible than Roger of the miseries of that life which +he had led up to the day when he came away to pursue his studies at +the Jesuit College, and to learn to be an Englishman. But there was +another association, long unsuspected, yet growing steadily, until it +absorbed all his thoughts, and gave to that neighbourhood a glory and +a light invisible to other eyes. Roger had spent many happy hours with +his cousin; she had grown in those few years from a girl almost into a +woman, and he had come to love her deeply. To her he said not a word, +to Sir Edward he dared not speak, but one day Roger took an +opportunity of confiding to Lady Doughty the new secret of his life. +His aunt did not discourage the idea; but Miss Doughty was still but a +girl of fifteen; and there was the grave objection that the twain were +first cousins. And besides, though Roger was of a kind and considerate +disposition, truthful, honourable, and scrupulous in points of duty, +he had certain habits which assumed serious proportions in the mind of +a lady so strict in notions of propriety. He had in Paris acquired a +habit of smoking immoderately. In the regiment he had been compelled, +by evil customs then prevailing, to go through a noviciate in the +matter of imbibing "military port;" and his habits had followed him to +Tichborne, and the young officer had been seen at least on one +occasion in a state of semi-intoxication--no less a word will describe +his condition. He was also accustomed to bring in his portmanteau +French novels, which were decidedly objectionable, though few young +men would probably regard it as much sin to read them. So little did +the young man appreciate her objections to this exciting kind of +literature that he had actually recommended to his aunt some stories +which no amount of humour and cleverness could prevent that pious lady +regarding as debasing and absolutely immoral. How Lady Doughty felt +under all the circumstances of Roger's love, as compared with his +general conduct, will be best shown by the following letter:-- + + "1850. Tichborne Park, _begun_ 29 _Jan., finished 31st._ + + "MY DEAREST ROGER,--After three weeks being between life and + death it has pleased God to restore me so far that I have + this day for the first time been in the wheel chair to the + drawing-room, and I hasten to begin my thanks to you for + your letters, especially that private one, though it may yet + be some days before I finish all I wish to say to you, for I + am yet very weak, and my eyes scarcely allow of reading or + writing.... Remember, dear Roger, that by that conversation + in town you gave me every right to be deeply interested in + your fate, and therefore doubly do I feel grieved when I see + you abusing that noblest of God's gifts to man, reason, by + diminishing its power.... I cannot recall to my mind the + subject you say I was beginning in the drawing-room when + interrupted; probably it might have had reference to the + confidence which you say you do not repent having placed in + me. No, dear Roger, never repent it; be fully assured that I + never shall betray that confidence. You are young, and + intercourse with life and the society you must mix with + might very possibly change your feelings towards one now + dear to you, or rather settle them into the affection of a + brother towards a sister; but whatever may be the case + hereafter, my line of duty is marked out, and ought steadily + to be followed; that is, not to encourage anything that + could fetter the future choice of either party before they + had fully seen others and mixed with the world, and with all + the fond care of a mother endeavour, while she is yet so + young, to prevent her heart and mind from being occupied by + ideas not suited to what should be her present occupations, + and hereafter, with the blessing of God, guard her against + the dangers she may be liable to be ensnared into by the + position in which she is placed.... You have been, I rejoice + to hear, raised in the opinion of all with whom you have + lately had to transact business by your firmness and + decision. You are in an honourable profession, which gives + you occupation.... Resist drink, or a rash throwing away + life, or wasting in any way the energies of a naturally + strong, sensible mind, and really attached heart. Now write + to me soon; tell me truly if I have tried your patience by + this long letter which I venture to send, for it is when + returning to life as I now feel that renewed love for all + dear to one seems to take possession of our hearts, so you + must forgive it if you find it long. Your uncle and cousin + send their kindest love.--Adieu, dearest Roger, ever be + assured of the sincere affection and real attachment of your + aunt. + KATHERINE DOUGHTY." + +Roger protested that his failings had been exaggerated, and by his +letters it is noticeable there is a trace of vexation that Lady +Doughty should have lent an ear to coloured reports of his manner of +life; but there is no abatement in the affectionate terms on which he +stood with his aunt at Tichborne. Matters, however, could not long go +on in this fashion. As yet Roger Tichborne had never spoken of his +love to Miss Doughty, though it cannot be doubted that some tokens had +revealed that secret. But love must find expression in something more +than hints and tokens, and at last came the inevitable time. It was on +Christmas eve, 1851, that Roger joyfully set foot in Tichborne Park +once more. That was a happy meeting in all but the fact that Sir +Edward Doughty was in weak health. Now comes the _dénoûment_. Miss +Doughty had given Roger a keepsake volume of Father Faber's Hymns, and +there was an exchange of gifts. Suddenly the truth flashed across the +mind of the father, and he was vexed and angry. On a Sunday morning, +when the two cousins had been walking in the garden enjoying the +bright winter day, and they were sitting together at breakfast, a +message came that Sir Edward desired to see his nephew in the library. +The girl waited, but Roger did not come back to the breakfast table. +The eyes of the cousins met sorrowfully in the chapel, and in the +afternoon, with Lady Doughty's permission, they saw each other in the +drawing-room to take farewell. For Sir Edward's fiat had gone forth. +Marriage between first cousins was forbidden by the Church, and there +were other reasons why he was resolute that this engagement should be +broken off before it grew more serious. So it was arranged that on the +very next morning the young man should leave the house for ever. Thus +the great hope of Roger's life was suddenly extinguished, and there +was nothing left for him but to sail with his regiment for India, and +endeavour, if he could, to forget the past. Some days after that, at +his cousin's request, he wrote out for her a narrative of his sorrows +at this time, in which he said:-- + +"What I felt when I left my uncle it is difficult for me to explain. I +was like thunderstruck. I came back to my room, and tried to pack up +my things, but was obliged to give up the attempt, as my mind was +quite absent. I sank on a chair, and remained there, my head buried +between my two knees for more than half an hour. What was the nature +of my thoughts, my dearest K., you may easily imagine. To think that I +was obliged to leave you the next day, not to see you again--not, +perhaps, for years, if ever I came back from India. The idea was +breaking my heart. It passed on, giving me no relief, until about two +o'clock, when my aunt told me that you wished to see me. That news +gave me more pleasure than I could express; so much so that I never +could have expected it. The evening that I saw you, my dear K., about +five o'clock, you cannot conceive what pleasure it gave me. I saw you +felt my going away, so I determined to tell you everything I felt +towards you. What I told you it is not necessary to repeat, as I +suppose you remember it. When I came away from the drawing-room my +mind was so much oppressed that it was impossible to think of going to +bed. I stopped up until two o'clock in the morning. I do not think it +necessary, my dearest K., to tire you with all the details of what I +have felt for you during these two days; suffice it to say, that I +never felt more acute pain, especially during the night when I could +not sleep. I promise to my own dearest Kate, on my word and honour, +that I will be back in England, if she is not married or engaged, +towards the end of the autumn of 1854, or the month of January 1855. +If she is so engaged I shall remain in India for ten or fifteen years, +and shall wish for her happiness, which I shall be too happy to +promote." + +Neither Roger nor Kate had, however, given up hope of some change. +Lady Doughty, despite a secret dread of her nephew's habits, had a +strong regard for him, and would be certain to plead his cause. And +in a very few days circumstances unexpectedly favoured his suit. Sir +Edward's malady grew worse, the physicians despaired, and he believed +himself near his end. Roger was sent for hurriedly to take farewell of +his uncle. As he approached the sick bed his uncle said, "I know, my +dear Roger, the mutual attachment which exists between you and your +cousin. If you were not so near related I should not object at all to +a marriage between you two: but, however, wait, three years; then, if +the attachment still exists between you, and you can get your father's +consent, and also leave from the Church, it will be the will of God, +and I will not object to it any longer." + +To which Roger replied--"Ever since I have had the pleasure of knowing +you and my cousin, I have always tried to act towards you two in the +most honourable way I possibly could. The Church, as you know, grants +dispensations on these occasions. Of course, if you approve of it, I +will get my father's consent, and also leave from the Church, and do +it in an honourable way in the eyes of God and of the world." These +two speeches seem rather stilted and unnatural, yet this is how they +have been given in evidence. Days passed, and Roger sat up night after +night with his uncle. It was during those tedious watchings that he +again wrote at Miss Doughty's request a narrative of his feelings, +which ran thus:-- + + "TICHBORNE PARK, _Feb_. 4, 1852 (1.30 A.M.) + + "I shall go on," he said, "with my confessions, only asking + for some indulgence if you find them too long and too + tedious. You are, my dearest K., the only one for whom I + have formed so strong and sincere an attachment. I never + could have believed, a few years ago, I was able to get so + attached to another. You are the only young person who has + shown me some kindness, for which I feel very thankful. It + is in some respects rather a painful subject for me to have + to acknowledge my faults; but, as I have undertaken the + task, I must write all I have done, and what have been my + thoughts, for the last five weeks. I had a very wrong idea + when I left Ireland. It was this: I thought that you had + entirely forgotten me. I was, nevertheless, very anxious to + come to Tichborne for a short time to take a last farewell + of you, my uncle, and my aunt. My mind and heart were then + so much oppressed by these thoughts, that it was my + intention not to come back from India for ten or fifteen + years. I loved you, my dearest K., as dearly as ever. I + would have done anything in this world to oblige you, and + give you more of that happiness which I hoped I might see + you enjoy. I would have given my life for your happiness' + sake. To have seen all these things, I repeat again, with a + dry eye and an unbroken heart, or for a person who has a + strong feeling of attachment towards another to behold it, + is almost beyond human power. These feelings will arise when + I shall be thousands of miles from you, but I have taken my + pains and sorrows and your happiness in this world, and said + a prayer that you might bear the pains and sorrows of this + world with courage and resignation, and by these means be + happy in the next. When I came here I found I had been + mistaken in the opinion I had formed, and I reproached + myself bitterly for ever having such an idea. It is not + necessary for me to mention that I got rid of these bad + thoughts in a few minutes. Things went on happily until + Sunday, January 11, 1852, when I was sent for by my uncle at + breakfast. What took place between us I think it unnecessary + to repeat, as you know already. I was obliged to leave the + next morning by the first train for London. I never felt + before so deeply in my life what it was to part with the + only person I ever loved. How deeply I felt I cannot + express, but I shall try to explain as much of it as I can + in the next chapter. + + "What I have suffered last night I cannot easily explain. + You do not know, my own dearest K., what are my feelings + towards you. You cannot conceive how much I loved you. It + breaks my heart, my own dearest K., to think how long I + shall be without seeing you. I do feel that more than I can + tell you. You have the comfort of a home, and, moreover, at + some time or other, some person to whom you can speak, and + who will comfort you. I have none. I am thrown on the world + quite alone, without a friend--nothing; but, however, I + shall try and take courage, and I hope that when you will + see me in three years you will find a change for the better. + I shall employ these three years to reform my conduct, and + become all that you wish to see me. I shall never, my own, + my dearest K., forget the few moments I have spent with you; + but, on the contrary, I shall only consider them as the + happiest of my life. You cannot imagine how much pleasure + your letter has given me. It proved to me, far beyond any + possible doubt, what are your feelings towards me. I did + not, it is true, require that proof to know how you felt for + me. It is for that reason that I thank you most sincerely + for that proof of confidence, by expressing yourself so + kindly and openly to me. You may rest assured, my own + dearest K., that nothing in this world will prevent me, + except death in actual service, from coming back from India + at the time I have named to you--the latter part of the + autumn of 1854, or the beginning of 1855. It will be a great + comfort for me, my own dearest K., when I shall be in India, + to think of you. It will be, I may say, the only pleasure I + shall have to think of the first person I ever loved. You + may rest assured that nothing in the world will make me + change. Moreover, if you wish me to come back sooner, only + write to me, and I shall not remain five minutes in the army + more than I can help. I shall always be happy to comply with + your wishes, and come back as soon as possible. Again rest + assured, my dearest K., that if in any situation of life I + can be of help or service to you, I shall only be too happy, + my dearest K., to serve and oblige you.--Your very + affectionate cousin, + R.C. TICHBORNE." + +Roger went back to his regiment in Ireland soon after the date given +in the foregoing extract; but the Carabineers were finally removed to +Canterbury, and in the summer he again got leave of absence, which he +spent with his aunt and cousin in London, and at Tichborne; and it +was on the 22d of June 1852, that the young people walked together for +the last time in the garden of Tichborne house. They talked of the +future hopefully; and for her comfort he told her a secret. Some +months before that time he had made a vow, and written out and signed +it solemnly. It was in these words:--"I make on this day a promiss, +that if I marry my Cousin Kate Doughty, this year, or before three +years are over, at the latest, to build a church or chapel at +Tichborne to the Holy Virgin, in thanksgiving for the protection which +she has showed us in praying God that our wishes might be fulfilled." +Roger went back to his regiment and indulged his habitual melancholy. +To his great regret, the order for the Carabineers to go to India had +been countermanded; but he had no intention of leading the dull round +of barrack life in Canterbury. He had determined to go abroad for a +year and a half or two years; by that time the allotted period of +trial would be near an end. He had determined to leave a profession +which offered no outlet for his energies. The tame round of the cities +and picture-galleries of Europe had no charms for him. Among the many +books which he had read at this time were the Indian romances of +Chateaubriand, "René," "Attila," and "Le Dernier Abencerage." How +deeply these stories had impressed his mind is apparent in his letters +to Lady Doughty. "Happy," he says, "was the life of René. He knew how +to take his troubles with courage, and keep them to himself,--retired +from all his friends to be more at liberty to think about his sorrows +and misfortunes, and bury them in himself. I admire that man for his +courage; that is, the courage to carry those sorrows to the grave +which drove him into solitude." Among his intimate friends and +schoolfellows at Stonyhurst, was Mr. Edward Waterton, whose father, the +celebrated naturalist, had given to the college a collection of +stuffed foreign birds and other preserved animals; and there can be no +doubt that the famous narratives of adventure in South America of that +distinguished traveller were among the books which Roger and other +college friends read at that period. How deeply the splendours of the +natural history collection of Stonyhurst had impressed the mind of the +boy is evidenced in the fact that Roger took delight at school in +practising the art of preserving birds and other animals; while long +afterwards, in humble emulation of the great naturalist's achievement, +he gathered and sent home, when on his travels, many a specimen of +birds of splendid plumage. South America, in short, had long been the +subject of his dreams; and now in travelling in that vast continent, +he would try to find occupation for the mind, and get through the long +time of waiting which he had undertaken to bear patiently. His scheme +was to spend a twelvemonth in Chili, Guayaquil, and Peru, seeing not +only wild scenes but famous cities; thence to visit Mexico, and so by +way of the United States find his way back to England. Having taken +this resolution, he set about putting his affairs in order, for Roger +was a man of business-like habits, and by no means prone to neglect +his worldly interests. He made his will,--saying, however, as he +remarked in one of his letters, "nothing about the church or chapel at +Tichborne," which he said he would only build under the conditions +mentioned in a paper which he had left in the hands of his dearest and +most trusted friend, Mr. Gosford, the steward of the family estates. In +truth, months before the day when he gave Miss Doughty a copy of "The +Vow" in the garden at Tichborne, he had solemnly signed and sealed up +a compact with his own conscience, and deposited it with other +precious mementoes of that time in his friend's safe keeping. Parting +with friends in England cost him, perhaps, but little sorrow, for his +mind was full of projects to be carried into effect on his return. He +aspired to the character of a traveller, and to be qualified for +membership at the Travellers' Club, where, in one of his letters while +abroad, he requests that his name may be inscribed as a candidate. He +had an old habit of keeping diaries, and he promised to send extracts, +and, after all, the time would not be long. There was one house in +which Roger naturally shrank from saying farewell. He had made a +solemn resolution that he would go to Tichborne no more while matters +remained thus, and his pride was wounded by what appeared to him to +be a want of confidence on the part of Lady Doughty. In a worldly +point of view it is difficult to conceive any union more desirable +than that of the two cousins. But it is clear that the mother trembled +for the future of her child. Hence she still gave ready ear to tales +of the wild life of the regiment, and hinted them in her letters to +her nephew in a way that made him angry, but not vindictive. He was +asked to go and see his uncle, Sir Edward, before starting; but his +will was inflexible, and he went away, as he had all along said that +he would, resolved to bury his sorrows within himself. Roger went away +in February, and spent nearly three weeks in Paris with his parents +and some old friends of his early days. His mother was much averse to +his plan of travelling; and she opposed it both by her own +upbraidings, and by the persuasion of spiritual advisers who had +influence over her son. But it was of no avail. Roger had chosen to +sail in a French vessel from Havre--"La Pauline"--and sail he would. +His voyage to Valparaiso was to last four months, and thence he was +going on in the same vessel to Peru. It was doubtless because of the +strong hold which the French language and many French manners still +had on him, that, though he took an English servant with him, he +preferred a French ship with a French captain and French seamen. On +the 1st of March, 1853, he sailed away from Europe, and, as we are +bound to believe, never returned. The "Pauline" started with bad +weather, which detained her in the Channel, and compelled her to put +in at Falmouth, but after that she made a good voyage round Cape Horn +to Valparaiso, where she arrived on the 19th of June. As the vessel +was to remain there a month, Roger, after spending a week in +Valparaiso, started with his servant John Moore to see Santiago, the +capital of Chili, about ninety miles inland. Thence he returned and +sailed for Peru, where he embarked for places in the north. At +Santiago his servant had been taken ill, and, though recovering, was +unfitted to travel. His master thereupon furnished him with funds to +set up a store, and took another servant, with whom he underwent many +adventures. At Lima he visited the celebrated churches, and purchased +souvenirs for his friends and relatives. Having stored a little yacht +with provisions, he started with his servant on a voyage of about +three hundred miles up the river Guayaquil, and was for some days +under the Line; he made similar journeys in a canoe with his servant +and two Indians, still bent on collecting and preserving rare birds of +gorgeous plumage. He also visited and explored silver and copper +mines. During all this travelling he continued his home correspondence +with great regularity. But the first news he received was bad. +Scarcely had the "Pauline" left sight of our shores, when Sir Edward +Doughty died, and Roger's father and mother were now Sir James and +Lady Tichborne. By and by the wanderer began to retrace his steps, +came back to Valparaiso, and with his last new servant, Jules Berraut, +rode thence in one night ninety miles to Santiago again. Again he +started with muleteers and servants on the difficult and perilous +journey over the Cordilleras, and thence across the Pampas to Buenos +Ayres, Monte Video, and Rio de Janeiro. In April 1854, there was in +the harbour of Rio a vessel which hailed from Liverpool, and was +called the "Bella." She was about to sail for Kingston, Jamaica, and +it was to Kingston that Roger had directed his letters and remittances +to be forwarded, that being a convenient resting place on his journey +to Mexico, where he intended to spend a few months. The "Bella" was a +full-rigged ship of nearly 500 tons burden, clipper-built, and almost +new. Aboard this ship, then taking in her cargo of coffee and logwood, +came one April morning a young English gentleman who introduced +himself as Mr. Tichborne. He was dressed in a half tourist, half +nautical costume, and wanted a passage to Kingston. Travelling with +servants, hiring yachts and canoes, buying paintings, curiosities, and +natural history specimens, had proved more expensive than he expected. +His funds were exhausted; nor could his purse be replenished until he +got to Kingston, where letters of credit were expected to be waiting +for him. It was some little time before the captain believed the +young man's story, but when he did, he not only undertook to convey +him and his people to Kingston; he determined to help him in a matter +of some delicacy and not a little danger; for when the vessel was near +sailing, Roger was found to be without that indispensable requisite, a +passport. Great excitement then prevailed in Brazil on the subject of +runaway slaves. Black slaves had escaped by making themselves +stowaways; "half-caste" people, relying on their comparative fairness +of skin, had openly taken passage as seamen or even passengers, and +thus got away from a hateful life of bondage. Hence the peremptory +regulation that no captain should sail with a stranger aboard without +an official license. Under these circumstances a plan was devised by +the captain. When the Government officers came aboard, no Tichborne or +other stranger was visible. As the vessel, loosened from her moorings, +was slowly drifting down the harbour in the morning, the officers sat +at a little table on deck, smoked and drank with the captain. At +length the moment came to call their boat and take farewell, wishing +the good ship "Bella" and her valuable freight a pleasant voyage. +Scarcely had they departed, when the table was removed; and just +beneath where they had been sitting a circular plug closing the +entrance to what is known as the "lazarette" was lifted, and out came +Roger laughing at the success of their harmless device. Before noon +the "Bella" had passed from the harbour of Rio into the open ocean, +and was soon on her voyage northward. That was on the 20th of April +1854, and that is the last ever known in good sooth of the "Bella," +except as a foundered vessel. Six days after she had left the port of +Rio, a ship, traversing her path, found tokens of a wreck--straw +bedding such as men lay on deck in hot latitudes, a water-cask, a +chest of drawers, and among other things a long boat floating bottom +upwards, and bearing on her stern the ominous words "Bella, +Liverpool." These were brought into Rio, and forthwith the Brazilian +authorities caused steam vessels to go out and scour the seas in quest +of survivors; but none were seen. That the "Bella" had foundered +there was little room to doubt; though the articles found were chiefly +such as would have been on her deck. Even the items of cabin furniture +were known to have been placed on deck to make way for merchandise, +with which she was heavily laden. The night before these articles were +found had been gusty, but there had been nothing like a storm. When +time went by and brought no tidings, Captain Oates, a great friend of +the captain of the "Bella," who had been instrumental in getting Roger +on board, came with other practical seamen to the conclusion that she +had been caught in a squall; that her cargo of coffee had shifted; and +that hence, unable to right herself, the "Bella" had gone down in deep +water, giving but little warning to those on board. In a few months +this sorrowful news was brought to Tichborne, where there was of +course great mourning. One by one the heirs of the old house were +disappearing; and now it seemed that all the hopes of the family must +be centred in Alfred, then a boy of fifteen. So, at least, felt Sir +James Tichborne. He had inquiries made in America and elsewhere. For a +time there was a faint hope that some aboard the "Bella" had escaped, +and had, perhaps, been rescued. But months went by, and still there +was no sign. The letters of news that poor Roger had so anxiously +asked to be directed to him at the Post Office, Kingston, Jamaica, +remained there till the paper grew faded. The banker's bill, which was +wanted to pay the passage money, lay at the agents, but neither the +captain nor his passenger of the "Bella" came to claim it. Weeks and +months rolled on; the annual allowance of one thousand a year, which +was Roger's by right, was paid into Glyn & Co.'s bank, but no draft +upon it was ever more presented at their counters. The diligent +correspondent ceased to correspond. At Lloyd's the unfortunate vessel +was finally written down upon the "Loss Book"--the insurance was paid +to the owners, and in time the "Bella" faded away from the memories of +all but those who had lost friends or relatives in her. Lady Tichborne +was always full of hope that her son had been saved, and could never +be brought to regard him as drowned; but we have now seen the last of +the real Roger Tichborne, and our next business will be with the +counterfeit. + +At last, in the neighbourhood in which Sir James and his wife lived, +it became notorious that the mother was prepared to receive any one +kindly who professed to have news of her son, and naturally when the +story once got wind there were many who tried to profit by her +credulity. Among other adventurers, a tramp in the dress of a sailor +found his way to Tichborne, and, having poured into the willing ears +of the poor mother a wild story about some of the survivors of the +"Bella" being picked up off the coast of Brazil, and carried to +Melbourne, was forthwith regaled and rewarded. There is a freemasonry +among beggars which sufficiently explains the fact, that very soon the +appearance of ragged sailors in Tichborne Park became common. Sailors +with one leg, and sailors with one arm, loud-voiced, blustering +seamen, and seamen whose troubles had subdued their tones to a +plaintive key, all found their way to the back door of the great +house. Every one of them had heard something about the "Bella's" crew +being picked up; and could tell more on that subject than all the +owners, or underwriters, or shipping registers in the world. And poor +Lady Tichborne believed, as is evidenced by a letter of hers written +in 1857, only three years after the shipwreck, to a gentleman in +Melbourne, imploring him to make inquiries for her son in that part of +the world. Sir James, however, though no less sorrowful, had no faith; +and he made short work of tramping sailors who came to impose on the +poor lady with their unsubstantial legends. But Sir James died in +1862. Shortly before this event his only surviving son Alfred had +married Theresa, a daughter of the eleventh Lord Arundel of Wardour. +This, however, did not prevent the mother, in one of her crazy moods, +taking a step calculated to induce some impostor to come forward and +claim to be the rightful heir--which was the insertion of an +advertisement in the _Times_, offering a reward for the discovery of +her eldest son, and giving a number of particulars with regard to his +birth, parentage, age, date and place of shipwreck, name of vessel, +and other matters. She also incorporated in her advertisement the +stories of the tramping sailors about his having been picked up and +carried to Melbourne; and this mischievous advertisement was published +in various languages, and doubtless copied in the South American and +Australian newspapers. This is the first step we find towards the +formation of the imposture. + +Time rolled on, and no Roger, true or false, made his appearance. One +day the Dowager happened to see in a newspaper a mention of the fact +that there was in Sydney a man named Cubitt, who kept what he called a +"Missing Friends' Office." To Cubitt accordingly she wrote a long +rambling letter, in which, among other tokens of her state of mind, +she gave a grossly incorrect account of her son's appearance, and even +of his age; but Cubitt was to insert her long advertisement in the +Australian papers, and he was promised a handsome reward. Cubitt, in +reply, amused the poor lady with vague reports of her son being found +in the capacity of a private soldier in New Zealand; and as there was +war there at that time the poor lady wrote back in an agony of terror +to entreat that he might be bought out of the regiment. Mr. Cubitt soon +perceived the singular person he had to deal with; and his letters +from that time were largely occupied with requests for money for +services which had no existence out of the letters. At last came more +definite information. A Mr. Gibbes, an attorney at the little town of +Wagga-Wagga, two hundred miles inland from Sydney, had, he said, found +the real Roger living "in a humble station of life," and under an +assumed name. Again money was wanted. Then Gibbes, apparently +determined to steal a march on Cubitt, wrote directly to the credulous +lady, and there was much correspondence between them. At first there +were some little difficulties. The man who, after a certain amount of +coyness, had pleaded guilty to being the long-lost heir, still held +aloof in a strange way, concealed his present name and occupation, and +instead of going home at once, preferred to bargain for his return +through the medium of an attorney and the keeper of a missing-friends' +office. All this, however, did not shake the faith of Lady Tichborne. +Then he gave accounts of himself which did not in the least tally with +the facts of Roger's life. He said he was born in Dorsetshire, whereas +Roger was born in Paris; he accounted for being an illiterate man by +saying that he had suffered greatly in childhood from St. Vitus's +dance, which had interfered with his studies. "My son," says Lady +Tichborne, in reply, "never had St. Vitus's dance." When asked if he +had not been in the army, he replied, "Yes," but that he did not know +much about it, because he had merely enlisted as a private soldier "in +the Sixty-sixth Blues," and had been "bought off" by his father after +only thirteen days' service. What ship did you leave Europe in? +inquired Mr. Gibbes, with a view of sending further tokens of identity +to the Dowager. To this inquiry, Roger Tichborne might have been +expected to answer in "La Pauline," but, as was shown in the trial, +this mysterious person replied, in "The Jessie Miller." "And when did +she sail?" "On the 28th of November, 1852," was the reply; whereas +Roger sailed on the 1st of March, 1853. Asked as to where he was +educated, the long-lost heir replied, "At a school in Southampton," +where Roger never was at school. But it happened that Lady Tichborne +in a letter to Mr. Gibbes had said that her son was for three years at +the Jesuit College of Stonyhurst, in Lancashire; Mr. Gibbes accordingly +suggested to the client "in a humble station of life," that his memory +was at fault on that point, but the client maintained his ground. "Did +she say he had been at Stonyhurst College? If so, it was false;" and, +he added, with an oath, "I have a good mind never to go near her again +for telling such a story." Yet this strange person was able to confirm +the entire story of the tramping sailors. He _had_ embarked in the +"Bella," he _had_ been picked up at sea with other survivors in a boat +off the coast of Brazil, and it was quite true that he was landed with +them in Melbourne. In short, he corroborated the Dowager's long +advertisement in every particular; but beyond that he had nothing of +the slightest importance to tell which was not absurdly incorrect. His +replies, however, were forwarded to the Lady Tichborne, with pressing +requests to send £200, then £250, and finally £400, to enable the lost +heir to pay his debts--an indispensable condition of his leaving the +colony. It is evident that the statements thus reported puzzled the +poor lady a little, and she seems to have been unable to account for +the lost heir sending his kind remembrance to his "grandpa," because +Roger's' paternal grandfather died before he was born; and his +grandfather by the mother's side had also died several years before +Roger left England, as the young man knew well enough. She was clearly +a little surprised to hear that the resuscitated Roger did not +understand a word of French, for "my son," she says, "was born in +Paris, and spoke French better than English." But yet, with the +strange pertinacity which causes people to cling to that which they +know to be wrong, and try to force themselves into belief of its +truth, she believed in the _bona-fides_ of the claimant for maternal +solicitude and the paternal acres. "I fancied," she said in one letter +to Gibbes, "that the photographies you sent me are like him, but of +course after thirteen years' absence there must have been some +difference in the shape, as Roger was very slim; but," she added, "I +suppose all those large clothes would make him appear bigger than he +is." Again, alluding to the "photographies," she remarks that at least +the hand in the portrait is small, and adds, "that peculiar thing has +done a good deal with me to make me recognise him. A year and a half +was consumed in these tedious hagglings with brokers and agents for +the restoration of a lost heir, and during great part of that time the +lost heir himself made no sign, but contented himself with begging +trifling loans of Gibbes on the strength of his pretensions. Sometimes +a pound was the modest request; sometimes more. He had married, and a +child was born, and on that occasion he implored for "three pound," +plaintively declaring that he was "more like a mannick than a B. of +B.K. (supposed to mean a Baronet of British Kingdom) to have a child +born in such a hovel." Still the new man wrapped himself in +impenetrable secrecy. The Dowager Lady Tichborne complained that while +pressed to send everybody money, she was not even allowed to know the +whereabouts nor present name of her lost Roger; and she entreated +piteously to be allowed to communicate more directly. It was nothing +to her that the accounts the pretender had given of Roger's life were +wrong in every particular, except where her own advertisement had +furnished information. I think she said on this point, "My poor dear +Roger confuses everything in his head just as in a dream, and I +believe him to be my son, though his statements differ from mine." In +the midst of this curious correspondence trouble once more entered the +old home at Tichborne. Sir Alfred, the younger brother of Roger, was +dead, and the poor half-crazed mother in a solitary lodging in her +loved Paris was left more than ever desolate. Widowed and childless, +she had nothing now but to brood over her sorrows, and cling to the +old dream of the miraculous saving of her eldest born, who, since the +terrible hour of shipwreck--now twelve years past--had given no real +token of existence. The position of affairs at Tichborne was +remarkable, for though there were hopes of an heir to Tichborne, Sir +Alfred had left no child. Should the child--unborn, but already +fatherless--prove to be a girl, or other mischance befall, there was +an end of the old race of Tichborne. The property would then go to +collaterals, and the baronetcy must become extinct. It was under the +weight of these new sorrows that the Dowager Lady Tichborne wrote +pitiable letters to Gibbes, promising money and asking for more +particulars; while enclosing at the same time to the man who thus so +unaccountably kept himself aloof a letter beginning, "My dear and +beloved Roger, I hope you will not refuse to come back to your poor +afflicted mother. I have had the great misfortune to lose your poor +dear father, and lately I have lost my beloved son Alfred. I am now +alone in this world of sorrow, and I hope you will take that into +consideration, and come back." It is hardly surprising that during +this time Mr. Gibbes was constantly urging his mysterious client to +relinquish his disguise. Why not write to the mother and mention some +facts known only to those two which would at once convince her? True, +he had already mentioned "facts," which turned out to be fictions, and +yet the Dowager's faith was unabated. Mr. Gibbes's client was therefore +justified in his answer, that he "did not think it needful." But +Gibbes was pressing, for it happened that the Dowager had in one of +her letters said, "I shall expect an answer from him. As I know his +handwriting, I shall know at once whether it is him." Accordingly we +find the Claimant, under the direction of Mr. Gibbes, penning this:-- + + "WAGGA-WAGGA, _Jan_. 17 66. + MY DEAR MOTHER,--The delay which has taken place since my + last Letter Dated 22d April 54 Makes it very difficult to + Commence this Letter. I deeply regret the truble and + anxoiety I must have cause you by not writing before. But + they are known to my Attorney And the more private details I + will keep for your own Ear. Of one thing rest Assured that + although I have been in A humble conditoin of Life I have + never let any act disgrace you or my Family. I have been A + poor Man and nothing worse Mr. Gilbes suggest to me as + essential. That I should recall to your Memory things which + can only be known to you and me to convince you of my + Idenitity I dont thing it needful my dear Mother, although I + sind them Mamely the Brown Mark on my side. And the Card + Case at Brighton. I can assure you My Dear Mother I have + keep your promice ever since. In writing to me please + enclose your letter to Mr. Gilbes to prevent unnesersery + enquiry as I do not wish any person to know me in this + Country. When I take my proper prosition and title. Having + therefore mad up my mind to return and face the Sea once + more I must request to send me the Means of doing so and + paying a fue outstranding debts. I would return by the + overland Mail. The passage Money and other expences would be + over two Hundred pound, for I propose Sailing from Victoria + not this colonly And to Sail from Melbourne in my own Name. + Now to annable me to do this my dear Mother you must send + me"-- + +The half-sheet is torn off at this point, but it has been stated by +Lady Tichborne's solicitor, who saw it when complete, that the ending +originally contained the words "How's Grandma?" This must have again +puzzled the Dowager, for Roger had no "Grandma" living when he went +away. The date "22d April 54" was also incorrect, for the "Bella" +sailed on April 20th. But there were other difficulties; Lady +Tichborne had never seen, and, what is more, had never heard of any +brown mark on her son Roger; she could say nothing about the "card +case at Brighton" (which referred, according to Mr. Gibbes, to the +Claimant's assertion that he had left England in consequence of having +been swindled out of £1500 by Johnny and Harry Broome, prize-fighters, +and others at Brighton races); and lastly, the anxious mother could +not recognise the handwriting. The Australian correspondent was +somewhat disappointed that the mother did not at once acknowledge him +as her son. But the Dowager soon declared her unabated faith; sent +small sums and then larger, and finally made up her mind to forward +the four hundred pounds. Meanwhile she sent to him, as well as to her +other Australian correspondents, much family information. Among other +things she told him that there was a man named Guilfoyle at Sydney, +who had been gardener for many years at Upton and Tichborne, and +another man in the same town named Andrew Bogle, a black man, who had +been in the service of Sir Edward. Mr. Gibbes's client lost no time in +finding out both these persons, and soon became pretty well primed. It +was shortly after this period that it became known in Victoria and New +South Wales that there was a man named Thomas Castro, living in +Wagga-Wagga as a journeyman slaughter-man and butcher, who was going to +England to lay claim to the baronetcy and estates of Tichborne. From +the letters and other facts it is manifest that it was originally +intended to keep all this secret even from the Dowager. "He wishes," +says his attorney, Mr. Gibbes, "that his present identity should be +totally disconnected from his future." It happened that one Cator, a +Wagga-Wagga friend of the Claimant, whose letters show him to have +been a coarse-minded and illiterate man, was leaving for England +shortly before the time that Castro had determined to embark. Whether +invited or not Cator was not unlikely to favour his friend with a +visit in the new and flourishing condition which appeared to await him +in that country. Perhaps to make a virtue of necessity, Castro gave to +Cator a sealed envelope, bearing outside the words, "To be open when +at sea," and inside a note which ran as follows:-- + + "WAGGA-WAGGA, _April 2nd_, 1866. + Mr. Cater,--At any time wen you are in England you should + feel enclined for a month pleasure Go to Tichborne, in + Hampshire, Enquire for Sir Roger Charles Tichborne, + Tichborne-hall, Tichborne, And you will find One that will + make you a welcome guest. But on no account Mension the Name + of Castro or Alude to me being a Married Man, or that I have + being has a Butcher. You will understand me, I have no + doubt. Yours truely, Thomas Castro. I Sail by the June + Mail." + +All this secrecy, however, was soon given up as impracticable for +articles in the Melbourne, Wagga-Wagga, and Sydney journals, quickly +brought the news to England, and finally Castro determined to take +with him his wife and family. One of his earliest steps was to take +into his service the old black man Bogle, and pay the passage-money +both of himself and his son to Europe with him. Certain relics of +Upton and of Tichborne which the Claimant forwarded to a banker at +Wagga-Wagga from whom he was trying to obtain advances, were described +by the Claimant himself as brought over by "my uncle Valet who is now +living with me." The bankers, however, were cautious; and "declined to +make loans." Nevertheless, the Claimant had the good fortune to +convince a Mr. Long, who was in Sydney, and had seen Roger "when a boy +of ten years old riding in Tichborne Park," and accordingly this +gentleman advanced him a considerable sum. Finally the Claimant +embarked aboard the "Rakaia," on his way to France _viâ_ Panama, and +accompanied by his family, and attended by old Bogle, his son, and a +youthful secretary, left Sydney on September 2d, 1866, and was +expected by the Dowager in Paris within two months from that date. But +nearly four months elapsed, and there were no tidings. Between +Christmas day and New Year's eve of 1866, there arrived in Alresford a +mysterious stranger, who put up at the Swan Hotel in that little town, +and said that his name was Taylor. He was a man of bulk and eccentric +attire. He wrapped himself in large greatcoats, muffled his neck and +chin in thick shawls, and wore a cap with a peak of unusual +dimensions, which, when it was pulled down, covered a considerable +portion of his features. The stranger, at first very reserved, soon +showed signs of coming out of his shell. He sent for Rous, the +landlord, and had a chat with him, in the course of which he asked +Rous to take him the next day for a drive round the neighbourhood of +Tichborne. Rous complied, and the innkeeper, chatting all the way on +local matters, showed his guest Tichborne village, Tichborne park and +house, the church, the mill, the village of Cheriton, and all else +that was worth seeing in that neighbourhood. In fact, Mr. Taylor became +very friendly with Rous, invited him to drink in his room, and then +confided to him an important secret--which, however, was by this time +no secret at all, for Mr. Rous had just observed upon his guest's +portmanteau the initials "R.C.T." Indeed it was already suspected in +the smoking-room of the Swan that the enormous stranger was the +long-expected heir. Suspicion became certainty when the stranger +telegraphed for Bogle, and that faithful black, once familiar in the +streets of Alresford, suddenly made his appearance there, began +reconnoitring the house at Tichborne, contrived to get inside the old +home, to learn that it had been let by the trustees of the infant +baronet to a gentleman named Lushington, and to examine carefully the +position of the old and new pictures hanging on the walls. This done, +the stranger and his black attendant disappeared as suddenly as they +had come. But the news spread abroad, and reached many persons who +were interested. Roger's numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins heard of +the sudden appearance of the long-expected Australian claimant. The +Dowager in Paris, the mother of the infant, then at Ryde, all heard +the news; and finally Mr. Gosford, Roger's dearest and most intimate +friend and confidant, then in North Wales, got intelligence, and +hastened to London to ascertain if the joyful news could be true. + +But the enormous individual had vanished again. The circumstance was +strange. Bogle had written letters from Australia declaring that this +was the identical gentleman he had known years before as Mr. Roger +Tichborne when a visitor at Sir Edward's; and the Dowager had declared +herself satisfied. But why did the long-lost Roger hold aloof? No one +could tell. There was no reason for such conduct, and so suspicion was +engendered. With infinite pains Mr. Gosford and a gentleman connected +with the Tichborne family ascertained that the person who had figured +as Mr. Taylor at the Swan had taken apartments for himself and his +family at a hotel near Manchester Square, and that he had even been +there since Christmas day. But once more the clue was lost. Sir Roger +Tichborne had gone away with his wife and children, and left no one +there but Bogle and his secretary. Then by chance Mr. Gosford +discovered that "Sir Roger" was staying at the Clarendon Hotel, +Gravesend. Forthwith Mr. Gosford, with the gentleman referred to, and +Mr. Cullington, the solicitor, went to the Clarendon Hotel at +Gravesend, where, after long waiting in the hall, they saw a stout +person muffled, and wearing a peaked cap over the eyes, who, having +glanced at the party suspiciously, rushed past them, hurried upstairs, +and locked himself in a room. In vain the party sent up cards, in vain +they followed and tapped at the door. The stout person would not open, +and the party descended to the coffee-room, where soon afterwards they +received a mysterious note, concluding:--"pardon me gentlemen but I +did not wish any-one to know where I was staying with my family. And +was much annoyed to see you all here." Lady Tichborne herself had +failed to recognise in the letters from Wagga-Wagga the handwriting +of her son, and Mr. Gosford was equally unsuccessful. The party +therefore left the house after warning the landlord that he had for a +guest an "impostor and a rogue." Still the idea that his old friend, +who had made him his executor and the depositary of his most secret +wishes, could have come back again alive, however changed, was too +pleasing to be abandoned by Mr. Gosford, even on such evidence. +Accordingly, by arrangement with an attorney named Holmes, he went +down again, and, more successful this time, had conversation with the +stranger who called himself Roger. But nothing about the features of +the man brought back to him any recollection, and subsequent +interviews but confirmed the first impression. + +Meanwhile, Lady Tichborne had learned that he whom she called Roger +had arrived in England; and she wrote letters imploring him to come to +her, to which the Claimant, who had not been in London more than a +fortnight, answered, that he was "prevented by circumstances!" and +added, "Oh! Do come over and see me at once." On the very day after +the date of this letter, however, he arrived in Paris, accompanied by +a man whose acquaintance he had made in a billiard room, and by Mr. +Holmes, the attorney to whom his casual acquaintance had introduced +him. The party put up at an hotel in the Rue St. Honoré. They knew Lady +Tichborne's address in the Place de la Madeleine, scarcely five +minutes' walk from their hotel; but they had arrived somewhat late, +and "Sir Roger" paid no visit to his mother that day. Lady Tichborne +had in the meantime consulted her brother and others on the subject, +but though the opinions given by them were adverse to the claims of +the impostor, she only became more fixed in her ideas. Early the +morning after the Claimant's arrival, she sent her Irish servant, John +Coyne, to the hotel in the Rue St. Honoré with a pressing message, but +was told that "Sir Roger" was not well; his mistress, dissatisfied +with that message, sent him again, whereupon "Sir Roger" came out of +his bedroom and walked past him "slowly and with his head down," +bidding him at the same time go and tell his mamma that he was not +able to come to her; and his mistress, still more dissatisfied, then +directed her servant "to take a cab immediately and fetch her son." +Coyne then went a third time and found "Sir Roger" with his attorney +and his casual acquaintance sitting at breakfast, but was again +unsuccessful. Lady Tichborne that afternoon went herself to the hotel, +and was then permitted to see her son in a darkened chamber, and in +the presence of his attorney and friend. "Sir Roger," said Coyne, who +tells the story, "was lying on the bed with his back turned to us and +his face to the wall," and he added that while he was in that +position, his mistress leaned over and kissed Sir Roger on the mouth, +observing at the same time that "he looked like his father, though his +ears were like his uncle's." Then "Sir Roger" having remarked that he +was "nearly stifled," Lady Tichborne directed Coyne to "take off her +son's coat and undo his braces;" which duties the faithful domestic +accomplished with some difficulty, while at the same time he "managed +to pull him over as well as he could." Upon this Mr. Holmes, solemnly +standing up, addressed John Coyne in the words: "You are a witness +that Lady Tichborne recognises her son," and John Coyne having +replied, "And so are you," the ceremony of recognition was complete. + +Soon after this it was rumoured in the neighbourhood of Alresford, +that the Dowager Lady Tichborne had acknowledged the stranger as her +lost son Roger; that she had determined to allow the repentant +wanderer £1000 a year; and that he was going to take a house at +Croydon pending his entering into the possession of the Tichborne +estates. There happened then to be living in Alresford a gentleman +named Hopkins. He had been solicitor to the Tichborne family, but they +had long ceased to employ him. He had also been a trustee of the +Doughty estates, but had been compelled to resign that position, at +which he had expressed much chagrin. Hopkins had an acquaintance named +Baignet at Winchester, an eccentric person of an inquisitive turn. +Both these began at this time to busy themselves greatly in the +matter of the Tichborne Claimant, who, on his next visit to Alresford, +was accordingly invited to stay at Mr. Hopkins's house. From that time +Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Baignet became active partisans of the Claimant's +cause. Hopkins had not been the solicitor of Roger Tichborne, but he +had seen him occasionally from fifteen to twenty years previously; and +he made an affidavit, that "though he could not recall the expression +of Roger Tichborne's features," he had no doubt, from the knowledge +which the Claimant had shown of the neighbourhood of Tichborne and of +family matters, that he was the same person. All Alresford may, in +fact, be said to have been converted; the bells were rung on the +Claimant's arrival there; and Colonel Lushington, the tenant of +Tichborne house, invited the Australian stranger and his wife to stay +with him there. Colonel Lushington had never seen Roger Tichborne, but +he has explained that he was impressed by his visitor's knowledge of +the old pictures on the walls, which, it will be remembered, Bogle had +been sent by "Mr. Taylor" to reconnoitre. When the news came that "Sir +Roger's wife," on a visit with her husband to Col. Lushington, had had +a child baptised in the chapel at Tichborne, while Mr. Anthony +Biddulph, another convert, and a remote connection of the Tichborne +family, had become godfather, the bells of Alresford rang louder; and +nobody seemed for a moment to doubt the right of the Claimant to the +estates and title. Still it was felt strange that "Sir Roger" went +near none of his old friends. He had left Paris without an effort to +see his former circle of acquaintances. Chatillon, his early tutor, +had been brought by the Dowager there to see him; but Chatillon had +said, "Madame, this is not your son!" Neither the Abbé Salis, nor +Roger's dear old instructor, Father Lefevre, nor Gossein, the faithful +valet, who had played with him from childhood, and had known him well +as a man, nor, indeed, any person in Paris who had been acquainted +with Roger Tichborne, received a visit. In England the facts were the +same. The stranger would go nowhere, and at last it began to be +believed that he was afraid of detection. + +Active measures were meanwhile in preparation for those legal +proceedings which have, within the past three years, occupied so large +a share of public attention. Mr. Holmes and many others were busy in +procuring information. The voluminous will of Roger Tichborne, setting +forth a mass of particulars about the family property, was examined at +Doctors' Commons. Then there were records of proceedings in the +Probate Court and in Chancery relating to the Tichborne estates, of +which copies were procured. The Horse Guards furnished the +indefatigable attorney with minute and precise statements of the +movements of the Carabineers during Roger Tichborne's service, and of +the dates of every leave of absence and return. Then the Dowager's +attorney procured from Stonyhurst lists of the professors and +officials during Roger's three years' study there; and finally, the +books of Lloyd's and the "Merchant Seamen's Register" were searched +for information about the movements of the "Pauline," the "Bella," and +other vessels. Coincident with these researches, there was a marked +improvement in the Claimant's knowledge of the circumstances of what +he alleged to be his own past life. There was no mention now of "the +Sixty-sixth Blues," or of having been a private soldier; no denial, +with or without an oath, of having been at Stonyhurst; no allusion to +any other of the numerous statements he had made to Mr. Gibbes on those +points. Then converts began to multiply, but not among the Tichborne +family, or in any other circle that had known Roger very intimately. +Affidavits, however, increased in number. People related wonderful +instances of things the Claimant reminded them of, and which had +happened in the past. On the one hand, these facts were regarded as +"genuine efforts of memory;" on the other, they were stigmatised as +the result of an organized system of extracting information from one +person, and playing it off upon another. + +At the end of July 1867, there was a public examination of the +Claimant in Chancery, at which, for the first time, he made generally +known that famous account of his alleged wreck and--escape in one of +the boats of the "Bella," with eight other persons, which, with some +variations, he has since maintained. It was then that, in answer to +questions, he stated that he was not certain of the name of the vessel +that picked him up, but was "under the impression that it was the +'Osprey.'" He also said that her captain's name was "Owen Lewis, or +Lewis Owen," but he was "not certain," though he said that three +months elapsed between the date of his being saved and his being +landed in Melbourne in July 1854. Besides these, the most remarkable +points in his examination were his statements that, on the very next +day after his arrival, he was engaged by a Mr. William Foster, of +Boisdale, an extensive farmer in Gippsland, to look after cattle; and +that he henceforward lived in obscurity in Australia under the name of +Thomas Castro. The name of Thomas Castro, he added, had occurred to +him because, during his travels in South America, he had known a +person so named at Melipilla, in Chili. + +Mr. Gosford was also examined on that occasion, with results which had +an important influence on the progress of the great _cause célèbre_. +Some time before that gentleman had been induced to have one more +interview with the Claimant in the presence of two of his most +influential supporters, who thereupon requested Mr. Gosford to test +their _protégé_ by asking him about some private matter between him +and his friend Roger in the past. Thus challenged Mr. Gosford naturally +bethought him of the sealed paper, in which Roger had recorded his +intention of building a chapel or church at Tichborne, and dedicating +it to the Virgin, in the event of his marrying his cousin within three +years; and he therefore requested the Claimant to declare, if he +could, what were the contents of a certain packet marked "private" +which Roger left in his hands when he went away. Having obtained no +definite answer, Mr. Gosford, for the sake of fairness, went a step +further, and said that it recorded an intention "to carry out an +arrangement at Tichborne in the event of his marrying a certain lady." +Still there was no answer; and thereupon Mr. Gosford, declaring that +the whole interview "was idle," left the place. That packet, +unfortunately, was no longer in existence. Some years after Roger +Tichborne's death appeared to be beyond all doubt, Mr. Gosford had +simply burnt it, regarding it as a document which it would be useless, +and which he had no right, to keep, and yet one which, on the other +hand, he should not be justified in giving up to any living person. +The fact of its being burnt he had for obvious reasons concealed, but +being now asked on the subject he was compelled to state the +circumstance. It is remarkable that, on the very morrow of that +disclosure, the Claimant for the first time made a statement to his +supporter, Mr. Bulpett, as to the packet. It may be supposed that Mr. +Bulpett and the Claimant's friends generally were inclined to draw +unfavourable inferences from his apparent ignorance of the contents of +the packet. He now, however, declared that not ignorance of its +contents, but delicacy and forbearance towards Mrs. Radcliffe, had +alone prevented his answering Mr. Gosford's test question. Mr. Gosford, +he said, was right. It did relate to "an arrangement to be carried out +at Tichborne," but an arrangement of a very painful kind. Then it was +that he wrote out the terrible charge against the lady whom Roger had +loved so well--confessing, it is true, his own diabolical wickedness, +but at the same time casting upon her the cruellest of imputations. +This, he said, was what he had sealed up and given to Mr. Gosford. Mr. +Bulpett, the banker, put his initials solemnly to the document, and +within a few months all Hampshire had whispered the wicked story. It +is to be observed that, during all this time, no word had been spoken +by the Claimant of his having confided to Mr. Gosford a vow to build a +church. Four years later, when under examination, he was asked whether +he had ever left any other private document with Mr. Gosford, and he +answered, "I think not." Then it was that counsel produced the copy of +the vow to build the church in Roger Tichborne's hand, which he had +fortunately given to his cousin on the sorrowful day of their last +parting; and finally there was found and read aloud the letter of +Roger Tichborne to Mr. Gosford, dated January 17th, 1852, in which +occur the precious words, "I have written out my will, and left it +with Mr. Slaughter; the only thing which I have left out is about the +church, which I will only build under the circumstances which I have +left with you in writing." Happily these facts render it unnecessary +to enter upon the question, Whether this story was not wholly +irreconcilable, both with itself and with the ascertained dates and +facts in Roger Tichborne's career? + +The estates of Tichborne were not likely to be left undefended either +by the trustees or by the family, who, with the exception of the +Dowager Lady Tichborne, had, with one accord, pronounced the Claimant +an impostor. Accordingly, very soon after his arrival in England, a +gentleman named Mackenzie was despatched to Australia to make +inquiries. Mr. Mackenzie visited Melbourne, Sydney, and Wagga-Wagga, +and up to a certain time was singularly successful in tracing +backwards the career of Thomas Castro. He discovered that, some months +before the Dowager's advertisement for her son had appeared, and Mr. +Gibbes' client had set up his claim, the slaughter-man of Wagga-Wagga +had married an Irish servant-girl named Bryant, who had signed the +marriage register with a cross. He also found that the marriage was +celebrated, not by a Roman Catholic priest, but by a Wesleyan +minister. Searching further he found out that immediately after the +date of the arrival of a letter from the Dowager, informing Mr. Gibbes +that her son was a Roman Catholic, Thomas Castro and Mary Anne Bryant +had again gone through the ceremony of marriage in those names, and on +this occasion the wedding was celebrated in a Roman Catholic chapel. +By applying to Mr. Gibbes, Mr. Mackenzie then discovered that the +Claimant, before leaving Australia, had given instructions for a will, +which was subsequently drawn up and executed by him, in which he +pretended to dispose of the Tichborne estates, and described +properties in various counties, all of which were purely fictitious. +The Tichborne family had not, and never had, any such estates as were +there elaborately set forth, nor did any such estates exist; and the +will contained no bequest, nor indeed any allusion to a solitary +member of Roger's family except his mother, whom it described as Lady +"Hannah Frances Tichborne," though her Christian names were, in fact, +"Henriette Félicité." Mr. Gibbes explained that it was the knowledge +which this document seemed to display of the Tichborne estates and +family which induced him to advance money, and that the Dowager Lady +Tichborne's letters being merely signed "H.F. Tichborne," he had +inserted the Christian names, "Hannah Frances," on the authority of +his client. Lastly, Mr. Mackenzie learnt that there had been a butcher +in Wagga-Wagga named Schottler, and that Higgins's slaughter-man, known +as Tom Castro, had once told some one that he had known Schottler's +family, and lived very near their house when he was a boy. Schottler +had disappeared, but he was believed to have originally come from +London. This information was slight, but it appeared to the shrewd Mr. +Mackenzie to be valuable. If the Schottlers were known to Tom Castro +as neighbours when he was a boy in London, it would seem to be only +necessary to find the Schottler family in order to discover who the +Claimant to the Tichborne estates really was. After much trouble, +though Schottler was not discovered, a clue was found. The solicitor +to the defendants in the Chancery suits obtained old directories of +London, and discovered that there was one Schottler, who had kept a +public-house, called The Ship and Punchbowl, in High Street, Wapping. +In that direction, therefore, inquiries were instituted. The +Schottlers had, it was found, gone and left no trace, but it was easy +to instruct a detective to inquire after old neighbours, to show them +a portrait of the Claimant, and to ask if any one in that locality +recognised the features. At last the man prosecuting inquiries found +himself in the Globe public-house in Wapping, the landlady of which +hostelry at once declared the carte de visite to be a portrait of a +mysterious individual of huge bulk who had visited her on the night of +the previous Christmas day, stayed an hour in her parlour, and made +numerous inquiries after old inhabitants of Wapping. His inquiries +included the Schottlers, and he had particularly wanted the address +of the family of the late Mr. George Orton, a butcher in the High +Street, who answered the description of an old "neighbour of the +Schottlers." The Christmas day referred to was the very day of the +Claimant's arrival in England, and the landlady of the Globe was +positive that the portrait represented her visitor, whoever he might +have been. Moreover, she informed the gentleman that, struck by his +inquiries after the Ortons, she had scanned her mysterious visitor's +features closely, and observed, "Why, you must be an Orton; you are +very like the old gentleman." Three daughters of old George Orton were +then applied to, but they declared that the portrait had no +resemblance to any brother of theirs. Neighbours, however, had +perceived that these persons, who had been extremely poor, had +suddenly shown signs of greatly improved circumstances. Further +inquiry led to the discovery that they had a brother named Charles, "a +humpbacked man," who had been a butcher in a small way, in partnership +with a Mr. Woodgate, in Hermitage Street, Wapping. He had recently +dissolved partnership rather suddenly, but he had previously confided +to Mr. Woodgate the curious information that he had a brother just come +home from Australia, who was entitled to great property, and who had +promised him an allowance of "£5 a month," and £2000 "when he got his +estates." When, after some trouble, Charles Orton was discovered, he +showed signs of being disposed to explain the mystery "if the +solicitors" would promptly "make it worth his while;" but in the very +midst of the inquiry he suddenly vanished from the neighbourhood, and +for a long while all trace of him was lost. Meanwhile, the Claimant +had, by some mysterious means, become aware that these inquiries were +in progress, for he wrote at this period to his confidential friend +Rous, the landlord of the Swan, as follows:--"We find the other side +very busy with another pair of sisters for me. They say I was born in +Wapping. I never remember having been there, but Mr. Holmes tell me it a +very respectiabel part of London." Shortly afterwards two out of the +three daughters of old Mr. Orton made affidavit that the Claimant was +not their brother, nor any relation of theirs; the other sister and +Charles Orton, however, made no affidavit. Four years later the +Claimant confessed that he was, after all, the mysterious visitor at +the Globe public-house on that Christmas eve; that he shortly +afterwards entered into secret correspondence and transactions with +the Orton family; that he gave the sisters money whenever they wrote +to say they were in want of any; and that after the period when +Charles Orton was solicited to give information to "the other side," +he allowed him £5 a month--Charles Orton, who was then in concealment, +being addressed in their correspondence by the assumed name of +"Brand." The Claimant's explanation of these relations with the Orton +family, which he at first denied, was, that their brother, Arthur +Orton, had been a great friend of his for many years, and in various +parts of Australia, and that hence he was desirous of assisting his +family. At one time he said that his object was to ascertain if his +friend, Arthur Orton, had arrived in England; at another he stated, on +oath, that when he sailed from Australia he left Arthur Orton there. +The solicitors for the defendants in the Chancery suit, however, did +not hesitate to declare their conviction that the pretended Roger +Tichborne was no other than Arthur Orton, youngest son of the late +George Orton, butcher, of High Street, Wapping; that his visit to +Wapping on the very night of his arrival was prompted by curiosity to +know the position of his family, of whom he had not heard for some +years; and that his stealthy transactions with the three sisters, and +with the brother of Arthur Orton, had no object but that of furnishing +them with an inducement to keep the dangerous secret of his true name +and origin. + +While all these discoveries were being made, the poor old lady went to +live for a time with her supposed son at Croydon; but even she could +not manage to stay in the extraordinary household, and after a time, +though still strong, despite the advice of her best friends, that the +huge impostor was her son, she left, and gradually becoming weaker and +weaker in body as well as mind, she was, on the 12th of March 1868, +found by a servant dead in a chair, and with no relative or friend at +hand, in a hotel near Portman Square, where she had sought and found a +shelter. + +Amidst much that was vague in the Claimant's account of his past life, +there were, at all events, two statements of a precise and definite +character. These were, first, that he had been at Melipilla, in Chili, +and had there known intimately a man named Thomas Castro, whose name +he had afterwards assumed; and, secondly, that in 1854, he had been +engaged as herdsman to Mr. William Foster, of Boisdale, in Gippsland, +Australia. If he were an impostor, these statements were undoubtedly +imprudent. But they served the purpose of establishing the identity of +his career with that of the man whom he claimed to be, for Roger +Tichborne had, undoubtedly, travelled in Chili; and, according at +least to the tramping sailors' story, embodied in the Dowager's +advertisement, he had been carried thence to Australia. The importance +attached by his supporters to these apparent tokens of identity +sufficiently explains the Claimant's explicitness on these points. +Melipilla is a long way off; and Boisdale is still further. It may +have been supposed that witnesses could not be brought from so far; +but vast interests were at stake, and the defendant in the Chancery +suit speedily applied for Commissions to go out to South America and +Australia to collect information regarding the Claimant's past +history. The proposition was strenuously opposed as vexatious, and +designed merely to create delay, but the Court granted the +application. Then the Claimant asked for an adjournment, on the ground +that he intended to go out and confront the Melipilla folks, including +his intimate friend Don Thomas Castro, before the Commission; and also +to accompany it to Australia. The postponement was granted, a large +sum was raised to defray his expenses, and he finally started with the +Commission, accompanied by counsel and solicitors, bound for +Valparaiso and Melipilla, and finally for Victoria and New South +Wales. When the vessel, however, arrived at Rio. the Claimant went +ashore, declaring that he preferred to go thence to Melipilla +overland. But he never presented himself at that place, and finally +the Commission proceeded to examine witnesses and to record their +testimony, which thus became part of the evidence in the suit. The +Claimant had, in fact, re-embarked at Rio for England, having +abandoned the whole project; for which strange conduct he made various +and conflicting excuses. Even before he had started, circumstances had +occurred which had induced some of his supporters to express doubts +whether he would ever go to Melipilla. When the Commission had become +inevitable, the Claimant had written a letter to his "esteemed friend, +Don Tomas Castro," reminding him of past acquaintance in 1853, sending +kind remembrances to a number of friends, and altogether mentioning at +least sixteen persons with Spanish names whom he had known there. The +purpose of the letter was to inform Don Tomas that he had returned to +England, was claiming "magnificent lands," and in brief to prepare his +old acquaintances to befriend him there. This letter was answered by +Castro through his son Pedro, with numerous good wishes and much +gossip about Melipilla, and what had become of the old circle. But to +the astonishment and dismay of the Claimant's attorney, Mr. Holmes, +Pedro Castro reminded his old correspondent, that when among them he +had gone by the name of Arthur Orton. A Melipilla lady named Ahumada +then sent a portion of a lock of hair which the Claimant acknowledged +as his own hair, and thanked her for. But this lady declared that she +had cut the lock from the head of an English lad named Arthur Orton; +and the Claimant thereupon said that he must have been mistaken in +thanking her, and acknowledging it as his. In the town of +Melipilla--sixty or seventy miles inland from Valparaiso--everyone of +the sixteen or seventeen persons mentioned by the Claimant as old +acquaintances--except those who were dead or gone away--came before +the Commission, and were examined. They proved to have substantially +but one tale to tell. They said they never knew any one of the name of +Tichborne. Melipilla is a remote little towns far off the great high +road, and the only English person, except an English doctor there +established, who had ever sojourned there, was a sailor lad who, not +in 1853, but in 1849, came to them destitute; was kindly treated; +picked up Spanish enough to converse in an illiterate way; said his +name was Arthur, and was always called Arthur by them; declared his +father was "a butcher named Orton, who served the queen;" and said he +had been sent to sea to cure St. Vitus's Dance, but had been ill-used +by the captain, and ran away from his ship at Valparaiso. This lad, +they stated, sojourned in Melipilla eighteen months, and finally went +back to Valparaiso and re-embarked for England. Don Tomas Castro, the +doctor's wife, and others, declared they recognised the features of +this lad in the portrait of the Claimant; and being shown two +daguerreotype portraits of Roger Tichborne, taken in Chili when he was +there, said that the features were not like those of any person they +had ever known. Searches were then made in the records of the consul's +office at Valparaiso, from which it resulted that a sailor named +Arthur Orton did desert from the English ship "Ocean" in that port at +the very date mentioned, and did re-embark, though under the name of +"Joseph M. Orton," about eighteen months later. + +To Boisdale, in Australia, the Commission then repaired, and though +this is many thousands of miles from South America, but here similar +discoveries were made. Mr. William Foster, the extensive cattle farmer, +was dead, but the widow still managed his large property. In reference +to the Claimant's statement that in July, 1854, the very day after he +was landed by the vessel which he believed was named the "Osprey," at +Melbourne, he was engaged by Mr. William Foster, and went with him at +once to Gippsland, under the assumed name of Thomas Castro, the lady +declared that her husband did not settle at Boisdale, or have anything +to do with that property till two years later than that date, and that +they never had any herdsman named Thomas Castro. The ledgers and other +account books of Mr. Foster were then examined, but no mention of any +Castro, either in 1854 or at any other time, could be found. On the +other hand, there were numerous entries, extending over the two years +1857 and 1858, of wages paid and rations served out to a herdsman +named Arthur Orton, whom the lady perfectly well remembered, and who +had come to them from Hobart Town. + +All these discoveries were confirmed by the registers of shipping, +which showed that Arthur Orton embarked for Valparaiso in 1848, +re-embarked for London in 1851, and sailed again for Hobart Town in +the following year. But there were other significant circumstances. +The ship in which Arthur Orton had returned from Valparaiso was called +the "Jessie Miller," which was the very name which the Claimant in his +solemn declaration, prepared by Mr. Gibbes, gave as the name of the +vessel in which he came out to Australia. In the same document he had +stated the date of his sailing from England as the "28th of November, +1852," and this was now discovered to be the very day, month, and year +on which Arthur Orton embarked in the vessel bound for Hobart Town. Mr. +Foster's widow had specimens of Arthur Orton's writing, and other +mementoes of his two years' service among them, and she unhesitatingly +identified a portrait of the Claimant as that of the same man. Among +other witnesses, a farmer named Hopwood deposed that he had known +Arthur Orton at Boisdale under that name, and again at Wagga-Wagga +under his assumed name of Thomas Castro. At Wagga-Wagga the will +executed by the Claimant, and already referred to, was produced, and +it was found that amidst all its fictitious names and imaginary +Tichborne estates, it appointed as trustees two gentlemen residing in +Dorsetshire, England, who have since been discovered to have been +intimate friends of old Mr. Orton, the butcher. The testimony on the +Claimant's behalf before the Commission threw but little light. It +consisted chiefly of vague stories of his having spoken when in +Australia of being entitled to large possessions, and of having been +an officer in the army, and stationed in Ireland. Such testimony +could, of course, have little weight against the statements of the +Claimant in writing, made just before embarking at Sydney, with a +view of satisfying capitalists of his identity, and betraying total +ignorance of Roger Tichborne's military life. + +While these exposures were being made abroad, matters at home began to +look very bad for the Claimant. Charles Orton, the brother of Arthur, +called upon the solicitors for "the other side," and volunteered to +give information. In the presence of Lord Arundel and other +witnesses, this man then stated that the Claimant of the Tichborne +estates was his brother Arthur, that he had been induced by him to +change his name to Brand, and to remain in concealment, that in return +the Claimant had allowed him £5 per month; but that, since his +departure for Chili, the allowance had ceased. Letters of Charles +Orton to the Claimant's wife, asking whether "Sir Roger Tichborne, +before he went away, left anything for a party of the name of Brand," +have been found and published; and this same Charles has, since the +conviction of the Claimant, put forth a statement of the whole matter, +so far as he was concerned. Under these circumstances, Mr. Holmes +withdrew from the case, and the county gentlemen who, relying in great +measure on Lady Tichborne's recognition, and the numerous affidavits +that had been made, had supported the Claimant, held a meeting at the +Swan, at Alresford, at which, among other documents, certain +mysterious letters to the Orton sisters were produced. These letters +were signed, "W.H. Stephens," and they contained inquiries after the +Orton family, and also after Miss Mary Anne Loader, who was an old +sweetheart of Arthur Orton's, long resident in Wapping. They enclosed +as portraits of Arthur Orton's wife and child, certain photographic +likenesses which were clearly portraits of the Claimant's wife and +child; and though they purported to be written by "W.H. Stephens," a +friend of Arthur Orton's just arrived from Australia, it was suspected +that the letters--which were evidently in a feigned hand--were really +written by the Claimant. They manifested that desire for information +about Wapping folks, and particularly the Ortons, which the Claimant +was known to have exhibited on more occasions than one; and they +indicated a wish to get this information by a ruse, and without +permitting the writer to be seen. But the correspondence showed that +the sisters of Orton had discovered, or at least believed that they +had discovered, that the writer was in truth their brother Arthur. The +Claimant, however, being called in and questioned, solemnly affirmed +that the letters were "forgeries," designed by his enemies to "ruin +his cause." Nor was it until he was pressed in cross-examination, +three years later, that he reluctantly confessed that his charges of +forgery were false; and that, in fact, he, and no one else, had +written the Stephens' letters. The Claimant's solemn assurances did +not convince all his supporters at the meeting at the Swan, but they +satisfied some; and funds were still found for prosecuting the +Chancery, and next the great Common Law suit which was technically an +action for the purpose of ejecting Col. Lushington from Tichborne +house, which had been let to him. Col. Lushington was then a supporter +of the Claimant, and had not the least objection to be ejected. But +the action at once raised the question whether the Claimant had a +right to eject him. Of course that depended on whether he was, or was +not, the young man who was so long believed to have perished in the +"Bella;" and accordingly this was the issue that the jury had to try +on Thursday, the 11th of May, 1871, that Sergeant Ballantine rose to +address the jury on behalf of the Claimant, and it was not until the +6th of March, 1872, that the trial was concluded--the proceedings +having extended to 103 days. On both sides a large number of witnesses +were examined, many being persons of respectability, while some were +of high station. The military witnesses for the Claimant were very +numerous; and among them were five of Roger Tichborne's old brother +officers, the rest being sergeants, corporals, and privates. There +were Australian witnesses, and medical witnesses, old servants, +tenants of the Tichborne family, and numerous other persons. With the +exception of two remote connexions, however, no members of the +numerous families of Tichborne and Seymour presented themselves to +support the plaintiffs claims; and even the two gentlemen referred to +admitted that their acquaintance with Roger was slight, and that it +was in his youth; and finally, that they had not recognised the +features of the Claimant, but had merely inferred his identity from +some circumstances he had been able to mention. The plaintiffs case +was almost entirely unsupported by documentary evidence, and rested +chiefly on the impressions or the memory of witnesses, or on their +conclusions drawn from circumstances, which often, when they were +inquired into in cross-examination, proved to be altogether +insufficient. + +But the cross-examination of the Claimant himself was really the +turning-point of the trial. It extended over twenty-seven days, and +embraced the whole history of Roger Tichborne's life, his alleged +rescue, the life in Australia, and all subsequent proceedings. Besides +this, matters connected with the Orton case were inquired into. Much +that was calculated to alarm supporters of the Claimant was elicited. +He was compelled to admit that he had no confirmation to offer of his +strange story of the rescue, and that he could produce no survivor of +the "Osprey," nor any one of the crew of the "Bella" alleged to have +been rescued with him. The mere existence of such a vessel was not +evidenced by any shipping register or gazette, or custom-house record. +It was moreover admitted that he had changed his story--had for a +whole year given up the "Osprey," and said the vessel was the +"Themis," and finally returned to the "Osprey" again. All the strange +circumstances of the Wagga-Wagga will, the Gibbes and Cubitt +correspondence, the furtive transactions with the Orton family, the +curious revelations of the commissions in South America and Australia, +were acknowledged, and either left unexplained or explained in a way +which was evasive, inconsistent, and contradictory. His accounts of +his relations with Arthur Orton were also vague, and his attempts to +support his assertion that Castro and Orton were not one and the same, +but different persons, were unsatisfactory, while by his own +confession his habitual associates in Australia had been highway +robbers and other persons of the vilest class. With regard to his +life in Paris he admitted that his mind was "a blank," and he +confessed that he could not read a line of Roger Tichborne's letters +in French. He gave answers which evidenced gross ignorance on all the +matters which Roger's letters and other evidence showed that he had +studied. He said he did not think Euclid was connected with +mathematics, though Roger had passed an examination in Euclid; and +that he believed that a copy of Virgil handed to him was "Greek," +which it doubtless was to him. He was compelled again and again to +admit that statements he had deliberately made were absolutely false. +When questioned with regard to that most impressive of all episodes in +Roger's life, his love for his cousin, now Lady Radcliffe, he showed +himself unacquainted not merely with precise dates, but with the broad +outline of the story and the order of events. His answers on these +matters were again confused, and wholly irreconcilable. Yet the +Solicitor-General persisting for good reasons in interrogating him on +the slanderous story of the sealed packet, he was compelled to repeat +in Court, though with considerable variations, what he had long ago +caused to be bruited abroad. Mrs. (she was not then Lady) Radcliffe, by +her own wish, sat in Court beside her husband, confronting the false +witness, and they had the satisfaction of hearing him convicted, out +of his own mouth, and by the damnatory evidence of documents of +undisputed authenticity, of a deliberate series of abominable +inventions. It was during the course of this trial that the +pocket-book left behind by the Claimant at Wagga-Wagga was brought to +England. It was found to contain what appeared to be early attempts at +Tichborne signatures, in the form "Rodger Charles Titchborne," besides +such entries as "R.C.T., Bart., Tichborne Hall, Surrey, England, +G.B.;" and among other curious memoranda in the Claimant's handwriting +was the name and address, in full, of Arthur Orton's old sweetheart, +at Wapping--the "respectiabel place" of which he had assured his +supporters in England that he had not the slightest knowledge. The +exposure of Mr. Baigent's unscrupulous partisanship by Mr. Hawkins, and +the address to the jury by Sir John Coleridge, followed in due course, +and then a few family witnesses, including Lady Radcliffe, were heard, +who deposed, among many other matters, to the famous tattoo marks on +Roger's arm; and, finally, the jury declared that they were satisfied. +Then the Claimant's advisers, to avoid the inevitable verdict for +their opponents, elected to be non-suit. But, notwithstanding these +tactics, Lord Chief-Justice Bovill, under his warrant, immediately +committed the Claimant to Newgate, on a charge of wilful and corrupt +perjury. + +Those who fondly hoped that the great Tichborne imposture had now for +ever broken down, and that the last in public had been seen of the +perjured villain, were mistaken, as, after a few weeks in Newgate, the +Claimant was released on bail in the sum of £10,000--his sureties +being Earl Rivers, Mr. Guildford Onslow, M.P., Mr. Whalley, M.P., and Mr. +Alban Attwood, a medical man residing at Bayswater. Now began that +systematic agitation on the Claimant's behalf, and those public +appeals for subscriptions, which were so remarkable a feature of the +thirteen months' interval between the civil and the criminal trial. +The Tichborne Romance, as it was called, had made the name of the +Claimant famous; and sightseers throughout the kingdom were anxious to +get a glimpse of "Sir Roger." It was true his case had entirely broken +down, but the multitude were struck by the fact that he could still +appear on platforms with exciteable members of Parliament to speak for +him, and could even find a lord to be his surety. It was not everyone +who, in reading the long cross-examination of the Claimant, had been +able to see the significance of the admissions which he was compelled +to make; and owing to the Claimant's counsel stopping the case on the +hint of the jury, the other side of the story had really not been +heard; and this fact was made an argument in the Claimant's favour. +Meanwhile, the propagandism continued until there was hardly a town in +the kingdom in which Sir Roger Charles Tichborne, Bart., had not +appeared on platforms, and addressed crowded meetings; while Mr. +Guildford Onslow and Mr. Whalley were generally present to deliver +foolish and inflammatory harangues. At theatres and music halls, at +pigeon matches and open-air _fêtes_, the Claimant was perseveringly +exhibited; and while the other side preserved a decorous silence, the +public never ceased to hear the tale of his imaginary wrongs. _The +Tichborne Gazette_, the sole function of which was to excite the +public mind still further, appeared; and the newspapers contained long +lists of subscribers to the Tichborne defence fund. This unexampled +system of creating prejudice with regard to a great trial still +pending was permitted to continue long after the criminal trial had +commenced. There had been proceedings, it is true, for contempt +against the Claimant and his supporters, Mr. Onslow, Mr. Whalley, and Mr. +Skipworth, and fine and imprisonment were inflicted; but the agitation +continued, violent attacks were made upon witnesses, and even upon the +judges then engaged in trying the case, and at length the Court was +compelled peremptorily to forbid all appearances of the Claimant at +public meetings. + +The great "Trial at Bar," presided over by Sir Alexander Cockburn, +Lord Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench, Mr. Justice Mellor, and Mr. +Justice Lush, commenced on the 23d of April, 1873, and ended on the +28th of February 1874--a period of a little over ten months. On the +side of the prosecution 212 witnesses gave their testimony; but the +documentary evidence, including the enormous mass of Roger Tichborne's +letters, so valuable as exhibiting the character, the pursuits, the +thoughts, and feelings of the writer, were scarcely less important. +The entire Tichborne and Seymour families may be said to have given +their testimony against the defendant. Lady Doughty had passed away +from the troubled scene since the date of the last trial; but she had +been examined and cross-examined on her death bed, and had then +repeated the evidence which she gave on the previous occasion, and +declared that the Claimant was an impostor. Lady Radcliffe again +appeared in the witness-box, and told her simple story, confirmed as +it was in all important particulars by the correspondence and other +records. Old Paris friends and acquaintances were unanimous. Father +Lefevre and the venerable Abbé Salis, Chatillon the tutor and his +wife, and numerous others, declared this man was not Roger Tichborne, +and exposed his ignorance both of them and their past transactions. +When questioned, the defendant had sworn that his father never had a +servant named Gossein; but the letters of Sir James were shown to +contain numerous allusions to "my faithful Gossein," and Gossein +himself came into the witness-box and told how he had known Roger +Tichborne from the cradle to his boyhood, and from his boyhood to the +very hour of his going on his travels. On the Orton question, nearly +fifty witnesses declared their conviction that the defendant sitting +then before them was the butcher's son whom they had known in Wapping. +The witnesses from Australia and from South America unhesitatingly +identified the defendant with Orton; but it is more important to +observe, that their testimony was supported by records and documents +of various kinds, including the ledgers of Mr. Foster of Boisdale, +letters under the defendant's own hand, and writings which it could +not be denied were from the hand of Arthur Orton. + +On the other side, the witnesses were still more numerous. They +included a great number of persons from Wapping, who swore they did +not recognise in the defendant the lad whom they had known as Arthur +Orton. Many others swore they had known both Orton and the defendant +in Australia, and that they were different persons, but their stories +were irreconcilable with each other, and were moreover in direct +conflict with the statements of the Claimant on oath, while several of +these witnesses were persons of proved bad character, and unworthy of +belief. Great numbers of Carabineers declared that the defendant was +exactly like their old officer; but while ten officers of that +regiment appeared for the prosecution, and positively affirmed that +the defendant was not Roger Tichborne, only two officers gave +testimony on the other side; and even these admitted that they had +doubts. Eight years had elapsed since Mr. Gibbes fancied he had +discovered Sir Roger at Wagga-Wagga, but still no Arthur Orton was +forthcoming; nor did the sisters of Orton venture to come forward on +behalf of the man who had been compelled to admit having taken them +into his pay. Not only was the Claimant's story of his wreck and +rescue shown to be absurd and impossible, but it was unsupported by +any evidence, except vague recollections of witnesses having seen an +"Osprey" and some shipwrecked sailors at Melbourne in July, 1854; and +it was admitted that if their tale were true the phantom vessel and +the fact of its picking up nine precious lives must have escaped the +notice of Lloyd's agents, of custom-house officers, and of the +Australian newspapers. More, the Claimant's "Osprey" must have escaped +the notice of such authorities in every port which she had entered +from the day that she was launched. So, indeed, the matter stood until +the witness Luie, the "pretended steward of the 'Osprey'" swore to his +strange story, as well as to the defendant's recognition of him by +name as an old friend. The Luie episode, terminating in the +identification of that infamous witness as an habitual criminal and +convict named Lundgren, only recently released on a ticket-of-leave, +together with the complete disproof of his elaborate "Osprey" story, +is familiar to the public. It was a significant fact, that other +witnesses for the defence were admitted to be associates of this +rascal; while one of the most conspicuous of all--a man calling +himself "Captain" Brown--had pretended to corroborate portions of +Luie's evidence which are now proved to be false. + +Some allowance may perhaps be made in the defendant's favour for the +singularly unskilful and damaging character of his counsel Dr. +Kenealy's two addresses to the jury, which occupied no less than +forty-three entire days. This barrister not only made violent personal +attacks on every witness of importance for the prosecution, without, +as the judges observed, "any shadow of foundation," but he assailed +his own client with a vehemence and a persistence which are without +parallel in the case of an advocate defending a person against a +charge of perjury. He gave up statements of the defendant at almost +every period of his extraordinary story as "false;" declared them to +be "moonshine;" expressed his conviction that no sensible person could +for a moment believe them; acknowledged that to attempt to verify them +in the face of the evidence, or even to reconcile them with each +other, would be hopeless; set some down as "arrant nonsense," +denounced others as "Munchausenisms," and recommended the jury "not to +believe them" with a heartiness which would have been perfectly +natural in the mouth of Mr. Hawkins, but which, coming from counsel for +the defence, was, as one of the learned judges remarked, "strange +indeed." But the doctrine of the learned gentleman was, that the very +extent of the perjury should be his client's protection, because it +showed that he was not a man "to be tried by ordinary standards." +When, in addition to this, he laboured day after day to persuade the +jury that Roger Tichborne was a drunkard, a liar, a fool, an undutiful +son, an ungrateful friend, and an abandoned libertine--declared in +loud and impassioned tones that he would "strip this jay of his +borrowed plumes," and indignantly repudiated the notion that the man +his client claimed to be had one single good quality about him, the +humour of the situation may be said to have reached its climax. Yet Dr. +Kenealy at least proved his sincerity by not only insinuating charges +against the gentleman who disappeared with the "Bella," but by +actually calling witnesses to contradict point blank statements of his +own client which lay at the very foundation of the charges of perjury +against him. There were, it is true, many unthinking persons of the +kind that mistake sound for sense, who considered Dr. Kenealy a vastly +clever fellow. If he be so, then the world in general, and the +constitution of the English bar in particular, are wrong; but anyhow +one thing is certain, that the counsel damaged the case materially, +and showed himself eminently unfitted for the position of leader. Mr. +Hawkins' powerful address quickly disposed of Dr. Kenealy and his +crotchets. The inquiry was raised into a calmer height when the Lord +Chief-Justice commenced his memorable summing up, going minutely +through the vast mass of testimony--depicting the true character of +Roger Tichborne from the rich mine of materials before him, +contrasting it with that of the defendant as shown by the evidence, +and, while giving due weight to the testimony in his favour, exposing +hundreds of examples of the falsity of his statements made upon oath. +The verdict of Guilty had been anticipated by all who paid attention +to the evidence. The foreman publicly declared that there was no doubt +in the mind of any juryman that the man who has for eight years +assumed the name and title of the gentleman whose unhappy story is +recorded in these pages is an impostor who has added slander of the +wickedest kind to his many other crimes. But not only were they +satisfied of this; they were equally agreed as to his being Arthur +Orton. The sentence of fourteen years' penal servitude followed, and +was assuredly not too heavy a punishment for offences so enormous. Yet +there are others still at large, who, having aided the impostor with +advice and money, should not be allowed to escape, while the more +clumsy scoundrel suffers the award of detected infamy. + +Thus ended the great Tichborne impersonation case, the most remarkable +feature in which was, not that a rude ignorant butcher should proclaim +himself a baronet, but that thousands of persons sane in every other +respect should have gone crazy about him, and should, despite the +evidence given--sufficient many hundreds of times told, or for any +reasonable being--even now persist that Roger Tichborne still lives, +and is the victim of a gross conspiracy. What need is there to point +out the idiotcy of such ravings? What necessity ever to contradict +statements which contradict themselves? + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Celebrated Claimants from Perkin +Warbeck to Arthur Orton, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CELEBRATED CLAIMANTS FROM *** + +***** This file should be named 16486-8.txt or 16486-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/4/8/16486/ + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Sankar Viswanathan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** + diff --git a/16486-8.zip b/16486-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..97dd14e --- /dev/null +++ b/16486-8.zip diff --git a/16486-h.zip b/16486-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d15e41e --- /dev/null +++ b/16486-h.zip diff --git a/16486-h/16486-h.htm b/16486-h/16486-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae44718 --- /dev/null +++ b/16486-h/16486-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11758 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + h2 { text-align:center; margin-top: 3em; } + + ul.TOC {list-style-type: none; position: relative; width: 85%;} + + span.ralign { position: absolute; right: 0; top: auto;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; text-indent: 0; font-weight: normal; color: gray; font-size: 0.5em; text-align: right;} + /* page numbers */ + + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} + p.quotsig { text-align:right; margin-right:5%; } + p.quotdate {text-align:right} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + + a:link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:#ff0000} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to +Arthur Orton, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: August 8, 2005 [EBook #16486] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CELEBRATED CLAIMANTS FROM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Sankar Viswanathan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_I" id="Page_I"></a>[I]</span> </p> + + + + + + + +<h1>CELEBRATED<br /> + +CLAIMANTS<br /></h1> + +<h3>FROM<br /></h3> + +<h2>PERKIN WARBECK TO ARTHUR ORTON.<br /> +<img src="images/image_01.jpg" alt="Emblem" width="200" height="184" /></h2> + + +<h3><i>SECOND EDITION.</i><br /></h3> + + +<h3>London:</h3> +<h2>CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY.</h2> +<h2>1874.<br /></h2> + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_III" id="Page_III"></a>[III]</span> + +</p> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>This book is intended much less to gratify a temporary curiosity than +to fill an empty page in our literature. In our own and in other +countries Claimants have been by no means rare. Wandering heirs to +great possessions have not unfrequently concealed themselves for many +years until their friends have forgotten them, and have suddenly and +inopportunely reappeared to demand restitution of their rights; and +unscrupulous rogues have very often advanced pretensions to titles and +estates which did not appertain to them, in the hope that they would +be able to deceive the rightful possessors and the legal tribunals. +When such cases have occurred they have created more or less +excitement in proportion to the magnitude of the claim, the audacity +of the imposture, or the romance which has surrounded them. But the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_IV" id="Page_IV"></a>[IV]</span> + + +interest which they have aroused has been evanescent, and the only +records which remain of the vast majority are buried in ponderous +legal tomes, which are rarely seen, and are still more rarely read, by +non-professional men. The compiler of the present collection has +endeavoured to disinter the most noteworthy claims which have been +made either to honours or property, at home or abroad, and, while he +has passed over those which present few remarkable features, has +spared no research to render his work as perfect as possible, and to +supply a reliable history of those which are entitled to rank as +<i>causes célèbres</i>. The book must speak for itself. It is put forward +in the hope that, while it may serve to amuse the hasty reader in a +leisure hour, it may also be deemed worthy of a modest resting-place +in the libraries of those who like to watch the march of events, and +who have the prudent habit, when information is found, of preserving a +note of it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_V" id="Page_V"></a>[V]</span> + +</p> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + + + + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li><span class="ralign">PAGE</span><br /></li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>JACK CADE—THE PRETENDED MORTIMER, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>LAMBERT SIMNEL—THE FALSE EARL OF WARWICK, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></span><br /></li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>PERKIN WARBECK—THE SHAM DUKE OF YORK, +<span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></span></li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>DON SEBASTIAN—THE LOST KING OF PORTUGAL, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></span><br /> +<br /></li> +<li>JEMELJAN PUGATSCHEFF—THE SHAM PETER III., <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></span><br /> +<br /></li> +<li>OTREFIEF—THE SHAM PRINCE DIMITRI,<span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>PADRE OTTOMANO—THE SUPPOSED HEIR OF SULTAN IBRAHIM, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>MOHAMMED BEY—THE COUNTERFEIT VISCOUNT DE CIGALA, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>THE SELF-STYLED PRINCE OF MODENA, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>JOSEPH—THE FALSE COUNT SOLAR, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>JOHN LINDSAY CRAWFURD—CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF CRAWFURD, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>JOHN NICHOLS THOM—<i>ALIAS</i> SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>JAMES ANNESLEY—CALLING HIMSELF EARL OF ANGLESEA, +<span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></span><br /></li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>CAPTAIN HANS-FRANCIS HASTINGS—CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF HUNTINGDON, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>REBOK—THE COUNTERFEIT VOLDEMAR, ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>ARNOLD DU TILH—THE PRETENDED MARTIN GUERRE,<span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>PIERRE MEGE—THE FICTITIOUS DE CAILLE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>MICHAEL FEYDY—THE SHAM CLAUDE DE VERRE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></span></li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>THE BANBURY PEERAGE CASE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>JAMES PERCY—THE SO-CALLED EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND,<span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>THE DOUGLAS PEERAGE CASE,<span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS—THE PRETENDED EARL OF STIRLING,<span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>THE SO-CALLED HEIRS OF THE STUARTS,<span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>JOHN HATFIELD—THE SHAM HONOURABLE ALEXANDER HOPE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>HERVAGAULT—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>MATURIN BRUNEAU—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>NAÜNDORFF—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>AUGUSTUS MEVES—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>RICHEMONT—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>THE REV. ELEAZAR WILLIAMS—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> + + +<li>THOMAS PROVIS CALLING HIMSELF SIR RICHARD HUGH SMYTH, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>LAVINIA JANNETTA HORTON RYVES—THE PRETENDED PRINCESS OF CUMBERLAND, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>WILLIAM GEORGE HOWARD—THE PRETENDED EARL OF WICKLOW, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>AMELIA RADCLIFFE—THE SO-CALLED COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER, <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> +</li> +<li><br /></li> +<li>ARTHUR ORTON—WHO CLAIMED TO BE SIR ROGER CHARLES DOUGHTY TICHBORNE, BART., <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></span><br /> +</li> +</ul> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/image_02.jpg" alt="Decoration" width="200" height="63" /> </p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> + +</p> +<h2><a name="JACK_CADE_THE_PRETENDED_MORTIMER" id="JACK_CADE_THE_PRETENDED_MORTIMER"></a>JACK CADE—THE PRETENDED MORTIMER.</h2> + + +<p>Henry VI. was one of the most unpopular of our English monarchs. +During his reign the nobles were awed by his austerity towards some +members of their own high estate, and divided between the claims of +Lancaster and York; and the peasantry, who cared little for the claims +of the rival Roses, were maddened by the extortions and indignities to +which they were subjected. The feebleness and corruption of the +Government, and the disasters in France, combined with the murder of +the Duke of Suffolk, added to the general discontent; and the result +was, that in the year 1450 the country was ripe for revolution. In +June of that year, and immediately after the death of Suffolk, a body +of 20,000 of the men of Kent; assembled on Blackheath, under the +leadership of a reputed Irishman, calling himself John Cade, but who +is said in reality to have been an English physician named Aylmere. +This person, whatever his real cognomen, assumed the name of Mortimer +(with manifest allusion to the claims of the House of Mortimer to the +succession), and forwarded two papers to the king, entitled "The +Complaint of the Commons of Kent," and "The Requests of the Captain of +the Great Assembly in Kent." Henry replied by despatching a small +force against the rioters. Cade unhesitatingly gave battle to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> + +the +royal troops, and having defeated them and killed their leader, Sir +Humphrey Stafford, at Seven Oaks, advanced towards London. Still +preserving an appearance of moderation, he forwarded to the court a +plausible list of grievances, asserting that when these were +redressed, and Lord Say, the treasurer, and Cromer, the sheriff of +Kent, had been punished for their malversations, he and his men would +lay down their arms. These demands were so reasonable that the king's +troops, who were far from loyal, refused to fight against the +insurgents; and Henry, finding his cause desperate, retired for safety +to Kenilworth, Lord Scales with a thousand men remaining to defend the +Tower. Hearing of the flight of his majesty, Cade advanced to +Southwark, which he reached on the 1st of July, and, the citizens +offering no resistance, he entered London two days afterwards. Strict +orders had been given to his men to refrain from pillage, and on the +same evening they were led back to Southwark. On the following day he +returned, and having compelled the Lord Mayor and the people to sit at +Guildhall, brought Say and Cromer before them, and these victims of +the popular spite were condemned, after a sham trial, and were +beheaded in Cheapside. This exhibition of personal ill-will on the +part of their chief seemed the signal for the commencement of outrages +by his followers. On the next day the unruly mob began to plunder, and +the citizens, repenting of their disloyalty, joined with Lord Scales +in resisting their re-entry. After a sturdy fight, the Londoners held +the position, and the Kentishmen, discouraged by their reverse, began +to scatter. Cade, not slow to perceive the danger which threatened +him, fled towards Lewis, but was overtaken by Iden, the sheriff of +Kent, who killed him in a garden in which he had taken shelter. A +reward of 1000 marks followed this deed of bravery. Some of the +insurgents were afterwards executed as traitors; but the majority even +of the ringleaders escaped unpunished, for Henry's seat upon the +throne was so unstable, that it was deemed better to win the people by +a manifestation of clemency, rather than to provoke them by an +exhibition of severity.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> + +</p> +<h2><a name="LAMBERT_SIMNEL_THE_FALSE_EARL_OF_WARWICK" id="LAMBERT_SIMNEL_THE_FALSE_EARL_OF_WARWICK"></a>LAMBERT SIMNEL—THE FALSE EARL OF WARWICK.</h2> + + +<p>After the downfall of the Plantagenet dynasty, and the accession of +Henry VII. to the English throne, the evident favour shown by the king +to the Lancastrian party greatly provoked the adherents of the House +of York, and led some of the malcontents to devise one of the most +extraordinary impostures recorded in history.</p> + +<p>An ambitious Oxford priest, named Richard Simon, had among his pupils +a handsome youth, fifteen years of age, named Lambert Simnel. This +lad, who was the son of a baker, and, according to Lord Bacon, was +possessed of "very pregnant parts," was selected to disturb the +usurper's government, by appearing as a pretender to his crown. At +first it was the intention of the conspirators that he should +personate Richard, duke of York, the second son of Edward IV., who was +supposed to have escaped from the assassins of the Tower, and to be +concealed somewhere in England. Accordingly, the monk Simon, who was +the tool of higher persons, carefully instructed young Simnel in the +<i>rôle</i> which he was to play, and in a short time had rendered him +thoroughly proficient in his part. But just as the plot was ripe for +execution a rumour spread abroad that Edward Plantagenet, earl of +Warwick, and only male heir of the House of York, had effected his +escape from the Tower, and the plan of the imposture was changed. +Simnel was set to learn another lesson, and in a very brief time had +acquired a vast amount of information respecting the private life of +the royal family, and the adventures of the Earl of Warwick. When he +was accounted thoroughly proficient, he was despatched to Ireland in +the company of Simon—the expectation of the plotters being that the +imposition would be less likely to be detected on the other side of +the channel, and that the English settlers in Ireland, who were known +to be attached to the Yorkist cause, would support his pretensions.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> + +</p> + +<p>These anticipations were amply fulfilled. On his arrival in the +island, Simnel at once presented himself to the Earl of Kildare, then +viceroy, and claimed his protection as the unfortunate Warwick. The +credulous nobleman listened to his story, and repeated it to others of +the nobility, who in time diffused it throughout all ranks of society. +Everywhere the escape of the Plantagenet was received with +satisfaction, and at last the people of Dublin unanimously tendered +their allegiance to the pretender, as the rightful heir to the throne. +Their homage was of course accepted, and Simnel was solemnly crowned +(May 24, 1487), with a crown taken from an effigy of the Virgin Mary, +in Christ Church Cathedral. After the coronation, he was publicly +proclaimed king, and, as Speed tells us, "was carried to the castle on +tall men's shoulders, that he might be seen and known." With the +exception of the Butlers of Ormond, a few of the prelates, and the +inhabitants of Waterford, the whole island followed the example of the +capital, and not a voice was raised in protest, or a sword drawn in +favour of King Henry. Ireland was in revolt.</p> + +<p>When news of these proceedings reached London, Henry summoned the +peers and bishops, and devised measures for the punishment of his +secret enemies and the maintenance of his authority. His first act was +to proclaim a free pardon to all his former opponents; his next, to +lead the real Earl of Warwick in procession from the Tower to St. +Paul's, and thence to the palace of Shene, where the nobility and +gentry had daily opportunities of meeting him and conversing with him. +Suspecting, not without cause, that the Queen-Dowager was implicated +in the conspiracy, Henry seized her lands and revenues, and shut her +up in the Convent of Bermondsey. But he failed to reach the active +agents; and although the English people were satisfied that the Earl +of Warwick was still a prisoner, the Irish persisted in their revolt, +and declared that the person who had been shown to the public at St. +Paul's was a counterfeit. By the orders of the Government a strict +watch was kept at the English ports, that fugitives, malcontents, or +suspected persons <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> + +might not pass over into Ireland or Flanders; and a +thousand pounds reward was offered to any one who would present the +State with the body of the sham Plantagenet.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile John, earl of Lincoln, whom Richard had declared heir to the +throne, and whom Henry had treated with favour, took the side of the +pretender, and having established a correspondence with Sir Thomas +Broughton of Lancashire, proceeded to the court of Margaret, +dowager-duchess of Burgundy—a woman described by Lord Bacon as +"possessing the spirit of a man and the malice of a woman," and whose +great aim it was to see the sovereignty of England once more held by +the house of which she was a member. She readily consented to abet the +sham Earl of Warwick, and furnished Lincoln and Lord Lovel with a body +of 2000 German veterans, commanded by an able officer named Martin +Schwartz. The countenance given to the movement by persons of such +high rank, and the accession of this military force, greatly raised +the courage of Simnel's Irish adherents, and led them to conceive the +project of invading England, where they believed the spirit of +disaffection to be as general as it was in their own island.</p> + +<p>The news of the intended invasion came early to the ears of King +Henry, who promptly prepared to resist it. Having always felt or +affected great devotion, after mustering his army, he made a +pilgrimage to the shrine of our Lady of Walsingham, famous for +miracles, and there offered up prayers for success and for the +overthrow of his enemies. Being informed that Simnel and his gathering +had landed at Foudrey, in Lancashire, the king advanced to Coventry to +meet them. The rebels had anticipated that the disaffected provinces +of the north would rise and join them, but in this they were +disappointed; for the cautious northerners were not only convinced of +Simnel's imposture, but were afraid of the king's strength, and were +averse to league themselves with a horde of Irishmen and Germans. The +Earl of Lincoln, therefore, who commanded the invading force, finding +no hopes but in victory, determined to bring the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> + +matter to a speedy +decision. The hostile armies met at Stoke, in Nottinghamshire, and +after a hardly-contested day, the victory remained with the king. +Lincoln, Broughton, and Schwartz perished on the field of battle, with +four thousand of their followers. As Lord Lovel was never more heard +of, it was supposed that he shared the same fate. Lambert Simnel, with +his tutor the monk Simon, were taken prisoners. The latter, as an +ecclesiastic, escaped the doom he merited, and, not being tried at +law, was only committed to close custody for the rest of his life. As +for Simnel, when he was questioned, he revealed his real parentage; +and being deemed too contemptible to be an object either of +apprehension or resentment, Henry pardoned him, and made him first a +scullion in the royal kitchen, and afterwards promoted him to the +lofty position of a falconer.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PERKIN_WARBECK_THE_SHAM_DUKE_OF_YORK" id="PERKIN_WARBECK_THE_SHAM_DUKE_OF_YORK"></a>PERKIN WARBECK—THE SHAM DUKE OF YORK.</h2> + + +<p>Although Lambert Simnel's enterprise had miscarried, Margaret, +dowager-duchess of Burgundy, did not despair of seeing the crown of +England wrested from the House of Lancaster, and determined at least +to disturb King Henry's government if she could not subvert it. To +this end she sedulously spread abroad a report that Richard, duke of +York, the second son of Edward IV., had escaped the cruelty of his +uncle Richard III., and had been set at liberty by the assassins who +had been sent to despatch him. This rumour, although improbable, was +eagerly received by the people, and they were consequently prepared to +welcome the new pretender whenever he made his appearance.</p> + +<p>After some search, the duchess found a stripling whom she thought had +all the qualities requisite to personate the unfortunate prince. This +youth is described as being "of visage beautiful, of countenance +majestical, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> + +of wit subtile and crafty; in education pregnant, in +languages skilful; a lad, in short, of a fine shape, bewitching +behaviour, and very audacious." The name of this admirable prodigy was +Peterkin, or Perkin Warbeck, and he was the son of John Warbeck, a +renegade Jew of Tournay. Some writers, and among others Lord Bacon, +suggest that he had certain grounds for his pretensions to royal +descent, and hint that King Edward, in the course of his amorous +adventures, had been intimate with Catherine de Faro, Warbeck's wife; +and Bacon says "it was pretty extraordinary, or at least very +suspicious, that so wanton a prince should become gossip in so mean a +house." But be this as it may, the lad was both handsome and crafty, +and was well suited for the part which he was destined to play.</p> + +<p>Some years after his birth, the elder Warbeck returned to Tournay, +carrying the child with him; but Perkin did not long remain in the +paternal domicile, but by different accidents was carried from place +to place, until his birth and fortunes became difficult to trace by +the most diligent inquiry. No better tool could have been found for +the ambitious Duchess of Burgundy; and when he was brought to her +palace, she at once set herself to instruct him thoroughly with +respect to the person whom he was to represent. She so often described +to him the features, figures, and peculiarities of his deceased—or +presumedly deceased—parents, Edward IV. and his queen, and informed +him so minutely of all circumstances relating to the family history, +that in a short time he was able to talk as familiarly of the court of +his pretended father as the real Duke of York could have done. She +took especial care to warn him against certain leading questions which +might be put to him, and to render him perfect in his narration of the +occurrences which took place while he was in sanctuary with the queen, +and particularly to be consistent in repeating the story of his escape +from his executioners. After he had learnt his lesson thoroughly, he +was despatched under the care of Lady Brampton to Portugal, there to +wait till the fitting time arrived for his presentation to the English +people.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> + +</p> + +<p>At length, when war between France and England was imminent, a proper +opportunity seemed to present itself, and he was ordered to repair to +Ireland, which still retained its old attachment to the House of York. +He landed at Cork, and at once assuming the name of Richard +Plantagenet, succeeded in attracting many partizans. The news of his +presence in Ireland reached France; and Charles VIII., prompted by the +Burgundian duchess, sent him an invitation to repair to Paris. The +chance of recognition by the French king was too good to be idly cast +away. He went, and was received with every possible mark of honour. +Magnificent lodgings were provided for his reception; a handsome +pension was settled upon him; and a strong guard was appointed to +secure him against the emissaries of the English king. The French +courtiers readily imitated their master, and paid the respect to +Perkin which was due to the real Duke of York; and he, in turn, both +by his deportment and personal qualities, well supported his claims to +a royal pedigree. For a time nothing was talked of but the +accomplishments, the misfortunes, and the adventures of the young +Plantagenet; and the curiosity and credulity of England became +thoroughly aroused by the strange tidings which continued to arrive +from France. Sir George Nevill, Sir John Taylor, and many English +gentlemen who entertained no love for the king, repaired to the French +capital to satisfy themselves as to the pretensions of this young man; +and so well had Warbeck's lesson been acquired, that he succeeded in +convincing them of his identity, and in inducing them to pledge +themselves to aid him in his attempt to recover his inheritance.</p> + +<p>About this time, however, the breach between France and England was +lessened, and when friendly relations were restored, Henry applied to +have the impostor put into his hands. Charles, refusing to break faith +with a youth who had come to Paris by his own solicitation, refused to +give him up, and contented himself with ordering him to quit the +kingdom. Warbeck thereupon in all haste repaired to the court of +Margaret of Burgundy; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> + +but she at first astutely pretended ignorance +of his person and ridiculed his claims, saying that she had been +deceived by Simnel, and was resolved never again to be cajoled by +another impostor. Perkin, who admitted that she had reason to be +suspicious, nevertheless persisted that he was her nephew, the Duke of +York. The duchess, feigning a desire to convict him of imposture +before the whole of her attendants, put several questions to him which +she knew he could readily answer, affected astonishment at his +replies, and, at last, no longer able to control her feelings, "threw +herself on his neck, and embraced him as her nephew, the true image of +Edward, the sole heir of the Plantagenets, and the legitimate +successor to the English throne." She immediately assigned to him an +equipage suited to his supposed rank, appointed a guard of thirty +halberdiers to wait upon him, and gave him the title of "The White +Rose of England"—the symbol of the House of York.</p> + +<p>When the news reached England, in the beginning of 1493, that the Duke +of York was alive in Flanders, and had been acknowledged by the +Duchess of Burgundy, many people credited the story; and men of the +highest rank began to turn their eyes towards the new claimant. Lord +Fitzwater, Sir Simon Mountfort, and Sir Thomas Thwaites, made little +secret of their inclination towards him; Sir William Stanley, King +Henry's chamberlain, who had been active in raising the usurper to the +throne, was ready to adopt his cause whenever he set foot on English +soil, and Sir Robert Clifford and William Barley openly gave their +adhesion to the pretender, and went over to Flanders to concert +measures with the duchess and the sham duke. After his arrival, +Clifford wrote to his friends in England, that knowing the person of +Richard, duke of York, perfectly well, he had no doubt that this young +man was the prince himself, and that his story was compatible with the +truth. Such positive intelligence from a person of Clifford's rank +greatly strengthened the popular belief, and the whole English nation +was seriously discomposed and gravely disaffected towards the king.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> + +</p> + +<p>When Henry was informed of this new plot, he set himself cautiously +but steadily and resolutely to foil it. His first object was to +ascertain the reality of the death of the young prince, and to confirm +the opinion which had always prevailed with regard to that event. +Richard had engaged five persons to murder his nephews—viz., Sir +James Tirrel, whom he made custodian of the Tower while his nefarious +scheme was in course of execution, and who had seen the bodies of the +princes after their assassination; Forrest, Dighton, and Slater, who +perpetrated the crime; and the priest who buried the bodies. Tirrel +and Dighton were still alive; but although their stories agreed, as +the priest was dead, and as the bodies were supposed to have been +removed by Richard's orders, and could not be found, it was impossible +to prove conclusively that the young princes really had been put to +death.</p> + +<p>By means of his spies, Henry, after a time, succeeded in tracing the +true pedigree of Warbeck, and immediately published it for the +satisfaction of the nation. At the same time he remonstrated with the +Archduke Philip on account of the protection which was afforded to the +impostor, and demanded that "the theatrical king formed by the Duchess +of Burgundy" should be given up to him. The ambassadors were received +with all outward respect, but their request was refused, and they were +sent home with the answer, that "the Duchess of Burgundy being +absolute sovereign in the lands of her dowry, the archduke could not +meddle with her affairs, or hinder her from doing what she thought +fit." Henry in resentment cut off all intercourse with the Low +Countries, banished the Flemings, and recalled his own subjects from +these provinces. At the same time, Sir Robert Clifford having proved +traitorous to Warbeck's cause, and having revealed the names of its +supporters in England, the king pounced upon the leading conspirators. +Almost at the same instant he arrested Fitzwater, Mountfort, and +Thwaites, together with William D'Aubeney, Thomas Cressener, Robert +Ratcliff, and Thomas Astwood. Lord Fitzwater was sent as a prisoner to +Calais with some hopes of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> + +pardon; but being detected in an attempt to +bribe his gaolers, he was beheaded. Sir Simon Mountfort, Robert +Ratcliff, and William D'Aubeney were tried, condemned, and executed, +and the others were pardoned.</p> + +<p>Stanley, the chamberlain, was reserved for a more impressive fate. His +domestic connection with the king and his former services seemed to +render him safe against any punishment; but Henry, thoroughly aroused +by his perfidy, determined to bring the full weight of his vengeance +upon him. Clifford was directed to come privately to England, and cast +himself at the foot of the throne, imploring pardon for his past +offences, and offering to condone his folly by any services which +should be required of him. Henry, accepting his penitence, informed +him that the only reparation he could now make was by disclosing the +names of his abettors; and the turncoat at once denounced Stanley, +then present, as, his chief colleague. The chamberlain indignantly +repudiated the accusation; and Henry, with well-feigned disbelief, +begged Clifford to be careful in making his charges, for it was +absolutely incredible "that a man, to whom he was in a great measure +beholden for his crown, and even for his life; a man to whom, by every +honour and favour, he had endeavoured to express his gratitude; whose +brother, the Earl of Derby, was his own father-in-law; to whom he had +even committed the trust of his person by creating him lord +chamberlain; that this man, enjoying his full confidence and +affection, not actuated by any motive of discontent or apprehension, +should engage in a conspiracy against him." But Clifford persisted in +his charges and statements. Stanley was placed under arrest, and was +subsequently tried, condemned, and beheaded.</p> + +<p>The fate of the unfortunate chamberlain, and the defection of +Clifford, created the greatest consternation in the camp of Perkin +Warbeck. The king's authority was greatly strengthened by the +promptness and severity of his measures, and the pretender soon +discovered that unless he were content to sink into obscurity, he must +speedily make a bold move. Accordingly, having collected <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> + +a band of +outlaws, criminals, and adventurers, he set sail for England. Having +received intelligence that Henry was at that time in the north, he +cast anchor off the coast of Kent, and despatched some of his +principal adherents to invite the gentlemen of Kent to join his +standard. The southern landowners, who were staunchly loyal, invited +him to come on shore and place himself at their head. But the wary +impostor was not to be entrapped so easily. He declined to trust +himself in the hands of the well-disciplined bands which expressed so +much readiness to follow him to death or victory; and the Kentish +troops, despairing of success in their stratagem, fell upon such of +his retainers as had already landed, and took 150 of them prisoners. +These were tried, sentenced, and executed by order of the king, who +was determined to show no lenity to the rebels. Perkin being an +eye-witness of the capture of his people, immediately weighed anchor, +and returned to Flanders.</p> + +<p>Hampered, however, by his horde of desperadoes, he could not again +settle quietly down under the protecting wing of the Duchess Margaret. +Work and food had to be found for his lawless followers; and in 1495 +an attempt was made upon Ireland, which still retained its preference +for the House of York. But the people of Ireland had learnt a salutary +lesson at the battle of Stoke, and Perkin, meeting with little +success, withdrew to Scotland. At this time there was a coolness +between the Scottish and English courts, and King James gave him a +favourable reception, being so completely deceived by his specious +story, that he bestowed upon him in marriage the beautiful and +virtuous Lady Catherine Gordon, the daughter of the Earl of Huntly, +and his own kinswoman. Not content with this, the King of Scots, with +Perkin in his company, invaded England, in the hope that the adherents +of the York family would rise in favour of the pretender. In this +expectation he was disappointed, and what at first seemed likely to +prove a dangerous insurrection ended in a mere border raid.</p> + +<p>For a time Warbeck remained in Scotland; but when King James +discovered that his continued presence at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> + +his court completely +prevented all hope of a lasting peace with England, he requested him +to leave the country. The Flemings meanwhile had passed a law barring +his retreat into the Low Countries. Therefore, after hiding for a time +in the wilds of Ireland, he resolved to try the affections of the men +of Cornwall. No sooner did he land at Bodmin, than the people crowded +to his banners in such numbers, that the pretender, hopeful of +success, took upon himself for the first time the title of Richard +IV., king of England. Not to suffer the expectation of his followers +to languish, he laid siege to Exeter; but the men of Exeter, having +shut their gates in his face, waited with confidence for the coming of +the king. Nor were they disappointed. The Lords D'Aubeney and Broke +were despatched with a small body of troops to the relief of the city. +The leading nobles offered their services as volunteers, and the king, +at the head of a considerable army, prepared to follow his advanced +guard. Perkin's followers, who numbered about 7000 men, would have +stood by him; but the cowardly Fleming, despairing of success, +secretly withdrew to the sanctuary of Beaulieu. The Cornish rebels +accepted the king's clemency, and Lady Gordon, the wife of the +pretender, fell into the hands of the royalists. To Henry's credit it +must be mentioned that he did not visit the sins of the husband upon +the poor deluded wife, but placed her in attendance upon the queen, +and bestowed upon her a pension which she continued to enjoy +throughout his reign, and even after his death.</p> + +<p>It was a difficult matter to know how to deal with the impostor +himself. It would have been easy to make the privileges of the church +yield to reasons of state, and to take him by violence from the +sanctuary; but at the same time it was wise to respect the rights of +the clergy and the prejudices of the people. Therefore agents were +appointed to treat with the counterfeit prince, and succeeded in +inducing him, by promises that his life would be spared, to deliver +himself up to King Henry. Once a captive, he was treated with derision +rather than with extreme severity, and was led in a kind of mock +triumph <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> + +to London. As he passed along the road, and through the +streets of the city, men of all grades assembled to see the impostor, +and cast ridicule upon his fallen fortunes; and the farce was ended by +the publication of a confession in which Warbeck narrated his real +parentage, and the chief causes of his presumption to royal honours.</p> + +<p>But although his life was spared, he was still detained in custody. +After a time he escaped from prison, and fled to the Priory of Sheen, +near Richmond, where he desired the prior, who was a favourite with +the king, to petition for his life and a pardon. If Henry had listened +to the advice of his counsellors he would have taken advantage of the +opportunity to rid himself of this persistent disturber of his peace; +but he was content to give orders that "the knave should be taken out +and set in the stocks." Accordingly, on the 14th of June 1499, Warbeck +was exposed on a scaffold, erected in the Palace Court, Westminster, +as he was on the day following at the Cross on Cheapside, and at both +these places he read a confession of his imposture. Notwithstanding +this additional disgrace, no sooner was he again under lock and key, +than his restless spirit induced him to concoct another plot for +liberty and the crown. Insinuating himself into the intimacy of four +servants of Sir John Digby, lieutenant of the Tower, by their means he +succeeded in opening a correspondence with the Earl of Warwick, who +was confined in the same prison. The unfortunate prince listened +readily to his fatal proposals, and a new plan was laid. Henry was +apprised of it, and was not sorry that the last of the Plantagenets +had thus thrust himself into his hands. Warbeck and Warwick were +brought to trial, condemned, and executed. Perkin Warbeck died very +penitently on the gallows at Tyburn. "Such," says Bacon, "was the end +of this little cockatrice of a king." The Earl of Warwick was beheaded +on Tower Hill, on the 28th of November 1499.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> + +</p> +<h2><a name="DON_SEBASTIAN_THE_LOST_KING_OF_PORTUGAL" id="DON_SEBASTIAN_THE_LOST_KING_OF_PORTUGAL"></a>DON SEBASTIAN—THE LOST KING OF PORTUGAL.</h2> + + +<p>King Sebastian of Portugal, who inherited the throne in 1557, seems, +even from his infancy, to have exhibited a remarkable love of warlike +exercises, and at an early age to have given promise of distinguishing +himself as a warrior. At the time of his accession, Portugal had lost +much of her old military prestige; the Moors had proved too strong for +her diminished armies; the four strongholds of Arzilla, +Alcazar-Sequer, Saphin, and Azamor, had been wrested from her; and +Mazagan, Ceuta, and Tangier alone remained to her of all her African +possessions. Consequently, the tutors of the boy-king were delighted +to see his warlike instinct, and carefully instilled into his mind a +hatred of the Paynim conquerors.</p> + +<p>The lesson was well learnt, and from the moment King Sebastian reached +his 14th year (the period of his majority), it was evident that all +his thoughts centred on an expedition to Africa, to revive the former +glories of his house, and to extend his empire even beyond its former +limits. In 1574 he set out, not to conquer the land, but simply to +view it, and with youthful audacity landed at Tangier, accompanied by +only 1500 men. Finding no opposition to his progress, he organized a +hunting expedition among the mountains, and actually put his project +into execution. The Moors, by this time thoroughly incensed by his +audacity, mustered a force and attacked his escort, but he succeeded +in beating them off, and escaped in safety to his ships, and reached +his kingdom unharmed.</p> + +<p>This peculiar reconnaissance only strengthened his resolution to wrest +his former possessions from the Moslems; and although Portugal was +impoverished and weak, he resolved at once to enter on a crusade +against Muley Moluc and the Moors. The protests of his ministers were +unheeded; he laid new and exorbitant imposts on his people, caused +mercenaries to be levied in Italy and the Low Countries, and +reluctantly persuaded <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> + +his uncle, Philip I. of Spain, to promise a +contingent. His preparations being at last completed, and a regency +established, he put to sea in June 1578. His armament consisted of +9000 Portuguese, 2000 Spaniards, 3000 Germans, and some 600 +Italians—in all, about 15,000 men, with twelve pieces of artillery, +embarked on fifty-five vessels.</p> + +<p>On the 4th of August the opposing forces met. The Moorish monarch, who +was stricken with a fatal disorder, was carried on a litter to the +field, and died while struggling with his attendants, who refused to +allow him to rush into the thick of the fight. The Portuguese were +routed with great slaughter, notwithstanding the valour with which +they were led by Don Sebastian. Two horses were killed under the +Christian king; the steed on which he rode was exhausted, and the +handful of followers who remained with him entreated him to surrender. +Sebastian indignantly refused, and again dashed into the middle of the +fray. From this moment his fate is uncertain. Some suppose that he was +taken prisoner, and that his captors beginning to dispute among +themselves as to the possession of so rich a prize, one of the Moorish +officers slew him to prevent the rivalry ending in bloodshed. Another +account, however, affirms that he was seen after the battle, alone and +unattended, and apparently seeking some means of crossing the river. +On the following day search was made for his body, Don Nuno +Mascarcuhas, his personal attendant, having stated that he saw him put +to death with his own eyes. At the spot which the Portuguese noble +indicated, a body was found, which, though naked, Resende, a valet of +Sebastian, recognised as that of his master. It was at once conveyed +to the tent of Muley Hamet, the brother and successor of Muley Moluc, +and was there identified by the captive Portuguese nobles. That their +grief was sincere there could be no doubt; and the Moorish king having +placed the royal remains in a handsome coffin, delivered them for a +heavy ransom to the Spanish ambassador, by whom they were forwarded to +Portugal, where they were buried with much pomp.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> + +</p> + +<p>But although the nobles were well content to believe that Sebastian +was dead, the mob were by no means equally satisfied that the story of +his fate was true, and were prepared to receive any impostor with open +arms. Indeed, in some parts of Portugal, Don Sebastian is supposed by +the populace to be still alive, concealed like Roderick the Goth, or +our own Arthur, in some hermit's cell, or in some enchanted castle, +until the fitting time for his re-appearance arrives, when he will +break the spell which binds him, and will restore the faded glory of +the nation. During the incursions of Bonaparte, his appearance was +anxiously expected, but he delayed the day of his coming. But if the +real Sebastian remains silent, there have been numerous pretenders to +his throne and his name.</p> + +<p>In 1585 a man appeared who personated the dead king. He was a native +of Alcazova, and a person of low birth and still lower morals. In his +earlier days he had been admitted into the monastic society of Our +Lady of Mount Carmel, but had been expelled from the fraternity on +account of his misconduct. Even in his later life, when, by pretended +penitence, he succeeded in gaining re-admission, his vices were found +so far to outweigh his virtues and his piety that it was necessary +again to confide him to the tender mercies of a sacrilegious world. He +fled to the hermitage of Albuquerque, and there devotees visited him. +Widows and full-blooded donnas especially frequented his cell; and the +results of his exercises were such that the Alcalde threatened to lay +hands upon him. Once more he disappeared, but only to turn up again in +the guise of Don Sebastian. Two of his accomplices who mixed among the +people pointed out his resemblance to the lost monarch: the credulous +crowd swallowed the story, and he soon had a respectable following. +Orders from Lisbon, however, checked his prosperous career. He was +arrested and escorted by 100 horsemen to the dungeons of the capital. +There he was tried and condemned to death. The sentence was not, +however, carried into effect; for the imposture was deemed too +transparent to merit the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> + +infliction of the extreme penalty. The +prisoner was carried to the galleys instead of the scaffold, and +exhibited to visitors as a contemptible curiosity rather than as a +dangerous criminal. So ended the first sham Sebastian.</p> + +<p>In the same year another pretender appeared. This was Alvarez, the son +of a stone-cutter, and a native of the Azores. So far from originating +the imposture, it seems to have been thrust upon him. Like the youth +of Alcazova, after being a monk, he had become a hermit, and thousands +of the devout performed pilgrimages to his cell, which was situated on +the sea-coast, about two miles from Ericeira. The frequency and +severity of his penances gained him great celebrity, and at last it +began to be rumoured abroad that the recluse was King Sebastian, who, +by mortifying his own flesh, was atoning for the calamity he had +brought upon his kingdom. At first he repudiated all claim to such +distinction; but after a time his ambition seems to have been aroused; +he ceased to protest against the homage of the ignorant, and consented +to be treated as a king. Having made up his mind to the imposture, +Alvares resolved to carry it out boldly. He appointed officers of his +household, and despatched letters, sealed with the royal arms, +throughout the kingdom, commanding his subjects to rally round his +standard and aid him in restoring peace and prosperity to Portugal. +The local peasantry, in answer to the summons, hastened to place +themselves at his service, and were honoured by being allowed to kiss +his royal hand. Cardinal Henrique, the regent, being informed of his +proceedings, despatched an officer with a small force to arrest this +new disturber of the public tranquillity; but on the approach of the +troops Alvares and his followers took to the mountains. The cardinal's +representative, unable to pursue them into their inaccessible +fastnesses, left the alcalde of Torres Vedras at Ericeira with +instructions to capture the impostor dead or alive, and himself set +out for Lisbon. He had scarcely reached the plain when Alvares, at the +head of 700 men, swooped down upon the town and took the alcalde and +his soldiers prisoners. He next wrote to the cardinal <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> + +regent, +ordering him to quit the palace and the kingdom. He then set out for +Torres Vedras, intending to release the criminals confined there, and +with their assistance to seize Cintra, and afterwards to attack the +capital. On the march he threw the unfortunate alcalde and the notary +of Torres Vedras, who had been captured at the same time, over a high +cliff into the sea, and executed another government official who had +the misfortune to fall into his clutches. The corregedor Fonseca, who +was not far off, hearing of these excesses, immediately started at the +head of eighty horsemen to oppose the rebel progress. Wisely +calculating that if he appeared with a larger force Alvares would +again flee to the hills, he ordered some companies to repair in +silence to a village in the rear, and aid him in case of need. He +first encountered a picked band of 200 rebels, whom he easily routed; +and then, being joined by his reinforcements, fell upon the main body, +which his also dispersed. Alvares succeeded in escaping for a time, +but at last he was taken and brought to Lisbon. Here, after being +exposed to public infamy, he was hanged amid the jeers of the +populace.</p> + +<p>Nine years later, in 1594, another impostor appeared, this time in +Spain, under the very eyes of King Philip, who had seized the +Portuguese sovereignty. Again an ecclesiastic figured in the plot; but +on this occasion he concealed himself behind the scenes, and pulled +the strings which set the puppet-king in motion. Miguel dos Santos, an +Augustinian monk, who had been chaplain to Sebastian, after his +disappearance espoused the cause of Don Antonio, and conceived the +scheme of placing his new patron on the Lusitanian throne, by exciting +a revolution in favour of a stranger adventurer, who would run all the +risks of the rebellion, and resign his ill-gotten honours when the +real aspirant appeared. He found a suitable tool in Gabriel de +Spinosa, a native of Toledo. This man resembled Sebastian, was +naturally bold and unscrupulous, and was easily persuaded to undertake +the task of personating the missing monarch. The monk, Dos Santos, who +was confessor to the nunnery of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> + +Madrigal, introduced this person to +one of the nuns, Donna Anna of Austria, a niece of King Philip, and +informed her that he was the unfortunate King of Portugal. The lady, +believing her father-confessor, loaded the pretender with valuable +gifts; presented him with her jewels; and was so attracted by his +appearance that it was said she was willing to break her vows for his +sake, and to share his throne with him. Unfortunately for the +conspirators, before the plot was ripe, Spinosa's indiscretion ruined +it. Having repaired to Valladolid to sell some jewels, he formed a +criminal acquaintance with a female of doubtful repute, who informed +the authorities that he was possessed of a great number of gems which +she believed to be stolen. He was arrested, and on his correspondence +being searched, the whole scheme was discovered. The rack elicited a +full confession, and Spinosa was hung and quartered. Miguel dos Santos +shared the same fate; but the Donna Anna, in consideration of her +birth, was spared and condemned to perpetual seclusion.</p> + +<p>The list of pretenders to regal honours was not even yet complete. In +1598, a Portuguese noble was accosted in the streets of Padua by a +tattered pilgrim, who addressed him by name, and asked if he knew him. +The nobleman answered that he did not. "Alas! have twenty years so +changed me," cried the stranger, "that you cannot recognise in me your +missing king, Sebastian?" He then proceeded to pour his past history +into the ears of the astonished hidalgo, narrating the chief events of +the African battle, detailing the circumstances of his own escape, and +mentioning the friends and events of his earlier life so fluently and +correctly that his listener had no hesitation in accepting him as the +true Sebastian. The news of the appearance of this pretender in Padua +soon reached Portugal, and spread with unexampled rapidity throughout +the country. Philip II. was gravely disturbed by the report, knowing +that his own rule was unpopular, and that the people would be disposed +to rally round any claimant who promised on his accession to the +throne to relieve them from the heavy burdens <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> + +under which they +groaned. He therefore lost no time in forestalling any attempt to oust +him from the Portuguese sovereignty; and despatched a courier to +Venice, demanding the interference of the authorities. The governor of +Venice, anxious to please the powerful ruler of the Spanish peninsula, +issued an order for the immediate expulsion of "the man calling +himself Don Sebastian;" but the "man" had no intention of being +disposed of in this summary manner. Immediately on receipt of the +order he proceeded to Venice, presented himself at court, and declared +himself ready to prove his identity. The Spanish minister, acting upon +his instructions, denounced him as an impostor, and as a criminal who +had been guilty of heinous offences, and demanded his arrest. He was +thrown into prison; but when the charges of the Spanish minister were +investigated, they failed signally, and no crime could be proven +against him. At the solicitation of Philip, however, he was kept under +arrest, and was frequently submitted to examination by the +authorities, with a view of entrapping him into some damaging +admission. At first he answered readily, and astonished his +questioners by his intimate knowledge of the inner life of the +Portuguese court, not only mentioning the names of Sebastian's +ministers and the ambassadors who had been accredited to Lisbon, but +describing their appearance and peculiarities, and recounting the +chief measures of his government, and the contents of the letters +which had been written by the king. At length, after cheerfully +submitting to be examined on twenty-eight separate occasions, he grew +tired of being pestered by his questioners, and refused to answer +further interrogatories, exclaiming, "My Lords, I am Sebastian, king +of Portugal! If you doubt it, permit me to be seen by my subjects, +many of whom will remember me. If you can prove that I am an impostor, +I am willing to suffer death."</p> + +<p>The Portuguese residents in Italy entertained no doubt that the +pretender was their countryman and their monarch, and made most +strenuous exertions to procure his release. One of their number, Dr. +Sampajo, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> + +a man of considerable eminence, and of known probity, +personally interceded with the governor of Venice on his behalf. He +was told that the prisoner could only be released upon the most ample +and satisfactory proof of his identity; and Sampajo, confident that he +could procure the necessary evidence, set out forthwith for Portugal. +After a brief stay in Lisbon, he returned with a mass of testimony +corroborating the pretender's story; and, what was naturally +considered of greater importance, with a list of the marks which were +on the person of King Sebastian. The accused was stripped, and on his +body marks were found similar to those which had been described to Dr. +Sampajo. Still the authorities hesitated; and explained that in a +matter of such importance, and where such weighty interests were +involved, they could not act on the representations of a private +individual; but if any of the European powers should demand the +release of their prisoner it would be granted.</p> + +<p>Nothing daunted by their failure, the believers in the claims of the +so-called Sebastian endeavoured to enlist the sympathy of the foreign +potentates on behalf of one of their own order who was unjustly +incarcerated and deprived of his rights. In this they failed; but at +last the government of Holland, which had no love for Philip, espoused +the cause of his rival, and despatched an officer to Venice to see +that justice was done. A day was appointed for the trial, and the +prisoner being brought before the senate, presented his claims in +writing. Witnesses came forward who swore that the person before them +was indeed Sebastian, although he had changed greatly in the course of +twenty years. Several scars, malformed teeth, moles, and other +peculiarities which were known to be possessed by the king, were +pointed out on the person of the pretender, and the evidence was +decidedly favourable to his claims; when, on the fifth day of the +investigation, a courier arrived from Spain, and presented a private +message from King Philip. The proceedings were at once brought to a +close; and, without further examination, the prisoner was liberated, +and ordered to quit the Venetian territory in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> + +three days. He +proceeded to Florence, where he was again arrested by command of the +Grand Duke of Tuscany. The reason for this harsh treatment is not very +clearly apparent, but it was probably instigated by the Spanish +representative at the Florentine court; for no sooner did the news +that he was in confinement reach Philip, than he demanded the delivery +of the prisoner to his agents. The duke at first refused to comply +with this request, but a threatened invasion of his dominions led him +to reconsider his decision, and the unfortunate aspirant to the +Portuguese sceptre was handed over to the Spanish officials. He was +hurried to Naples, then an appanage of the Spanish crown, and was +there offered his liberty if he would renounce his pretensions; but +this he staunchly refused to do, saying, "I am Sebastian, king of +Portugal, and have been visited by this severe punishment as a +chastisement for my sins. I am content to die in the manner that +pleases you best, but deny the truth I neither can nor will."</p> + +<p>The Count de Lemnos, who had been the minister of Spain at Lisbon when +Sebastian was on the throne, at that time was Viceroy of Naples, and +naturally went to visit the pretended king in prison. After a brief +interview, he unhesitatingly asserted that he had never seen the +prisoner before; whereupon the pretended Sebastian exclaimed, "You say +that you have no recollection of me, but I remember you very well. My +uncle, Philip of Spain, twice sent you to my court, where I gave you +such-and-such private interviews." Staggered by this intimate +knowledge of his past life, De Lemnos hesitated for a minute or two, +but at last ordered the gaoler to remove his prisoner, adding to his +command the remark, "He is a rank impostor,"—a remark which called +forth the stern rebuke, "No, Sir; I am no impostor, but the +unfortunate King of Portugal, and you know it full well. A man of your +station ought at all times to speak the truth or preserve silence!"</p> + +<p>Whatever the real opinion of De Lemnos may have been, he behaved +kindly to his prisoner, and treated him with no more harshness than +was consistent with his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> + +safe-keeping. Unfortunately, the life of the +ex-ambassador was short, and his successor had no sympathy for the +<i>soidisant</i> king. On the 1st of April 1602, he was taken from his +prison and mounted upon an ass, and, with three trumpeters preceding +him, was led through the streets, a herald proclaiming at +intervals:—"His Most Catholic Majesty hath commanded that this man be +led through the streets of Naples with marks of infamy, and that he +shall afterwards be committed to serve in the galleys for life, for +falsely pretending to be Don Sebastian, king of Portugal." He bore the +ordeal firmly; and each time that the proclamation was made, added, in +clear and sonorous tones, "And so I am!"</p> + +<p>He was afterwards sent on board the galleys, and for a short time had +to do the work of a galley slave; but as soon as the vessels were at +sea he was released, his uniform was removed, and he was courteously +treated. What ultimately became of him was never clearly ascertained, +but it is certain that on more than one occasion he succeeded in +confounding his opponents, and by his startling revelations of the +past led many who would fain have disputed his identity to express +their doubts as to the justice of his punishment. The probability is +that he was a rogue, but he was a clever one. Rumour says he died in a +Spanish fortress in 1606.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JEMELJAN_PUGATSCHEFF_THE_FICTITIOUS_PETER_III" id="JEMELJAN_PUGATSCHEFF_THE_FICTITIOUS_PETER_III"></a>JEMELJAN PUGATSCHEFF—THE FICTITIOUS PETER III.</h2> + + +<p>The reign of Catherine II. fills one of the darkest pages of Russian +history. This lustful and ambitious empress waded to the throne +through her husband's blood—bloodshed was necessary to establish her +rule; infamous cruelties characterised her whole reign, and no +princess ever succeeded in making herself more heartily detested by +her subjects than the vicious daughter of Anhalt Zerbst. Plot after +plot was concocted to oust her from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> + +her high estate; and impostor +after impostor appeared claiming the imperial purple; but the empress +held her own easily, and suppressed each successive rebellion without +difficulty, until Pugatscheff appeared at the head of the Cossacks, +and threatened to hurl her from her throne, and dismember the empire.</p> + +<p>Jemeljan Pugatscheff Was the son of Jemailoff Pugatscheff, a Cossack +of the Don, and was born near Simonskaga. His father was killed on the +field of battle, and left him to the care of an indifferent mother, +who deserted him and sought the embraces of a second husband. An +uncle, pitying the lad's desolation, carried him to Poland, where he +picked up the French, Italian, German, and Polish languages, and +distinguished himself by his aptitude for learning. After a time he +returned to Russia, and took up his abode among the Cossacks of the +Ukraine, who, attracted alike by his bodily vigour and his mental +accomplishments, elected him one of their chiefs. He was not, however, +contented with the comparative quiet of Cossack life, and longed for +some greater excitement than was afforded by an occasional raid +against the neighbouring tribes. Accordingly, taking advantage of the +law promulgated by Peter III.,—that any Russian might leave the +country and enter the service of any power not at war with the +empire,—he entered the army of the King of Prussia. On the conclusion +of peace he obtained a command in the Russian army, and served for a +considerable time. At last his regiment was relieved, and Pugatscheff +was allowed to return home. On his return he found the Cossacks of the +Ukraine gravely dissatisfied with the government and the empire. The +viciousness of the court had been reported to them; they were +oppressed both by the clergy and the judges, and they only wanted a +leader to break out into open revolt. Pugatscheff saw the golden +opportunity, and presented himself. But spies were numerous, the +garrisons were strong, and it was necessary to proceed with caution. +In order the better to conceal his designs, he entered the service of +a Cossack named Koshenikof, and after a short time succeeded in +gaining <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> + +the adhesion of his master to his cause. The friends and +kinsmen of Koshenikof were one by one, under oath of secrecy, informed +of the plot, and by degrees the rebellious scheme was perfected. +Pugatscheff was elected chief; and as he bore a strong resemblance to +the murdered emperor, it was resolved that he should present himself +to the people as Peter III. Accordingly, rumours were assiduously +circulated that the emperor was still alive; that a soldier had been +killed in his stead; and that although he was in hiding, he would +shortly appear, and would avenge himself upon his enemies. Thousands +listened and believed, and only waited for the first sign of success +to join the movement. But the government was on the alert. Pugatscheff +and his master were suspected and denounced; and while the latter was +arrested, the former with difficulty escaped. In a few days, however, +he succeeded in surrounding himself with 500 adherents, and marched at +their head to the town of Jaizkoi, which he summoned to surrender. The +answer was sent by 5000 Cossacks who had orders to take him prisoner. +Strong in his faith in his fellow-countrymen, Pugatscheff advanced +towards this formidable force, and caused one of his officers to +present them with a manifesto explaining his claims, and his reasons +for taking up arms. The general in command seized the document, but +the men, who had no great love for the empress, insisted that it +should be read. Their request was refused, and 500 of them at once +deserted their standards and joined the ranks of the rebel chief. +Alarmed by this defection, the Russian general withdrew to the +citadel, while Pugatscheff encamped about a league off, hoping that +further desertions would follow, and that the place would fall into +his hands. In this he was disappointed; for his fellow-countrymen, +although disloyal at heart, did not wish to commit themselves to a +desperate undertaking which might involve them in ruin, and were +disposed to wait until some success had attended the insurrection. The +500 who had precipitately chosen the rebellion had induced about a +dozen of their officers to join them; but these men, suddenly +repenting, refused to break their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> + +oath of allegiance, and were at +once hanged from the neighbouring trees. Finding further persuasion +fruitless, Pugatscheff wisely refrained from any attempt to reduce the +fortress, and marched his band towards Orenburg. On the way he secured +large accessions to his force, and in a few days found himself at the +head of 1500 men. With this army he attacked the fortified town of +Iletzka, which offered no resistance—the garrison passing over to +him. The commandant consented to share in the enterprise with his +followers, but Pugatscheff wanted no commandants or men of +intelligence who might interfere with his schemes, and gave orders for +his immediate execution. The cannon captured at Iletzka were then +pointed against Casypnaja, which yielded after a brief struggle. Thus +fortress after fortress fell into the hands of the reputed emperor, +who gladly received the common soldiery, but mercilessly slew their +leaders.</p> + +<p>By this time the news had spread abroad throughout Southern Russia +that Peter III. was not dead, but was in arms for the recovery of his +throne and for the redress of the grievances under which his people +were suffering. Crowds of Cossacks heard the intelligence with joy, +and hastened to cast in their lot with the army of Pugatscheff. +Talischova, a powerful fortress, defended by 1000 regular troops, fell +before his assault; and the false Peter soon found himself possessed +of numerous strongholds, a formidable train of artillery, and a +fighting force of 5000 men. Considering himself strong enough to +attempt the reduction of Orenburg, the capital of the southern +provinces, he marched against it. Here, however, he encountered a +stubborn resistance, and attack after attack was repulsed with heavy +loss. These repeated failures did not discourage the pretender or his +adherents. The Cossacks continued to flock to his banners, and when +General Carr, who had been despatched from Moscow to suppress the +revolt, arrived in the neighbourhood of Orenburg, he found the rebel +chief at the head of 16,000 soldiers. An advanced guard, which was +sent to harass his movements, fell into the hands of Pugatscheff, who +nearly exterminated it, and straightway hanged the officers <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> + +who were +made captive, according to his usual custom. Emboldened by his +success, he attacked the main body, and ignominiously defeated it in +the open field; and Carr, panic-struck, fled to the capital, leaving +General Freyman, if possible, to oppose the advance of the +revolutionists. The result of this decisive victory was soon apparent. +Province after province declared in favour of the pretender, chief +after chief placed his sword at his service, and Pugatscheff began to +play the emperor in earnest. He conferred titles upon his most +distinguished officers, granted sealed commissions, and constructed +foundries and powder manufactories in various places.</p> + +<p>Catherine, by this time thoroughly alarmed, despatched another army to +the Ukraine under General Bibikoff, an experienced and resolute +officer. He arrived at Casan in February 1774, and issued a manifesto, +exposing Pugatscheff's imposture, and calling upon the rebels to lay +down their arms. Pugatscheff replied by another manifesto, declaring +himself the Czar, Peter III., and threatening vengeance against all +who resisted his just claims. He also caused coin to be impressed with +his effigy, and the inscription "<i>Redivivus et Ultor</i>." In the +meantime he continued to lay siege to Orenburg and Ufa. But Bibikoff +was not a man to remain inactive, and lost no time in attacking him. +Again and again he was defeated, the siege of the two strongholds was +raised, and on more than one occasion his army was dispersed, and he +was left at the head of only a few hundred followers. But, if the +Cossack hordes could be easily dissipated, they could rally with equal +ease; and on several occasions, when the rebellion seemed to be +completely crushed, it suddenly burst out afresh, and Pugatscheff, who +was supposed to be hiding like a hunted criminal, appeared at the head +of a larger force than ever. Thus at one time scarcely 100 men +followed him to a retreat in the Ural Mountains: in a few days he was +at the head of 20,000 men, and took Casan by storm, with the exception +of the citadel, which resisted his most determined attacks. Here he +perpetrated the greatest atrocities, until the imperial troops arrived +and wrested the town from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> + +his grasp, seizing his artillery and his +ammunition. For a time his position appeared desperate, and he fled +across the Volga, but only to re-appear again at the head of an +enormous force, and, as a conqueror, fortress after fortress yielding +at his summons. At length a Russian army under Colonel Michelsohn +overtook him and gave him battle. Pugatscheff held a strong position, +had 24 pieces of artillery and 20,000 men, but his raw levies were no +match for the regular troops. His position was turned, and a panic +seized his followers, who deserted their guns and their baggage, and +fled precipitately, leaving 2000 dead and 6000 prisoners behind them. +Pugatscheff himself made for the Volga, closely pursued by the Russian +cavalry, who cut down the half of his escort before they could embark. +With sixty men he succeeded in escaping into the desert, and at last +it was evident that his game was played out. The only three outlets +were soon closed by separate detachments of the imperial troops, and +the fugitives were thus confined in an arid waste without shelter, +without provisions, and without water. The situation was so hopeless +that each man only thought of saving himself, and Pugatscheff's +companions were not slow to perceive that their sole chance of life +lay in sacrificing their leader. Accordingly, they fell upon him while +he was ravenously devouring a piece of horseflesh—the only food which +he could command—and, having bound him, handed him over to his +enemies. As Moscow had shown some sympathy for him, he was carried in +chains to that city, and was there condemned to death. Several of his +principal adherents likewise suffered punishment at the same time.</p> + +<p>On the 23d of January 1775, Pugatscheff and his followers were led to +the place of execution, where a large scaffold had been erected. Some +had their tongues cut out, the noses of others were cut off, eighteen +were knouted and sent to Siberia, and the chief was decapitated—his +body being afterwards cut in pieces and exposed in different parts of +the town. He met his fate with the utmost fortitude.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> + +</p> + +<h2><a name="OTREFIEF_THE_SHAM_PRINCE_DIMITRI" id="OTREFIEF_THE_SHAM_PRINCE_DIMITRI"></a>OTREFIEF—THE SHAM PRINCE DIMITRI.</h2> + + +<p>On the death of Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible, the Russian throne +was occupied by Boris Godunoff, who had contrived to procure the +murder of Dimitri, or Demetrius, the younger brother of Feodor. For a +time he governed well; but the crafty nobles beginning to plot against +him, he had recourse to measures of extreme cruelty and severity, so +that even the affections of the common people were alienated from him, +and universal confusion ensued. Advantage was taken of this state of +affairs by a monk named Otrefief, who bore an almost miraculous +likeness to the murdered Dimitri, to assume the name of the royal +heir. At first he proceeded cautiously, and, retiring to Poland, by +degrees made public the marvellous tale of his wrongs and of his +escape from his assassins. Many of the leading nobles listened to his +recitals and believed them. In order to render his campaign more +certain, the pretender set himself to learn the Polish language, and +acquired it with remarkable rapidity. Nor did he rest here. He +represented to the Poles that he was disposed to embrace the Catholic +faith; and by assuring the Pope that if he regained the throne of his +ancestors, his first care should be to recall his subjects to their +obedience to Rome, he succeeded in securing the patronage and the +blessing of the Pontiff. Sendomir, a wealthy boyard, not only espoused +his cause, and gave him pecuniary help, but promised him his daughter +Marina in marriage whenever he became the Czar of Muscovy. Marina +herself was no less eager for the union, and through Sendomir's +influence the support of the King of Poland was obtained.</p> + +<p>News of the imposture soon reached Moscow, and Boris instantly +denounced Dimitri as an impostor, and sent emissaries to endeavour to +secure his arrest. In this, however, they were unsuccessful; and the +false Dimitri not only succeeded in raising a considerable <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> + +force in +Poland, but also in convincing the great mass of the Russian +population that he really was the son of Ivan. In 1604 he appeared on +the Russian frontier at the head of a small but efficient force, and +overthrew the army which Boris had sent against him. His success was +supposed by the ignorant peasantry to be entirely due to the +interposition of Providence, which was working on the side of the +injured prince, and Dimitri was careful to foster the delusion that +his cause was specially favoured by heaven. He treated his prisoners +with the greatest humanity, and ordered his followers to refrain from +excesses, and to cultivate the goodwill of the people. The result was +that his ranks rapidly increased, while those of the czar diminished. +Even foreign governments began to view the offender with favour; and +at last Boris, devoured by remorse for the crimes which he had +committed, and by chagrin at the evil fate which had fallen upon him, +lost his reason and poisoned himself.</p> + +<p>The chief nobles assembled when the death of the czar was made known, +and proclaimed his son Feodor emperor in his stead; but the lad's +reign was very brief. The greater part of the army and the people +declared in favour of Dimitri, and the citizens of Moscow having +invited him to assume the reins of power, Dimitri made a triumphal +entry into the capital, and was crowned with great pomp. At first he +ruled prudently, and, had he continued as he began, might have +retained his strangely acquired throne. But after a time he gave +himself up to the gratification of his own wild passions, and lost the +popularity which he really had succeeded in gaining. He disgusted the +Russians by appointing numerous Poles, who had swelled his train, to +the highest posts in the empire, to the exclusion of meritorious +officers, who not only deserved well of their country, but also had +claims upon himself for services which they had rendered. These Polish +officers misconducted themselves sadly, and the people murmured sore. +The czar, too, made no secret of his attachment to the Catholic faith; +and while by so doing he irritated the clergy, he provoked the boyards +by his haughty patronage, and disgusted the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> + +common people by his +cruelty and lewdness. At last the murmurs grew so loud and +threatening, that some means had to be devised to quiet the popular +discontent, and Dimitri had recourse to a strange stratagem. The widow +of Ivan, who had long before been immured in a convent by the orders +of Boris, and had been kept there by his successor, was released from +her confinement, and was induced publicly to acknowledge Dimitri as +her son. The widowed empress knew full well that her life depended +upon her obedience; but notwithstanding her outward consent to the +fraud, the people were not satisfied, and demanded proofs of Dimitri's +birth, which were not forthcoming. Discontent continued to spread, and +at length the popular fury could no longer be restrained. According to +his promise, the sham czar married Marina, the daughter of the Polish +boyard. The very fact that she was a Pole made her distasteful to the +Russians; but that fact was rendered still more offensive by the +manner of her entrance into the capital, and the treatment which the +Muscovites received at the bridal ceremony. The bride was surrounded +by a large retinue of armed Poles, who marched through the streets of +Moscow with the mien of conquerors; the Russian nobles were excluded +from all participation in the festivities; and the common people were +treated by their emperor with haughty insolence, and held up to the +scorn of his foreign guests. A report also became rife that a timber +fort, which Dimitri had erected opposite the gates of the city, had +been constructed solely for the purpose of giving the bloodthirsty +Marina a martial spectacle, and that, sheltered behind its wooden +walls, the Polish troops and the czar's bodyguard would throw +firebrands and missiles among the crowds of spectators below. This +idle rumour was carefully circulated; the clergy, who had long been +disaffected, went from house to house denouncing the czar as a +heretic, and calling an their countrymen to rise against the insolent +traducer of their religion; and the secret of his birth and imposition +was everywhere proclaimed. The people burst into open revolt, and, +headed by the native prince Schnisky, rushed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> + +to storm the imperial +palace. The Polish troops broke their ranks and fled, and were +massacred in the streets. Dimitri himself sought to escape by a +private avenue in the confusion; but watchful enemies were lying in +wait for him. He was overtaken and killed, and his body was exposed +for three days in front of the palace, so that the mob might wreak +their vengeance upon his inanimate clay. Marina and her father were +captured, and after being detained for a little time were set at +liberty.</p> + +<p>By the death of the impostor, the throne was left vacant, and the +privilege of electing a new czar reverted to the people. Schnisky, who +had headed the revolt, made good use of his opportunity and +popularity, and while the people were exulting over their success, +contrived to secure the empire for himself. But when the heat of +triumph died away, the nobles were chagrined because they had elevated +one of their own number to rule over them, and the reaction against +the new czar was as strong and as rapid as the extraordinary movement +in his favour had been. The Muscovite nobles were determined to oust +him from his newly-found dignities, and for this purpose adopted the +strange expedient of reviving the dead Dimitri. It mattered little to +them that the breathless carcase of the impostor had been seen by +thousands. They presumed upon the gullibility of their countrymen, +and, asserting that Dimitri had escaped and was prepared to come +forward to claim his throne, endeavoured to stir up an insurrection. +The cheat, however, was not popular, and the sham czar of the nobles +never appeared.</p> + +<p>But although the nobles failed in their attempt to foist another +Dimitri upon their fellow-countrymen, the Poles, who were interested +for their countrywoman Marina, were not discouraged from trying the +same ruse. They produced a flesh-and-blood candidate for the Russian +sceptre. This person was a Polish schoolmaster, who bore a striking +likeness to the real Dimitri, and who was sufficiently intelligent to +play his part creditably. To give a greater semblance of truth to +their imposture, they succeeded in persuading Marina to abet <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> + +them; +and not only did she openly assert that the new Dimitri was her +husband, but she embraced him publicly, and actually lived with him as +his wife.</p> + +<p>At the time that this impostor appeared, Sigismund declared war +against Russia, and his marshal Tolkiewski succeeded in inflicting a +terrible defeat on Schnisky. Moscow yielded before the victorious +Poles; and in despair Schnisky renounced the crown and retired into a +monastery. But no sooner was the diadem vacant than a host of false +Dimitris appeared to claim it, and the chief power was tossed from one +party to another during a weary interregnum. At last, in 1609, +Sigismund, who had remained at Smolensko while his marshal advanced +upon Moscow, proclaimed his own son Vladislaf to the vacant +sovereignty, and the pretended Dimitri sank into obscurity. Others, +however, arose; and although some of them perished on the scaffold, it +was not until 1616 that Russia was freed from the last of the +disturbing impostors who attempted to personate princes of the race of +Ivan the Terrible.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PADRE_OTTOMANO_THE_SUPPOSED_HEIR_OF_SULTAN_IBRAHIM" id="PADRE_OTTOMANO_THE_SUPPOSED_HEIR_OF_SULTAN_IBRAHIM"></a>PADRE OTTOMANO—THE SUPPOSED HEIR OF SULTAN IBRAHIM.</h2> + + +<p>In the year 1640, there lived in Constantinople one Giovanni Jacobo +Cesii, a Persian merchant of high repute throughout the Levant. This +man, who was descended from a noble Roman family, was on most intimate +terms with Jumbel Agha, the Sultan's chief eunuch, who sometimes gave +him strange commissions. Among other instructions which the merchant +received from the chief of the imperial harem, was an order to procure +privately the prettiest girl he could find in the slave marts of +Stamboul, where at this time pretty girls were by no means rare. +Jumbel Agha intended this damsel as an adornment for his own +household, and a personal companion for himself, and particularly +specified <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> + +that to her beauty she should add modesty and virginity. +Cesii executed his orders to the best of his ability, and procured for +the bloated and lascivious Agha a Russian girl called Sciabas, as fair +as a <i>houri</i>, and apparently as timid as a fawn. Unfortunately, +notwithstanding her innocent demeanour, it only too soon became +apparent that her virtue was not unimpeachable, and that ere long she +would add yet another member to the household of her new master. +Jumbel Agha, who was at first wroth with his pretty plaything, after +the heat of his passion had passed, consented to forgive her if she +would divulge the name of the father of her expected offspring; but +the fair one, although frail, was firm, and despising alike threats +and cajoleries, declined to give any hint as to its paternity. +Thereupon her master handed her over to his major-domo to be re-sold +for the best price she would fetch; but before she could be disposed +of she was brought to bed of a goodly boy.</p> + +<p>Some time after the child was born, the Agha, moved either by +curiosity or compassion, expressed a strong desire to see it, and when +it was brought into his presence, was so captivated by its appearance, +that he loaded it with gifts, and gave orders that it should be +sumptuously apparelled, and should remain with its mother in the house +of the major-domo until he had decided as to its future fate. Just +about this time the Grand Sultana had presented her Lord Ibrahim with +a baby boy; and proving extremely weak after her delivery, it was +found necessary to procure a wet-nurse for the heir to the sword and +dominions of Othman. No better opportunity could have offered for +Jumbel Agha. He at once introduced his disgraced slave and her "pretty +by-blow" to his imperial mistress, who accepted the services of the +mother without hesitation. For two years mother and child had their +home in the grizzled old palace on Seraglio Point, until at last the +Sultan began to display such a decided preference for the nurse's boy, +that the jealousy of the Sultana was aroused, and she banished the +offenders from her sight. Her anger was also excited against the +unfortunate Agha, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> + +who had been the means of introducing them into the +harem, and she set herself to plot his ruin. Her dusky servitor was, +however, sufficiently shrewd to perceive his danger, and begged +Ibrahim's permission to resign his office, in order to undertake the +pilgrimage to Mecca. At first his request was refused; for Jumbel Agha +was a favourite slave, and whoever obtains leave to go the holy +pilgrimage is <i>ipso facto</i> made free. But the chief eunuch having +agreed to go as a slave, and to return to his post when he had +performed his devotions, Ibrahim permitted him to set out.</p> + +<p>A little fleet of eight vessels was ready to sail for Alexandria, and +one of these was appropriated to Jumbel Agha and his household, +amongst whom was his beautiful slave and her little son. After +drifting about for some time in the inconstant breezes off the Syrian +coast, they fell in with six galleys, which they at first supposed to +be friendly ships of the Turkish fleet, but which ultimately proved +Maltese cruisers, and showed fight. The Agha made a valiant +resistance, and fell in the struggle, as did also Sciabas, the fair +Russian—the cause of his journey and his misfortunes. The baby, +however, was preserved alive; and when the Maltese boarded their +prize, they were attracted by the gorgeously dressed child, and +inquired to whom it belonged. The answer, given either in fear or in +the hope of obtaining better treatment, was that he was the son of +Sultan Ibrahim, and was on his way to Mecca, under the charge of the +chief eunuch, to be circumcised. The captors, greatly exhilarated by +the intelligence, at once made all sail for Malta, and there the +glorious news was accepted without question. For a time the knights +were so elated that they seriously began to consult together as to the +possibility of exchanging the supposed Ottoman prince for the Island +of Rhodes, which had slipped from their enfeebled grasp. The Grand +Master of the Order and the Grand Croci had no doubt as to the +genuineness of their captive, and wrote letters to Constantinople +informing the Sultan where he might find his heir and his chief +spouse, if he chose to comply with the Frankish <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span> + +conditions. It is +true that Sciabas was dead, but the worthy knights had recourse to +subterfuge in dealing with the infidel, and had dressed up another +slave to represent her. Portraits also were taken of the reputed +mother and child, and were sent with descriptive letters to the +European courts. The French and Italians eagerly purchased these +representations of the beloved of the Grand Turk; but that mysterious +being himself preserved an ominous silence. Even the knights of Malta, +who hated him as a Mohammedan, nevertheless supposed that the Ottoman +ruler was human, and when he made no effort to recover his lost ones, +began to have some doubt as to the identity of the child of whom they +made so much. In their dilemma they despatched a secret messenger to +Constantinople, who contrived to ingratiate himself at the seraglio, +and lost no opportunity of inquiring whether any of the imperial +children were missing, and whether it were true that the Sultana had +been captured by the Maltese some years before. Of course his +researches were fruitless, and in 1650 he wrote to his employers +assuring them that they had all the while been on a false scent. It +was deemed best to let the imposture die slowly. Little by little the +knights forbore to boast of their illustrious hostage; by degrees they +lessened the ceremonials with which he had been treated, and at last +neglected him altogether. He was made a Dominican friar; and the only +mark of his supposed estate was the name Padre Ottomano, which was +conferred upon him more in scorn than reverence, and which he +continued to bear till the day of his death.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MOHAMMED_BEY_THE_COUNTERFEIT_VISCOUNT_DE_CIGALA" id="MOHAMMED_BEY_THE_COUNTERFEIT_VISCOUNT_DE_CIGALA"></a>MOHAMMED BEY—THE COUNTERFEIT VISCOUNT DE CIGALA.</h2> + + +<p>In the miscellaneous writings of John Evelyn, the diary-writer, there +is an account of this extraordinary impostor, whose narration of his +own adventures outshines <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> + +that of Munchausen, and whose experiences, +according to his own showing, were more remarkable than those of +Gulliver. In 1668 this marvellous personage published a book entitled +the "History of Mohammed Bey; or, John Michel de Cigala, Prince of the +Imperial Blood of the Ottomans." This work he dedicated to the French +king, who was disposed to favour his pretensions.</p> + +<p>In this remarkable book the pretender sums up the antiquity of the +family of Cigala, entitling it to most of the crowns of Europe, and +makes himself out to be the descendant of Scipio, son of the famous +Viscount de Cigala, who was taken prisoner by the Turks in 1651. He +pretends that Scipio, after his capture, was persuaded to renounce +Christianity, and, having become a renegade, was advanced to various +high offices at the Porte by Sultan Solyman the Magnificent. Under the +name of Sinam Pasha, he asserts that his father became first general +of the Janizaries, then seraskier, or commander-in-chief of the whole +Turkish forces, and was finally created Grand Vizier of the empire. He +also maintains that various illustrious ladies were bestowed as wives +upon the new favourite; and among others the daughter of Sultan +Achonet, who gave himself birth. According to his own story he was +educated by the Moslem <i>muftis</i> in all the lore of the Koran, and by a +series of strange accidents was advanced to the governorship of +Palestine. Here, in consequence of a marvellous dream, he was +converted, and was turned from his original purpose of despoiling the +Holy Sepulchre of its beautiful silver lamps and other treasures. His +Christianity was not, however, of that perfervid kind which demands an +open avowal; and, continuing to outward appearance a Mussulman, +he was promoted to the governorship of Cyprus and the islands. In +this post he used his power for the benefit of the distressed +Christians—redressing their, wrongs, and delivering such of them as +had fallen into slavery. From Cyprus, after two years made brilliant +by notable exploits (which no man ever heard of but himself), he was +constituted Viceroy of Babylon, Caramania, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> + +Magnesia, and other ample +territories. At Iconium another miracle was performed for his +benefit; and thus specially favoured of heaven, he determined openly +to declare his conversion. At this important crisis, however, his +father-confessor died, and all his good resolutions seem to have been +abandoned. He repaired to Constantinople once more (still preserving +the outward semblance of a true believer, and ever obedient to the +muezzin's call), and was created Viceroy of Trebizonde and +Generalissimo of the Black Sea. Before setting out for his new home on +the shores of the Euxine, he had despatched a confidant named Chamonsi +to Trebizonde in charge of all his jewels and valuables, and his +intention was to seize the first opportunity of throwing off the yoke +of the Grand Signior, and declaring himself a Christian. But Chamonsi +proved faithless; and instead of repairing to the place of tryst, +plotted with the Governor of Moldavia to seize his master. Mohammed +Bey fell into the trap which they had prepared for him, but succeeded +in making his escape, although grievously wounded, after a wonderful +fight, in which he killed all his opponents. In his flight he met a +shepherd who exchanged clothes with him, and in disguise and barefoot +he contrived to reach the head-quarters of the Cossacks, who were at +the time in arms against Russia.</p> + +<p>In the Cossack camp there were three soldiers whom the <i>quondam</i> +Ottoman general had released from captivity, and they, at once +penetrating the flimsy disguise of the stranger, revealed him to their +own commander in his true character. At first he was well treated by +the Cossack chief, who was anxious that the honour of his baptism +should appertain to the Eastern Greek Church; but our prince, +designing from the beginning to make his solemn profession at Rome, +and to receive that sacrament from the Pope's own hands, was neglected +upon making his resolve known. He, therefore, stole away from the +Cossacks, and, guided by a Jew, succeeded in reaching Poland, where +the queen, hearing the report of his approach, and knowing his high +rank, received him with infinite respect and at last persuaded him to +condescend <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> + +to be baptized at Warsaw by the archbishop, she herself +standing sponsor at the font, and bestowing upon him the name of John.</p> + +<p>After his baptism and subsequent confirmation, this somewhat singular +Christian set out on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of +Loretto, and afterwards proceeded to Rome, where he was received with +open arms by Alexander VII. On his return journey through Germany he +found that the emperor was at war with the Turks; and, without +hesitation, espoused the Christian cause against the circumcised +heathen, slaying the Turkish general with his own hand, and performing +other stupendous exploits, of which he gives a detailed narration.</p> + +<p>As a reward for his services the German emperor created him "Captain +Guardian" of his artillery, and would have loaded him with further +honours, but a roving spirit was upon him, and he started for Sicily +to visit his noble friends who were resident in that island. On his +route he was everywhere received with the utmost respect by the +Princes of Germany and Italy; and when he arrived in Sicily, not only +did Don Pedro d'Arragon house him in his own palace, but the whole +city of Messina turned out to meet him, acknowledging his high +position as a member of the noble house of Cigala, from which it seems +the island had received many great benefits. Leaving Sicily he next +came to Rome, into which he made a public entry, and was warmly +received by Clement IX., before whom, in bravado, he drew and +flourished his dreadful scimitar in token of his defiance of the +enemies of the Church. At last, after touching at Venice and Turin, he +arrived in Paris, where he was received by the king according to his +high quality, and where he published the extraordinary narrative from +which we have taken the above statements, and which honest John +Evelyn, who was roused by his appearance in England, sets himself to +disprove.</p> + +<p>Right willingly does Evelyn devote himself to the task of stripping +the borrowed feathers from this fine jackdaw. After inaugurating his +work by quoting the Horatian <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> + +sneer, "<i>Spectatum admissi risum +teneatis, amici</i>?" he at once plunges <i>in medias res</i>, and not mincing +his language, says:—"This impudent vagabond is a native of Wallachia, +born of Christian parents in the city of Trogovisti;" and throughout +his exposure employs phrases which are decidedly more forcible than +polite. From Evelyn's revelation it appears that the family of the +pretended Cigala were at one time well-to-do, and ranked high in the +esteem of Prince Mathias of Moldavia, but that this youth was a black +sheep in the flock from the very beginning. After the death of his +father he had a fair chance of distinguishing himself, for the +Moldavian prince took him into his service, and sent him to join his +minister at Constantinople. Here he might have risen to some eminence; +but he was too closely watched to render his life agreeable, and after +a brief sojourn in the Turkish capital returned to his native land. +Here he became intimately acquainted with a married priest of the +Greek Church, and made love to his wife; but the woman, the better to +conceal the familiarity which existed between herself and the young +courtier, led her husband to believe that he had an affection for her +daughter, of which she approved. The simple ecclesiastic credited the +story; until it became apparent that the stranger's practical fondness +extended to the mother as well as the daughter, and that he had taken +advantage of the hospitality which was extended to him to debauch all +the priest's womankind. A complaint was laid before Prince Mathias, +who would have executed him if he had not fled to the shores of the +Golden Horn. He remained in Constantinople until the death of the +Moldavian ruler, when he impudently returned to Wallachia, thinking +that his former misdemeanours had been forgotten, and hoping to be +advanced to some prominent post during the general disarrangement of +affairs. His identity was, however, discovered; his old crimes were +brought against him; and he only escaped the executioner's sword by +flight. For the third time Constantinople became his home, and on this +occasion he embraced the Moslem faith, hoping to secure his +advancement thereby. The Turks, however, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> + +viewed the renegade with +suspicion, and treated him with neglect. Therefore, driven by +starvation, he ranged from place to place about Christendom, and in +countries where he was utterly unknown concocted and published the +specious story of his being so nearly related to the Sultan, and +succeeded in deceiving many. Of his ultimate fate nothing is known.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_SELF-STYLED_PRINCE_OF_MODENA" id="THE_SELF-STYLED_PRINCE_OF_MODENA"></a>THE SELF-STYLED PRINCE OF MODENA.</h2> + + +<p>In the beginning of the year 1748, a small French merchantman, which +was bound from Rochelle to Martinique, was so closely chased by the +British cruisers that the captain and crew were compelled to take to +their boat. By so doing they avoided the fate of the ship and cargo, +which fell a prey to the pursuers, and succeeded in effecting a safe +landing at Martinique. In their company was a solitary passenger—a +youth of eighteen or nineteen summers, whose dignified deportment and +finely-cut features betokened him of aristocratic lineage. His name, +as given by himself, was the Count de Tarnaud, and his father, +according to his own showing, was a field-marshal in the French +service; but the deference with which he was treated by his shipmates +seemed to suggest that his descent was even more illustrious, and his +dignity loftier than that to which he laid claim. He was unattended, +save by a sailor lad to whom he had become attached after his +embarkation. This youth, called Rhodez, treated him with the utmost +deference, and, while on an intermediate footing between friendship +and servitude, was careful never to display the slightest familiarity.</p> + +<p>This strangely assorted couple had no sooner landed upon the island +than the <i>pseudo</i> De Tarnaud asked to be directed to the house of one +of the leading inhabitants, and was referred to Duval Ferrol, an +officer, whose residence was situated near the spot at which he had +come <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> + +on shore. This gentleman, attracted by the appearance of the +youth, and sympathising with his misfortunes, at once offered him a +home, and De Tarnaud and Rhodez took up their abode at the <i>maison</i> +Ferrol. The hospitable advances of its proprietor were received by his +new guest in a kindly spirit, yet more as due than gratuitous; and +this air of superiority, combined with the extreme deference of +Rhodez, aroused curiosity. The captain of the vessel which had brought +the distinguished guest was questioned as to his real name, but +professed himself unable to give any information beyond stating that +the youth had been brought to him at Rochelle by a merchant, who had +privately recommended him to treat him with great attention, as he was +a person of distinction.</p> + +<p>Ample scope was, therefore, left for the curiosity and credulity of +the inhabitants of Martinique, who at this time were closely blockaded +by the English, and were sadly in want of some excitement to relieve +the monotony of their lives. Every rumour respecting the stranger was +eagerly caught up and assiduously disseminated by a thousand gossips, +and, as statement after statement and <i>canard</i> after <i>canard</i> got +abroad, he rose higher and higher in popular repute. No one doubted +that he was at least a prince; and why he had elected to come to +Martinique at such an inconvenient season nobody stopped to inquire.</p> + +<p>As far as could be made out from the disjointed stories which were +afloat, this mysterious individual had been seen to arrive at Rochelle +some time before the date of his embarkation. He was then accompanied +by an old man, who acted as a sort of mentor. On their arrival they +established themselves in private lodgings, in which the youth +remained secluded, while his aged friend frequented the quays on the +look-out for a ship to convey his companion to his destination. When +one was at last found he embarked, leaving his furniture as a present +to his landlady, and generally giving himself the air of a man of vast +property, although at the time possessed of very slender resources; +and that he really was a person of distinction and wealth the +colonists were prepared to believe. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> + +They only awaited the time when +he chose to reveal himself to receive him with acclamations.</p> + +<p>After treating him hospitably for some time, Duval Ferrol precipitated +matters by informing his strange guest, that as he did not know +anything of his past life, and was himself only a subaltern, he had +been under the necessity of informing his superior officers of his +presence, and that the king's lieutenant who commanded at Port Maria +desired to see him. The young man immediately complied with this +request, and presented himself to the governor as the Count de +Tarnaud. M. Nadau (for such was the name of this official) had of +course heard the floating rumours, and was resolved to penetrate the +mystery. He therefore received his visitor with <i>empressement</i>, and +offered him his hospitality. The offer was accepted, but again rather +as a matter of right than of generosity, and the young count and +Rhodez became inmates of the house of the commandant.</p> + +<p>Two days after young Taraud's removal to the dwelling of Nadau, the +latter was entertaining some guests, when, just as they were sitting +down to dinner, the count discovered that he had forgotten his +handkerchief, on which Rhodez got up and fetched it. Such an +occurrence would have passed without comment in France; but in +Martinique, where slavery was predominant, and slaves were abundant, +such an act of deference from one white man to another was noted, and +served to strengthen the opinions which had already been formed +respecting the stranger. During the course of the meal also, Nadau +received a letter from his subordinate, Duval Ferrol, to the following +effect:—"You wish for information relative to the French passenger +who lodged with me some days; his signature will furnish more than I +am able to give. I enclose a letter I have just received from him." +This enclosure was merely a courteous and badly-composed expression of +thanks; but it was signed <i>Est</i>, and not De Tarnaud. As soon as he +could find a decent excuse, the excited commandant drew aside one of +his more intimate friends, and communicated to him the surprising +discovery which he had made, at the same time urging him to convey + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> + +the information to the Marquis d'Eragny, who lived at no great +distance. The marquis had not risen from table when the messenger +arrived, and disclosed to those who were seated with him the news +which he had just received. A reference to an official calendar or +directory showed that <i>Est</i> was a princely name, and the company at +once jumped to the conclusion that the mysterious stranger was no +other than Hercules Renaud d'Est, hereditary Prince of Modena, and +brother of the Duchess de Penthièvre. The truth of this supposition +was apparently capable of easy proof, for one of the company, named +Bois-Fermé, the brother-in-law of the commandant, asserted that he was +personally well acquainted with the prince, and could recognise him +anywhere. Accordingly, after a few bottles of wine had been drunk, the +whole company proceeded uproariously to Radau's, where Bois-Fermé (who +was a notorious liar and braggart) effusively proclaimed the stranger +to be the hereditary Prince of Modena. The disclosure thus +boisterously made seemed to offend, rather than give pleasure to, the +self-styled Count de Tarnaud, who, while not repudiating the title +applied to him, expressed his dissatisfaction at the indiscretion +which had revealed him to the public.</p> + +<p>At this time the inhabitants of Martinique were in a very discontented +and unhappy position. Their coast was closely blockaded by the English +fleet, provisions were extremely scarce, and the necessities of the +populace were utilised by unscrupulous officials who amassed riches by +victimising those who had been placed under their authority. The +Marquis de Caylus, governor of the Windward Islands, was one of the +most rapacious of these harpies; and although, perhaps, he was more a +tool in the hands of others than an independent actor, the feeling of +the people was strong against him, and it was hoped that the +newly-arrived prince would supersede him, and redress the grievances +which his maladministration had created. Accordingly Nadau, who +entertained a private spite against De Caylus, lost no time in +representing the infamy of the marquis, and was comforted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> + +by the +assurance of his youthful guest, that he would visit those who had +abused the confidence of the king with the severest punishment, and +not only so, but would place himself at the head of the islands to +resist any attempt at invasion by the English.</p> + +<p>These loyal and generous intentions, which Nadau did not fail to make +public, increased the general enthusiasm, and rumours of the plot +which was hatching reached Fort St. Pierre, where the Marquis de Caylus +had his headquarters. He at once sent a mandate to Nadau, ordering the +stranger before him. A message of similar purport was also sent to the +youth himself, addressed to the Count de Tarnaud. Upon receiving it he +turned to the officers who had brought it, saying—"Tell your master +that to the rest of the world I am the Count de Tarnaud, but that to +him I am Hercules Renaud d'Est. If he wishes to see me let him come +half-way. Let him repair to Fort Royal in four or five days. I will be +there."</p> + +<p>This bold reply seems to have completely disconcerted De Caylus. He +had already heard of the stranger's striking resemblance to the +Duchess de Penthièvre, and the assumption of this haughty tone to an +officer of his own rank staggered him. He set out for Fort Royal, but +changed his mind on the way, and returned to St. Pierre. The prince, on +the other hand, kept his appointment, and not finding the marquis, +proceeded to Fort St. Pierre, which he entered in triumph, attended by +seventeen or eighteen gentlemen. The governor caught a glimpse of him +as he passed through the streets, and exclaimed "that he was the very +image of his mother and sister," and in a panic quitted the town. +Nothing could have been more fortunate than his flight. The prince +assumed all the airs of royalty, and proceeded to establish a petty +court, appointing state officers to wait upon him. The Marquis +d'Eragny he created his grand equerry; Duval Ferrol and Laurent +'Dufont were his gentlemen-in-waiting; and the faithful Rhodez was +constituted his page. Regular audiences were granted to those who came +to pay their respects to him, or to present memorials or petitions, +and for a time <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> + +Martinique rejoiced in the new glory which this +illustrious presence shed upon it.</p> + +<p>It so happened that the Duc de Penthièvre was the owner of +considerable estates in the colony, which were under the care of a +steward named Lievain. This man, who seems to have been a simple soul, +no sooner heard of the arrival of his master's brother-in-law in the +island than he hastened to offer him not only his respects, but, what +was far better, the use of the cash which he held in trust for the +duke. He was, of course, received with peculiar graciousness, and +immediate advantage was taken of his timely offer. The prince was now +supplied with means adequately to support the royal state which he had +assumed, and the last lingering relics of suspicion were dissipated, +for Lievain was known to be a thoroughly honest and conscientious man, +and one well acquainted with his master's family and affairs, and it +was surmised that he would not thus have committed himself unless he +had had very good grounds for so doing.</p> + +<p>On his arrival at St. Pierre the prince had taken up his quarters in +the convent of the Jesuits; and now the Dominican friars, jealous of +the honour conferred upon their rivals, besought a share of his royal +favour, and asked him to become their guest. Nothing loth to gratify +their amiable ambition, the prince changed his residence to their +convent, in which he was entertained most sumptuously. Every day a +table of thirty covers was laid for those whom he chose to invite; he +dined in public—a fanfaronade of trumpets proclaiming his +down-sitting and his up-rising—and the people thronged the +banqueting-hall in such numbers that barriers had to be erected in the +middle of it to keep the obtrusive multitude at a respectful distance.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile vessels had left Martinique for France bearing the news of +these strange proceedings to the mother country. The prince had +written to his family, and had entrusted his letters to the captain of +a merchantman who was recommended by Lievain. And the discomfited +governor, the Marquis de Caylus, had forwarded a full account of the +extraordinary affair to his government, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> + +and had demanded +instructions. Six months passed away and no replies came. The prince +pretended to be seriously discomposed by this prolonged silence, but +amused himself in the meantime by defying M. de Caylus, by indulging +in the wildest excesses, and by gratifying every absurd or licentious +caprice which entered his head. But at last it became apparent that +letters from France might arrive at any moment; the rainy season was +approaching; the prince was apprehensive for his health; and the +inhabitants had discovered by this time that their visitor was very +costly. Accordingly, when he expressed his intention of returning to +France, nobody opposed or gainsaid it; and, after a pleasant sojourn +of seven months among the planters of Martinique, he embarked on board +the "Raphael," bound for Bordeaux. His household accompanied him, and +under a salute from the guns of the fort he sailed away.</p> + +<p>A fortnight later the messenger whom the governor had despatched to +France returned bearing orders to put his so-called highness in +confinement. An answer was also sent to a letter which Lievain had +forwarded to the Duc de Penthièvre, and in it the simple-minded agent +was severely censured for having so easily become the dupe of an +impostor. At the same time he was informed that since his indiscretion +was in part the result of his zeal to serve his master, and since he +had only shared in a general folly, the duc was not disposed to deal +harshly with him, but would retain his services and share the loss +with him. This leniency, and the delay which had taken place, only +served to confirm the inhabitants of Martinique in their previous +belief, and they were more than ever convinced that the real Prince of +Modena had been their guest, although neither his relatives nor the +government were willing to admit that he had been guilty of such an +escapade.</p> + +<p>The "Raphael" in due course arrived at Faro, where her illustrious +passenger was received with a salute by the Portuguese authorities. On +landing, the prince demanded a courier to send to Madrid, to the +chargé d'affaires of the Duke of Modena, and also asked the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> + +means of +conveying himself and his retinue to Seville, where he had resolved to +await the return of his messenger. These facilities were obligingly +afforded to him, and he arrived at Seville in safety. His fame had +preceded him, and he was received with the most extravagant +demonstrations of joy by the inhabitants. The susceptible donnas of +the celebrated Spanish city adored this youthful scion of a royal +house; sumptuous entertainments were prepared in his honour, and his +praises were in every mouth. His courier came not, but instead there +arrived an order for his arrest, which was communicated to him by the +governor in person. He seemed much astonished, but resignedly +answered, "I was born a sovereign as well as he: he has no control +over me; but he is master here, and I shall yield to his commands."</p> + +<p>His ready acquiescence in his inevitable fate was well thought of; and +while it excited popular sympathy in his favour, rendered even those +who were responsible for his safe-keeping anxious to serve him. +Immediately on his apprehension he was conveyed to a small tower, +which was occupied by a lieutenant and a few invalids, and very little +restraint was placed upon his movements. His retinue were allowed to +visit him, and every possible concession was made to his assumed rank. +But he was far from content, and succeeded by a scheme in reaching the +sanctuary of the Dominican convent. From this haven of refuge he could +not legally be removed by force; but on the urgent representations of +the authorities the Archbishop of Seville sanctioned his transfer, if +it could be accomplished without bloodshed. A guard was despatched to +remove him. No sooner, however, had the officer charged with the duty +entered his apartment than the prince seized his sword, and protested +that he would kill the first man that laid a finger upon him. The +guard surrounded him with their bayonets, but he defended himself so +valiantly that it became evident that he could not be captured without +infringing the conditions laid down by the archbishop, and the +soldiers were compelled to withdraw. Meanwhile news of what had been +going on reached the populace, a crowd <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span> + +gathered, and popular feeling +ran so high that the discomfited emissaries of the law reached their +quarters with difficulty. This disturbance made the government more +determined than ever to bring the affair to an issue. Negotiations +were renewed with the Dominicans, who were now anxious to deliver up +their guest, but his suspicions were aroused, and his capture had +become no easy matter. He always went armed, slept at night with a +brace of pistols under his pillow, and even at meal times placed one +on either side of his plate. At last craft prevailed—a young monk, +who had been detailed to wait upon him at dinner, succeeded in +betraying him into an immoderate fit of laughter, and before he could +recover himself, pinioned him and handed him over to the alguazils, +who were in waiting in the next apartment. He was hurried to gaol, +loaded with chains, and cast into a dungeon. After twenty-four hours' +incarceration he was summoned for examination, but steadily refused to +answer the questions of his judges. He was not, however, remitted to +his former loathsome place of confinement, as might have been expected +from his obstinacy, but was conveyed to the best apartment in the +prison. His retinue were meanwhile examined relative to his supposed +design of withdrawing Martinique from its allegiance to France. The +result of these inquiries remained secret, but, without further trial, +the prince was condemned to the galleys, or to labour in the king's +fortifications in Africa, and his attendants were banished from the +Spanish dominions.</p> + +<p>In due time he was despatched to Cadiz to join the convict gangs +sentenced to enforced labour at Ceuta. The whole garrison of Seville +was kept under arms on the morning of his departure, to suppress any +popular commotion, and resist any possible attempt at rescue, On his +arrival at Cadiz he was conducted to Fort la Caragna, and handed over +to the commandant, a sturdy Frenchman named Devau, who was told that +he must treat the prisoner politely, but would be held answerable for +his safe-keeping. Devau read these orders, and replied, "When I am +made responsible for the safe custody of anybody, I know but one way +of treating him, and that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span> + +is to put him in irons." So the <i>pseudo</i> +prince was ironed, until the convoy was ready to escort the prisoners +to Ceuta. On the voyage the pretender was treated differently from the +other galley-slaves, and on reaching his destination was placed under +little restraint. He had full liberty to write to his friends, and +availed himself of this permission to send a letter to Nadau, who had +been ordered home to France to give an account of his conduct. In this +document he mentioned the courtesy with which he was treated, and +begged the Port Maria governor to accept a handsome pair of pistols +which he sent as a souvenir. To Lievin, the Duc de Penthièvre's agent, +he also wrote, lamenting the losses which he had sustained, and +promising to make them good at a future time. His prison, however, had +not sufficient charms to retain his presence. He took the first +opportunity of escaping, and having smuggled himself on board an +English ship, arrived in the Bay of Gibraltar. The captain informed +the governor of the fort that he had on board his ship the person who +claimed to be the Prince of Modena, and that he demanded permission to +land. A threat of immediate apprehension was sufficient to deter the +refugee from again tempting the Spanish authorities: he remained on +board; and the ship sailed on her voyage, carrying with her the +prince, who was seen no more.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JOSEPH_THE_FALSE_COUNT_SOLAR" id="JOSEPH_THE_FALSE_COUNT_SOLAR"></a>JOSEPH—THE FALSE COUNT SOLAR.</h2> + + +<p>On the 1st of August 1773, a horseman, who was approaching the town of +Peronne in France, discovered by the wayside a boy, apparently about +eleven years of age, clad in rags, evidently suffering from want, and +uttering piercing cries. Stirred with pity for this unfortunate +object, the traveller dismounted, and, finding his efforts to comfort +his new acquaintance, or to discover the cause of his sorrow, +unavailing, persuaded him to accompany him to the town, where his +immediate necessities were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> + +attended to. The boy ate ravenously of the +food which was set before him, but continued to preserve the strictest +silence, and, at length, it was discovered that he was deaf and dumb. +A charitable woman, moved by his misfortunes, gave him a temporary +home, and at the end of a few weeks he was transferred to the +Bicêtre—then an hospital for foundlings—through the intervention of +M. de Sartine, the well-known minister of police. Here his conduct was +remarkable. From the first day of his entrance he shrank from +association with the other inmates, who were for the most part boys +belonging to the lower orders, and by so doing earned their ill-will, +and brought upon himself their persecution. Indeed, so uncomfortable +did his new home prove through the malignity of his fellow-pensioners, +that the health of the poor waif gave way, and it was found necessary +to remove him to the Hôtel Dieu of Paris. Here he was noticed by the +Abbé de l'Epée, who was attracted by his quiet and aristocratic +manners and gentle demeanour, and who at the same time considered +that, by reason of his intelligence, he was likely to prove an apt +pupil in acquiring the manual alphabet which the worthy ecclesiastic +had invented. Accordingly, the Abbé removed him to his own house, and +in a few months had rendered him able to give some account of himself +by signs. His story was that he had a distinct recollection of living +with his father and mother and sister, in a splendid mansion, situated +in spacious grounds, and that he was accustomed to ride on horseback +and in a carriage. He described his father as a tall man and a +soldier, and stated that his face was seamed by scars received in +battle. He gave a circumstantial account of his father's death, and +said that he, as well as his mother and sister, were mourning for him. +After his father's funeral he asserted that he was taken from home by +a man whom he did not know, and that when he had been carried come +distance he was deserted by his conductor and left in the wood, in +which he wandered for some days, until he reached the highway, where +he was discovered by the passing traveller, as above narrated.</p> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> + +</p> + +<p>When this tale was made public, it naturally created great excitement, +and people set themselves to discover the identity of this foundling, +whom the Abbé de l'Epée had named Joseph. The Abbé himself was never +tired of conjecturing the possible history of his protégé, or of +communicating his conjectures to his friends. At length, in the year +1777, a lady, who had heard the boy's story, suggested a solution of +the mystery. She mentioned that in the autumn of 1773, a deaf and dumb +boy, the only son and heir of Count Solar, and head of the ancient and +celebrated house of Solar, had left Toulouse, where his father and +mother then dwelt, and had not returned. It had been given out that he +had died, but she suggested that the account of his death was false, +and that Joseph was the young Count Solar. Inquiries were instituted, +and showed that the hypothesis was at least tenable. The family of +Count Solar had consisted of his wife and a son and daughter. The son +was deaf and dumb, and was twelve years old at his father's death, +which occurred in 1773. After the decease of the old count, the boy +was sent by his mother to Bagnères de Bigorre, under the care of a +young lawyer, named Cazeaux, who came back to Toulouse early in the +following year, with the story that the heir had died of small-pox. +The mother died in 1775.</p> + +<p>The Abbé de l'Epée, astounded by the striking similarity between the +facts and Joseph's account of himself, at once came to the conclusion +that Providence had chosen him as the instrument for righting a great +wrong, and set himself to supply the missing links in the chain of +evidence, and to restore his ward to what he doubted not was his +rightful inheritance. He maintained that young Solar's mother, either +wearied with the care of a child who was deprived of speech and +hearing, or to secure his estates for herself or her daughter, had +given her son to Cazeaux to be exposed, and that that ruffian had made +tolerably certain of his work, by carrying the lad 600 miles from +home, to the vicinity of Peronne, and there abandoning him in a dense +wood, from which the chances were he would never be able to extricate +himself, but in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> + +the mazes of which he would wander till he died. God +alone, the Abbé declared, guided the helpless and hungry lad within +the reach of human assistance, and sent the traveller to rescue him, +opened the woman's heart to give him shelter, and brought him to +Paris, so that he might be instructed and enabled to tell his doleful +tale.</p> + +<p>Fired by enthusiasm, the Abbé succeeded in engaging the co-operation +of persons of the highest eminence. The Duc de Penthièvre, a prince of +the blood, espoused the cause of the wronged noble, and provided for +his support as became his supposed rank. From the same princely +source, also, funds were forthcoming to obtain legal redress for his +hardships, and to prosecute his claims before the courts. Proceedings +were instituted against Cazeaux, who was still alive, and a formal +demand was made for the reinstatement of the foundling of Peronne in +the hereditary honours of Solar. The boy was taken to Clermont, his +reputed birthplace, at which he was said to have passed the first four +years of his life in the company of his mother. It could scarcely be +supposed that those who knew the young heir, aged four, would be able +to trace much similarity to him in the claimant of seventeen. But +there was far more recognition than might have been anticipated. +Madame de Solar's father fancied that Joseph resembled his grandson, +and he was the more thoroughly convinced of his identity, because he +felt an affection for the youth which he believed to be instinctive. +The brother of the countess was convinced that Joseph was his nephew, +because he had the large knees and round shoulders of the deceased +count. The mistress of the dame-school at Clermont recognised in the +Abbé's protégé her former pupil. Several witnesses also, who could not +be positive as to the identity of the two persons, remembered that the +youthful count had a peculiar lentil-shaped mole on his back, and a +similar mole was found on the back of the claimant. As it afterwards +proved, Joseph was not completely deaf, but was shrewd enough to +conceal the fact. Consequently he succeeded in acquiring a good deal +of useful information with respect to the Solar family, and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> + +re-produced it as the result of his own recollection when the proper +time came.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the evidence against his pretensions was very +strong. Many persons in Toulouse who had been intimately acquainted +with the youthful count declared that Joseph bore no resemblance to +him; and the young countess repudiated him most emphatically, +asserting that he was not her brother, and he failed to recognise her +as his sister. However, he persevered in asserting his rights, and +claimed before the Cour du Châtelet, in Paris, the name and honours of +Count Solar; and orders were given by the court for the arrest of +Cazeaux as his abductor and exposer. The unfortunate lawyer was seized +and hurried to the Miséricorde, a loathsome dungeon below the Hotel de +Ville, at Toulouse. Next day, heavily ironed, he was thrown into a +cart, and thus set out on a journey of 500 miles to Paris. While the +cart was in motion he was chained to it; when they halted he was +chained to the inn table; at night he was chained to his bed. At +length, after seventeen wearisome days, the capital was reached, and +the prisoner was taken from his cart and cast into the vaults of the +Châtelet. After considerable and unnecessary delay, the supposed +abductor was brought to trial; and not only were the charges against +him easily disproved, but the whole of the Abbé's grand hypothesis was +destroyed beyond reconstruction. A host of witnesses came forward to +testify that the young count did not leave Toulouse under the +guardianship of Cazeaux, until the 4th of September 1773, whereas +Joseph was found at Peronne on the 1st of August. Moreover, the +contemporary history of the two youths was clearly traced, it being +shown that in November 1773, the Count Solar was at Bagnères de +Bigorre while Joseph was an inmate of the Bicêtre; and finally it was +conclusively proved that on the 28th of January 1774, the real Count +Solar died at Charlas, near Bagnères, of small-pox, having outlived +his father about a year.</p> + +<p>The acquittal of Cazeaux followed as a matter of course, and he was +dismissed from the bar of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span> + +Châtelet with unblemished reputation, +but broken in health and ruined in fortune. Happily for him, a M. +Avril, a rich judge of the Châtelet, who had been active against him +during his trial, repented of the evil he had done him, sought his +acquaintance, and bequeathed him a large fortune. Thus raised to +wealth, and aided by the revolution, which levelled all social +distinctions, he aspired to the hand of the widowed Countess Solar who +had lost her estates. Success crowned his suit, and his former +patroness became his wife. After their marriage the pair settled on an +estate a few leagues from Paris, where Cazeaux died in 1831 and his +wife in 1835. Joseph, who was undoubtedly the son of a gentleman, soon +ceased to interest the public, and, his pretensions having failed, +retired into comparative obscurity, accepting service in the army, and +meeting an untimely death early in the revolutionary war.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JOHN_LINDSAY_CRAWFURD_CLAIMING_TO_BE_EARL_OF_CRAWFURD" id="JOHN_LINDSAY_CRAWFURD_CLAIMING_TO_BE_EARL_OF_CRAWFURD"></a>JOHN LINDSAY CRAWFURD—CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF CRAWFURD.</h2> + + +<p>In 1808, George Lindsay Crawfurd, twenty-second Earl of Crawfurd and +sixth Earl of Lindsay, died without issue, and his vast estates +descended to his sister, Lady Mary Crawfurd. After the death of the +earl various claims were advanced to the peerage, one of them being +preferred by a person of the name of John Crawfurd, who came from +Dungannon, in the north of Ireland. When this claimant arrived at Ayr, +in January 1809, he gave himself out as a descendant of the Hon. James +Lindsay Crawfurd, a younger son of the family, who had taken refuge in +Ireland from the persecutions of 1666-1680. At first he took up his +abode at the inn of James Anderson, and from his host and a weaver +named Wood he received a considerable amount of information respecting +the family history. From Ayr he proceeded to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> + +visit Kilbirnie Castle, +once the residence of the great knightly family of Crawfurd. The house +had been destroyed by fire during the lifetime of Lady Mary's +grandfather, and had not been rebuilt—the family taking up their +residence on their Fifeshire estates. At the time of the fire, +however, many family papers and letters had been saved, and had been +stored away in an old cabinet, which was placed in an out-house. To +these Mr.. Crawfurd obtained access, and found among them many letters +written by James Lindsay Crawfurd, whose descendant he pretended to +be. He appropriated them and produced them when the fitting time came. +At Kilbirnie he also introduced himself to John Montgomerie of +Ladeside, a man well acquainted with the family story and all the +vicissitudes of the Crawfurds, and one who was disposed to believe any +plausible tale. The farmer, crediting the pretender's story, spread it +abroad among the villagers, and they in turn fell into ecstacies over +the idea of a poor man like themselves arriving at an earldom, +rebuilding the ancient house of Kilbirnie, and restoring the old +glories of the place. Their enthusiasm was turned to good account. The +claimant was very poor, and stood in need of money to prosecute his +claim, and he made no secret of his poverty or his necessities, and +promised large returns to those who would help him in his time of +need. "Farms," we are told, "were to be given on long leases at +moderate rents; one was to be factor, another chamberlain, and many +were to be converted from being hewers of wood and drawers of water to +what they esteemed the less laborious, and therefore more honourable, +posts of butlers and bakers, and body servants of all descriptions." +These cheering prospects, of course, depended upon the immediate faith +which was displayed, and the amount of assistance which was at once +forthcoming. Therefore, each hopeful believer exerted himself to the +utmost, and "poor peasants and farmers, cottagers and their masters, +threw their stakes into the claimant's lucky-bag, from which they were +afterwards to draw 'all prizes and no blanks.'" Men of loftier +position, also, were not averse to speculate upon the chances <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> + +of this +newly-discovered heir. Poor John Montgomerie gave him every penny he +had saved, and every penny he could borrow, and after mortgaging his +little property, was obliged to flee to America from his duns, where, +it is said, he died. His son Peter, who succeeded to Ladeside, also +listened to the seductive voice of the claimant, until ruin came upon +him, and he was compelled to compound with his creditors.</p> + +<p>In due time the pretender to the Crawford peerage instituted judicial +proceedings. His advocates brought forward some very feasible parole +evidence; but they mainly rested their case upon the documents which +had been discovered in the old cabinet at Kilbirnie. These letters, +when they were originally discovered, had been written on the first +and third pages; but in the interim the second pages had been filled +up in an exact imitation of the old hand with matter skilfully +contrived to support the pretensions of the new-comer. In these +interpolations the dead Crawfurd was made to describe his position and +circumstances in Ireland, his marriage, the births of his children, +and his necessities, in a manner which could leave no doubt as to the +rightful claims of the pretender. Unfortunately for his cause, he +refused to pay his accomplices the exorbitant price which they +demanded, and they, without hesitation, made offers to Lady Mary, into +the hands of whose agents they confided the forged and vitiated +letters. The result was that a charge of forgery was brought against +the claimant, and he and his chief abettor, James Bradley, were both +brought to trial before the High Court of Justiciary, in February +1812, and were sentenced to fourteen years' transportation. This +result was obtained by the acceptance of the evidence of Fanning, one +of the forgers, as king's evidence. While under sentence the claimant +wrote a sketch of his life, which was printed at Dairy, in Ayrshire, +and was published before the sentence was carried into execution. +After some delay the sham earl was shipped off to Botany Bay, and +arrived in New South Wales in 1813. Many persons in Scotland continued +under the belief that he had been harshly treated, and had fallen a +victim to the perjured <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> + +statements of witnesses who were suborned by +Lady Mary Crawfurd. It was not disputed that the documents which had +been put in evidence really were forged; but it was suggested that the +forgery had been accomplished without his knowledge, in order to +accomplish his ruin. Public feeling was aroused in his favour, and he +was regarded not only as an innocent and injured man, but as the +rightful heir of the great family whose honours and estates he sought.</p> + +<p>During his servitude in Australia, John Lindsay Crawfurd contrived to +ingratiate himself with MacQuarrie, the governor of New South Wales, +and got part of his punishment remitted, returning to England in 1820. +He immediately recommenced proceedings for the recovery of the +Crawfurd honours; and, as his unexpected return seemed to imply that +he had been unjustly transported, his friends took encouragement from +this circumstance, and again came forward with subscriptions and +advances. Many noblemen and gentlemen, believing him to be injured, +contributed liberally to his support and to the cost of the +proceedings which he had begun. At last the case came,—and came under +the best guidance—before the Lords Committee of Privileges, to which +it had been referred by the king. Lord Brougham was counsel in the +cause, and he publicly expressed his opinion that it was extremely +well-founded. Many of the claimant's adherents, however, were deterred +from proceeding further in the matter by the unfavourable report of +two trustworthy commissioners who had been appointed to investigate +the affair in Scotland. On the other hand, Mr. Nugent Bell, Mr. William +Kaye, and Sir Frederick Pollock, with a host of eminent legal +authorities, predicted certain success. Thus supported, the pretender +assumed the <i>rôle</i> of Earl of Crawfurd, and actually voted as earl at +an election of Scotch peers at Holyrood. Unfortunately for all +parties, the claimant died before a decision could be given either for +or against him. His son, however, inheriting the father's pretensions, +and also apparently his faculty for raising money, contrived to find +supporters, and carried on the case. Maintaining his father's +truthfulness, he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> + +declared that his ancestor, the Hon. James Lindsay +Crawfurd, had settled in Ireland, and that he had died there between +1765 and 1770, leaving a family, of which he was the chief +representative. On the other hand, Lord Glasgow, who had succeeded by +this time to the estates, insisted that the scion of the family who +was supposed to have gone to Ireland, and from whom the pretender +traced his descent, had in reality died in London in 1745, and had +been buried in the churchyard of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. It was +finally proved that a record remained of the death of James Lindsay +Crawfurd in London, as stated, and 120 genuine letters were produced +in his handwriting bearing a later date than that year. The decision +of the House of Lords was—"That from the facts now before us we are +satisfied that any further inquiry is hopeless and unnecessary." This +opinion was given in 1839, and since that time no further steps have +been taken to advance the claim. Strange to say, Lord Glasgow allowed +the body of the original claimant to be interred in the family +mausoleum; and it has been more than suggested that if John Lindsay +Crawfurd was not the man that he represented himself to be, he was at +least an illegitimate offshoot of the same noble house, and that had +he been less pertinacious in advancing his claims to the earldom, he +might have ended his days more happily.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JOHN_NICHOLS_THOM_ALIAS_SIR_WILLIAM_COURTENAY" id="JOHN_NICHOLS_THOM_ALIAS_SIR_WILLIAM_COURTENAY"></a>JOHN NICHOLS THOM, <i>ALIAS</i> SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY.</h2> + + +<p>In 1830 or 1831 a Cornishman, named John Nichols Thom, suddenly left +his home, and made his appearance in Kent as Sir William Courtenay, +knight of Malta. He was a man of tall and commanding appearance, had +ready eloquence, and contrived to persuade many of the Kentish people +that he was entitled to some of the fairest estates in the county, and +that when he inherited his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> + +property they should live on it rent free. +This pleasant arrangement agreeing with the views of a large +proportion of the agriculturists, they entertained him hospitably, and +made no secret of their impatience for the arrival of the happy time +of which he spoke. Unfortunately Thom became involved in some +smuggling transaction, and having been found guilty of perjury in +connection with it, was sentenced to six years' transportation. After +his condemnation it was discovered that he was insane, and his +sentence was not carried out, but he was removed from Maidstone gaol +to the county lunatic asylum, where he remained four years. In 1837 he +was released by Lord John Russell, who considered that he was +sufficiently recovered to be delivered up to the care of his friends. +They, however, failed to discharge their duty efficiently; and in +1838, Thom reappeared in Kent, conducting himself more extravagantly +than ever. The farmers and others supplied him with money, and he +moved about the county delivering inflammatory harangues in the towns +and villages—harangues in which he assured his auditors that if they +followed his advice they should have good living and large estates, as +he had great influence at court, and was to sit at her majesty's right +hand on the day of the coronation. He told the poor that they were +oppressed and down-trodden by the laws of the land, and invited them +to place themselves under his command, and he would procure them +redress. Moreover, he assured those whose religious convictions were +disturbed, that he was the Saviour of the world; and in order to +convince them, pointed to certain punctures in his hands, as those +inflicted by the nails of the cross, and to a scar on his side, as the +wound which had discharged blood and water. By these representations +he succeeded in attaching nearly a hundred people to himself.</p> + +<p>On the 28th of May he set out at the head of his tatterdemalion band +from the village of Boughton, and proceeded to Fairbrook. Here a pole +was procured, and a flag of white and blue, representing a rampant +lion, was raised as the banner which was to lead them <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> + +to victory. +From Fairbrook they marched in a kind of triumphal procession round +the neighbouring district, until a farmer of Bossenden, provoked by +having his men seduced from their employment by Thom's oratory, made +an application for his apprehension. A local constable named Mears, +assisted by two others, proceeded to arrest the crazy impostor. After +a brief parley, Thom asked which was the constable; and on being +informed by Mears that he held that position, produced a pistol, and +shot the unoffending representative of the law, afterwards stabbing +him with a dagger. The wounds were almost immediately fatal, and the +body was tossed into a ditch. The remaining constables fled to the +magistrates who had authorised them to make the capture, and reported +the state of affairs. When the intelligence of Mears's death spread +abroad, the general indignation and excitement was very great, and a +messenger was despatched to fetch some soldiers from Canterbury. A +military party soon arrived, but their approach had been heralded to +Thom and his strolling vagrants, who had betaken themselves to the +recesses of Bossenden wood, where the <i>soi-disant</i> Sir William, by his +wild gesticulations and harangues, roused his adherents to a pitch of +desperate fury. To show his own valour, as soon as the soldiers, who +were intended rather to overawe than injure the mob appeared, he +strode out from among his ignorant attendants, and deliberately shot +Lieutenant Bennett of the 45th regiment, who was in advance of his +party. The lieutenant fell dead on the spot. The soldiers, excited by +the murder of their leader, immediately returned the fire, and Thom +was one of the first killed. As he fell, he exclaimed, "I have Jesus +in my heart!" Ten of his adherents shared his fate, and many were +severely wounded. Some of the more prominent among his followers were +subsequently arrested, tried, and found guilty of participating in +Bennett's murder. Two of them were sentenced to transportation for +life; one had ten years' transportation, while six expiated their +offences by a year's imprisonment in the House of Correction.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> + +</p> +<h2><a name="JAMES_ANNESLEY_CALLING_HIMSELF_EARL_OF_ANGLESEA" id="JAMES_ANNESLEY_CALLING_HIMSELF_EARL_OF_ANGLESEA"></a>JAMES ANNESLEY—CALLING HIMSELF EARL OF ANGLESEA.</h2> + + +<p>Arthur Annesley, Viscount Valencia, who founded the families both of +Anglesea and Altham, was one of the staunchest adherents of Charles +II., and had a considerable hand in bringing about his restoration to +the throne. Immediately after that event his efforts were rewarded by +an English peerage—his title being Baron Annesley of Newport-Pagnel, +in the county of Buckingham and Earl of Angelsea. Besides this honour +he obtained the more substantial gift of large tracts of land in +Ireland. The first peer had five sons. James Annesley, the eldest son, +having married the daughter of the Earl of Rutland, and having been +constituted heir of all his father's English real property, and a +great part of his Irish estates, the old earl became desirous of +establishing a second noble family in the sister kingdom, and +succeeded in procuring the elevation of his second son Altham to the +Irish peerage as Baron Altham of Altham, with remainder, on failure of +male issue, to Richard his third son.</p> + +<p>Altham, Lord Altham, died without issue, and the title and estates +accordingly devolved upon Richard, who, dying in 1701, left two sons, +named respectively Arthur and Richard. The new peer, in 1706, espoused +Mary Sheffield, a natural daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, against +the wishes of his relatives. He lived with his wife in England for two +or three years, but was at last obliged to flee to Ireland from his +creditors, leaving Lady Altham behind him in the care of his mother +and sisters. These ladies, who cordially hated her, set about ruining +her reputation, and soon induced her weak and dissipated husband to +sue for a divorce, but, as proof was not forthcoming, the case was +dismissed. Thereupon his lordship showed a disposition to become +reconciled to his wife, and she accordingly went over to Dublin in +October 1713; and through the good offices of a friend a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> + +reconciliation was effected, and the reunited couple, after a +temporary residence in Dublin, went to live at Lord Altham's country +seat of Dunmain, in the county of Wexford. Here, in April or May 1715, +Lady Altham bore a son, which was given to a peasant woman, named Joan +Landy, to nurse. At first the young heir was suckled by this woman at +the mansion, and afterwards at the cabin of her father, less than a +mile from Dunmain. In order to make this residence a little more +suitable for the child it was considerably improved externally and +internally, and a coach road was constructed between it and Dunmain +House, so that Lady Altham might be able frequently to visit her son.</p> + +<p>Soon after the birth of the child Lord Altham's dissipation and his +debts increased, and he proposed to the Duke of Buckingham that he +should settle a jointure on Lady Altham, and for this purpose the pair +visited Dublin. The effort was unsuccessful, as the estate was found +to be covered by prior securities; and Lord Altham, in a fury, ordered +his wife back to Dunmain, while he remained behind in the Irish +capital. On his return his spite against her seemed to have revived, +and not only did he insult her in his drunken debauches, but contrived +an abominable plot to damage her reputation. Some time in February +1717, a loutish fellow named Palliser, who was intimate at the house, +was called up to Lady Altham's apartment, on the pretence that she +wished to speak to him. Lord Altham and his servants immediately +followed; my lord stormed and swore, and dragged the supposed seducer +into the dining-room, where he cut off part of one of his ears, and +immediately afterwards kicked him out of the house. A separation +ensued, and on the same day Lady Altham went to live at New Ross.</p> + +<p>Before leaving her own home she had begged hard to be allowed to take +her child with her, but was sternly refused, and at the same time the +servants were instructed not to carry him near her. The boy therefore +remained at Dunmain under the care of a dry nurse, but, +notwithstanding his father's injunctions, was frequently taken to his +mother by some of the domestics, who pitied her forlorn <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> + +condition. +When he came to an age to go to school, he was sent to several +well-known seminaries, and was attended by a servant both on his way +to them and from them; "was clothed in scarlet, with a laced hat and +feather;" and was universally recognised as the legitimate son and +heir of Lord Altham.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of 1722, Lord Altham—who had by this time picked up a +mistress named Miss Gregory—removed to Dublin, and sent for his son +to join him. He seemed very fond of the boy, and the woman Gregory for +a time pretended to share in this affection, until she conceived the +idea of supplanting him. She easily persuaded her weak-minded lover to +go through the form of marriage with her, under the pretence that his +wife was dead, took the title of Lady Altham, and fancied that some of +her own possible brood might succeed to the title, for the estates +were by this time well-nigh gone. With this purpose in her mind she +used her influence against the boy, and at last got him turned out of +the house and sent to a poor school; but it is, at least, so far +creditable to his father to say, that he did not quite forget him, +that he gave instructions that he should be well treated, and that he +sometimes went to see him.</p> + +<p>Lord Altham's creditors, as has been stated, were very clamorous, and +his brother Richard was practically a beggar: they were both sadly in +want of money, and only one way remained to procure it. If the boy +were out of the way, considerable sums might be raised by his lordship +by the sale of reversions, in conjunction with the remainder-man in +tail, who would in that case have been Lord Altham's needy brother +Richard. Consequently the real heir was removed to the house of one +Kavanagh, where he was kept for several months closely confined, and +in the meantime it was industriously given out that he was dead. The +boy, however, found means to escape from his confinement, and, +prowling up and down the streets, made the acquaintance of all the +idle boys in Dublin. Any odd work which came in his way he readily +performed; and although he was a butt for the gamins and an object of +pity to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> + +the town's-people, few thought of denying his identity or +disputing his legitimacy. Far from being unknown, he became a +conspicuous character in Dublin; and although, from his roaming +proclivities, it was impossible to do much to help him, the citizens +in the neighbourhood of the college were kindly disposed towards him, +supplied him with food and a little money, and vented their abuse in +unmeasured terms against his father.</p> + +<p>In 1727 Lord Altham died in such poverty that it is recorded that he +was buried at the public expense. After his death, his brother Richard +seized all his papers and usurped the title. The real heir then seems +to have been stirred out of his slavish life, and declaimed loudly +against this usurpation of his rights, but his complaints were +unavailing, and, although they provoked a certain clamour, did little +to restore him to his honours. However, they reached his uncle, who +resolved to put him out of the way. The first attempt to seize him +proved a failure, although personally superintended by the uncle +himself; but young Annesley was so frightened by it that he concealed +himself from public observation, and thus gave grounds for a +rumour—which was industriously circulated—that he was dead. +Notwithstanding his caution, however, he was seized in March 1727, and +conveyed on board a ship bound for Newcastle in America, and on his +arrival there was sold as a slave to a planter named Drummond.</p> + +<p>The story of his American adventures was originally published in the +<i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, and has since been rehearsed by modern +writers. It seems that Drummond, who was a tyrannical fellow, set his +new slave to fell timber, and finding his strength unequal to the +work, punished him severely. The unaccustomed toil and the brutality +of his master told upon his health, and he began to sink under his +misfortunes, when he found a comforter in an old female slave who had +herself been kidnapped, and who, being a person of some education, not +only endeavoured to console him, but also to instruct him. She +sometimes wrote short pieces of instructive history on bits of paper, +and these she left <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> + +with him in the field. In order to read them he +often neglected his work, and, as a consequence, incurred Drummond's +increased displeasure, and aggravated his own position. His old friend +died after four years, and after her death, his life having become +intolerable, he resolved to run away. He was then seventeen years of +age, and strong and nimble, and having armed himself with a +hedging-bill, he set out. For three days he wandered in the woods +until he came to a river, and espied a town on its banks. Although +faint from want of food, he was afraid to venture into it until +night-fall, and lay down under a tree to await the course of events. +At dusk he perceived two horsemen approaching—the one having a woman +behind him on a pillion, while the other bore a well-filled +portmanteau. Just as they reached his hiding-place, the former, who +was evidently the second man's master, said to the lady that the place +where they were was an excellent one for taking some refreshment; and +bread and meat and wine having been produced from the saddle-bags, the +three sat down on the ground to enjoy their repast. Annesley, who was +famished, approached closer and closer, until he was discovered by the +servant, who, exclaiming to his master that they were betrayed, rushed +at the new comer with his drawn sword. Annesley, however, succeeded in +convincing them of his innocence, and they not only supplied him with +food, but told him that they were going to Apoquenimink to embark for +Holland, and that, out of pity for his misfortunes, they would procure +him a passage in the same vessel. His hopes were destined to be very +short-lived. The trio re-mounted, and Annesley had followed them for a +short distance painfully on foot, when suddenly horsemen appeared +behind them in chase. There was no time for deliberation. The lady +jumped off and hid herself among the trees. The gentleman and his +servant drew their swords, and Annesley ranged himself beside them +armed with his hedge-bill, determined to help those who had generously +assisted him. The contest was unequal, the fugitives were soon +surrounded, and, with the lady, were bound and carried to Chester +gaol.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span> + +</p> + +<p>It appeared that the young lady was the daughter of a rich merchant, +and had been compelled to marry a man who was disagreeable to her; and +that, after robbing her husband, she had eloped with a previous lover +who held a social position inferior to her own. All the vindictiveness +of the husband had been aroused; and when the trial took place, the +lady, her lover, and the servant, were condemned to death for the +robbery. James Annesley contrived to prove that he was not connected +with the party, and escaped their fate; but he was remanded to prison, +with orders that he should be exposed to public view every day in the +market-place; and that if it could be proved by any of the frequenters +that he had ever been seen in Chester before, he should be deemed +accessory to the robbery and should suffer death.</p> + +<p>He remained in suspense for five weeks, until Drummond chanced to come +to Chester on business, and, recognising the runaway, claimed him as +his property. The consequence was that the two years which remained of +his period of servitude were doubled; and when he arrived at +Newcastle, Drummond's severity and violence greatly increased. A +complaint of his master's ill-usage was made to the justices, and that +worthy was at last obliged to sell him to another; but Annesley gained +little by the change. For three years he continued with his new owner +in quiet toleration of his lot; but having fallen into conversation +with some sailors bound for Europe, the old desire to see Ireland once +more came upon him, and he ventured a second escape. He was recaptured +before he could gain the ship; and under the order of the court, the +solitary year of his bondage which remained was increased into five. +Under this new blow he sank into a settled state of melancholy, and +seemed so likely to die that his new master had pity upon his +condition, began to treat him with less austerity, and recommended him +to the care of his wife, who often took him into the house, and +recommended her daughter Maria to use him with all kindness. The +damsel exceeded her mother's instructions, and straightway fell in +love with the good-looking young slave, often showing her affection in +a manner <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> + +which could not be mistaken. Nor was she the only one on +whom his appearance made an impression. A young Iroquis Indian girl, +who shared his servitude, made no secret of her attachment to him, +exhibited her love by assisting him in his work, while she assured him +that if he would marry her when his time of bondage was past, she +would work so hard as to save him the expense of two slaves. In vain +Annesley rejected her advances, and tried to explain to her the +hopelessness of her desires. She persistently dogged his footsteps, +and was never happy but in his sight. Her rival Maria, no less eager +to secure his affection, used to stray to the remote fields in which +she knew he worked, and on one occasion encountered the Indian girl, +who was also bent upon visiting him. The hot-blooded Indian then lost +her self-control, and, having violently assaulted her young mistress, +sprang into the river close by, and thus ended her love and her life +together.</p> + +<p>Maria, who had been seriously abused, was carried home and put to bed, +and her father naturally demanded some explanation of the +extraordinary quarrel which had cost him a slave and very nearly a +daughter. The other slaves had no hesitation in recounting what they +had seen, or of saying what they thought, and the truth came out. +Annesley's master was, however, resolved to be certain, and sent him +into her room, while he and his wife listened to what passed at the +interview. Their stratagem had the desired success. They heard their +daughter express the most violent passion, which was in no way +returned by their slave. As they could not but acknowledge his +honourable feeling and action, they resolved to take no notice of what +had passed, but for their daughter's sake to give him his liberty. +Next day his master accompanied him to Dover; but instead of releasing +him—as he had promised his wife—sold him to a planter near +Chichester for the remainder of his term.</p> + +<p>After various ups and downs, he was transferred to a planter in +Newcastle county, whose house was almost within sight of Drummond's +plantation. While in this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> + +employ he discovered that he was tracked by +the brothers of the Indian girl, who had sworn to avenge her untimely +fate, and nearly fell a victim to their rage, having been wounded by +one of them who lay in wait for him. By another accident, while he was +resting under a hedge which divided his master's ground from a +neighbouring plantation, he fell asleep, and did not awake until it +was perfectly dark. He was aroused by the sound of voices, and on +listening found that his mistress and Stephano, a slave on another +farm, were plotting to rob his master, and to flee together to Europe. +Repressing his desire to reveal the whole scheme to his master, he +took the first opportunity of informing his mistress that her infamy +was discovered, and that if she persevered in her design he would be +compelled to reveal all that he had overheard. The woman at first +pretended the utmost repentance, and not only earnestly promised that +she would never repeat her conduct, but by many excessive acts of +kindness led him to believe that her unlawful passion had changed its +object. Finding, however, that she could not prevail upon him either +to wink at her misdeeds or gratify her desires, she endeavoured to get +rid of him by poison; and an attempt having been made upon his life, +Annesley resolved once more to risk an escape, although the time of +his servitude had almost expired.</p> + +<p>On this occasion he was successful; and having made his way in a +trading ship to Jamaica, got on board the "Falmouth," one of his +Majesty's ships, and declared himself an Irish nobleman. His arrival, +of course, created a great stir in the fleet, and the affair came to +the ears of Admiral Vernon, who, having satisfied himself that his +pretensions were at least reasonable, ordered him to be well treated, +wrote to the Duke of Newcastle about him, and sent him home to +England. He arrived in October 1741. His uncle Richard had in the +meantime succeeded, through default of issue, to the honours of +Anglesea, as well as those of Altham, and became seriously alarmed at +the presence of this pretender on English soil. At first he asserted +that the claimant, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> + +although undoubtedly the son of his deceased +brother, was the bastard child of a kitchen wench. He next tried to +effect a compromise with him, and subsequently endeavoured to procure +his conviction on a charge of murder. It is also said that assassins +were hired to kill him. But it is certainly true that Annesley having +accidentally shot a man near Staines, the Earl of Anglesea spared +neither pains nor money to have him condemned. He was tried at the Old +Bailey, and being acquitted by the jury, proceeded to Ireland to +prosecute his claim to the Altham estates. On his arrival at Dunmain +and New Ross, he was very warmly received by many of the peasantry. +His first attempt to secure redress was by an action at law. An action +for ejectment was brought in the Court of Exchequer in Ireland for a +small estate in the county of Meath, and a bill was at the same time +filed in the Court of Chancery of Great Britain for the recovery of +the English estates.</p> + +<p>In Trinity term 1743, when everything was ready for a trial at the +next ensuing assizes, a trial at bar was appointed on the application +of the agents of the Earl of Anglesea. The case began on the 11th of +November 1743, at the bar of the Court of Exchequer in Dublin, being, +as is noted in Howell's <i>State Trials</i>, "the longest trial ever known, +lasting fifteen days, and the jury (most of them) gentlemen of the +greatest property in Ireland, and almost all members of parliament." A +verdict was found for the claimant, with 6d. damages and 6d. costs. A +writ of error was at once lodged on the other side, but on appeal the +judgment of the Court below was affirmed. Immediately after the trial +and verdict, the claimant petitioned his Majesty for his seat in the +Houses of Peers of both kingdoms; but delay after delay took place, +and he finally became so impoverished that he could no longer +prosecute his claims.</p> + +<p>James Annesley was twice married; but although he had a son by each +marriage, neither of them grew to manhood. He died on the 5th of +January 1760.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span> + +</p> + +<h2><a name="CAPTAIN_HANS-FRANCIS_HASTINGS_CLAIMING_TO_BE_EARL_OF_HUNTINGDON" id="CAPTAIN_HANS-FRANCIS_HASTINGS_CLAIMING_TO_BE_EARL_OF_HUNTINGDON"></a>CAPTAIN HANS-FRANCIS HASTINGS, CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF HUNTINGDON.</h2> + + +<p>The earldom of Huntingdon was granted by King Henry VIII. to George, +Lord Hastings, on the 8th of November 1529. The first peer left five +sons, of whom the eldest succeeded to the title on his father's +decease; but notwithstanding the multiplicity of heirs-male, and the +chances of a prolonged existence, the title lapsed in 1789, on the +death of Francis, the tenth earl, who never was married.</p> + +<p>In 1817, there was living at Enniskillen, in Ireland, an ordnance +store-keeper called Captain Hans-Francis Hastings, and this gentleman +there made the acquaintance of a solicitor named Mr. Nugent Bell, who, +like himself, was ardently devoted to field-sports. The friendship +subsisting between the pair was of the closest kind; and it having +been whispered about that the captain had made a sort of side-claim to +the earldom of Huntingdon, Mr. Bell questioned him about the truth of +the rumour. As it turned out, the circumstantial part of the story was +totally false; but it nevertheless was a fact that Captain Hastings +had a faint idea that he had some right to the dormant peerage. +However, as he said himself, he had been sent early to sea, had been +long absent from his native country, and had little really valuable +information as to his family history. He said that his uncle, the Rev. +Theophilus Hastings, rector of Great and Little Leke, had always +endeavoured to impress upon him that he was the undoubted heir to the +title, and that fourteen years previously he had himself so far +entertained the notion as to pay a visit to College of Arms in London, +to learn the proper steps to be taken to establish his claim; but that +when he was told that the cost of the process would be at least three +thousand guineas, he abandoned all notion of legal proceedings, which +were simply impossible because of his scanty resources. Mrs. Hastings, +who was present during the conversation, contributed all that she + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span> + +knew respecting the whimsical old clergyman who had so carefully +instructed his nephew to consider himself a peer in prospective, and +particularly pointed out that the old gentleman entertained an +irreconcileable hatred of the Marquis of Hastings. It seemed also that +some time after the last earl's death, the Rev. Mr. Hastings had +assumed the title of Earl of Huntingdon, and that a stone pillar had +been erected in front of the parsonage-house at Leke, on which there +was a metal plate bearing a Latin inscription, to the effect that he +was the eleventh Earl of Huntingdon, godson of Theophilus the ninth +earl, and entitled to the earldom by descent.</p> + +<p>These reminiscences and suspicions could not have been poured into +more attentive ears. Mr. Bell had long been a student of heraldry, and +saw an opportunity not only of benefiting his friend, but of +signalizing himself. Accordingly he undertook to investigate the +matter, and offered, in the event of failure, to bear the whole of the +attendant expense, simply premising that, if he succeeded, he should +be recouped. On the 1st of July a letter passed between Captain +Hastings and Mr. Bell, which shows the sentiments of both parties. This +is it:—</p> + +<p class="blockquot"> +<span class="smcap">My dear Bell</span>, — I will pay you all costs in case +you succeed in proving me the legal heir to the Earldom +of Huntingdon. If not, the risk is your own; and I certainly +will not be answerable for any expense you may +incur in the course of the investigation. But I pledge +myself to assist you by letters, and whatever information +I can collect, to the utmost of my power; and remain very sincerely yours, </p> + <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">"F. Hastings.</span><br /> + Nugent Bell, Esq."</p> + + + <p>On the back of this letter Captain Hastings wrote:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"By all that's good, you are mad."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>On the 17th of August Mr. Bell sailed for England, and proceeded to +Castle Donnington, where he had a very unsatisfactory interview with a +solicitor named Dalby, who had long been in the employment of the +Hastings family. Bit by bit, however, he picked up information, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> + +and +every addition seemed to render the claim of the Enniskillen captain +stronger, until at last Bell drew up a case which met the unqualified +approval of Sir Samuel Romilly, who said, "I do not conceive that it +will be necessary to employ counsel to prepare the petition which is +to be presented to the Prince-Regent. All that it will be requisite to +do is to state that the first earl was created by letters-patent to +him and the heirs-male of his body; and the fact of the death of the +last Earl of Huntingdon having left the petitioner the heir-male of +the body of the first earl, surviving him, together with the manner in +which he makes out his descent; and to pray that his Royal Highness +will be pleased to give directions that a writ of summons should issue +to call him up to the House of Lords." A petition was accordingly +prepared in this sense, and was submitted to the Attorney-General, Sir +Samuel Shepherd, who made the recommendation as suggested. After the +Attorney-General's report had received the approbation of the Lord +Chancellor, the Prince-Regent signed the royal warrant, and Captain +Hastings took his place in the House of Lords as Earl of Huntingdon.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="REBOK_THE_COUNTERFEIT_VOLDEMAR_ELECTOR_OF_BRANDENBURG" id="REBOK_THE_COUNTERFEIT_VOLDEMAR_ELECTOR_OF_BRANDENBURG"></a>REBOK—THE COUNTERFEIT VOLDEMAR, ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG.</h2> + + +<p>Voldemar II., Marquis and Elector of Brandenburg, actuated by a fit of +devotion, set out from his dominions in 1322 on a pilgrimage to the +Holy Land, leaving his brother John IV. to rule in his absence. He +left no clue as to his intended route; but simply announcing his +purpose of visiting the sacred shrines of Palestine, started on his +journey accompanied by only two esquires. Four-and-twenty days after +his departure his brother John sickened and died—not without +suspicions of foul play—and Louis of Bavaria, then possessing the +empire, presented the electorate to his own eldest <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span> + +son as a vacant +fief of Germany. The change was quietly effected; but in 1345 a man +suddenly appeared as from the dead, proclaiming himself the missing +Voldemar, and demanding the restoration of his rights. He was of about +the same age as the elector would have been, and the story which he +told of captivity among the Saracens was sufficient to account for any +perceptible change in his gait and appearance, and in the colour of +his hair. Those who were interested in opposing his claim stoutly +asserted that he was a miller of Landreslaw, called Rebok, and that he +was a creature of the Duke of Saxony, who coveted the Brandenburgian +possessions, and who, being a relative of the family, had thoroughly +instructed him as to the private life of Voldemar. His plausibility, +and the accuracy of his answers, however, led many persons of +influence to believe that he was no counterfeit. The Emperor Charles +IV. (of Bohemia), the Primate of Germany, the Princes of Anhalt, and +the Dukes of Brunswick, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and Saxony, all +supported his pretensions; the most of the nobility of the marquisate +acknowledged him to be their prince; and the common people, either +touched with the hardships he was said to have suffered, or wearied of +Bavarian rule, lent him money to acquire his rights and drive out +Louis. All the cities declared for him except Frankfort-on-the-Oder, +Spandau, and Brisac, and war was at once begun. The victory at first +rested with the so-called Voldemar; many of the towns opened their +gates to him; and his rival Louis fled to his estates in the Tyrol, +leaving the electorate to his two brothers—a disposition which was +confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV. in 1350. There are two versions +of the death of Voldemar. Lunclavius asserts that he was finally +captured and burnt alive for his imposture; while De Rocoles maintains +that he died at Dessau in 1354, nine years after his return, and was +buried in the tombs of the Princes of Anhalt. The general impression, +however, is that he was an impostor.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> + +</p> +<h2><a name="ARNOLD_DU_TILH_THE_PRETENDED_MARTIN_GUERRE" id="ARNOLD_DU_TILH_THE_PRETENDED_MARTIN_GUERRE"></a>ARNOLD DU TILH—THE PRETENDED MARTIN GUERRE.</h2> + + +<p>There are few cases in the long list of French <i>causes célèbres</i> more +remarkable than that of the alleged Martin Guerre. This individual, +who was more greatly distinguished by his adventures than by his +virtues, was a Biscayan, and at the very juvenile age of eleven was +married to a girl called Bertrande de Rols. For eight or nine years +Martin and his wife lived together without issue from their marriage, +notwithstanding masses said, consecrated wafers eaten by the wife and +charms employed by the husband to drive away the bewitchment under +which he supposed himself to labour. But in the tenth year after the +marriage a son was born, and was named Sanxi. The father's joy was of +brief duration; for having been guilty of defrauding his own father of +a quantity of corn, he was compelled to abscond to avoid the paternal +rage and the probable consequences of a prosecution. It was at first +intended that he should only stay away until the family difficulty +blew over. But Martin, once gone, was not so easily persuaded to come +back, and eight long years elapsed before his wife saw his face. At +the end of that time he suddenly returned, and was received with open +arms by Bertrande, who was congratulated by her husband's four +sisters, his uncle, and her own relations. The re-united pair lived +together at Artigues for three years in apparent peace and happiness, +and during this period two children were born to them. But suddenly +the wife Bertrande appeared before the magistrates of Rieux, and +lodged a complaint against her husband, praying "that he might be +condemned to make satisfaction to the king for a breach of his laws; +to demand pardon of God, the king, and herself, in his shirt, with a +lighted torch in his hand; declaring that he had falsely, rashly, and +traitorously imposed upon her in assuming the name and passing himself +upon her for Martin Guerre."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span> + +</p> + +<p>The affair created no small stir in the neighbourhood, and the gossips +were driven to their wits' end to explain it. Some asserted that, +either through an old grudge or a recent quarrel, she had adopted this +method of getting quit of her husband, while others maintained that +she was naturally a woman of undecided character and opinions, and +that, as at first she had been easily persuaded that this man was her +husband, she had acted latterly on the suggestions and advice of Peter +Guerre, her husband's uncle, who pretended to have discovered that he +was an impostor, and had recommended her to apply to the authorities. +The accused himself staunchly maintained that the charge was the +result of a conspiracy between his wife and his uncle, and that the +latter had contrived the plot with a view to possess himself of his +effects. That no doubt might remain as to his identity he gave an +outline of his personal history from the time of his flight from home +to the time of his arrest, stating the reasons which induced him to +leave his wife in the first instance, and his adventures during his +absence. He said that for seven or eight years he had served the king +in the wars; that he had then enlisted in the Spanish army; and that, +having returned home, longing to see his wife and children, he had +been welcomed without hesitation by his relations and acquaintances, +and even by Peter Guerre, notwithstanding the alteration which time +and camp-life had made in his appearance. He declared, moreover, that +his uncle had persistently quarrelled with him since his return, that +blows had frequently been exchanged between them, and that thus an +evil <i>animus</i> had been created against him.</p> + +<p>In answer to the interrogatories of the judge, he unhesitatingly told +the leading circumstances of his earlier life, mentioning trivial +details, giving prominent dates glibly, and showing the utmost +familiarity with petty as with important matters of family history. As +far as his marriage was concerned, he named the persons who were +present at the nuptials, those who dined with them, their different +dresses, the priest who performed the ceremony, all the little +circumstances that happened that day and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> + +the next, and even named the +people who presided at the bedding. And, as if the official +interrogatory were not sufficiently complete, he spoke, of his own +accord, of his son Sanxi, and of the day he was born; of his own +departure, of the persons he met on the road, of the towns he had +passed through in France and Spain, and of people with whom he had +become acquainted in both kingdoms.</p> + +<p>Nearly a hundred and fifty witnesses were examined in the cause, and +of these between thirty and forty deposed that the accused really was +Martin Guerre; that they had known him and had spoken to him from his +infancy; that they were perfectly acquainted with his person, manner, +and tone of voice; and that, moreover, they were convinced of his +identity by certain scars and marks on his person.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, a greater number of persons asserted as positively +that the man before them was one Arnold du Tilh, of Sagais, and was +commonly called Pansette; while nearly sixty of the witnesses—who had +known both men—declared that there was so strong a resemblance +between these two persons that it was impossible for them to declare +positively whether the accused was Martin Guerre or Arnold du Tilh.</p> + +<p>In this dilemma the judge ordered two inquiries—one with regard to +the likeness or unlikeness of Sanxi Guerre to the accused, and the +other as to the resemblance existing between the child and the sisters +of Martin Guerre. It was reported that the boy bore no resemblance to +the prisoner, but that he was very like his father's sisters, and upon +this evidence the judge pronounced the prisoner guilty, and sentenced +him to be beheaded and quartered.</p> + +<p>But the public of the neighbourhood not being so easily satisfied as +the criminal judge of Rieux, and unable to comprehend the grounds of +the decision, became clamorous, and an appeal was made on behalf of +the convict to the Parliament of Toulouse. That Assembly ordered the +wife (Bertrande de Rols) and the uncle (Peter Guerre) to be confronted +separately with the man <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> + +whom they accused of being an impostor, and +when the parties were thus placed face to face, the so-called Arnold +du Tilh maintained a calm demeanour, spoke with an air of assurance +and truth, and answered the questions put to him promptly and +correctly. On the other hand, the confusion of Peter Guerre and +Bertrande de Rols was so great as to create strong suspicions of their +honesty. New witnesses were called, but they only served to complicate +matters; for out of thirty, nine or ten were convinced that the +accused was Martin Guerre, seven or eight were as positive that he was +Arnold du Tilh, and the rest would give no distinct affirmation either +one way or another.</p> + +<p>When the testimony came to be analysed, it was seen that forty-five +witnesses, in all, had asserted in the most positive terms that the +man presented to them was not Guerre, but Du Tilh, which they said +they were the better able to do, because they had known both men +intimately, had eaten and drank with them, and conversed with them at +intervals from the days of their common childhood. Most of these +witnesses agreed that Martin Guerre was taller and of a darker +complexion, that he was of slender make and had round shoulders, that +his chin forked and turned up, his lower lip hung down, his nose was +large and flat, and that he had the mark of an ulcer on his face, and +a scar on his right eyebrow, whereas Arnold du Tilh was a short +thickish man who did not stoop, although at the same time similar +marks were on his face.</p> + +<p>Among others who were called was the shoemaker who made shoes for the +undisputed Martin Guerre, and he swore that Martin's foot was three +sizes larger than that of the accused. Another declared that Martin +was an expert fencer and wrestler, whereas this man knew little of +manly exercises; and many deponed "that Arnold du Tilh had from his +infancy the most wicked inclinations, and that subsequently he had +been hardened in wickedness, a great pilferer and swearer, a defier of +God, and a blasphemer: consequently in every way capable of the crime +laid to his charge; and that an obstinate <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> + +persisting to act a false +part was precisely suitable to his character."</p> + +<p>But the opinion on the other side was quite as firm. Martin Guerre's +four sisters had no hesitation in declaring that the accused was their +brother, the people who were present at Martin's wedding with +Bertrande de Rols deposed in his favour, and about forty persons in +all agreed that Martin Guerre had two scars on his face, that his left +eye was bloodshot, the nail of his first finger grown in, and that he +had three warts on his right hand, and another on his little finger. +Similar marks were shown by the accused. Evidence was given to show +that a plot was being concocted by Peter Guerre and his sons-in-law to +ruin the new comer, and the Parliament of Toulouse was as yet +undecided as to its sentence, tending rather to acquit the prisoner +than affirm his conviction, when most unexpectedly the real Martin +Guerre appeared on the scene.</p> + +<p>He was interrogated by the judges as to the same facts to which the +accused had spoken, but his answers, although true, were neither so +full nor satisfactory as those which the other man had given. When the +two were placed face to face, Arnold du Tilh vehemently denounced the +last arrival as an impostor in the pay of Peter Guerre, and expressed +himself content to be hanged if he did not yet unravel the whole +mystery. Nor did he confine himself to vituperation, but +cross-questioned Martin as to private family circumstances, and only +received hesitating and imperfect answers to his questions. The +commissioners having directed Arnold to withdraw, put several +questions to Martin that were new, and his answers were very full and +satisfactory; then they called for Arnold again, and questioned him as +to the same points, and he answered with the same exactness, "so that +some began to think there was witchcraft in the case."</p> + +<p>It was then directed, since two claimants had appeared, that the four +sisters of Martin Guerre, the husbands of two of them, Peter Guerre, +the brothers of Arnold du Tilh, and those who recognised him as the +real man, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> + +should be called upon and obliged to fix on the true +Martin. Guerre's eldest sister was first summoned, and she, after a +momentary glance, ran to the new comer and embraced him, crying, as +the report goes, "Oh, my brother Martin Guerre, I acknowledge the +error into which this abominable traitor drew me, and also all the +inhabitants of Artigues." The rest also identified him; and his wife, +who was the last of all, was as demonstrative as the others. "She had +no sooner cast her eyes on Martin Guerre than, bursting into tears, +and trembling like a leaf, she ran to embrace him, and begged his +pardon for suffering herself to be seduced by the artifices of a +wretch. She then pleaded for herself, in the most innocent and artless +manner, that she had been led away by his credulous sisters, who had +owned the impostor; that the strong passion she had for him, and her +ardent desire to see him again, helped on the cheat, in which she was +confirmed by the tokens that traitor had given, and the recital of so +many peculiarities which could be known only to her husband; that as +soon as her eyes were open she wished that the horrors of death might +hide those of her fault, and that she would have laid violent hands on +herself if the fear of God had not withheld her; that not being able +to bear the dreadful thought of having lost her honour and reputation, +she had recourse to vengeance, and put the impostor into the hands of +justice;" and, moreover, that she was as anxious as ever that the +rascal should die.</p> + +<p>Martin, however, was not to be moved by her appeals, alleging that "a +wife has more ways of knowing a husband than a father, a mother, and +all his relations put together; nor is it possible she should be +imposed on unless she has an inclination to be deceived;" and even the +persuasions of the commissioners could not move him from his decision.</p> + +<p>The doubts being at last dissipated, the accused Arnold du Tilh was +condemned "to make <i>amende honorable</i> in the market-place of Artigues +in his shirt, his head and feet bare, a halter about his neck, and +holding in his hands a lighted waxen torch; to demand pardon <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> + +of God, +the king, and the justice of the nation, of the said Martin Guerre, +and De Rols, his wife; and this being done, to be delivered into the +hands of the capital executioner, who, after making him pass through +the streets of Artigues with a rope about his neck, at last should +bring him before the house of Martin Guerre, where, on a gallows +expressly set up, he should be hanged, and where his body should +afterwards be burnt." It was further ordered that such property as he +had should be devoted to the maintenance of the child which had been +born to him by Bertrande de Rols.</p> + +<p>At the same time, the court had very serious thoughts of punishing +Martin Guerre, because his abandonment of his wife had led to the +mischief, and his desertion of his country's flag seemed to merit +censure. It was, however, finally decided that when he ran away he +"acted rather from levity than malice;" and as he had entered the +Spanish army in a roundabout way, and after considerable persuasion, +that the loss of his leg in that service was sufficient punishment. +The guilt of his wife, Bertrande de Rols, was thought even more +apparent, and that a woman could be deceived in her husband was a +proposition few could digest. Yet, as the woman's life-long character +was good, and it spoke well for her that not only the population of +Artigues, but also the man's four sisters, had shared her delusion, it +was finally determined to discharge her.</p> + +<p>Arnold de Tilh, the impostor, was carried back to Artigues for the +execution of his sentence, and there made a full confession. He said +that the crime had been accidentally suggested to his mind; that on +his way home from the camp in Picardy he was constantly mistaken for +Martin Guerre by Martin's friends; that from them he learned many +circumstances respecting the family and the doings of the man himself; +and that, having previously been an intimate and confidential comrade +of Guerre in the army, he was able to maintain his imposture. His +sentence was carried out in all its severity in 1560.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> + +</p> + +<h2><a name="PIERRE_MEGE_THE_FICTITIOUS_DE_CAILLE" id="PIERRE_MEGE_THE_FICTITIOUS_DE_CAILLE"></a>PIERRE MÊGE—THE FICTITIOUS DE CAILLE.</h2> + + +<p>Scipio Le Brun, of Castellane, a Provençal gentleman, and lord of the +manors of Caille and of Rougon, in 1655 married a young lady called +Judith le Gouche. As is common in France, and also in certain parts of +Britain, this local squire was best known by the name of his estates, +and was commonly termed the Sieur de Caille. Both he and his wife +belonged to the strictest sect of the Calvinists, who were by no means +favourites in the country. Their usual residence was at Manosque, a +little village in Provence, and there five children were born to them, +of whom three were sons and two were daughters. The two youngest sons +died at an early age, and Isaac, the eldest, after living to the age +of thirty-two, died also.</p> + +<p>When this Isaac, who has just been mentioned, was a lad of fifteen, +his mother died, and in her will constituted him her heir, at the same +time bequeathing legacies to her daughters, and granting the life +interest of all her property to her husband. The King having revoked +the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the Sieur de Caille quitted the kingdom +with his family, which then consisted of his mother, his son Isaac, +and his two daughters. The fugitives made their home in Lausanne, in +Switzerland. In 1689 the French king, in the zeal of his Catholicism, +issued a decree, by which he bestowed the property of the Calvinist +fugitives upon their relations. The possessions of the Sieur de Caille +were therefore divided between Anne de Gouche, his wife's sister, who +had married M. Rolland, the <i>Avocat-Général</i> of the Supreme Court of +Dauphiné, and Madame Tardivi, a relation on his own side.</p> + +<p>Meantime Isaac, the son of the Sieur de Caille, who was by courtesy +styled the Sieur de Rougon, assiduously applied himself to his +studies, and, as the result of over-work, fell into a consumption, of +which he died at Vevay on the 15th of February 1696.</p> + +<p>In March 1699, Pierre Mêge, a marine, presented <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span> + +himself before M. de +Vauvray, the intendant of marines at Toulon, and informed him that he +was the son of M. de Caille, at the same time telling the following +story. He said that he had had the misfortune to be an object of +aversion to his father because of his dislike to study, and because of +his ill-concealed attachment to the Catholic religion; that his father +had always exhibited his antipathy to him, and, while he was at +Lausanne, had frequently maltreated him; that rather than submit to +the paternal violence he had often run away from home, but had been +brought back again by officious friends, who met him in his flight; +that he had at last succeeded in making his escape, by the aid of a +servant, in December 1690; that, in order to avoid recapture, and to +satisfy his own desire to become a member of the Catholic Church, he +had formed the design of returning into Provence; that on his homeward +way he had been stopped by the Savoyard troops, who compelled him to +enlist in their ranks; and that he had subsequently been captured by +some French soldiers. He added that M. de Catinat, who commanded this +part of the French army, and to whom he had presented himself as the +son of M. de Caille, had given him a free pass; that he had arrived at +Nice, and had enlisted in the Provençal militia; and that having been +on duty one day at the residence of the governor, he had seen a silver +goblet carried past him which bore arms of his family, and which he +recognised as a portion of the plate which his father had sold in +order to procure the means to fly into Switzerland. The sight of this +vessel stirred up old recollections, and he burst into such a violent +paroxysm of grief that the attention of his comrades was attracted, +and they demanded the cause of his tears, whereupon he told them his +story, and pointed out the same arms impressed on his <i>cachet</i>. This +tale came to the ears of the Chevalier de la Fare, who then commanded +at Nice, and after a hasty investigation he treated his subordinate +with excessive courtesy, evidently believing him to be the man whom he +represented himself to be.</p> + +<p>The militia having been disbanded, the claimant to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> + +manorial rights +and broad estates repaired to Marseilles, where he fell in with a +woman called Honorade Venelle, who was residing with her mother and +two sisters-in-law. The morality of these females seems to have been +of the slightest description; and Henriade Venelle had no hesitation +in yielding to a proposal of this infamous soldier that he should +represent her husband, who was at the time serving his king and +country in the ranks of the army. The easy spouse drew no distinctions +between the real and the supposititious husband, and the latter not +only assumed the name of Pierre Mêge, but collected such debts as were +due to him, and gave receipts which purported to bear his signature. +In 1695 he enlisted under the name of Mêge, on board the galley "La +Fidèle"—a ship in which the veritable Mêge was known to have been a +marine from 1676—and served for nearly three years, when he was again +dismissed. In order to eke out a temporary livelihood he sold a +balsam, the recipe for which he declared had been given him by his +grandmother Madame de Caille. He made little by this move, and was +compelled once more to enlist at Toulon; and here it was that he met +M. de Vauvray, and told him his wonderful story.</p> + +<p>The intendant of marines listened to the tale with open ears, and +recommended his subordinate to make an open profession of his adhesion +to the Romish Church as a first step towards the restitution of his +rights. The soldier was nothing loth to accept this advice, and after +being three weeks under the tutelage of the Jesuits, he publicly +abjured the Calvinistic creed in the Cathedral of Toulon, on the 10th +of June 1699.</p> + +<p>In his act of abjuration he took the name of André d'Entrevergues, the +son of Scipio d'Entrevergues, Sieur de Caille, and of Madame Susanne +de Caille, his wife. He stated that he was twenty-three years of age, +and that he did not know how to write. The falsehood of his story was, +therefore, plainly apparent from the beginning. The eldest son of the +Sieur de Caille was called Isaac and not André; the soldier took the +name of d'Entrevergues, and gave it to the father, while the family +name was Brun de Castellane; he called his mother Susanne de <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> + +Caille, +whereas her maiden name was Judith le Gouche. He said that he was +twenty-three years of age, while the real son of the Sieur de Caille +ought to have been thirty-five; and he did not know how to write, +while numerous documents were in existence signed by the veritable +Isaac, who was distinguished for his accomplishments.</p> + +<p>News of this abjuration having spread abroad, it reached Sieur de +Caille, at Lausanne, who promptly forwarded the certificate of his +son's death, dated February 15, 1696, to M. de Vauvray, who at once +caused the soldier to be arrested. M. d'Infreville, who commanded the +troops at Toulon, however, pretended that de Vauvray had no authority +to place soldiers under arrest, and the question thus raised was +referred from one to another, until it came to the ears of the king. +The following answer was at once sent:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The King approves the action of M. de Vauvray in arresting +and in placing in the arsenal the soldier of the company of +Ligondés, who calls himself the son of the Sieur de Caille. +His Majesty's commands are, that he be handed over to the +civil authorities, who shall take proceedings against him, +and punish him as his imposture deserves, and that the +affidavits of the real de Caille shall be sent to them."</p></div> + +<p>The soldier was accordingly conveyed to the common prison of Toulon, +and was subsequently interrogated by the magistrates. In answer to +their inquiries, he said that he had never known his real name; that +his father had been in the habit of calling him d'Entrevergues de +Rougon de Caille; that he believed he really was twenty-five years +old, although two months previously he had stated his age to be +twenty-three; that he had never known his godfather or his godmother; +that only ten years had elapsed since he left Manosque; that he did +not know the name of the street nor the quarter of the town in which +his father's house was situated; that he could not tell the number of +rooms it contained; and that even if he were to see it again he could +not recognise it. In his replies he embodied the greater part of his +original <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> + +story, with the exception of the episode with regard to +Honorade Venelle, respecting which he was prudently silent. He said +that he neither recollected the appearance nor the height of his +sister Lisette, nor the colour of her hair; but that his father had +black hair and a black beard, and a dark complexion, and that he was +short and stout. (The Sieur de Caille had brown hair and a reddish +beard, and was pale complexioned.) He did not know the height nor the +colour of the hair of his aunt, nor her features, although she had +lived at Lausanne with the son of the Sieur de Caille. He could not +remember the colour of the hair, nor the appearance, nor the +peculiarities of his grandmother, who had accompanied the family in +its flight into Switzerland; and could not mention a single friend +with whom he had been intimate, either at Manosque, or Lausanne, or +Geneva.</p> + +<p>One would have supposed that this remarkable display of ignorance +would have sufficed to convince all reasonable men of the falsity of +the story, but it was far otherwise. The relatives of de Caille were +called upon either to yield to his demands or disprove his identity; +and M. Rolland, whose wife, it will be remembered, had obtained a +large portion of the property, appeared against him. Twenty witnesses +were called, of whom several swore that the accused was Pierre Mêge, +the son of a galley-slave, and that they had known him for twenty +years; while the others deposed that he was not the son of the Sieur +de Caille, in whose studies they had shared. The soldier was very +firm, however, and very brazen-faced, and demanded to be taken to the +places where the real de Caille had lived, so that the people might +have an opportunity of recognising him. Moreover, he deliberately +asserted that while he was in prison M. Rolland had made two attempts +against his life. He was conducted, according to his request, to +Manosque, Caille, and Rougon, and upwards of a hundred witnesses swore +that he was the man he represented himself to be. The court was +divided; but, after eight hours' consideration, twelve out of the +twenty-one judges of the Supreme Court of Provence pronounced in his +favour, and several of M. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span> + +Rolland's witnesses were ordered into +custody to take their trial for perjury.</p> + +<p>Three weeks after this decision the soldier married the daughter of +the Sieur Serri, a physician, who had privately supplied the funds for +carrying on the case. This girl's mother was a cousin of one of the +judges, and it soon came to be more than hinted that fair play had not +been done. However, the soldier took possession of the Caille +property, and drove out the poor persons who had been placed in the +mansion by Madame Rolland.</p> + +<p>Honorade Venelle, the wife of Pierre Mêge, who had preserved silence +during the proceedings, now appeared on the scene, all her fury being +roused by the marriage. She made a declaration before a notary at Aix, +in which she stated that she had unexpectedly heard that Pierre Mêge +had been recognised as the son of the Sieur de Caille, and had +contracted a second marriage; and affirmed upon oath, "for the ease of +her conscience and the maintenance of her honour," that he was her +real husband, that he had been married to her in 1685, and that he had +cohabited with her till 1699; therefore she demanded that the second +marriage should be declared void. The judges, zealous of their own +honour, and provoked that their decision should be called in question, +gave immediate orders to cast her into prison, which was accordingly +done.</p> + +<p>The authorities at Berne meantime, believing that the decision of the +Provençal Court, which had paid no attention to the documents which +they had forwarded from Lausanne and Vevay, to prove the residence and +death of the son of the Sieur de Caille in Switzerland was insulting, +addressed a letter to the King, and the whole affair was considered by +his Majesty in council at Fontainebleau. After the commissioners, to +whom the matter was referred, had sat nearly forty times, they +pronounced judgment. The decision of the court below was upset; the +soldier was deprived of his ill-acquired wealth, was ordered to pay +damages, was handed over to the criminal authorities for punishment, +while the former holders were restored to possession of the property.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> + +</p> +<h2><a name="MICHAEL_FEYDY_THE_SHAM_CLAUDE_DE_VERRE" id="MICHAEL_FEYDY_THE_SHAM_CLAUDE_DE_VERRE"></a>MICHAEL FEYDY—THE SHAM CLAUDE DE VERRE.</h2> + + +<p>At the beginning of the seventeenth century, a French gentleman, named +Guy de Verré, lived with his wife and two sons at Saumur. Claude, the +elder of these children, who had a peculiar scar on his brow (which +had been left by a burn), at an early age expressed a strong desire to +become a soldier, and his father accordingly procured an ensigncy for +him in the regiment of Clanleu. In 1638 Claude de Verré left the +paternal mansion to join his regiment; and from that date till 1651 +nothing was heard of him. In the latter year, however, one of the +officers of a regiment which had been ordered to Saumur presented +himself at the chateau of Chauvigny, which was occupied by Madame de +Verré, now a widow; and no sooner had he appeared than Jacques, the +second son, observed his perfect resemblance to his missing brother. +He communicated his suspicions to his mother, who was overwhelmed with +delight, and without consulting more than her emotions, addressed the +stranger as her son. At first the officer feebly protested that he did +not enjoy that relationship, but, seeing the lady's anxiety, he at +last admitted that he was Claude de Verré, and that he had hesitated +to declare himself at first until he had assured himself that his +reception would be cordial after his eighteen years of absence. He had +no reason to doubt the maternal love and forgiveness. From the first +moment of his discovery he was acknowledged as the heir, and the happy +mother celebrated his return by great rejoicings, to which all her +friends and relatives were invited. He was presented to the members of +the family, and they recognised him readily; although they did not +fail to notice certain distinctions of feature and manner between him +and the Claude de Verré who had gone to join the regiment of Clanleu. +Still, as he answered all the questions which were put to him promptly +and correctly, and as he sustained the character of the lost son +perfectly, it was easy to suppose that absence and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> + +increasing age had +effected a slight change in him, and he was received everywhere with +marked demonstrations of friendship. M. de Piedsélon, a brother of +Madame de Verré, alone denounced him as an impostor; but his words +were unheeded, and the new comer continued to possess the confidence +of the other relatives, and of the widow and her second son, with whom +he continued to reside for some time.</p> + +<p>At last the day came when he must rejoin his regiment, and his brother +Jacques accompanied him into Normandy, where it was stationed, and +where they made the acquaintance of an M. de Dauplé, a gentleman who +had a very pretty daughter. Claude de Verré soon fell over head and +ears in love with this girl, who reciprocated his passion and married +him. Before the ceremony a marriage-contract was signed, and this +document, by a very peculiar clause, stipulated that, in the event of +a separation, the bridegroom should pay a reasonable sum to Madlle. de +Dauplé. Jacques de Verré signed this contract as the brother of the +bridegroom, and it was duly registered by a notary. After their +marriage the happy couple lived together until the drum and trumpet +gave the signal for their separation, and Claude de Verré marched to +the wars with his regiment.</p> + +<p>But when released from service, instead of returning to pass the +winter with his wife, he resorted once more to Chauvigny, to the house +of Madame de Verré, and took his brother back. She was delighted to +see him again, and on his part it was evident that he was resolved to +make amends for his past neglect and his prolonged absence. +Nevertheless, during his stay at the family mansion, he found time to +indulge in a flirtation—if nothing worse—with a pretty girl named +Anne Allard. Soon after his arrival intelligence reached Saumur of the +death of the Madlle. de Dauplé whom Claude had married in Normandy—an +occurrence which seemed to give him the utmost sorrow, but which did +not prevent him from marrying Anne Allard within a very short time, +his own feelings being ostensibly sacrificed to those of his mother, +who was anxious that he should settle down at home. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> + +In this instance, +also, a marriage-contract was entered into, and was signed by Madame +de Verré and her son Jacques. Not content with this proof of +affection, the mother of Claude, seeing her eldest son thus settled +down beside her, executed a deed conveying to him all her property, +reserving only an annuity for herself and the portion of the second +son.</p> + +<p>For some time Claude de Verré lived peacefully and happily with Anne +Allard, rejoicing in the possession of an affectionate wife, managing +his property carefully, and even adding to the attractiveness and +value of the family estate of Chauvigny. Two children were born of the +marriage, and nothing seemed wanting to his prosperity, when suddenly +a soldier of the French Gardes presented himself at Chauvigny. This +man also claimed to be the eldest son of Madame de Verré, and gave a +circumstantial account of his history from the time of his +disappearance in 1638 to the period of his return. Among other +adventures, he said that he had been made a prisoner at the siege of +Valenciennes, that he had been exchanged, and that, while he was +quartered in a town near Chauvigny, the news had reached him that an +impostor was occupying his position. This intelligence determined him +to return home at once, and, by declaring himself, to dissipate the +illusion and put an end to the comedy which was being played at his +expense.</p> + +<p>The revelations of the soldier did not produce the result which he had +anticipated; for, whether she was still persuaded that the husband of +Anne Allard was the only and real Claude de Verré, or whether, while +recognising her mistake, she preferred to leave matters as they were +rather than promote a great family scandal and disturbance, Madame de +Verré persisted that the new comer was not her son, for she had only +two, and they were both living with her. Of course, the husband of +Anne Allard had no hesitation in declaring the soldier an impostor, +and Jacques de Verré united his voice to the others, and repudiated +all claims to brotherhood on the part of the guardsman.</p> + +<p>However, affairs were not allowed to remain in this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> + +position. The new +arrival, rejected by those with whom he claimed the most intimate +relationship, appealed to a magistrate at Saumur, and lodged a +complaint against his mother because of her refusal to acknowledge +him, and against the so-called Claude de Verré for usurping his title +and position, in order to gain possession of the family property. When +the matter was brought before him the magistrate ordered the soldier +to be placed under arrest, and sent for Madame de Verré to give her +version of the affair. The lady declined to have anything to do with +the claimant, although she admitted that there were some circumstances +which told in his favour. Her brother M. Piedsélon, however, who had +refused to recognise Anne Allard's husband in 1651, was still at +Saumur, and he was confronted with the claimant. The recognition +between the two men was mutual, and their answers to the same +questions were identical. Moreover, the new comer had the scar on his +brow, which was wanting on the person of the possessor of the estate. +The other relatives followed the lead of M. Piedsélon; and ultimately +it was proved that the husband of Anne Allard was an impostor, and +that his real name was Michael Feydy. Consequently, on the 21st of May +1657, the Criminal-Lieutenant of Saumur delivered sentence, declaring +that the soldier of the Gardes was the true Claude de Verré, +permitting him to take possession of the property of the deceased Guy +de Verré, and condemning Michael Feydy to death.</p> + +<p>The first part of this sentence was carried out. The new Claude took +forcible possession of the mansion and estate of Chauvigny. But it was +found that Michael Feydy had disappeared, leaving his wife full power +to act for him in his absence. Anne Allard at once instituted a +suit—not against the possessor of the estates, whom she persistently +refused to acknowledge—but against Madame de Verré and her son +Jacques, and petitioned that they might be compelled to put an end to +the criminal prosecution which the soldier of the Gardes had +instituted against her husband, to restore her to the possession and +enjoyment of the mansion of Chauvigny, and the other property which +belonged to her; and that, in the event <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> + +of their failure to do so, +they should be ordered to repay her all the expenses which she had +incurred since her marriage; to grant her an annuity of two hundred +livres per annum, according to the terms of her marriage-settlement; +and further, to pay her 20,000 livres as damages.</p> + +<p>At this stage another person appeared on the scene—none other than +Madlle. de Dauplé, whom the sham Claude had married in Normandy, and +whom he had reported as dead. She also had recourse to the legal +tribunals, and demanded that Madame de Verré and her second son should +pay her an annuity of 500 livres, and the arrears which were due to +her since her abandonment by her husband, and 1500 livres for expenses +incurred by Jacques Verré during his residence with her father and +mother in Normandy. The children of Anne Allard, moreover, brought a +suit to establish their own legitimacy.</p> + +<p>The Avocat-Général was of opinion that the marriage contract between +Michael Feydy and Mademoiselle de Dauplé should be declared void, +because there was culpable carelessness on the father's part and on +the girl's part alike. He thought the marriage of Michael Feydy and +Anne Allard binding, because it had been contracted in good faith. +Jacques de Verré he absolved from all blame, and was of opinion that +since Madame de Verré had signed the marriage-contract it was only +just to make her pay something towards the support of Anne Allard and +her children. The Supreme Court did not altogether adopt these +conclusions. By a decree of the 31st of June 1656, it dismissed the +appeals of Anne Allard and of Madeline de Dauplé. It declared the +children of Michael Feydy and of Anne Allard legitimate, and adjudged +to them and to their mother all the property acquired by their father, +which had accrued to him by his division with Jacques de Verré, under +the name of Claude de Verré, until the signature of the matrimonial +agreement, and also the guarantee of the debts which Anne Allard had +incurred conjointly with her husband. Madame de Verré was also +condemned to pay 2000 livres to Anne Allard, under the contract which +had been signed. Of Feydy himself nothing further is known.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> + +</p> + +<h2><a name="THE_BANBURY_PEERAGE_CASE" id="THE_BANBURY_PEERAGE_CASE"></a>THE BANBURY PEERAGE CASE.</h2> + + +<p>Since the reign of Edward III. the family of Knollys has been +distinguished in the annals of the kingdom. In those days Sir Robert +Knollys, one of the companions of the Black Prince, not only proved +himself a gallant soldier, but fought to such good purpose that he +enriched himself with spoils, and was elevated to the distinction of +the Blue Ribbon of the Garter. His heirs continued to enjoy the royal +favour throughout successive reigns; and Sir Francis Knollys, one of +his descendants, who likewise was a garter-knight in the earlier part +of the sixteenth century, espoused Catherine Cary, a grand-daughter of +the Earl of Wiltshire, and a grand-niece of Queen Anne Boleyn. Two +sons were born of this marriage, and were named Henry and William +respectively. Henry died before his father, and William, who was born +in 1547, succeeded to the family honours in 1596. He had worn them for +seven years, when King James created him Baron Knollys of Grays, in +Oxfordshire, in 1603. Sixteen years afterwards, King James further +showed his royal favour towards him by creating him Baron Wallingford, +and King Charles made him Earl of Banbury in 1626. He was married +twice during his long life—first to Dorothy, widow of Lord Chandos, +and daughter of Lord Bray, but by her he had no children; and +secondly, and in the same year that his first wife died, to Lady +Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of the Earl of Suffolk. The +couple were not well-assorted, the earl verging on three-score years, +while the lady had not seen her twentieth summer on the day of her +nuptials. Still their married life was happy, and her youth gladdened +the old man's heart, as is proved by his settlement upon her, in 1629, +of Caversham, in Berkshire, and by his constituting her his sole +executrix. In the settlement, moreover, he makes mention of "the love +and affection which he beareth unto the said Lady Elizabeth his wife, +having always been a good and loving wife;" and in the will he calls +her his "dearly-beloved wife Elizabeth, Countess of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span> + +Banbury." Lord +Banbury died on the 25th of May 1632, having at least reached the age +of eighty-five.</p> + +<p>No inquiry was made immediately after his death as to the lands of +which he died seised; but about eleven months afterwards, a commission +was issued to the feodor and deputy-escheator of Oxfordshire, pursuant +to which an inquisition was taken on the 11th of April 1633, at +Burford, when the jury found that Elizabeth, his wife, survived him; +that the earl had died without heirs-male of his body, and that his +heirs were certain persons who were specified. Notwithstanding this +decision there appears to have been little doubt that about the 10th +of April 1627, the countess had been delivered of a son, who was +baptized as Edward, and that on the 3d of January 1631, she had given +birth to another son, who received the name of Nicholas. Both of these +children were living when the inquisition was made. The first was born +when the Earl of Banbury was in his eightieth year, and his wife +between forty and forty-one years of age, and the second came into the +world almost when his father was about to leave it, and when the +countess was between forty and forty-five. Within five weeks after the +death of the earl, her ladyship married Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who +had been on terms of intimate friendship with the family during the +deceased nobleman's lifetime, and it was plainly said that the +children of Lady Banbury were the issue of Lord Vaux, and not of the +earl.</p> + +<p>On the 9th of February 1640-41, a bill was filed in Chancery by +Edward, the eldest son, described as "Edward, Earl of Banbury, an +infant," by William, Earl of Salisbury, his guardian, and +brother-in-law of the Countess of Banbury. Witnesses were examined in +the cause; but after a century and a-half their evidence was rejected +in 1809 by the House of Lords. There was, however, a more rapid and +satisfactory means of procedure. A writ was issued in 1641, directing +the escheator of Berkshire "to inquire after the death of William, +Earl of Banbury;" and the consequence was that a jury, which held an +inquisition at Abingdon, found, with other matters, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> + +"that Edward, now +Earl of Banbury, is, and at the time of the earl's decease was, his +son and next heir." The young man, therefore, assumed the title, and +set out on a foreign tour. He was killed during the next year near +Calais, while he was yet a minor. His brother Nicholas, then about +fifteen years of age, at once assumed the title. In the same year Lord +Vaux settled Harrowden and his other estates upon him. His mother, the +Countess of Banbury, died on the 17th of April 1658, at the age of +seventy-three, and Lord Vaux departed this life on the 8th of +September 1661, aged seventy-four. Meantime Nicholas had taken his +seat in the House of Lords, and occupied it without question for a +couple of years. The Convention Parliament having been dissolved, +however, he was not summoned to that which followed it, and in order +to prove his right to the peerage petitioned the Crown for his writ. +This petition was heard by the Committee for Privileges, which +ultimately decided that "Nicholas, Earl of Banbury, is a legitimate +person."</p> + +<p>At his death he left one son, Charles, who assumed the title of Earl +of Banbury, and who petitioned the House of Lords to take his case +into consideration. After thirty years' delay, occasioned by the +disturbed state of the times, the so-called Lord Banbury having +accidentally killed his brother-in-law in a duel, was indicted as +"Charles Knollys, Esq.," to answer for the crime on the 7th of +November 1692. He appealed to the House of Lords, and demanded a trial +by his peers: it was therefore necessary to re-open the whole case. +After a patient investigation, his petition to the House of Lords was +dismissed, and it was resolved that he had no right to the earldom of +Banbury. He was consequently removed to Newgate.</p> + +<p>When he was placed before the judges, and was called upon to plead, he +admitted that he was the person indicted, but pleaded a misnomer in +abatement—or, in other words, that he was the Earl of Banbury. The +pleas occupied, subsequently, more than a year, during which time the +prisoner was admitted to bail. At last the House of Lords interfered, +and called upon the Attorney-General <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> + +to produce "an account in +writing of the proceedings in the Court of King's Bench against the +person who claims the title of the Earl of Banbury." The +Attorney-General acted up to his instructions, and Lord Chief-Justice +Holt was heard by the Lords on the subject. Parliament, however, was +prorogued soon afterwards, and no decision was arrived at in the +matter. Meantime, the Court of King's Bench proceeded to act as if no +interference had been made, and quashed the indictment on the ground +that the prisoner was erroneously styled "Charles Knollys" instead of +"The Earl of Banbury."</p> + +<p>When the Lords reassembled on the 27th of November 1694 they were very +wroth, but, after an angry debate, the affair was adjourned, and +nothing more was heard of the Banbury Peerage until the beginning of +1698, when Charles Banbury again petitioned the king, and the petition +was once more referred to the House of Lords. Lord Chief-Justice Holt +was summoned before the committee, and in answer to inquiries as to +the motives which had actuated the judges of the King's Bench, +replied, "I acknowledge the thing; there was such a plea and such a +replication. I gave my judgment according to my conscience. We are +trusted with the law. We are to be protected, not arraigned, and are +not to give reasons for our judgment; therefore I desire to be excused +giving any." Mr. Justice Eyre maintained the same dignified tone, and +at length the House of Lords abandoned its fruitless struggle with the +common-law Judges. The petition of Lord Banbury was subsequently laid +before the Privy Council, when the sudden death of Queen Anne once +more put an end to the proceedings.</p> + +<p>When the Hanoverian princes came to the throne, Lord Banbury again +tempted fate by a new petition to the Crown. Sir Philip York, the then +Attorney-General, investigated the whole of the past proceedings from +1600 up to his time, and made a full report to the king, but no +definite decision was given. In 1740, the claimant Charles, so-called +Earl of Banbury, died in France. During his lifetime he had never +ceased to bear the title <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span> + +he had presented five petitions to the +Crown, demanding the acknowledgment of his rights, and neither he nor +any of his family, during the eighty years which had elapsed from the +first preferment of the claim, had ever relinquished an iota of their +pretensions.</p> + +<p>At his death Charles, the third assumed Earl of Banbury, left a son +called Charles, who adopted the title, and, dying in 1771, bequeathed +it to his son William, who bore it until his decease in 1776. He was, +in turn, succeeded by his brother Thomas, at whose death, in 1793, it +devolved upon his eldest son, William Knollys, then called Viscount +Wallingford, who immediately assumed the title of Earl of Banbury, and +in 1806 presented a formal petition to the Crown—a petition which was +in due course referred to the Attorney-General, and was by his advice +transferred to the House of Lords.</p> + +<p>Until 1806, when the claim was renewed, the pretenders to the Banbury +honours had not only styled themselves earls in all legal documents, +but they had been so described in the proceedings which had taken +place, and in the commissions which they had held; and while their +wives had been styled Countesses of Banbury, their children had borne +those collateral titles which would have been given by courtesy to the +sons and daughters of the Earls of Banbury. But, although there had +thus been an uninterrupted usage of the title for upwards of 180 +years, when William Knollys succeeded his father a new system was +practised. His father, the deceased earl, had held a commission in the +third regiment of foot, and during his father's lifetime he had been +styled in his own major-general's commission, "William Knollys, +commonly called Viscount Wallingford." But on his father's decease, +and the consequent descent of his father's claims, the title of earl +was refused to him, and therefore it was that he presented his +petition.</p> + +<p>The case remained in the House of Lords for nearly six years. On the +30th of May 1808 it was brought on for hearing before the Committee +for Privileges, when Sir Samuel Romilly, Mr. Gaselee, and Mr. Hargrave, +appeared for the petitioner, and the Crown was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> + +represented by the +Attorney-General and a junior counsel. A great mass of documentary and +genealogical evidence was produced; but after a most painstaking +investigation, Lords Erskine, Ellenborough, Eldon, and Redesdale came +to the conclusion that Nicholas Vaux, the petitioner, had <i>not</i> made +out his claim to the Earldom of Banbury, and the House of Lords, on +the 11th of March 1813, endorsed their decision.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JAMES_PERCY_THE_SO-CALLED_EARL_OF_NORTHUMBERLAND" id="JAMES_PERCY_THE_SO-CALLED_EARL_OF_NORTHUMBERLAND"></a>JAMES PERCY—THE SO-CALLED EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND.</h2> + + +<p>In 1670 Jocelyn Percy, the eleventh Earl of Northumberland, died +without male issue. Up to his time, throughout the six hundred years, +the noble family of Percy had never been without a male +representative, and the successive earls had almost invariably been +soldiers, and had added to the lustre of their descent by their own +valiant deeds. But when Earl Jocelyn died, in 1670, he left behind him +a solitary daughter—whose life was in itself eventful enough, and who +became the wife of Charles Somerset, the proud Duke of Somerset—but +who could not wear the title, although she inherited much of the +wealth of the Percys.</p> + +<p>Jocelyn Percy was, however, scarcely cold in his grave when a claimant +appeared, who sought the family honours and the entailed lands which +their possession implied. This was James Percy, a poor Dublin +trunkmaker, who came over to England and at once assumed the title. +His pretensions aroused the ire of the dowager-countess, the mother of +Earl Jocelyn, who, on the 18th of February 1672, presented a petition +to the House of Lords on behalf of herself and Lady Elizabeth Percy, +her grand-daughter, setting forth that "one who called himself James +Percy (by profession a trunkmaker in Dublin) assumes to himself the +titles of Earl of Northumberland and Lord Percy, to the dishonour of +that family." This <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span> + +petition was referred, in the usual course, to the +Committee for Privileges. This was immediately followed by a petition +from the claimant, which was read, considered, and dismissed. However, +both parties appeared before the House of Lords on the 28th of +November, James Percy claiming the honours, and the countess declaring +him an impostor. Percy craved an extension of time; but, as he was +unable to show any probability that he would ultimately succeed, his +demand was refused, and his petition was dismissed—Arthur Annesley, +earl of Anglesea, alone protesting against the decision.</p> + +<p>Percy, however, displaying the same valour and obstinacy in the courts +which his ancestors had so often shown on the battle-fields, was not +daunted, although he was discomfited. He appealed to the common-law +tribunals, and brought actions for scandal and ejectment against +various parties, and no fewer than five of these suits were tried +between 1674 and 1681. The first adversary whom he challenged was +James Clark, whom he sued for scandal, and in whose case he was +content to accept a non-suit; alleging, however, that this untoward +result was not so much brought about by the weakness of his cause as +by the faithlessness of his attorney. In a printed document which he +published with reference to the trial, he distinctly states that the +Lord Chief-Justice, Sir Matthew Hale, was so much dissatisfied with +the decision, that in the open court he plainly asserted "that the +claimant had proved himself a true Percy, by father, mother, +grandfather, and grandmother, and of the blood and family of the +Percys of Northumberland; and that he did verily believe that the +claimant was cousin and next heir-male to Jocelyn, late Earl of +Northumberland, only he was afraid he had taken the descent too high." +It is further reported that Sir Matthew, on entering his carriage, +remarked to Lord Shaftesbury, who was standing by, "I verily believe +he hath as much right to the earldom of Northumberland as I have to +this coach and horses, which I have bought and paid for."</p> + +<p>His next action was against a gentleman named Wright, who had taken +upon himself to pronounce him illegitimate, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> + +and in this instance he +was more successful. The case was heard before Sir Richard Rainsford, +Sir Matthew Hale's successor, and resulted in a verdict for the +plaintiff, with £300 damages. Flushed by this victory, he took +proceedings against Edward Craister, the sheriff of Northumberland, +against whom he filed a bill for the recovery of the sum of £20 +a-year, granted by the patent of creation out of the revenues of the +county. Before this, however, in 1680, he had again petitioned the +House of Lords, and his petition was again rejected—Lord Annesley, as +before, protesting against the rejection. The litigation with Craister +in the Court of Exchequer being very protracted, the Duchess of +Somerset (who was the daughter and heiress of Earl Jocelyn) brought +the matter once more before the Lords in 1685, and her petition was +referred to the Committee of Privileges. In reply to her petition +Percy presented one of complaint, which was also sent to the +Committee. No decision, however, seems to have been arrived at, and +the reign of King James came to a close without further action. In the +first year of the reign of William and Mary (1689), Percy returned to +the charge with a fresh petition and a fresh demand for recognition +and justice. These documents are still extant, and some of them are +very entertaining. In one he candidly admits that he has been, up to +the time when he writes, in error as to his pedigree, and, abandoning +his old position, takes up fresh ground. In another, "The claimant +desireth your lordships to consider the justice and equity of his +cause, hoping your lordships will take such care therein that your own +descendants may not be put to the like trouble for the future in +maintaining their and your petitioner's undoubted right;" and lest the +<i>argumentum ad homines</i> should fail, he asks, "Whether or no three +streams issuing from one fountain, why the third stream (though +little, the first two great streams being spent) may not justly claim +the right of the original fountain?" In addition, he appends a sort of +solemn declaration, in which he represents himself as trusting in God, +and waiting patiently upon the king's sacred Majesty for his royal +writ of summons to call him <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> + +to appear and take his place and seat +according to his birthright and title, "for true men ought not to be +blamed for standing up for justice, property, and right, which is the +chief diadem in the Crown, and the laurel of the kingdom." That +summons never was destined to be issued. When the Committee for +Privileges gave in their report, it declared Percy's conduct to be +insolent in persisting to designate himself Earl of Northumberland +after the previous decisions of the House; and the Lords ordered that +counsel should be heard at the bar of the House on the part of the +Duke of Somerset against the said James Percy.</p> + +<p>This was accordingly done; and the Lords not only finally came to the +decision "that the pretensions of the said James Percy to the earldom +of Northumberland are groundless, false, and scandalous," and ordered +that his petition be dismissed, but added to their judgment this +sentence, "That the said James Percy shall be brought before the four +Courts in Westminster Hall, wearing a paper upon his breast on which +these words shall be written: 'THE FALSE AND IMPUDENT PRETENDER TO THE +EARLDOM OF NORTHUMBERLAND.'" The judgment was at once carried into +execution, and from that time forward the unfortunate trunkmaker +disappears from the public view. He does not seem to have reverted to +his old trade; or, at least, if he did so, he made it profitable, for +we find his son, Sir Anthony Percy, figuring as Lord Mayor of Dublin +in 1699. There can be no doubt that, although he was treated with +undue harshness, his claims had no real foundation. At first he +alleged that his grandfather, Henry Percy, was a son of Sir Richard +Percy, a younger brother of Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland—an +allegation which would have made Sir Richard a grandfather at thirteen +years of age. It was further proved that Sir Richard, so far from +having any claim to such unusual honours, died without issue. In his +second story he traced his descent to Sir Ingelram Percy, stating that +his grandfather Henry was the eldest of the four children of Sir +Ingelram, and that these children were sent from the north in hampers +to Dame Vaux of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> + +Harrowden, in Northamptonshire. He advanced no proof, +however, of the correctness of this story, while the other side showed +conclusively that Sir Ingelram had never been married, and at his +death had only left an illegitimate daughter. At any rate, whether +James Percy was honest or dishonest, "the game was worth the +candle"—the Percy honours and estates were worth trying for.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_DOUGLAS_PEERAGE_CASE" id="THE_DOUGLAS_PEERAGE_CASE"></a>THE DOUGLAS PEERAGE CASE.</h2> + + +<p>Rather more than a hundred years ago the whole kingdom was disturbed +by the judicial proceedings which were taken with reference to the +succession to the ancient honours of the great Scotch house of +Douglas. Boswell, who was but little indisposed to exaggeration, and +who is reported by Sir Walter Scott to have been such an ardent +partizan that he headed a mob which smashed the windows of the judges +of the Court of Session, says that "the Douglas cause shook the +security of birthright in Scotland to its foundation, and was a cause +which, had it happened before the Union, when there was no appeal to a +British House of Lords, would have left the fortress of honours and of +property in ruins." His zeal even led him to oppose his idol Dr. +Johnson, who took the opposite side, and to tell him that he knew +nothing of the cause, which, he adds, he does most seriously believe +was the case. But however this may be, the popular interest and +excitement were extreme; the decision of the Court of Session in 1767 +led to serious disturbances, and the reversal of its judgment two +years later was received with the most extravagant demonstrations of +joy.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of the eighteenth century, Archibald, Duke of +Douglas, wore the honours of Sholto, "the Douglas." His father, James, +the second Marquis of Douglas, had been twice married, and had issue +by his first wife in the person of James, earl of Angus, who was +killed at the battle of Steinkirk; and by his second of a son and +daughter. The son was the Archibald just <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> + +mentioned, who became his +heir and successor, and the daughter was named Lady Jane. Her +ladyship, like most of the women of the Douglas family, was celebrated +for her beauty; but unhappily became afterwards as famous for her evil +fortune. In her first womanhood she entered into a nuptial agreement +with the Earl of Dalkeith, who subsequently became Duke of Buccleuch, +but the marriage was unexpectedly broken off, and for very many years +she persistently refused all the offers which were made for her hand. +At length, in 1746, when she was forty-eight years old, she was +secretly married to Mr. Stewart, of Grantully. This gentleman was a +penniless scion of a good family, and the sole resources of the +newly-wedded couple consisted of an allowance of £300 per annum, which +had been granted by the duke to his sister, with whom he was on no +friendly terms. Even this paltry means of support was precarious, and +it was resolved to keep the marriage secret. The more effectually to +conceal it, Mr. Stewart and his nobly-born wife repaired to France, and +remained on the Continent for three years. At the end of that time +they returned to England, bringing with them two children, of whom +they alleged the Lady Jane had been delivered in Paris, at a +twin-birth, in July 1748. Six months previously to their arrival in +London their marriage had been made public, and the duke had stopped +the allowance which he had previously granted. They were, therefore, +in the direst distress; and, to add to their other misfortunes, Mr. +Stewart being deeply involved in debt, his creditors threw him into +prison.</p> + +<p>Lady Jane bore up against her accumulated sorrows with more than +womanly heroism, and when she found all her efforts to excite the +sympathy of her brother unavailing, addressed the following letter to +Mr. Pelham, then Secretary of State:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"SIR,—If I meant to importune you I should ill deserve the +generous compassion which I was informed some months ago you +expressed upon being acquainted with my distress. I take +this as the least troublesome way of thanking you, and +desiring you to lay my application <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> + +before the king in such +a light as your own humanity will suggest. I cannot tell my +story without seeming to complain of one of whom I never +will complain. I am persuaded my brother wishes me well, +but, from a mistaken resentment, upon a creditor of mine +demanding from him a trifling sum, he has stopped the +annuity which he had always paid me—my father having left +me, his only younger child, in a manner unprovided for. Till +the Duke of Douglas is set right—which I am confident he +will be—I am destitute. Presumptive heiress of a great +estate and family, with two children, I want bread. Your own +nobleness of mind will make you feel how much it costs me to +beg, though from the king. My birth, and the attachment of +my family, I flatter myself his Majesty is not unacquainted +with. Should he think me an object of his royal bounty, my +heart won't suffer any bounds to be set to my gratitude; +and, give me leave to say, my spirit won't suffer me to be +burdensome to his Majesty longer than my cruel necessity +compels me.</p> + +<p>"I little thought of ever being reduced to petition in this +way; your goodness will therefore excuse me if I have +mistaken the manner, or said anything improper. Though +personally unknown to you, I rely upon your intercession. +The consciousness of your own mind in having done so good +and charitable a deed will be a better return than the +thanks of</p> + <p class="quotsig"> + <span class="smcap"> Jane Douglas Stewart."</span></p> +</div> + +<p>The result was that the king granted the distressed lady a pension of +£300 a-year; but Lady Jane seems to have been little relieved thereby. +The Douglas' notions of economy were perhaps eccentric, but, at all +events, not only did Mr. Stewart still remain in prison, but his wife +was frequently compelled to sell the contents of her wardrobe to +supply him with suitable food during his prolonged residence in the +custody of the officers of the Court of King's Bench. During the +course of his incarceration Lady Jane resided in Chelsea, and the +letters which passed between the severed pair, letters which were +afterwards produced in court—proved that their children <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> + +were rarely +absent from their thoughts, and that on all occasions they treated +them with the warmest parental affection.</p> + +<p>In 1752, Lady Jane visited Scotland, accompanied by her children, for +the purpose, if possible, of effecting a reconciliation with her +brother; but the duke flatly refused even to accord her an interview. +She therefore returned to London, leaving the children in the care of +a nurse at Edinburgh. This woman, who had originally accompanied +herself and her husband to the continent, treated them in the kindest +possible manner; but, notwithstanding her care, Sholto Thomas Stewart, +the younger of the twins, sickened and died on the 11th of May 1753. +The disconsolate mother at once hurried back to the Scottish capital, +and again endeavoured to move her brother to have compassion upon her +in her distress. Her efforts were fruitless, and, worn out by +starvation, hardship, and fatigue, she, too, sank and died in the +following November, disowned by her friends, and, as she said to +Pelham, "wanting bread."</p> + +<p>Better days soon dawned upon Archibald, the surviving twin. Lady Shaw, +deeply stirred by the misfortunes and lamentable end of his mother, +took him under her own charge, and educated and supported him as +befitted his condition. When she died a nobleman took him up; and his +father, having unexpectedly succeeded to the baronetcy and estates of +Grantully, on acquiring his inheritance, immediately executed a bond +of provision in his favour for upwards of £2500, and therein +acknowledged him as his son by Lady Jane Douglas.</p> + +<p>The rancour of the duke, however, had not died away, and he stubbornly +refused to recognise the child as his nephew. And, more than this, +after having spent the greater portion of his life in seclusion, he +unexpectedly entered into a marriage, in 1758, with the eldest +daughter of Mr. James Douglas, of Mains. This lady, far from sharing in +the opinions of her noble lord, espoused the cause of the lad whom he +so firmly repudiated, and became a partisan so earnest that a quarrel +resulted, which gave rise to a separation. But peace was easily + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> + +restored, and quietness once more reigned in the ducal household.</p> + +<p>In the middle of 1761, the Duke of Douglas was unexpectedly taken ill, +and his physicians pronounced his malady to be mortal. Nature, in her +strange and unexplained way, told the ill-tempered peer the same tale, +and, when death was actually before his eyes, he repented of his +conduct towards his unfortunate sister. To herself he was unable to +make any reparation, but her boy remained; and, on the 11th of July +1761, he executed an entail of his entire estates in favour of the +heirs of his father, James, Marquis of Douglas, with remainder to Lord +Douglas Hamilton, the brother of the Duke of Hamilton, and +supplemented it by another deed which set forth that, as in the event +of his death without heirs of his body, Archibald Douglas, <i>alias</i> +Stewart, a minor, and son of the deceased Lady Jane Douglas, his +sister, would succeed him, he appointed the Duchess of Douglas, the +Duke of Queensberry, and certain other persons whom he named, to be +the lad's tutors and guardians. Thus, from being a rejected waif, the +boy became the acknowledged heir to a peerage, and a long rent-roll.</p> + +<p>There were still, however, many difficulties to be surmounted. The +guardians of the young Hamilton had no intention of losing the +splendid prize which was almost within their grasp, and repudiated the +boy's pretensions. On the other hand, the guardians of the youthful +Stewart-Douglas were determined to procure the official recognition of +his claims. Accordingly, immediately after the duke's decease, they +hastened to put him in possession of the Douglas estate, and set on +foot legal proceedings to justify their conduct. The Hamilton faction +thereupon despatched one of their number to Paris, and on his return +their emissary rejoiced their hearts and elevated their hopes by +informing them that he was convinced, on safe grounds, that Lady Jane +Douglas had never given birth to the twins, as suggested, and that the +whole story was a fabrication. They, therefore, asserted before the +courts that the claimant to the Douglas honours was not a Douglas at +all.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> + +</p> + +<p>They denied that Lady Jane Douglas was delivered on July 10, 1748, in +the house of a Madame La Brune, as stated; and brought forward various +circumstances to show that Madame La Brune herself never existed. They +asserted that it was impossible that the birth could have taken place +at that time, because on the specified date, and for several days +precedent and subsequent to the 10th of July, Lady Jane Douglas with +her husband and a Mrs. Hewit were staying at the Hotel de Chalons—an +inn kept by a Mons. Godefroi, who, with his wife, was ready to prove +their residence there. And they not only maintained that dark work had +been carried on in Paris by the parties concerned in the affair, but +alleged that Sir John Stewart, Lady Jane Douglas, and Mrs. Hewit, had +stolen from French parents the children which they afterwards foisted +upon the public as real Douglases.</p> + +<p>The claimant, and those representing him, on their part, brought +forward the depositions of several witnesses that Lady Jane Douglas +appeared to them to be with child while at Aix-la-Chapelle and other +places, and put in evidence the sworn testimony of Mrs. Hewit, who +accompanied the newly-wedded pair to the continent, as to the actual +delivery of her ladyship at Paris upon the 10th of July 1748. They +also submitted the depositions of independent witnesses as to the +recognition of the claimant by Sir John (then Mr.) Stewart and his +wife, and produced a variety of letters which had passed between Sir +John Stewart, Lady Jane Douglas, Mrs. Hewit, and others as to the +birth. They also added to their case four letters, which purported to +emanate from Pierre la Marre, whom they represented to have been the +accoucheur at the delivery of Lady Jane.</p> + +<p>Sir John Stewart, Lady Jane's husband, and the reputed father of the +claimant, died in June 1764; but, before his decease, his depositions +were taken in the presence of two ministers and of a justice of the +peace. He asserted, "as one slipping into eternity, that the defendant +(Archibald Stewart) and his deceased twin-brother were both born of +the body of Lady Jane Douglas, his lawful spouse, in the year 1748."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span> + +</p> + +<p>The case came before the Court of Session on the 17th of July 1767, +when no fewer than fifteen judges took their seats to decide it. +During its continuance Mrs. Hewit, who was charged with abetting the +fraud, died; but before her death she also, like Sir John Stewart, +formally and firmly asserted, with her dying breath, that her evidence +in the matter was unprejudiced and true. After a patient hearing seven +of the judges voted to "sustain the reasons of reduction," and the +other seven to "assoilzie the defender." In other words, the bench was +divided in opinion, and the Lord President, who has no vote except as +an umpire in such a dilemma, voted for the Hamilton or illegitimacy +side, and thus deprived Archibald Douglas, or Stewart, of both the +title and the estates.</p> + +<p>But a matter of such importance could not, naturally, be allowed to +remain in such an unsatisfactory condition. An appeal was made to the +House of Lords, and the judgment of the Scottish Court of Session was +reversed in 1769. Archibald Douglas was, therefore, declared to be the +son of Lady Jane, and the heir to the dukedom of Douglas.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ALEXANDER_HUMPHREYS_THE_PRETENDED_EARL_OF_STIRLING" id="ALEXANDER_HUMPHREYS_THE_PRETENDED_EARL_OF_STIRLING"></a>ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS—THE PRETENDED EARL OF STIRLING.</h2> + + +<p>The idea of colonizing Nova Scotia found great favour in the eyes both +of James VI. and Charles I., and the former monarch rewarded Sir +William Alexander of Menstrie, who actively supported the project, +with a charter, dated 12th September 1621, in which he granted to him +"All and Whole the territory adjacent to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +thenceforward to be called Nova Scotia;" and constituted him, his +heirs and assignees, hereditary Lords-Lieutenant. The powers which +were given to these Lords-Lieutenant were little short of regal; but +before the charter could be ratified by the Scotch Parliament his +Majesty died. In 1625, however, the grant was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span> + +renewed in the form of +a Charter of Novodamus, which was even more liberal than the original +document. These deeds were drawn out in the usual form of Scottish +conveyances, and were ratified by the Scotch Parliament in 1633.</p> + +<p>In accordance with their terms Sir William despatched one of his sons +to Canada, where, acting in his father's name, he built forts at the +mouth of the St. Lawrence, and acted as a petty king during his stay. +Still the project did not flourish: colonists were scarce and shy, +and, in order to make colonization more rapid, King James hit upon the +expedient of creating Nova-Scotian baronets, and of conferring this +distinction upon the leading members of those families who most +actively engaged in the work of populating the land. His successor +Charles I., who had an equal desire and necessity for money, converted +the new order into a source of revenue by granting 16,000 acres of +Canadian soil to those who could pay well, by erecting the district +thus sold into a barony, and by attaching the honours of a baronet of +Nova Scotia thereto. The order was afterwards extended to natives of +England and Ireland, provided they became naturalized Scotchmen.</p> + +<p>Sir William Alexander, by unfortunate speculations, was reduced to +want; his affairs became involved, and he ultimately sold his entire +Canadian possessions to a Frenchman named de la Tour. The original +Scotch colony depended upon the crown of Scotland: it was ceded to +France by the Treaty of St. Germains, dated the 29th of March 1632; was +reconquered by Cromwell; was again surrendered in the reign of Charles +II.; and in 1713 once more became a British colony—no consideration +being paid at the last transfer to the real or imaginary claims of Sir +William Alexander.</p> + +<p>The worthy baronet, however, notwithstanding his misfortunes and his +impecuniosity, continued a great friend of the first Charles, who, by +royal letters patent, elevated him, on the 14th of June 1633, to a +peerage under the title of the Earl of Stirling. The earldom became +dormant in 1739.</p> + +<p>After a lapse of more than twenty years a claimant for <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span> + +these honours +appeared in the person of William Alexander; but his appeal to the +House of Peers was rejected on the 10th of March 1762, and the +Stirling Peerage was commonly supposed to have shared the common +earthly fate, and to have died a natural death. But a new aspirant +unexpectedly appeared. This gentleman, named Humphreys, laid claim not +only to the earldom of Stirling, but also to the whole territory of +Canada, in addition to the Scottish estates appertaining thereto; and, +in order to substantiate his pretensions, put forward an assumed +pedigree. In this document he declared himself to be the lineal +descendant and nearest lawful heir of Sir William Alexander, who he +said was his great-great-great-grandfather. From this remote fountain +he pretended to have come, following the acknowledged stream until he +reached Benjamin, the last heir-male of the body of the first earl, +and, diverting the current to heirs-female in the person of Hannah, +Earl William's youngest daughter, who was married at Birmingham, and +whom he represented as his own ancestress.</p> + +<p>In 1824, having obtained formal license to assume the surname of +Alexander, he procured himself to be served "lawful and nearest +heir-male in general of the body of the said Hannah Alexander," before +the bailies of Canongate, 1826. Then he assumed the title of Earl of +Stirling and Dovan, and, in 1830, formally registered himself as +"lawful and nearest heir in general to the deceased William, the first +Earl of Stirling."</p> + +<p>According to the patent of 1633, which was confined to heirs-male, +Humphreys had no claim either to the title or estates; but he based +his pretensions upon a document which, he said, had been granted by +Charles I., in 1639, to the Earl of Stirling, and which conferred upon +him, without limitation as to issue, the whole estates in Scotland and +America, as well as the honours conveyed by the original patent. This +he attempted to prove in an action in the Court of Session, which was +dismissed in 1830, as was also a similar action for a like purpose in +1833.</p> + +<p>But, although not officially recognised, he assumed all <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> + +the imaginary +privileges of his position, granting to his friends vast districts of +Canadian soil, creating Nova-Scotian baronets at his own discretion, +and acting, if not like a king, at least like a feudal magnate of the +first degree. He caused notice after notice to be issued proclaiming +his rights, and the records of the time are filled with strange +proclamations and announcements, to which his name is attached. As a +rule, these productions are far too lengthy to be copied, and far too +involved to be readily summarized. They have all a lamentably +commercial tone, and invariably exhibit an unworthy disposition to +sacrifice great prospective or assumed advantages for a very little +ready money. Take, for instance, his address to the public authorities +of Nova Scotia, issued in 1831. In it, after informing his readers of +the steps which he had taken to assert his rights, and the prospects +which existed of their recognition, he hastens to observe that +"persons desirous of settling on any of the waste lands, either by +purchase or lease, will find me ready to treat with them on the most +liberal terms and conditions;" and throws out a gentle hint that in +any official appointment he might have to make, he would prefer that +"the persons to fill them should rather be Nova Scotians or Canadians, +than the strangers of England." At the same time he issued numerous +advertisements in the journals, reminding all whom it might concern of +his hereditary rights, and warning the world in general against +infringing his exclusive privileges. At length, having succeeded in +gaining notoriety for himself, he aroused the Scotch nobility. On the +19th of March 1832, the Earl of Rosebery proposed and obtained a +select committee of the House of Lords, with a view of impeding "the +facility with which persons can assume a title without authority, and +thus lessen the character and respectability of the peerage in the +eyes of the public;" and the Marchioness of Downshire, the female +representative of the house of Stirling, forwarded a petition to the +Lords, complaining of the undue assumption of the title by Mr. +Humphreys.</p> + +<p>It is somewhat remarkable that the extraordinary <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> + +proceedings of this +person should have been tolerated for so long a time by the +law-officers of the Crown; but his growing audacity at last led to +their interference, and what is termed an action of reduction was +brought against him and his agent. Lord Cockburn, who heard the case, +decided, without hesitation, that his claim was not established, +declared the previous legal proceedings invalid, and demolished the +pretensions of the claimant. Under these circumstances it was +necessary to do something to strengthen those weak points in his +title, which had been pointed out by the presiding judge, and +Humphreys or his friends were equal to the emergency. A variety of +documents were discovered in the most unexpected manner, which exactly +supplied the missing links in the evidence, and the claim was +accordingly renewed. The law-officers of the Crown denied the validity +of these documents, which emanated from the most suspicious +sources—some being forwarded by a noted Parisian fortune-teller, +called Madlle. le Normand; and after Mr. Humphreys had been judicially +examined with regard to them, he was served with an indictment to +stand his trial for forgery before the High Court of Justiciary, at +Edinburgh, on the 3d of April 1839. The trial lasted for five days, +and created intense excitement throughout Scotland. During the trial +it was elicited that the father of Mr. Humphreys had been a respectable +merchant in Birmingham, who had amassed considerable wealth, had gone +abroad, accompanied by his son, in 1802, and had taken up his +temporary residence in France. As he did not return at the declaration +of war which followed the brief peace, he was detained by Napoleon, +and died at Verdun in 1807. His son, the pretended earl, remained a +prisoner in France until 1815, and afterwards established himself as a +schoolmaster at Worcester. There he met with little success, but bore +an excellent character, and gained a certain number of influential +friends, whose probity and truthfulness were beyond doubt; some of +whom supported him through all his career, one officer of distinction +even sitting in the dock with him. The public sympathy was also +strongly displayed on his side. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> + +But the evidence which was led on +behalf of the Crown was conclusive, and a verdict was returned +declaring the documents to be forgeries; but finding it "Not Proven" +that the prisoner knew that they were fictitious, or uttered them with +any malicious intention. He was therefore set at liberty, and retired +into private life. Whether he was an impostor, or was merely the +victim of a hallucination, it is very difficult to say. In any case he +failed to prove himself the Earl of Stirling.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_SO-CALLED_HEIRS_OF_THE_STUARTS" id="THE_SO-CALLED_HEIRS_OF_THE_STUARTS"></a>THE SO-CALLED HEIRS OF THE STUARTS.</h2> + + +<p>After the disastrous battle of Culloden, Charles Edward Stuart, or +"The Young Pretender," as he was commonly styled by his opponents, +fled from the field, and after many hair-breadth escapes succeeded in +reaching the Highlands, where he wandered to and fro for many weary +months. A reward of £30,000 was set upon his head, his enemies dogged +his footsteps like bloodhounds, and often he was so hard pressed by +the troops that he had to take refuge in caves and barns, and +sometimes was compelled to avoid all shelter but that afforded him by +the forests and brackens on the bleak hillsides. But the people +remained faithful to his cause, and, even when danger seemed most +imminent, succeeded in baffling his pursuers, and ultimately in +effecting his escape. Accompanied by Cameron of Lochiel, and a few of +his most faithful adherents, he managed to smuggle himself on board a +little French privateer, and was at last landed in safety at a place +called Roseau, near Morlaix, in France. He was treated with great +respect at the French court, until the King of France, by the Treaty +of Aix-la-Chapelle, disowned all rivals of the House of Hanover. The +prince protested against this treaty, and braved the French court. He +was accordingly ordered, in no very ceremonious terms, to leave the +country, and betook himself to Italy, where he gave himself up to +drunkenness, debauchery, and excesses <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span> + +of the lowest kind. In 1772 he +married the Princess Louisa Maximilian de Stolberg, by whom he had no +children, and with whom he lived very unhappily. He died from the +effects of his own self-indulgence, and without male issue, in 1788. +His father, the Chevalier de St. George, had pre-deceased him in 1766, +and his younger brother the Cardinal York, having been debarred from +marriage, it was supposed that at the death of the cardinal the royal +House of Stuart had passed away.</p> + +<p>But, in 1847, a book appeared, entitled "Tales of the Century; or, +Sketches of the Romance of History between the Years 1746 and 1846, by +John Sobieski and Charles Edward Stuart," and it immediately created a +considerable stir in literary circles. It was at once evident that the +three stories which the work contained were not intended to be read as +fictions, but as a contribution to the history of the period; or, in +other words, the authors meant the public to understand that Prince +Charles Edward Stuart left a legitimate son by his wife Louisa de +Stolberg, and that they themselves were his descendants and +representatives.</p> + +<p>The first of these "Tales of the Century" is called "The Picture," and +introduces the reader to a young Highland gentleman, named Macdonnell, +of Glendulochan, who is paying a first visit, in 1831, to an aged +Jacobite doctor, then resident in Westminster. This old adherent of +the cause feels the near approach of death, and is oppressed by the +possession of a secret which he feels must not die with him. He had +promised only to reveal it "in the service of his king;" and believing +it for his service that it should live, he confides it to the young +chief. "I will reveal it to you," he says, "that the last of the Gael +may live to keep that mysterious hope—<i>They have yet a king.</i>"</p> + +<p>He then narrates how, in the course of a tour which he had made in +Italy, in 1773, a lingering fascination compelled him to remain for +some days in the vicinity of St. Rosalie, on the road from Parma to +Florence; how he had often walked for hours in the deep quiet shades +of the convent, ruminating on his distant country, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span> + +on past events, +and on coming fortunes yet unknown; and how, while thus engaged one +evening, his reverie was disturbed by the rapid approach of a carriage +with scarlet outriders. He gained a momentary glimpse, of its +occupants—a lady and gentleman—and recognised the prince at once, +"for though changed with years and care, he was still himself; and +though no longer the 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' of our faithful +<i>beau-ideal</i>, still the same eagle-featured royal bird which I had +seen on his own mountains, when he spread his wings towards the south; +and once more I felt the thrilling talismanic influence of his +appearance, the sight so dear, so deeply-rooted in the hearts of the +Highlanders—<i>Charlie, King of the Gael</i>."</p> + +<p>On the same evening, while the doctor was pacing the aisles of St. +Rosalie, he was disturbed from his meditation by a heavy military +tread and the jingling of spurs, and a man of superior appearance, but +equivocal demeanour, strode towards him, and demanded to know if he +were Dr. Beaton, the Scotch physician. On receiving an affirmative +answer, he was requested to render assistance to some one in need of +immediate attendance, and all hesitation and inquiry was attempted to +be cut short by the announcement—"The relief of the malady, and not +the circumstances, of the patient is the province of the physician, +and for the present occasion you will best learn by an inspection of +the individual."</p> + +<p>A carriage was in waiting, but, in true romantic style, it was +necessary that the doctor should consent to be blindfolded; an +indignity to which he refused to submit, until the stranger, with +effusive expressions of respect for his doubts, said the secret would +be embarrassing to its possessor, as it concerned the interest and +safety of the most illustrious of the Scottish Jacobites. The doctor's +reluctance now changed into eagerness; he readily agreed to follow his +guide, and was conveyed, partly by land and partly by water, to a +mansion, which they entered through a garden. After passing through a +long range of apartments, his mask was removed, and he looked round +upon a splendid saloon, hung with crimson velvet, and blazing <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span> + +with +mirrors which reached from floor to ceiling, while the dim perspective +of a long conservatory was revealed at the farther end. His conductor +rang a silver bell, which was immediately answered by a little page, +richly dressed in scarlet. This boy entered into conversation in +German with the cavalier, and gave very pleasing information to him, +which he, in turn, communicated to the doctor. "Signor Dottore," said +he, "the most important part of your occasion is past. The lady whom +you have been unhappily called to attend met with an alarming accident +in her carriage not half an hour before I found you in the church, and +the unlucky absence of her physician leaves her entirely in your +charge. Her accouchement is over, apparently without more than +exhaustion; but of that you will be the judge."</p> + +<p>The mention of the carriage and the accident recalled to Dr. Beaton his +hasty vision of the prince, but, before he could collect his confused +thoughts, he was led through a splendid suite of apartments to a small +ante-room, decorated with several portraits, among which he instantly +recognised one of the Duke of Perth and another of King James VIII. +Thence he was conducted into a magnificent bed-chamber, where the +light of a single taper shed a dim glimmer through the apartment. A +lady who addressed him in English led him towards the bed. The +curtains were almost closed, and by the bed stood a female attendant +holding an infant enveloped in a mantle. As she retired, the lady drew +aside the curtains, and by the faint light which fell within the bed, +the doctor imperfectly distinguished the pale features of a delicate +face, which lay wan and languid, almost enveloped in the down pillow. +The patient uttered a few words in German, but was extremely weak, and +almost pulseless. The case was urgent, and the Scotch doctor, +suppressing all indication of the danger of which he was sensible, +offered at once to write a prescription.</p> + +<p>For this purpose he was taken to a writing-cabinet which stood near; +and there, while momentarily reflecting upon the ingredients which +were to form his prescription, he glanced at a toilet beside him. The +light of the taper <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> + +shone full upon a number of jewels, which lay +loosely intermixed among the scent bottles, as if put off in haste and +confusion; and his surprise was great to recognise an exquisite +miniature of his noble exiled prince, Charles Edward, representing him +in the very dress in which he had seen him at Culloden. The lady +suddenly approached, as if looking for some ornaments, and placed +herself between him and the table. It was but an instant, and she +retired; but when the doctor, anxious for another glimpse, again +turned his eyes to the table, the face of the miniature was turned.</p> + +<p>His duty done, he was led from the house in the same mysterious manner +in which he was admitted to it; but not until he had taken an oath on +the crucifix "never to speak of what he had seen, heard, or thought on +that night, unless it should be in the service of his king—King +Charles." Moreover, he was required to leave Tuscany the same night, +and, in implicit obedience to his instructions, departed to a seaport. +Here he resumed his rambles and meditation, having still deeper food +for thought than when he was at St. Rosalie.</p> + +<p>On the third night after his arrival, while strolling along the beach, +his attention was attracted by an English frigate, and in answer to +his inquiries he was told that her name was the "Albina," and that she +was commanded by Commodore O'Haleran. The doctor lingered on the shore +in the bright moonlight, and was just about to retire when he was +detained by the approach of a horseman, who was followed by a small +close carriage. In the horseman he recognised his mysterious guide of +St. Rosalie, and waited to see the next move in the game. The carriage +stopped full in the moonlight, near the margin of the water. A signal +was given by the cavalier, and in response the long black shadow of a +man-of-war's galley shot from behind a creek of rocks, and pulled +straight for the spot where the carriage stood. Her stern was backed +towards the shore. A lady alighted from the carriage, and as she +descended the doctor observed that she bore in her arms some object +which she held with great solicitation. An officer at the same time +leaped from the boat and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> + +hastened towards the travellers. The doctor +did not discern his face, but, from the glimmer of the moonlight upon +his shoulders, saw that he wore double epaulettes. It may therefore be +conjectured that this was Commodore O'Haleran himself. He made a brief +but profound salute to the lady, and led her towards the galley. Then, +says the doctor,—</p> + +<p>"As they approached the lady unfolded her mantle, and I heard the +faint cry of an infant, and distinguished for a moment the glisten of +a little white mantle and cap, as she laid her charge in the arms of +her companion. The officer immediately lifted her into the boat, and +as soon as she was seated the cavalier delivered to her the child; +and, folding it carefully in her cloak, I heard her half-suppressed +voice lulling the infant from its disturbance. A brief word and a +momentary grasp of the hand passed between the lady and the cavalier; +and, the officer lifting his hat, the boat pushed off, the oars fell +in the water, and the galley glided down the creek with a velocity +that soon rendered her but a shadow in the grey tide. In a few minutes +I lost sight of her altogether; but I still distinguished the faint +measured plash of the oars, and the feeble wail of the infant's voice +float along the still water.</p> + +<p>"For some moments I thought I had seen the last of the little bark, +which seemed to venture, like an enchanted skiff, into that world of +black waters. But suddenly I caught a glimpse of the narrow boat, and +the dark figures of the men, gliding across the bright stream of +moonlight upon the tide; an instant after a faint gleam blinked on the +white mantle of the lady and the sparkle of the oars, but it died away +by degrees, and neither sound nor sight returned again.</p> + +<p>"For more than a quarter of an hour the tall black figure of the +cavalier continued fixed upon the same spot and in the same attitude; +but suddenly the broad gigantic shadow of the frigate swung round in +the moonshine, her sails filled to the breeze, and, dimly brightening +in the light, she bore off slow and still and stately towards the +west."</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> + +</p> + +<p>So much for the birth. Doctor Beaton, at least, says that Louisa de +Stolberg, the lawful wife of the young pretender, gave birth to a +child at St Rosalie in 1773, and that it was carried away three days +afterwards in the British frigate "Albina," by Commodore O'Haleran.</p> + +<p>In the next story, called "The Red Eagle," another stage is reached. +The Highland chief who went to visit Dr. Beaton in Westminster has +passed his youth, and, in middle age, is astounded by some neighbourly +gossip concerning a mysterious personage who has taken up his quarters +in an adjacent mansion. This unknown individual is described as +wearing the red tartan, and as having that peculiar look of the eye +"which was never in the head of man nor bird but the eagle and Prince +Charlie." His name also is given as Captain O'Haleran, so that there +can be no difficulty in tracing his history back to the time when the +commodore and the mysterious infant sailed from the Mediterranean port +toward the west. Moreover, it seems that he is the reputed son of an +admiral who lays claim to a Scottish peerage, who had married a +southern heiress against the wishes of his relatives, and had assumed +her name; and that his French valet is in the habit of paying him +great deference, and occasionally styles him "Monseigneur" and +"Altesse Royal." As if this hint were not sufficient, it is +incidentally mentioned that a very aged Highland chief, who is almost +in his dotage, no sooner set eyes upon the "Red Eagle" than he +addressed him as Prince Charlie, and told his royal highness that the +last time he saw him was on the morning of Culloden.</p> + +<p>In the third and last of the tales—"The Wolf's Den"—the "Red Eagle" +reappears, and is married to an English lady named Catherine Bruce. +His pretensions to royalty are even more plainly acknowledged than +before; and in the course of the story the Chevalier Græme, +chamberlain to the Countess d'Albanie, addresses him as "My Prince." +The inference is obvious. The Highland hero with the wonderful eyes +was the child of the pretender; he espoused an English lady, and the +names on the title-page of the book which tells this marvellous +history lead <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> + +us to believe that the marriage was fruitful, and that +"John Sobieski Stuart" and "Charles Edward Stuart" were the offspring +of the union, and as such inherited whatever family pretensions might +exist to the sovereignty of the British empire.</p> + +<p>This very pretty story might have passed with the public as a mere +romance, and, possibly, the two names on the title-page might have +been regarded as mere <i>noms de plume</i>, if vague reports had not +previously been circulated which made it apparent that the motive of +the so-called Stuarts was to deceive the public rather than to amuse +them.</p> + +<p>There seemed, indeed, to be little ground for believing this romantic +story to be true, and when it was made public it was immediately rent +to pieces. One shrewd critic, in particular, tore the veil aside, and +in the pages of the <i>Quarterly Review</i> revealed the truth. He plainly +showed the imposture, both by direct and collateral evidence, and +traced the sham Stuarts through all the turnings of their tortuous +lives. By him Commodore O'Haleran, who is said to have carried off the +child, is shown to be Admiral Allen, who died in 1800, and who +pretended to have certain claims to the earldom of Errol and the +estates of the Hay family. This gentleman, it seems, had two sons, +Captain John Allen and Lieutenant Thomas Allen, both of whom were +officers in the navy. The younger of these, Thomas, was married on the +2d of October 1792 to Catherine Manning, the daughter of the Vicar of +Godalming. In this gentleman, Lieutenant Thomas Allen, the reviewer +declares the prototype of the mysterious "Red Eagle" may clearly be +recognised; and he works his case out in this way:—The "Red Eagle" +calls himself captain, and is seen in the story in connection with a +man-of-war, and displaying remarkable powers of seamanship during a +storm among the Hebrides; Thomas Allen was a lieutenant in the navy. +The "Red Eagle" passed for the son of Admiral O'Haleran; Thomas Allen +for the son of Admiral Carter Allen. The "Red Eagle" married Catherine +Bruce, sometime after the summer of 1790; Thomas Allen <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span> + +married +Catherine Manning in 1792. In the last of the three "Tales of the +Century," Admiral O'Haleran and the mysterious guide of Dr. Beaton are +represented as endeavouring to prevent the "Red Eagle" from injuring +the prospects of his house by such a <i>mesalliance</i> as they considered +his marriage with Catherine Bruce would be; and there is a scene in +which the royal birth of the "Red Eagle" is spoken of without +concealment, and in which the admiral begs his "foster son" not to +destroy, by such a marriage, the last hope that was withering on his +<i>father's</i> foreign tomb. In his will Admiral Allen bequeathed his +whole fortune to his eldest son, and only left a legacy of £100 to +Thomas; so that it may reasonably be inferred that his displeasure had +been excited against his youngest born by some such event as an +imprudent marriage. This Thomas Allen had two sons, of whom the elder +published a volume of poems in 1822, to which he put his name as John +Hay Allen, Esq.; while the marriage of the other is noted in +<i>Blackwood's Magazine</i> for the same year, when he figures as "Charles +Stuart, youngest son of Thomas Hay Allen, Esq." These are the +gentlemen who, more than twenty years later, placed their names to the +"Tales of the Century," and styled themselves John Sobieski Stuart and +Charles Edward Stuart, thus seeking to persuade the world that they +were the direct heirs of Prince Charlie.</p> + +<p>There can be no doubt as to their motive; but is it probable, or even +possible, that the occurrences which they describe with so much +minuteness could ever have taken place? The imaginary Dr. Beaton's +story as to the birth is altogether uncorroborated. What became of the +attendants on the Princess Louisa, of the lady who was in the +bedchamber, of the nurse who held the child in her arms, and of the +little page who announced the advent of the royal heir to the +mysterious guide? They knew the nature of the important event which is +said to have taken place, yet they all died with sealed lips, nor, +even "in the service of the king," revealed the fact that an heir had +been born. The officers and crew of the frigate, also, must have +gossiped about the commodore's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span> + +midnight adventure, and the strange +shipment of a lady and child off the Italian coast on a moonlight +night; but not one of them ever gave a sign or betrayed the fact. Such +secrecy is, to say the least, very unusual. Then, returning to Prince +Charlie himself, it is indisputable that when his wife left him in +disgust in 1780, he had no recourse to his imaginary son to cheer his +old age, but turned instinctively to Charlotte Stuart, his +illegitimate child, for sympathy. In July 1784 he executed a deed, +with all the necessary forms, legitimating this person, and bestowing +upon her the title of Albany, by which he had himself been known for +fourteen years, with the rank of duchess. To legitimate his natural +daughter, and give her the reversion of his own title, was very unlike +the action of a <i>pseudo</i>-king who had a lawful son alive. In 1784, +also, when the pretender executed his will, he left this same Duchess +of Albany, of his own constitution, all that he possessed, with the +exception of a small bequest to his brother the cardinal, and a few +trifling legacies to his attendants. To the duchess he bequeathed his +palace at Florence, with all its rich furniture, all his plate and +jewels, including those brought into the family by his mother, the +Princess Clementina Sobieski, and also such of the crown jewels of +England as had been conveyed to the continent by James II. If the +claimant to the British throne had had a son, would he have alienated +from him not only his Italian residence and the Polish jewels which he +inherited from his mother, but also the crown jewels of England, which +had come into his possession as the descendant of a king, and which +were, by the same right, the inalienable property of his legitimate +son?</p> + +<p>The Duchess of Albany very evidently knew nothing of the existence of +her supposed half-brother. She survived her father Prince Charles +Edward for two years. Before her decease she sent to the cardinal the +whole of the crown jewels, and at her death she left him all her +property, with the exception of an annuity to her mother, Miss +Walkinshaw, who survived her for some time, and who was known in +Jacobite circles as the Countess of Alberstroff.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> + +</p> + +<p>The conduct of the Princess Louisa, the reputed mother of the child, +was equally strange. When she left her old debauched husband, she +found consolation in the friendship and intimacy of the poet Alfieri, +who at his death left her his whole property. Cardinal York settled a +handsome income upon her, and her second lover—a Frenchman, named +Fabre—added to her store. She survived till 1824, when her alleged +son must have been in his fifty-first year; yet at her death all her +property, including the seal and the portrait of Prince Charles +Edward, were left to her French admirer, and were by him bequeathed to +an Italian sculptor.</p> + +<p>Cardinal York, also, betrayed no knowledge that his brother ever had +had a son. When Prince Charles Edward died the cardinal adopted all +the form and etiquette usual in the residence of a monarch, and +insisted upon its observance by his visitors, as well as by his own +attendants. He published protests asserting his right to the British +crown, and caused medals to be struck bearing his effigy, and an +inscription wherein he is styled Henry the Ninth, King of Great +Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., &c. This he neither +could nor would have done had he been aware of the existence of his +brother's son, who had a prior claim to his own. Moreover, when the +Princess Louisa left her husband, he exerted himself to the utmost of +his ability to serve her; carried her to Rome; and succeeded in +procuring for her a suitable establishment from his brother. Surely, +in return for his great services, she would have informed him of the +existence of her son, if any such son had ever been born! When the +pretender's health began to give way Cardinal York was among the first +to hasten to his assistance, and, discarding all previous +disagreements, renewed his friendship with him, and persuaded him to +make his home in Rome for the last two years of his life. Yet Prince +Charles in his old age, and with death before his eyes, never revealed +the secret of St. Rosalie to his brother, but permitted him to assume a +title to which he had not the shadow of a claim. In his will also, +Cardinal York <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span> + +betrays his ignorance of any heir of his brother, and +bequeaths his possessions to the missionary funds of the Romish +Church. Dr. Beaton alone seems to have been worthy of trust.</p> + +<p>As far as Admiral Allen is concerned, it is not only unproven that he +was a Tory or a Jacobite, but it is almost certainly shown that he was +a Whig, and would have been a very unlikely person to be entrusted +either with the secrets, or the heir, of Prince Charlie. Had Charles +Edward been in a situation to confide so delicate a trust to any one, +it is impossible to conceive that he would have selected any other +than one of his staunchest adherents; yet John and Charles Hay Allen +ask the public to believe that the charge was entrusted to one whose +political relations seem to have been with the opposite party. They +declare that the "Red Eagle" was aware of his real parentage prior to +1790; yet in the notice of Thomas Allen's marriage, which occurred two +years later, he is expressly described as the son of Admiral Allen, +and in the admiral's will he is distinctly mentioned as his son. As +the reviewer, who has been quoted so freely, remarks: "What +conceivable motive could induce the officer entrusted by Charles +Edward with the care of the only hope of the House of Stuart to leave +in his will, and that will, too, executed in the year of his death, a +flat denial of the royal birth of his illustrious ward? The fact is +utterly irreconcilable with the existence of such a secret, and +appears absolutely conclusive. There was no occasion for the admiral +stating in his will whose son Thomas Allen was. He might have left him +£100 without any allusion to his parentage; but when he deliberately, +and, as lawyers say, <i>in intuitu mortis</i>, assures us that this +gentleman, the father of those who assume names so directly indicative +of royal pretensions, was his own son, we are inclined to give him +credit for a clearer knowledge of the truth than any now alive can +possess."</p> + +<p>Such is the story, and such is its refutation. It has had many +believers and many critics. That it was advanced in earnest there can +be no doubt, and the pretenders <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> + +were well known in London circles. +The elder of them, "John Sobieski Stuart," died in February 1872; but +before his decease solemnly appointed his successor, and passed his +supposed royal birthright to a younger member of the same family—a +birthright which is worthless and vain.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="JOHN_HATFIELD_THE_SHAM_HONOURABLE_ALEXANDER_HOPE" id="JOHN_HATFIELD_THE_SHAM_HONOURABLE_ALEXANDER_HOPE"></a>JOHN HATFIELD—THE SHAM HONOURABLE ALEXANDER HOPE.</h2> + + +<p>In the latter half of last century a farmer in one of the northern +counties had in his house a very pretty girl, who passed as his +daughter, and who supposed that he was her father. The damsel was +industrious and virtuous as well as beautiful, and as she grew to +maturity had many applicants for her hand. At last, as it became +apparent that she would not long remain disengaged or single, her +reputed father explained to her that she was not his daughter, but was +an illegitimate child of Lord Robert Manners, who had all along paid +for her support, and who was disposed to grant her a wedding portion +of £1000, provided she married with his sanction. The news soon +spread, and the rustic beauty became a greater toast than ever when it +was known that she was also an heiress. Among others who heard of her +sudden accession to fortune was a young fellow called John Hatfield, +then employed as a traveller by a neighbouring linen-draper. He lost +no time in paying his respects at the farm-house, or in enrolling +himself in the number of her suitors, and succeeded so well that he +not only gained the affections of the girl, but also the goodwill of +the farmer, who wrote to Lord Robert Manners, informing him that +Hatfield held a good position and had considerable expectations, and +that he was anxious to marry his daughter, but would only do so on +condition that her relatives approved of the union. Thereupon his +lordship sent for the lover, and, believing his representations to be +true, gave his consent at the first interview, and on the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span> + +day after +the marriage presented the bridegroom with £1500.</p> + +<p>The fellow was in reality a great scamp. A short time after he got the +money he set out for London, purchased a carriage, frequented the most +famous coffee-houses, and represented himself to be a near relation of +the Rutland family, and the possessor of large estates in Yorkshire. +The marriage portion was soon exhausted, and when he had borrowed from +every person who would lend him money he disappeared from the +fashionable world as abruptly as he had entered it. Little was heard +of his movements for several years, when he suddenly turned up again +as boastful, if not as resplendent, as ever. By this time his wife had +borne three daughters to him; but he regarded both her and them as +hateful encumbrances, and deserted them, leaving them to be supported +by the precarious charity of her relations. The poor woman did not +long survive his ill-usage and neglect, and died in 1782. Hatfield +himself found great difficulty in raising money, and was, at last, +thrown into the King's Bench prison for a debt of £160. Here he was +very miserable, and was in such absolute destitution that he excited +the pity of some of his former associates and victims who had retained +sufficient to pay their jail expenses, and they often invited him to +dinner and supplied him with food. He never lost his assurance; and, +although he was perfectly well aware that his real character was +known, still continued to boast of his kennels, of his Yorkshire park, +and of his estate in Rutlandshire, which he asserted was settled upon +his wife; and usually wound up his complaint by observing how annoying +it was that a gentleman who at that very time had thirty men engaged +in beautifying his Yorkshire property should be locked up in a filthy +jail, by a miserable tradesman, for a paltry debt.</p> + +<p>Among others to whom he told this cock-and-bull story was a clergyman +who came to the prison to visit Valentine Morris, the ex-governor of +St. Vincent, who was then one of the inmates; and he succeeded in +persuading the unsuspecting divine to visit the Duke of Rutland, and +lay his case before him as that of a near <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span> + +relative. Of course the +duke repudiated all connection with him, and all recollection of him; +but a day or two later, when he remembered that he was the man who had +married the natural daughter of Lord Robert Manners, he sent £200 and +had him released.</p> + +<p>Such a benefactor was not to be lost sight of. The duke was appointed +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1784, and had scarcely landed in Dublin +when Hatfield followed him to that city. On his arrival he engaged a +splendid suite of apartments in a first-rate hotel, fared sumptuously, +and represented himself as nearly allied to the viceroy; but said that +he could not appear at the castle until his horses, carriages, and +servants arrived from England. The Yorkshire park, the Rutlandshire +estate, and the thirty industrious labourers were all impressed into +his service once more, and the landlord allowed him to have what he +liked. When the suspicions of Boniface were aroused by the non-arrival +of the equipages and attendants he presented his bill. Hatfield +assured him that his money was perfectly safe, and that luckily his +agent, who collected the rents of his estate in the north of England, +was then in Ireland, and would give him all needful information. The +landlord called upon this gentleman, whose name had been given to him, +and presented his account, but of course without success; and Hatfield +was thrown in the Marshalsea jail by the indignant landlord. By this +time he was thoroughly familiar with the mysteries of prison life as +it then existed, and had scarcely seated himself in his new lodging +when he visited the jailer's wife and informed her of the relationship +in which he stood to the lord-lieutenant. The woman believed him, gave +him the best accommodation she could, and allowed him to sit at her +table for three weeks. During this time he sent another petition to +the new viceroy, who, fearing lest his own reputation should suffer, +released him, and was only too glad to ship him off to Holyhead.</p> + +<p>He next showed himself at Scarborough in 1792, and succeeded in +introducing himself to some of the local gentry, to whom he hinted +that at the next general election <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span> + +he would be made one of the +representatives of the town through the influence of the Duke of +Rutland. His inability to pay his hotel bill, however, led to his +exposure, and he was obliged to flee to London, where he was again +arrested for debt. This time the wheel of Fortune turned but slowly in +his favour. He lingered in jail for eight years and a-half, when a +Miss Nation, of Devonshire, to whom he had become known, paid his +debts, took him from prison, and married him.</p> + +<p>Abandoning his Rutlandshire pretensions, he now devoted himself to +business, and persuaded a Devonshire firm, who knew nothing of his +antecedents, to take him into partnership, and also ingratiated +himself with a clergyman, who accepted his drafts for a large amount. +Thus supplied with ready money he returned to London, where he lived +in splendid style, and even went so far as to aspire to a seat in the +House of Commons. For a time all appeared to go well; but suspicions +gradually arose with regard to his character and his resources, and he +was declared a bankrupt. Deserting his wife and her two children, he +fled from his creditors. For some time nothing was heard of him, but +in July 1802 he arrived in Keswick, in a carriage, but without any +servant, and assumed the name of the Honourable Alexander Augustus +Hope, brother of the Earl of Hopetoun, and member of Parliament for +Linlithgow.</p> + +<p>In his wanderings he became acquainted with an old couple called +Robinson, who kept a little hostelry on the shore of the Lake of +Buttermere, and who had one daughter who was locally known as "The +Beauty of Buttermere." The handsome colonel at once began to lay siege +to this girl's heart, and was the less loth to do so because it was +rumoured that old Robinson had saved a considerable sum during a long +lifetime. But with his usual prudence, he thought it well to have two +strings to his bow, and finding that there was an Irish officer in +Keswick who had a ward of good family and fortune, and of great +personal attractions, he procured an introduction as the Honourable +Colonel Hope of the 14th regiment of foot. He failed with the ward, +but he was more <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span> + +successful with the Irishman's daughter. Her consent +was given, the trousseau was ordered, and the wedding-day was fixed. +But the lady would not agree to a secret ceremony, and insisted that +he should announce his intended nuptials both to her own and his +friends. This he agreed to do, and pretended to write letters +apprising his brother, and even proposed a visit to Lord Hopetoun's +seat. The bride's suspicions were, however, roused by the strange air +of concealment and mystery which surrounded her intended husband; the +desired answers to his letters came not, and she refused to resign +either herself or her fortune into his keeping.</p> + +<p>Thus baffled, he devoted all his attention to pretty Mary Robinson, +and found her less reluctant to unite her lot with that of such a +distinguished individual as Colonel Hope. The inquiries this time were +all on the gallant officer's side, and it was only when he found that +the reports as to old Robinson's wealth were well founded that he led +her to the altar of Lorton church, on the 2d of October 1802.</p> + +<p>On the day before the wedding the <i>soi-disant</i> Colonel Hope wrote to a +gentleman of his acquaintance, informing him that he was under the +necessity of being absent for ten days on a journey into Scotland, and +enclosing a draft for thirty pounds, drawn on a Mr. Crumpt of +Liverpool, which he desired him to cash and pay some small debts in +Keswick with it, and send him over the balance, as he was afraid he +might be short of money on the road. This was done; and the gentleman +sent him at the same time an additional ten pounds, lest unexpected +demands should be made upon his purse in his absence.</p> + +<p>The Keswick folks were naturally astonished when they learned two days +later that the colonel, who had been paying his addresses to the +daughter of the Irish officer, had married "The Beauty of Buttermere," +and the confiding friend who had sent him the money at once despatched +the draft to Liverpool. Mr. Crumpt immediately accepted it, believing +that it came from the real Colonel Hope, whom he knew very well. +Meantime, instead of paying his proposed journey to Scotland Hatfield + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span> + +stopped at Longtown, where he received two letters, by which he +seemed much disturbed, and returned after three days' absence to +Buttermere. Some friends of the real colonel, chancing to hear of his +marriage, paused on their way through Cumberland, at Keswick, and +wrote to their supposed acquaintance, asking him to come and visit +them. Hatfield went in a carriage and four, and had an interview with +the gentlemen, but flatly denied that he had ever assumed Colonel +Hope's name. He said his name was Hope, but that he was not the member +for Linlithgow. It was notorious, however, that he had been in the +habit of franking his letters with Colonel Hope's name, and he was +handed over to a constable. He contrived to escape, and fled first to +Chester and subsequently to Swansea, where he was recaptured.</p> + +<p>He was brought to trial at the Cumberland assizes on the 15th of +August 1803, charged with personation and forgery, and was found +guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed at Carlisle on the 3d +of September 1803.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="HERVAGAULT_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE" id="HERVAGAULT_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE"></a>HERVAGAULT—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE.</h2> + + +<p>There is no darker page in the history of France than that whereon is +inscribed the record of the Revolution; and in its darkness there is +nothing blacker than the narration of the horrible treatment of the +young dauphin by the revolutionists. The misfortunes of his father +King Louis XVI., and of Marie-Antoinette, are sufficiently well known +throughout Europe to render the repetition of them tedious; but the +evil fate of the son has been less voluminously recorded by +historians, and it is, therefore, necessary to repeat the story at +some length to render the following narratives of claims to royalty +thoroughly intelligible.</p> + +<p>Louis-Charles was the second son of Louis XVI. and his consort +Marie-Antoinette, and was born at the Chateau <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> + +of Versailles, on the +27th of March, at five minutes before seven in the evening. An hour +and a half later he was baptised with much ceremony by the Cardinal de +Rohan and the Vicar of Versailles, and received the title of Duke of +Normandy. Then the king, followed by all the court, went to the chapel +of the chateau, where <i>Te Deum</i> was sung in honour of the event, and +subsequently the infant prince was consecrated a knight of the order +of the Holy Ghost. Fireworks were displayed on the Place d'Armes at +Versailles; and when the news reached Paris it is said "joy spread +itself from one end of the great city to the other; the cannon of the +Bastille responded to the cannon of the Invalides; and everywhere +spontaneous illuminations, the ringing of bells, and the acclamations +of the people, manifested the love of France for a king who, in the +flower of his youth, found his happiness in the happiness of the +people." Such was the introduction into the world of the young prince.</p> + +<p>Fate seemed to have the brightest gifts in store for him. On the 4th +of June 1789, the dauphin, his elder brother, died at Meudon, and the +young Louis-Charles succeeded to his honours. At this time he was +rather more than four years old, and is described as having a graceful +and well-knit frame, his forehead broad and open, his eyebrows arched; +his large blue eyes fringed with long chestnut lashes of angelic +beauty; his complexion dazzlingly fair and blooming; his hair, of a +dark chestnut, curled naturally, and fell in thick ringlets on his +shoulders; and he had the vermilion mouth of his mother, and like her +a small dimple on the chin. In disposition he was exceedingly amiable, +and was a great favourite both with his father and mother, who +affectionately styled him their "little Norman."</p> + +<p>His happiness was destined to be very short-lived, for the murmurs of +the Revolution could already be heard. On the 20th of July, 1791, King +Louis XVI., his family and court, fled from the disloyal French +capital in the night, their intention being to travel in disguise to +Montmèdy, and there to join the Marquis de Bouillé, who was at the +head of a large army. When they awoke the little <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span> + +dauphin, and began +to dress him as a girl, his sister asked him what he thought of the +proceeding. His answer was, "I think we are going to play a comedy;" +but never had comedy more tragic ending. The royal party were +discovered at Varennes, and brought back to the Tuileries amid the +hootings and jeers of the mob. "The journey," says Lamartine, "was a +Calvary of sixty leagues, every step of which was a torture." On the +way the little girl whispered to her brother, "Charles, this is not a +comedy." "I have found that out long since," said the boy. But he was +brave, tender to his mother, and gravely courteous to the commissioner +of the Assembly who had been deputed to bring them back. "Sir," he +said, from his mother's knee, "you ask if I am not very sorry to +return to Paris. I am glad to be anywhere, so that it is with mamma +and papa, and my aunt and sister, and Madame de Tourzel, my +governess."</p> + +<p>There soon came the wild scene in the Tuileries, and the sad +appearance of the dethroned king in the Assembly, with its still more +lamentable ending. Louis XVI. was carried to the prison of the Temple. +This building had originally been a fortress of the Knights Templars. +In 1792, the year in which it received the captive monarch, it +consisted of a large square tower, flanked at its angles by four round +towers, and having on the north side another separate tower of less +dimensions than the first, surmounted by turrets, and generally called +the little tower. It was in this little tower that the royal family of +France were located by the commune of Paris. Here the king spent his +time in the education of his son, while the best historian of the boy +says he devoted himself to comforting his parents: "Here he was happy +to live, and he was only turned to grief by the tears which sometimes +stole down his mother's cheeks. He never spoke of his games and walks +of former days; he never uttered the name of Versailles or the +Tuileries; he seemed to regret nothing."</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 21st January, 1793, Louis XVI. was carried to +the scaffold, and suffered death. On the previous day, at a final +interview which was allowed, he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> + +had taken the dauphin, "his dear +little Norman," on his knee, and had said to him, "My son, you have +heard what I have just said"—he had been causing them all to promise +never to think of avenging his death—"but, as oaths are something +more sacred still than words, swear, with your hands held up to +Heaven, that you will obey your father's dying injunction;" and, adds +his sister, who tells the story, "My brother, bursting into tears, +obeyed; and this most affecting goodness doubled our own grief." And +thus father and son parted, but not for long.</p> + +<p>On the 1st of July the Committee of Public Safety passed a decree, +"That the son of Capet be separated from his mother, and committed to +the charge of a tutor, to be chosen by the Council General of the +Commune." The Convention sanctioned it, and it was carried into effect +two days later. About ten o'clock at night, when the young dauphin was +sleeping soundly in his bed, and the ex-queen and her sister were busy +mending clothes, while the princess read to them, six municipal guards +marched into the room and tore the child from his agonized mother. +They conveyed him to that part of the Tower which had formerly been +occupied by his father, where the "tutor" of the commune was in +waiting to receive him. This was no other than a fellow called Simon, +a shoemaker, who had never lost an opportunity of publicly insulting +the king, and who, through the influence of Marat and Robespierre, had +been appointed the instructor of his son at a salary of 500 francs a +month, on condition that he was never to leave his prisoner or quit +the Tower, on any pretence whatever.</p> + +<p>On the first night, Simon found his new pupil disposed to be +unmanageable. The dauphin sat silently on the floor in a corner, and +not all his new master's threats could induce him to answer the +questions which were put to him. Madame Simon, although a terrible +virago, was likewise unsuccessful; and for two days the prince mourned +for his mother, and refused to taste food, only demanding to see the +law which separated him from her and kept them in prison. At the end +of the second day he found that he could not persist in exercising his +own <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> + +will, and went to bed. In the morning his new master cried in his +elation, "Ha, ha! little Capet, I shall have to teach you to sing the +'Carmagole,' and to cry '<i>Vive la République!</i>' Ah! you are dumb, are +you?" and so from hour to hour he sneered at the miserable child.</p> + +<p>On one occasion, in the early days of his rule, Simon made his pupil +the present of a Jew's harp, at the same time saying, "Your she-wolf +of a mother plays on the piano, and you must learn to accompany her on +the Jew's harp!" The dauphin steadily refused to touch the instrument; +whereupon the new tutor, in a passion, flew upon him and beat him +severely. Still he was not cowed, although the blows were the first +which he had ever received, but bravely answered, "You may punish me +if I don't obey you; but you ought not to beat me—you are stronger +than I." "I am here to command you, animal! my duty is just what I +please to do; and '<i>vive la Liberté, l'Egalité</i>.'" By-and-by personal +suffering and violence had become only too common occurrences of his +daily life.</p> + +<p>About a week after the dauphin was transferred from the little tower, +a rumour spread through Paris that the son of Louis XVI. had been +carried off from the Temple Tower, and crowds of the sovereign people +flocked to the spot to satisfy themselves of its truth. The guard, who +had not seen the boy since he had been taken from his mother's care, +replied that he was no longer in the Tower; "<i>and from that time the +popular falsehood gained ground and strength continually</i>." In order +to quiet the public apprehension, a deputation from the Committee of +Public Safety visited Simon, and ordered him to bring down "the +tyrant's son," so that the incoming guard might see him for +themselves. They then proceeded to cross-question Simon as to the +manner in which he discharged his duties. When that worthy had +satisfied them as to his past treatment, he demanded decisive +instructions for his future guidance.</p> + +<p>"Citizens, what do you decide about the wolf-cub? He has been taught +to be insolent, but I shall know how to tame him. So much the worse if +he sinks under <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span> + +it! I don't answer for that. After all, what do you +want done with him? Do you want him transported?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Killed?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Poisoned?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But what then?"</p> + +<p>"We want to get rid of him!"</p> + +<p>The guard saw him and questioned him, and some of them even +sympathized with him and tried to comfort him; but Simon came and +dragged him away with a rough "Come, come, Capet, or I'll show the +citizens how I <i>work</i> you when you deserve it!"</p> + +<p>When the commissaries returned to the Convention they were able to +announce that the report which had stirred up the populace was false, +and that they had seen Capet's son. From this time forward Simon +redoubled his harshness; beat the boy daily; removed his books and +converted them into pipe-lights; cut off his hair, and made him wear +the red Jacobin cap; dressed him in a scarlet livery, and compelled +him to clean his own and his wife's shoes, and to give them the most +abject obedience. At last the boy's spirit was thoroughly broken, and +Simon not only did as he had said, and forced his victim to sing the +"Carmagnole," and shout "<i>Vive la République!</i>" but made him drunk +upon bad wine, and when his mind was confused forced him to sing lewd +and regicide songs, and even to subscribe his name to foul slanders +against his mother.</p> + +<p>It might be supposed that the Convention was thoroughly satisfied with +its worthy subordinate who had done his peculiar work so effectively, +but he was considered too costly, and was ousted from his post. It was +resolved that the expenses of the children of Louis Capet should be +reduced to what was necessary for the food and maintenance of two +persons, and four members of the Council-General of the Commune agreed +to superintend the prisoners of the Temple. A new arrangement was +made, and a novel system of torture was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> + +inaugurated by Hébert and +Chaumette, two of the most infamous wretches whom the Revolution +raised into temporary notoriety. The wretched boy was confined in a +back-room which had no window or connection with the outside except +through another apartment. His historian describes it vividly—"The +door of communication between the ante-room and this room was cut down +so as to leave it breast high, fastened with nails and screws, and +grated from top to bottom with bars of iron. Half way up was placed a +shelf on which the bars opened, forming a sort of wicket, closed by +other moveable bars, and fastened by an enormous padlock. By this +wicket his coarse food was passed in to little Capet, and it was on +this ledge that he had to put whatever he wanted to send away. +Although small, his compartment was yet large enough for a tomb. What +had he to complain of? He had a room to walk in, a bed to lie upon; he +had bread and water, and linen and clothes! But he had neither fire +nor candle. His room was warmed only by a stove-pipe, and lighted only +by the gleam of a lamp suspended opposite the grating." Into this +horrible place he was pushed on the anniversary of his father's death. +The victim did not even see the parsimonious hand which passed his +food to him, nor the careless hand that sometimes left him without a +fire in very cold weather, and sometimes, by plying the stove with too +much fuel, converted his prison into a furnace.</p> + +<p>This horrible place he was expected to keep clean, but his strength +was unequal to the task, and he was glad to crawl to his bed when +ordered by his guards, who refused to give him a light. Even there he +was not allowed to rest in peace, and often the commissaries appointed +to relieve those on duty would often noisily arouse him from his +pleasant dreams by rattling at his wicket, crying, "Capet, Capet, are +you asleep? Where are you? Young viper, get up!" And the little +startled form would creep from the bed and crawl to the wicket; while +the faint gentle voice would answer, "I am here, citizens, what do you +want with me?" "To see you," would be the surly reply of the watch for +the night. "All <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span> + +right. Get to bed. In!—Down!" And this performance +would be repeated several times before morning. It would have killed a +strong man in a short time. How long could a child stand it?</p> + +<p>Days and weeks and months did pass, and as they passed brought +increasing langour, and weakness, and illness. The want of fresh air, +the abandonment and the solitude, had all had their effect, and the +unfortunate dauphin could scarcely lift the heavy earthenware platter +which contained his food, or the heavier jar in which his water was +brought. He soon left off sweeping his room, and never tried to move +the palliasse off his bed. He could not change his filthy sheets, and +his blanket was worn into tatters. He wore his ragged jacket and +trousers—Simon's legacy—both day and night, and although he felt all +this misery he could not cry. Loathsome creatures crawled in his den +and over his person until even the little scullion who attended him +shuddered with horror as he glanced into the place and muttered, +"Everything is <i>alive</i> in that room." "Yes," says Beauchesne, +"everything was alive except the boy they were killing by inches, and +murdering in detail. This beautiful child, so admired at Versailles +and at the Tuileries, would not recognise himself, his form is +scarcely human—it is something that vegetates—a moving mass of bones +and skin. Never could any state of misery have been conceived more +desolate, more lonely, more threatening than this!... And all that I +here relate is true! These troubles, insults, and torments were heaped +on the head of a child. I show them to you, like indeed to what they +were, but far short of the reality. Cowardly and cruel men, why did +you stop in your frenzy of murder? It would have been better to drink +that last drop of royal blood, than to mingle it with gall and venom +and poison; it would have been better to smother the child, as was +done by the emissaries of Richard III. in the Tower of London, than to +degrade and sully his intellect by that slow method of assassination +which killed the mind before it slew the body. He should have been +struck a year or two before; his little feet should have been aided to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span> + +mount the rude steps of the guillotine! Ah, if she could have known +the fate you were reserving for him, the daughter of Maria-Theresa +would have asked to take her child in her arms: she would have shared +her very last victory with him; and the angels would have prepared at +once the crown of the martyred and that of the innocent victim! Alas, +history is fain to regret for Louis XVII. the scaffold of his mother!"</p> + +<p>But the end of the torture was very near. Robespierre fell, and Simon, +the Barbarous, accompanied him in the same tumbril to the guillotine, +and shared his fate. Barras, the new dictator, made it almost his +first care to visit the Temple; and, from what his colleagues and +himself saw there, they came to the conclusion that some more +judicious control was needed than that of the rough guards who had +charge of the royal children—that a permanent agent must be appointed +to watch the watchers. Accordingly, without consulting him, they +delegated the citizen Laurent to take charge of the dauphin and his +sister. Laurent was a humane man, and accepted the appointment +willingly. Indeed he dared not have refused it; but, in common with +the rest of the public, he had heard that the boy was miserably ill +and was totally uncared for, and seems to have had a notion that he +could better his condition.</p> + +<p>He arrived at the Temple in the evening; but, having no idea of the +real state of the child, he did not visit his little prisoner until +the guard was changed at two o'clock in the morning. When he arrived +at the entrance-door, the foul smell emanating therefrom almost drove +him back. But he was forced to overcome his repugnance; for when the +municipals battered at the little wicket, and shouted for Capet, no +Capet responded. At last, after having been frequently called, a +feeble voice answered "Yes;" but there was no motion on the part of +the speaker. No amount of threatening could induce the occupant of the +bed to leave it, and Laurent was compelled to accept his new charge in +this way, knowing that he was safe somewhere in that dark and +abominable hole. Early next morning he was at the wicket again, and +saw <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span> + +a sight which caused him to send an immediate request to his +superiors to come and visit their captive. Two days later several +members of the Committee of General Safety repaired to the Temple, the +barrier and the wicket were torn down, and "in a dark room, from which +exhaled an odour of corruption and death, on a dirty unmade bed, +barely covered with a filthy cloth and a ragged pair of trousers, a +child of nine years old was lying motionless, his back bent, his face +wan and wasted with misery, and his features exhibiting an expression +of mournful apathy and rigid unintelligence. His head and neck were +fretted by purulent sores, his legs and arms were lengthened +disproportionately, his knees and wrists were covered with blue and +yellow swellings, his feet and hands unlike in appearance to human +flesh, and armed with nails of an immense length; his beautiful fair +hair was stuck to his head by an inveterate scurvy like pitch; and his +body, and the rags which covered him, were alive with vermin." +Mentally he was almost an imbecile; and in answer to all the questions +which were put to him, he only said once, "I wish to die." And this +was the son of Louis XVI., and the nearest heir to the throne of +France!</p> + +<p>The commissaries having given some trifling directions, went their way +to concoct a report, leaving Laurent with very indefinite +instructions. But all the human feelings of the man were roused. He +sent at once for another bed, and bathed the child's wounds. He got an +old woman to cut his hair, and comb it out, and wash him, and +persuaded one of the municipals, who had been a kind of doctor, to +prescribe for the sores, and managed to persuade his superiors to send +a tailor, who made a suit of good clothes for the dauphin. At first +the boy had some difficulty in understanding the change, but as it +dawned upon him he was very grateful. Nor did Laurent's good work stop +here. Although the Revolution was less bloody than before, it was +still very jealous; and the keeper of the Temple was not permitted to +see his prisoner, except at meal times and rare intervals. Still he +contrived to obtain permission to carry him to the top of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> + +the Tower, +on the plea that fresh air was essential to his health, and tended him +so assiduously, that while the prisoner was partially restored, and +could walk about, the strength of his custodier broke down.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances he applied for an assistant, and citizen +Gomin was appointed to the duty. Citizen Gomin, the son of a +well-to-do upholsterer, had no desire to leave his father's shop to +become an under-jailer at the Temple; but his remonstrances were +silenced by the emissaries of the committee, and he was carried off at +once from his bench and his counter in a carriage which was waiting. +He was a kindly fellow, but prudent withal, and was so horrified when +he saw the condition of his charge, that he would have resigned if he +had not been afraid that by so doing he would become a suspect. As it +was he did his best to help Laurent, and by a happy thought, and with +the connivance of a good-hearted municipal, brought into the invalid's +room four little pots of flowers in full bloom. The sight of the +flowers and the undisguised mark of sympathy and affection did what +all previous kindness had failed to do—unlocked the fountains of a +long-sealed heart—and the child burst into tears. From that moment he +recognised Gomin as his friend, but days elapsed before he spoke to +him. When he did, his first remark was—"It was you who gave me some +flowers: I have not forgotten it."</p> + +<p>Gomin and Laurent by-and-by came to be great favourites; but the +latter was compelled to resign his post through the urgency of his +private affairs, and he was replaced by a house-painter called Lasné, +who, like Gomin, was forced to abandon his own business at a moment's +notice. He proved equally good-natured with the other two, and like +them succeeded in gaining the friendship of the dauphin. As far as he +could, he lightened his captivity and tended him with the utmost care. +But no amount of kindliness could bring back strength to the wasted +frame, or even restore hope to the careful attendants. They sang to +him, talked with him, and gave him toys; but it was all in vain. In +the month of May, 1705, they became really alarmed, and informed the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span> + +government that the little Capet was dangerously ill. No attention +was paid to their report, and they wrote again, expressing a fear that +he would not live. After a delay of three days a physician came. He +considered him as attacked with the same scrofulous disorder of which +his brother had died at Meudon, and proposed his immediate removal to +the country. This idea was, of course, regarded as preposterous. He +was, however, transferred to a more airy room; but the change had no +permanent effect. Lasné and Gomin did all they could for him, carrying +him about in their arms, and nursing him day and night; but he +continued gradually to sink.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 8th of June a bulletin was issued announcing +that the life of the captive was in danger. Poor patient Gomin was by +his bedside, on the watch in more senses than one, and expressed his +profound sorrow to see him suffer so much. "Take comfort," said the +child, "I shall not always suffer so much." Then, says Beauchesne, +"Gomin knelt down that he might be nearer to him. The child took his +hand and pressed it to his lips. The pious heart of Gomin prompted an +ardent prayer—one of those prayers that misery wrings from man and +love sends up to God. The child did not let go the faithful hand that +still remained to him, and raised his eyes to Heaven while Gomin +prayed for him." A few hours later, when Lasné had relieved his +subordinate, and was sitting beside the bed, the prince said that he +heard music, and added, "Do you think my sister could have heard the +music? How much good it would have done her!" Lasné could not speak. +All at once the child's eye brightened, and he exclaimed, "I have +something to tell you!" Lasné took his hand, and bent over the bed to +listen. The little head fell on his bosom; but the last words had been +spoken, and the descendant and heir of sixty-five kings was dead. The +date was the 8th of June, 1795; and the little prisoner, who had +escaped at last, was just ten years, two months, and twelve days old.</p> + +<p>Lasné at once acquainted Gomin and Damont, the commissary on duty, +with the event, and they instantly repaired <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span> + +to the room. The poor +little royal corpse was carried from the apartment where he died into +that where he had suffered so long, the remains were laid out on the +bed, and the doors were thrown open. Gomin then repaired to the +offices of the Committee of Safety, and announced the decease of his +charge. He saw one of the members, who told him that the sitting was +ended, and advised the concealment of the fact till the following +morning. This was done. The same evening supper was prepared at eight +o'clock for "the little Capet," and Gomin pretended to take it to his +room. He left it outside, and entered the chamber of death. Many years +afterwards he described his feelings to M. Beauchesne—"I timidly +raised the covering and gazed upon him. The lines which pain had drawn +on his forehead and on his cheeks had disappeared.... His eyes, which +suffering had half-closed, were open now, and shone as pure as the +blue heaven. His beautiful fair hair, which had not been cut for two +months, fell like a frame round his face, which I had never seen so +calm."</p> + +<p>At eight o'clock next morning four members of the committee came to +the Tower to assure themselves that the prince really was dead. They +were satisfied and withdrew. As they went out some of the officers of +the Temple guard asked to see "the little Capet" whom they had known +at the Tuileries, and were admitted. They recognised the body at once, +and twenty of them signed an attestation to that effect. Four surgeons +arrived while the soldiers were in the room, and had to wait until it +could be cleared before they could begin the autopsy which they had +been sent to perform. By this time also everyone outside the Temple +had learned the event, except his sister, who was confined in another +part of the Tower; and the good-hearted Gomin could not muster up +courage to tell her.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the 10th of June the coffin which contained the body +was carried out at the great gate, escorted by a small detachment of +troops, and the crowd which had collected was kept back by gens +d'armes. Lasné was among the mourners, and witnessed the interment, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span> + +which took place in the cemetery of Sainte-Marguerite. As the +soldier-guarded coffin passed along, the people asked whose body it +contained, and were answered 'little Capet;' and the more popular +title of dauphin spread from lip to lip with expressions of pity and +compassion, and a few children of the common people, in rags, took off +their caps, in token of respect and sympathy, before this coffin that +contained a child who had died poorer than they themselves were to +live.</p> + +<p>The procession entered by the old gate of the cemetery, and the +interment took place in the corner on the left, at a distance of eight +or nine feet from the enclosure wall, and at an equal distance from a +small house. The grave was filled up—no mound was raised, but the +ground was carefully levelled, so that no trace of the interment +should remain. All was over.</p> + +<p>This is the story of M. Beauchesne, and there seems to be little +reason to doubt its truth in any essential particular. He writes with +much feeling, but he does not permit his sentiments to overcome his +reason, and has verified the truthfulness of his statements before +giving them to the public. His book is the result of twenty years' +labour and research, and he freely reproduces his authorities for the +inspection and judgment of his readers. He was personally acquainted +with Lasné and Gomin, the two last keepers of the Tower, and the +government aided him if it did not patronise him in his work. +Certificates, reports, and proclamations are all proved, and +lithographs of them are given. The book is a monument of patient +research as well as of love, and the mass of readers will find no +difficulty in believing that it embodies the truth, or that Louis +XVII. really died in the Temple on the 8th of June 1795.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>But in a land such as France, it is not remarkable that the utmost +should have been made of the mystery which surrounded the fate of the +youthful dauphin, or that pretenders should have endeavoured to +personate the son of Louis XVI. The first of these was a lad called +Jean Marie Hervagault, a young scamp, who <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span> + +was a native of St. Lo, a +little village in the department of La Manche, and who resided there +during his early youth with his father, who was a tailor. This +precocious youth, who was gifted with good looks, and who undoubtedly +bore some resemblance to the deceased prince, ran away from home in +1796, and, by his plausible manners and innocent expression, succeeded +in ingratiating himself with several royalist families of distinction, +who believed his story that he was the son of a proscribed nobleman. +His good luck was so great that he was induced to visit Cherbourg, and +tempt his fortune among the concealed adherents of the monarchy who +were resident there; but he was quickly detected, and was thrown into +prison.</p> + +<p>His father, learning his whereabouts, repaired to the jail, and +implored his prodigal son to return to the needle and the shop-board +at St. Lo, but his entreaties were unavailing, and the would-be +aristocrat plainly announced his intention of wearing fine clothes +instead of making them. Accordingly, when he was released, he assumed +feminine attire, had recourse to prominent royalists to supply his +wants, and explained his disguise by mysterious allusions to political +motives, and to his own relationship to the Bourbons. The officers of +the law again laid hands on him, and threw him into prison at Bayeux, +and his father had once more to free him from custody. Still his soul +revolted at honest industry; and, although he condescended to return +to St. Lo, the shears and the goose remained unknown to him, and he +made his stay under the paternal roof as brief as possible.</p> + +<p>One morning in October, 1797, the honest old tailor awoke to find that +his ambitious son was missing for the third time, and heard no more of +him until he learnt that he was in prison at Châlons. He had contrived +to reach that town in his usual fashion, and when he found himself in +his customary quarters, and his further progress impeded, he informed +some of his fellow-prisoners, in confidence, that he was the dauphin +of the Temple, and the brother of the princess. They, of course, +whispered the wondrous secret to the warders, who in turn conveyed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span> + +it +to their friends, and the news spread like wildfire. The whole town +"was moved, and the first impulse was to communicate to Madame Royale" +the joyful intelligence that her brother still lived. Crowds flocked +to see the interesting prisoner and to do him homage, and the +turnkeys, anxious to err on the safe side, relaxed their rules, and +permitted him to receive the congratulations of enthusiastic crowds, +who were anxious to kiss his hand and to avow their attachment to +himself and his cause.</p> + +<p>The authorities were less easily moved, and sentenced the sham dauphin +to a month's imprisonment as a rogue and vagabond, and, moreover, took +good care that he suffered the penalty. On his release he was loaded +with gifts by his still faithful friends, and went on his way +rejoicing, until at Vere he had the misfortune to be captured by the +police, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for swindling. +The royalists of Châlons, however, remained true to him, and when his +captivity was ended he was carried to the house of a Madame Seignes, +where he held a mimic court, and graciously received those who flocked +to do him honour. But the attentions of the police having become +pressing, he was compelled to move secretly from place to place, until +he found a temporary home in the house of a M. de Rambercourt, at +Vetry. Here he first told the full story of his adventures to a +wondering but believing audience. He glibly narrated the events which +took place in the Temple up to the removal of the miscreant Simon from +his post; but this part of the tale possessed little attraction, for +the cruelties of the shoemaker-tutor were well known; but the sequel +was of absorbing interest.</p> + +<p>He said that after the fall of Robespierre and his myrmidons, he +received much more lenient treatment, and was permitted to see his +sister daily, to play with her, and to take his meals in her company. +Still his health did not improve, and the compassion of his nurse +having been excited, she informed his friends without of his +condition, and it was resolved to effect his release. An arrangement +was made, and the real dauphin was placed in the midst of a bundle of +foul linen, and was then <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span> + +carried past the unsuspecting guards, while +a child who had been purchased for the occasion from his unnatural +parents was substituted in his place. The laundress' cart containing +the prince was driven to Passy, and there three individuals received +him, and were so certain of his identity that they at once fell on +their knees and did him homage. From their care he was transferred to +Belleville, the head-quarters of the Vendéan army, where with strange +inconsistency he was compelled to observe an incognito! Here he passed +two months disguised as a lady; and, although known to the chiefs, +concealed from the loyal army.</p> + +<p>Meantime the poor child who had been foisted upon the republicans was +drugged and died, and Dessault, his medical attendant, died also—the +suspicion being that both were poisoned. This miserable child, who had +thus paid the death penalty for his king was none other, the pretender +said, than the son of a rascally tailor, named Hervagault, who lived +at St. Lo!</p> + +<p>He further stated that, while the royalist cause was wavering, +instructions arrived from some mysterious source to send him to +England to secure his safety, and that thither he was despatched. The +Count d'Artois, he admitted, refused to acknowledge him as his nephew; +but simple George III. was more easily imposed upon, and received the +<i>pseudo</i>-dauphin with much kindness, and after encouraging him to be +of good cheer, despatched him in an English man-of-war to Ostia. At +Rome he had an interview with the Pope, and presented to him a +confidential letter which had been given to him by the English +monarch. Moreover, the pontiff prophesied the future greatness of his +illustrious visitor; and, in order to confirm his identity, stamped +two stigmata on his limbs with a red-hot iron—one on the right leg, +representing the royal shield of France, with the initial letter of +his name; and the other, on his left arm, with the inscription of +"<i>Vive le roi</i>!"</p> + +<p>Embarking at Leghorn, he landed in Spain, and without staying to pay +his respects to the king at Madrid hurried on to Portugal, where he +fell in love with the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> + +Princess Benedectine. This damsel, who was fair +as a <i>houri</i>, had, he declared, returned his affection, and the Queen +of Portugal had favoured his addresses; but as his friends were about +to get up a revolution (that of the 18th Fructidor) on his behalf, he +was compelled to leave his betrothed and hurry back to France. The +pro-royalist movement having failed, he was forced to conceal himself, +and to save himself by a second flight to England. But robbers, as +well as soldiers, barred his way, and, after being stripped by a troop +of bandits, he at last succeeded in reaching Châlons and his most +attentive audience.</p> + +<p>As it was known to those present that he had been imprisoned in +Châlons as a rogue, and had condescended subsequently to accept the +hospitality of the tailor of St. Lo, it was necessary to give some +slight explanation of circumstances which were so untoward. But his +ingenuity was not at fault, and the audacity of his story even helped +to satisfy his dupes. He admitted that when he was examined before the +authorities he had acknowledged Hervagault as his father; but he +declared that he had done so simply to escape from the rage of his +enemies, who were anxious to destroy him; and he considered that the +tailor, who had accepted royalist gold in exchange for a son, was both +bound to protect and recognise him.</p> + +<p>There was no doubting. Those who listened were convinced. The king had +come to take his own again; and Louis XVII. was the hero of the hour. +Royalist vied with royalist in doing him service, and the ladies, who +loved him for his beauty, pitied him for his misfortunes, and admired +him for his devotion to the Princess Benedectine, were the foremost in +endeavouring to restore him to his rights. Like devout Frenchwomen +their first thought was to procure for him the recognition of the +church, and they persuaded the curé of Somepuis to invite their +protégé to dinner. The village priest gladly did so, inasmuch as the +banquet was paid for by other folks than himself; but, being a jovial +ecclesiastic, he failed to perceive the true dignity of this +descendant of St. Louis, and even went so far as to jest with the royal +participant <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> + +of his hospitality, somewhat rudely remarking that "the +prince had but a poor appetite, considering that he belonged to a +house whose members were celebrated as <i>bons vivants</i>!" The dauphin +was insulted, the ladies were vexed, and the curé was so intensely +amused that he burst into an explosive fit of laughter. The dinner +came to an untimely conclusion, and the branded of the Pope retired +wrathfully.</p> + +<p>But Fouché heard of these occurrences! The great minister of police +was little likely to allow an adventurer to wander about the provinces +without a passport, declaring himself the son of Louis XVI. By his +instructions the pretender was arrested, but even when in the hands of +the police lost none of his audacity. He assumed the airs of royalty, +and assured his disconsolate friends that the time would speedily come +when his wrongs would be righted, his enemies discomfited, and his +adherents rewarded as they deserved. The martyr was even more greatly +fêted in jail than he had been when at liberty. The prison regulations +were relaxed to the utmost in his favour by dubious officials, who +feared to incur the vengeance of the coming king; banquets were held +in the apartments of the illustrious captive; valuable presents were +laid at his feet; and a petty court was established within the walls +of the prison.</p> + +<p>But again the dread Fouché interposed; and although Bonaparte, then +consul, would not allow the sham dauphin to be treated as a political +offender, the chief of police had him put upon trial as a common +impostor. Madame Seignes was at the same time indicted as an +accomplice, she having been the first who publicly acknowledged her +conviction that Hervagault was the dauphin of the Temple. The trial +came on before the Tribunal of Justice on the 17th of February, 1802. +After a patient hearing Hervagault was sentenced to four years' +imprisonment, while his deluded admirer was acquitted.</p> + +<p>There was some hope in the bosoms of Hervagault's partizans that the +influence of his supposed sister, the Duchess d'Angoulême, would be +sufficient to free him from the meshes of the law, and she was +communicated <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span> + +with, but utterly repudiated the impostor. Meantime +appeals were lodged against the sentence on both sides—by the +prosecuting counsel, because of the acquittal of Madame Seignes, and +by the friends of the prisoner against his conviction. A new trial was +therefore appointed to take place at Rheims.</p> + +<p>In the interval a new and powerful friend arose for the captive in +Charles Lafond de Savines, the ex-bishop of Viviers. This ecclesiastic +had been one of the earliest advocates of the revolution; but, on +discovering its utter godlessness, had withdrawn from it in disgust, +and had retired into private life. In his seclusion the news reached +him that the dauphin was still alive, and was resolved to re-establish +a monarchy similar to that in England, and in which the church, +although formally connected with the state, would be allowed freedom +of thought and freedom of action within its own borders. His zeal was +excited, and he resolved to aid the unfortunate prince in so laudable +an undertaking. He was little disposed to question the identity of the +pretender, for the surgeons who had performed the autopsy at the +Temple Tower had told him that, although they had indeed opened the +body of a child, they had not recognised it, and could not undertake +to say that it was that of the dauphin. To his mind, therefore, there +appeared nothing extraordinary in the story of Hervagault, and he +resolved to aid him to the best of his ability.</p> + +<p>Recognising the deficiencies of the presumed heir to the throne of +France, he determined to educate him as befitted his lofty rank, and +declared himself willing, if he could not obtain the liberty of the +prince, to share his captivity, and to teach him, in a dungeon, his +duty towards God and man. He also entered into a lengthy +correspondence with illustrious royalists to secure their co-operation +in his plans, and even projected a matrimonial alliance for his +illustrious protégé. Nor did he offer only one lady to the choice of +his future king. There were three young sisters of considerable beauty +at the time resident in the province of Dauphiné, and he left +Hervagault liberty to select one of the three. He <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span> + +assured his prince +that they were the daughters of a marquis, who was the natural son of +Louis XV., and as the grand-daughters of a king of France were in +every respect worthy of sitting by his side on his future throne. But +the prisoner's deep affection for the Princess Benedictine for a time +threatened to spoil this part of the plan, until, sacrificing his own +feelings, he consented to yield to considerations of state, and placed +himself unreservedly in the hands of his reverend adviser, who at once +set out for Dauphiné, and made formal proposals on behalf of +Hervagault on the 25th of August, 1802, the anniversary of the +festival of St. Louis.</p> + +<p>But justice would not wait for Hymen; and while the fortunate young +ladies were still undecided as to which of them should reign as Queen +of France, the trial came on at Rheims. Crowds flocked to the town, +prepared to give their prince an ovation on his acquittal; but the law +was very stern and uncompromising. The conviction of Hervagault was +affirmed; and, moreover, the acquittal of Madame Seignes was quashed, +and she was sentenced to six months' imprisonment as the accomplice of +a man who had been found guilty of using names which did not belong to +him, and of extorting money under false pretences.</p> + +<p>But all the evidence which was led failed to convince his dupes, and +they subscribed liberally to supply him with comforts during his +confinement. The authorities at Paris had ordered him to be kept in +strict seclusion; but his jailers were not proof against the splendid +bribes which were offered to them, and the august captive held daily +court and fared sumptuously, until the government, finding that the +belief in his pretensions was spreading rapidly, ordered his removal +to Soissons, and gave imperative injunctions that he should be kept in +solitary confinement.</p> + +<p>The infatuated ex-bishop in the meantime was wandering about the +country, endeavouring by every possible means to procure his release; +and when he heard that the <i>pseudo</i>-prince was to be transferred from +one prison to another, spent night after night wandering on the high + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> + +road, or sitting at the foot of some village cross, hoping to +intercept the prisoner on his way, and perhaps rescue him from the +gens d'armes who had him in custody. Of course, he did not succeed in +his quixotic undertaking; and when he subsequently demanded admission +to see the prince in Soissons jail, he was himself arrested and +detained until the government had decided whether to treat him as a +conspirator or a lunatic.</p> + +<p>At Soissons, as at Vitry, Châlons, and Rheims, crowds flocked to pay +homage to the pretender, until at last Bonaparte, disgusted with the +attention which was given to this impudent impostor, caused him to be +removed to the Bicêtre, then a prison for vagabonds and suspects. The +place was thronged with the offscourings of Paris, and Hervagault +found himself in congenial quarters. Certain enjoyments were permitted +to those of the inmates who could afford to pay for them; and, as the +so-called prince had plenty of money, and spent it liberally, his +claims were as unhesitatingly recognised by his fellow-prisoners as +they had been by the royalists of the provinces. Gradually his +partizans found means to approach his person, and to procure for him +extraordinary indulgences, which were at first denied to him; but when +intelligence of this new demonstration in his favour reached the ears +of the First Consul, he at once gave orders that he should be placed +in solitary confinement, and that the ex-bishop of Viviers, who was at +large under the surveillance of the police, should be arrested and +shut up in Charenton as hopelessly mad. His instructions were fully +carried out, and the unfortunate bishop shortly afterwards ended his +days in the madhouse.</p> + +<p>The last commands of Bonaparte had been so precise that no one dared +to disobey them, and the sham dauphin for a time disappeared from +public view. When the period of his imprisonment was at an end, he was +turned out of the Bicêtre, with an order forbidding him to remain more +than one day in Paris—a miserable vagabond dressed in the prison +garb! During his incarceration he had gained the friendship of a Jew +named Emanuel, who had given him a letter to his wife, in which he +entreated her to treat <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span> + +his comrade hospitably for the solitary night +which he was permitted to spend in the capital. When Hervagault +arrived at the Rue des Ecrivains, where the Jewess lodged, she was not +at home; but a pastry-cook and his wife, who had a shop close by, +invited the dejected caller to rest in their parlour until his friend +returned. The couple were simple; Hervagault's plausibility was as +great as ever, and, little by little, he told the story of his +persecution, and passed himself off as a distressed royalist. The +sympathies of the honest pastry-cook were stirred, and he not only +invited the rogue to make his house his home, but clothed him, filled +his purse, and took him to various places of public entertainment.</p> + +<p>In return for this generous treatment, Hervagault in confidence +informed his new protector that he was none other than the prisoner of +the Temple; and that, when his throne was set up, the kindness he had +received would be remembered and recompensed a thousandfold. One +favour he did ask—money sufficient to carry him to Normandy. The +needful francs were forthcoming, and the deluded pastry-cook bade his +future sovereign a respectful adieu at the door of the diligence, +never again to behold him, or his money, or his reward.</p> + +<p>Hervagault's next appearance was in an entirely new character. He +entered on board a man-of-war at Brest, under the name of +Louis-Charles, and distinguished himself both for good conduct and +courage. But he could not remain content with the praises which he +acquired by his bravery, and once more confided the wonderful story of +his birth and misfortunes to his shipmates, many of whom listened and +believed. But the monotony of life at sea was too great for his +sensitive nerves, and he deserted, and again took to a wandering life, +trying his fortunes, on this occasion, among the royalists of Lower +Brittany. Intelligence of his whereabouts soon reached the government, +and he was arrested and again conveyed to the Bicêtre, with the +intimation that his captivity would only terminate with his life.</p> + +<p>By this time it was well known in France that Bonaparte's word, once +passed, would not be broken; and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> + +Hervagault, losing all hope, +abandoned himself to drunkenness and the wildest excesses. His +constitution gave way, and in a very short time he lay at the gates of +death. A priest was summoned to administer the last consolations of +religion to the dying pretender, and urged him to think on God and +confess the truth. He gazed steadily into the eyes of the confessor, +and said—"I shall not appear as a vile impostor in the eyes of the +Great Judge of the universe. Before His tribunal I shall stand, +revealed and acknowledged, the son of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette +of Austria. A Bourbon, descendant of a line of kings, my portion will +be among the blessed. There I shall meet with my august and +unfortunate family, and with them I shall partake of the common +eternal rest." Two days afterwards he died, as he had lived, with a +lie on his lips.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MATURIN_BRUNEAU_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE" id="MATURIN_BRUNEAU_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE"></a>MATURIN BRUNEAU—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE.</h2> + + +<p>Maturin Bruneau, the next pretender to the honours of the deceased son +of Louis XVI., was quite as great a rascal as Hervagault, but he +lacked his cleverness. Bruneau was the son of a maker of wooden shoes, +who resided at the little village of Vezin, in the department of the +Maine and Loire. He was born in 1784, and having been early left an +orphan, was adopted by a married sister, who kept him until she +discovered that he was incorrigibly vicious, and was compelled to turn +him into the streets to earn his livelihood in the best way he could. +Although Maturin was only eleven years old at the time, he found no +difficulty in providing for himself. He strayed a little distance from +home, into regions where he was personally unknown, and there accosted +a farmer whom he met, asking him for alms, and stating at the same +time that he was a little "De Vezin." The farmer's curiosity was +excited, for the Baron de Vezin was a well-known nobleman, who had +suffered sorely in the civil war of 1795, whose chateau <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span> + +had been +burnt, and whose estates had been devastated by the republican +soldiery; and that his son should be compelled to beg was more than +the honest agriculturist could bear. So he took the little waif home +with him, and kept him until the Viscountess de Turpin de Crissé heard +of his whereabouts, and carried him off to her own chateau at Angrie.</p> + +<p>In her mansion Maturin Bruneau was treated as an adopted son, and +lived in great splendour until, in 1796, a letter arrived from Charles +de Vezin, the brother of the baron, who had just returned to France, +and who informed the viscountess that she had been imposed upon, for +the only nephew he ever possessed was at that time an emigrant refugee +in England. The result was that Bruneau was thrust out of doors, and, +sent back to his native village and the manufacture of wooden shoes. +The jibes of his fellow-villagers, however, rendered his life so +miserable that the viscountess consented to receive him as a servant, +and he remained with her for a year; but his conduct was so unbearable +that she was at last compelled to dismiss him.</p> + +<p>After a brief sojourn with his relatives he announced his intention of +making the tour of France, and left his home for that purpose at the +age of fifteen. He seems, in the course of his wanderings, to have +fought in the Chouan insurrection in 1799 and 1800, and having been +press-ganged, deserted from his ship in an American port, and roamed +up and down in the United States for some years. When the news of +Napoleon's downfall reached that country in 1815, he returned to +France, arriving with a passport which bore the name of Charles de +Navarre. He reached the village of Vallebasseir in great destitution, +and there, having been mistaken for a young soldier named Phillipeaux, +who was supposed to have perished in the war in Spain, he picked up +all available intelligence respecting the family, and forthwith +presented himself at the house of the Widow Phillipeaux as her son. He +was received with every demonstration of affection, and made the worst +possible use of his advantages. After spending all the ready money +which <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span> + +the poor woman had, he proceeded to Vezin, where he was +recognised by his family, although he pretended to be a stranger. +Thence he repaired to Pont de Cé, where lived a certain Sieur Leclerc, +an innkeeper, who had formerly been a cook in the household of Louis +XVI. To this man he paid a visit, and demanded if he recognised him. +The innkeeper said he did not, whereupon he remarked on the +strangeness of being forgotten, seeing, said he, "that I am Louis +XVII., and that you have often pulled my ears in the kitchen of +Versailles."</p> + +<p>Leclerc, whose recollections of the dauphin were of quite a different +character, ordered him out of his house as an impostor. But it does +not fall to everybody to be familiar with the ways of a court, or even +of a royal kitchen, and a few persons were found at St. Malo who +credited his assertion that he was the Prince of France. The +government, already warned by the temporary success of Hervagault's +imposture, immediately pounced upon him, and submitted him to +examination. His story was found to be a confused tissue of +falsehoods; and after being repeatedly interrogated, and attempting to +escape, and to forward letters surreptitiously to his "uncle," Louis +XVIII., he was removed to the prison of Rouen as the son of the Widow +Phillipeaux, calling himself Charles de Navarre. When he entered the +jail he was the possessor of a solitary five franc piece, which he +spent in wine and tobacco, and he then took to the manufacture of +wooden shoes for the other prisoners in order to obtain more. As he +worked he told his story, and his fellow jail-birds were never tired +of listening to his romance. Visitors also heard his tale, and yielded +credence to it, and it was not long before everybody in Rouen knew +that there was a captive in the town who claimed to be the son of the +murdered king.</p> + +<p>Among other persons of education and respectability who listened and +believed was a Madame Dumont, the wife of a wealthy merchant. This +lady became an ardent partizan of the pretender, and not only visited +him, but spent her husband's gold lavishly to solace him in his +captivity. She supplied him with the richest food and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> + +rarest +wines that money could buy. A Madame Jacquières, who resided at Gros +Caillon, near Paris, who was greatly devoted to the Bourbon family, +also came under the influence of Bruneau's agents, and finally fell a +victim to his rascality. This good lady was an ardent Catholic, and +having some lingering doubt as to the honesty of the prisoner of +Rouen, in order to its perfect solution she visited many shrines, said +many prayers, and personally repaired to the old city in which he was +confined, where she caused a nine days' course of prayer to be said to +discover if the captive were really the person he pretended to be. +This last expedient answered admirably. The Abbé Matouillet, who +celebrated the required number of masses before the shrine of the +Virgin, was himself a firm believer in Bruneau, and he had no +hesitation in assuring the petitioner that loyalty and liberality +towards the prince would be no bad investment either in this world or +the next. The Abbé then led his credulous victim into the august +presence of the clogmaker, and the poor dupe prostrated herself before +him in semi-adoration. Nor would she leave the presence until his +Majesty condescended to accept a humble gift of a valuable gold watch +and two costly rings. His Majesty was graciously pleased to accede to +the request of his loyal subject.</p> + +<p>Bruneau could neither read nor write, and perhaps it was as well for +himself that his education had been thus neglected, for if he had been +left to his own devices his imposture would have been very +short-lived. But he contrived to attach two clever rascals to himself, +who helped to prolong the fraud and to victimise the public. They were +both convicts, but convicts of a high intellectual type. One was +Larcher, a revolutionary priest, and a man of detestable life; while +the other was a forger named Tourly. These worthies acted as his +secretaries. On the 3d of March 1816, the priest wrote a letter to +"Madame de France" in these terms:—</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">"My Sister,</span>—You are doubtless not ignorant of my being held in the +saddest captivity, and reduced to a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span> + +condition of appalling misery. So +may I beg of you, if you should think me worthy of your especial +consideration, to visit me here in my imprisonment. Even should you +for an instant suspect me of being an impostor, still may I claim +consideration for the sake of your brother. The scandal and judgment +of which our family is daily the object throughout the entire kingdom +may well make you shudder. I am myself sunk in despair at the thought +of being so near the capital without being permitted to publicly +appear in it. If you determine upon coming down here you would do well +to preserve an incognito. In the meantime receive the embraces of your +unfortunate brother, <span class="smcap">The King of France and Navarre</span>."</p> + +<p>This precious epistle Madame Jacquières undertook not only to forward +to the Duchess d'Angoulême, but also promised to procure the honour of +a private interview for the bearer of the missive.</p> + +<p>Larcher and Tourly must have been kept very busy, for the pretended +dauphin was never tired of sending appeals for assistance to the +foreign powers, of addressing proclamations to the people, and even +went so far as formally to petition the parliament that he might be +taken to Paris, in order there to establish his identity as the son of +Louis XVI. The whole of the papers issued from the prison, and they +were enormous in quantity, were signed by his secretaries with his +name.</p> + +<p>About the same time considerable interest was excited by a trashy +novel, called the "Cemetery of the Madeleine," which pretended to give +a circumstantial account of the life of the dauphin in the Temple. Out +of this book the secretaries and their employer proceeded to construct +"The Historical Memoirs of Charles of Navarre;" but after they had +finished their work, they found that it was so ridiculously absurd +that there was no probability that it would deceive the public for a +moment. They accordingly handed the manuscript over to a more skilful +rogue with whom they were acquainted, and this man, who was called +Branzon, transformed their clumsy narrative into a well-written and +plausible history. He did more, and "coached" the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span> + +pretender in all +the petty circumstances which he could find out respecting the Bourbon +family. Manuscript copies of the "Memoirs" were assiduously +distributed in influential quarters in Rouen, and particularly among +the officers of the third regiment of the royal guard, then quartered +in the town. A copy fell into the hands of a Vendéan officer named De +la Pomelière, who recollected the story of the pretended son of Baron +de Vezins, and half-suspected a similar imposture in this instance. +With some difficulty he procured admission to the royal presence, and +induced the sham dauphin to speak of La Vendée. During the +conversation he remarked, that when the chateau of Angrie, the +residence of the Viscountess de Turpin, was mentioned, the pretender +slightly changed colour and became embarrassed. The acknowledgment +that he was acquainted with the mansion, and the accurate description +which he gave of it, gave the first clue whereby proof was obtained of +his identity with Maturin Bruneau.</p> + +<p>But although M. de la Pomelière, from his previous knowledge, had a +hazy idea of the truth, the uninformed public continued devoted to the +cause of the pretender; and the convict secretaries, if they failed to +stir up the educated classes, at least succeeded in entrapping the +ignorant. The prison cell of Bruneau was converted into a scene of +uninterrupted revelling. Persons of all classes sent their gifts—the +ladies supplying unlimited creature comforts for their king, while +their husbands strove to compensate for their incapacity to +manufacture dainties by filling the purse of the pretender. Nothing +was forgotten: fine clothes and fine furniture were supplied in +abundance; and the adoring public were so anxious to consider the +comfort of the illustrious prisoner, that they even subscribed to +purchase a breakfast service of Sevrès, so that the heir to the throne +might drink his chocolate out of a porcelain cup.</p> + +<p>Meantime Madame Jacquières had not been idle, and was ready to fulfil +her promise to send a messenger to the Duchess d'Angoulême. Her chosen +emissary was a Norman gentleman named Jacques Charles de Foulques, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span> + +an +ardent Bourbonist and a lieutenant-colonel in the army. This officer +was both brave and suave, and seemed in every respect a fitting person +to act as an ambassador to the Tuileries. He was deeply religious, +very conscientious, and extremely simple. His mental capacity had been +accurately gauged by Bruneau and his associates, and care was taken to +excite his religious enthusiasm. The Abbé Matouillet plainly told him +that Heaven smiled upon the cause, and introduced him to the prince, +who administered the oath of allegiance, which the credulous Norman is +said to have signed with the seal of his lips on a volume that looked +like a book of <i>gaillard</i> songs, but which the simple soldier mistook +for the Gospels. After several audiences, his mission was pointed out, +and Colonel de Foulques, without hesitation, agreed to proceed to +Paris, and there to place in the hands of the daughter of Louis XVI. a +copy of the "Memoirs of Charles of Navarre," and a letter from her +reputed brother.</p> + +<p>The latter document was produced in the court at Rouen when Bruneau +was afterwards placed at the bar, and is a very curious production. In +it the maker of clogs thus addresses "Madame Royale:"—</p> + +<p>"I am aware, my dear sister, a secret presentiment has long possessed +you that the finger of God was about to point out to you your brother, +that innocent partaker of your sorrows, the one alone worthy to repair +them, as he was fated to share them.</p> + +<p>"I know, also, that you were surrounded by snares, and that they who +extend them for you are men of wicked ways. They believe they have +destroyed the germs of some virtues, as they succeeded in arresting +the progress of my education; but there remain to me uprightness of +principle, courage, a tendency to good, and the desire of preserving +the glory of my nation. Louis XIV. could boast of no more.</p> + +<p>"I know that I have been pictured to you as one who has forgotten his +dignity, and who is the slave of a love for wine. Alas! that beverage +that was forced upon me <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span> + +in my tenderest youth, by the ferocious +Simon, has served to fortify my constitution in the course of a most +painful life, even as it did that of the great Henry IV.; and, if I +have been addicted to the use of it in this place, it was for my +health's sake, to preserve which a more refined method would not have +so well suited me.</p> + +<p>"The use of tobacco was recommended to me in 1797, at Baltimore, also +on account of my health. I have profited by it. It has occasionally +served to dissipate my sense of weariness, and the thin vapour has +often caused me to forget that life might be breathed away from my +lips almost as readily.</p> + +<p>"I have wished, my dear sister, to speak to you as a brother. Whatever +may be the force of a custom preserved during nineteen years, I shall +know how, in sharing the fatigues of my troops, to deprive myself of +what is a pastime to them. Other occupations will but too easily +absorb me entirely. Cease to see by any other vision than your own. +Trust to the evidence of your own senses, and no other. I have +learned, through a long series of misfortunes, how to be a man, and to +be upon my guard against my fellowmen. Truth is not apt to penetrate +under golden fringes. It is, however, my divinity; and henceforward, +my sister, it will dwell with us. I grant the right of having it told +to me. It will never offend a monarch who, having contracted the habit +of bearing it, will have the courage to heed it for the benefit of his +people.</p> + +<p>"I dispersed the last calumny which perversity has aimed at me, when +it declared that your brother was still in the United States. No; I +had long left it when my evil destiny conducted me from Brazil (as you +will see in my "Memoirs") to France, which is anything for me but the +promised land. Heaven, to whom my eyes and hopes were ever raised, +will not fail to have in its keeping certain witnesses to my +existence. There is one to whom I presented, in 1801, at Philadelphia, +three gold doubloons, a note of twenty dollars, three shirts, a coat, +a <i>levite</i>, and two pairs of old boots. This witness, whom chance has +again brought me acquainted with here, is a certain <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span> + +Chaufford, son of +a baker of Rouen, well known to the keeper of the prison, and who was +on board the French fleet which sailed from Brest. This witness (of +whom I have spoken in my "Memoirs") deserted from the fleet. My +servant François meeting him in Marc Street, brought him to me. I was +then suffering in consequence of a fall from my horse, and was obliged +to go about on crutches; and it was from me that he received every +species of assistance, and it is by me that he has been reminded of it +within the walls of this odious prison, where he least of all expected +again to meet with his illustrious benefactor.</p> + +<p>"I conclude, my dear sister, certifying to you, by my ambassador, the +nature of my ulterior projects. He will hear of your final resolution, +and will at once return to me, after assuring you that the superior +rank to which destiny calls me is only coveted by me for the sake of +my people, and in order to share with you the grateful attachment, +which will always be for me the sweetest reward. It is the heart of +your king and brother that has never ceased to hold you dear. <i>He</i> +presses you to that heart which the most cruel misery has not been +able to render cold towards you."</p> + +<p>Armed with this extraordinary document, Lieutenant-Colonel de Foulques +set out for Paris, honoured by his mission, and convinced that he had +only to present himself at the Tuileries to obtain easy access to the +duchess, and only to gain her ear to insure her co-operation in the +sacred task of placing her long-lost and ill-treated brother on the +throne of France. Of course, there were certain forms which must be +complied with, but the result was, to his mind, certain. He first +opened negotiations with M. de Mortmaur, and delivered the despatches +to his care. To his surprise they were treated with the utmost +indifference, not to say rudeness; and the Norman was still more +disgusted when told that no audience would be granted. From M. de +Mortmaur he repaired to the Duchess of Serent, and, in a letter, +craved her influence to procure for him the desired interview with +"Madame <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span> + +Royale." The reply was prompt and unmistakable: If he did not +leave the capital within eight days, he would be thrown into jail.</p> + +<p>The colonel did not wait for a week; but in an angry mood returned at +once to those who sent him, cursing the government in his heart, +stigmatizing "Madame Royale" as an unnatural sister, and considering +the king no better than other royal uncles who had occupied thrones +which belonged to their imprisoned nephews. The news of his +discomfiture did not disconcert or dishearten the plotters, and, +although their first attempt to approach the daughter of Louis XVI. +had resulted in failure, they resolved to make another attempt. Madame +de Jacquières, in particular, was very hopeful, and, with a wisdom and +modesty which did her credit, discovered that there would have been +great indelicacy in the Duchess of Angoulême granting a private +interview to a man. A female messenger ought to have been sent; and +she soon found one to repair the first blunder.</p> + +<p>Madame Morin, who superseded De Foulkes, was a lady of great +accomplishments and considerable intelligence. The documents which the +unsuccessful ambassador had carried with him were entrusted to the new +emissary; and, in addition, she carried with her a portrait of Charles +of Navarre, who was represented in the brilliant uniform of a general +officer of dragoons. But Madame Morin was as ill-fated as her +predecessor had been, and all her efforts to force her way into the +presence of the duchess were fruitless. The police also frightened her +as they had terrified De Foulkes, and paid a visit to her residence. +They did not make a thorough search, but gave her to understand that +if any further attempts were made to annoy the duchess they would +institute a strict perquisition—a threat which had so great an effect +upon the ambassadress that she immediately burnt her copy of the +"Memoirs," her credentials, and even the portrait of her illustrious +master and prince, and returned to the power from which she was +accredited, shamefacedly to confess that she had been equally +unfortunate with the gallant Norman colonel.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span> + +</p> + +<p>It was evident that the hard heart of the duchess could not easily be +moved, and it was necessary to have recourse to other tactics. At this +time misery and famine were prevalent in the land, and many persons +were discontented with the rule of Louis XVIII., who was in extremely +ill health. The Abbé Matouillet saw his opportunity, and taking +advantage of the prevalent disaffection, issued a proclamation +intimating that if the people of France would place their captive king +upon the throne now occupied by a dying usurper, the liberated and +grateful sovereign would, in return, immediately fix the price of +bread at three sous per pound. Meantime, the generous offerer was +regaling himself on the fat of the land, and holding his petty court +within the walls of Rouen jail. But this last move led to energetic +action on the part of the authorities. The attempted rising was +crushed, the careless jailers were dismissed, the prisoner was placed +in solitary and comfortless confinement, and the keeper of the seals +commenced serious proceedings in order to bring him to trial.</p> + +<p>The chief object to be accomplished was to prove his birth, for there +were many who jumped to the conclusion that he must be the son of +Louis XVI., since he was not the son of the Widow Phillipeaux. Seeing +that his time had come, and that the government was determined to +punish him with severity, Bruneau became alarmed, and offered his new +jailers ten thousand francs to set him at liberty. The offer was +refused and reported, the prisoner was more narrowly guarded, and his +preliminary examinations were hastened. The stories which he told were +so absurd and so wildly contradictory, as to leave no doubt of the +hollowness of his pretensions; but still the difficulty remained of +proving who he really was.</p> + +<p>When affairs were in this stage the Viscountess Turpin, Bruneau's +first benefactress, arrived in Rouen. M. de Pomelière, the officer of +the king's guard who had suspected him from the first, had +communicated his suspicions to the viscountess, and she had come to +see him, and, if she could, to expose him. When Bruneau was confronted +with his former patroness, he at once admitted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span> + +that he had enjoyed +the lady's hospitality, but declared that that fact did not render him +the less the Dauphin of France. The viscountess reproached him, and +endeavoured to ashame him; but the impudent and ungrateful scamp +turned to her with an air of mock majesty and exclaimed, "Madame, I +accept counsel from no one. I give it as I do commands. I am a +sovereign!" The members of his family were next brought from Vezin to +identify him, and had no hesitation in doing so. He denied ever having +seen them before, but frequently betrayed himself by addressing them +by their pet household names, and by contradicting them with regard to +trivial occurrences. The imposture was plain; and Bruneau, his +forger-secretary Tourly, Branzon the author of the "Memoirs," the Abbé +Matouillet, and Madame Dumont, were committed for trial as swindlers, +as the government did not deem them of sufficient importance to charge +them with high treason.</p> + +<p>The Abbé contrived to effect his escape from the jail, but the others +were placed in the dock, Bruneau was received with some faint cries of +"Vive Louis XVII.!" but the scamp knew that his game was played out, +and did not care to conceal his knowledge of the fact. He had made no +effort to make himself presentable; but appeared in court ill-dressed, +unshaven, and wearing a cotton night-cap on his head. It was with +difficulty that he could be compelled to respect the forms of the +court, or to preserve ordinary decency. He interrupted the opening +speech of the government prosecutor by noisy ejaculations, oaths, +filthy expletives, and immodest and insulting gestures, and when +rebuked by the judges showered down upon them all the abusive and +abominable epithets of his extensive vocabulary.</p> + +<p>The trial lasted for ten days, and the career of Bruneau was clearly +traced from his very childhood. As revelation after revelation was +made, and the history of crime after crime was disclosed, his +interruptions became more and more frequent and violent, until his +very accomplices shrank from him in horror, protesting that it he had +presented himself to them in the same guise when he first <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span> + +proclaimed +his pretensions, they would not have been seduced by him. Their +advocates pleaded on their behalf that they were dupes and not +confederates, and the plea served to exculpate the Abbé, Madame +Dumont, and Tourly. The impostor himself was condemned to five years' +imprisonment, three thousand francs fine, and a further imprisonment +of two years for his offences against the dignity of justice and the +public morality committed in open court. He was further condemned to +remain at the after-disposal of the government, and to pay +three-fourths of the expenses of the trial. Branzon, his literary +friend, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and to pay a fourth +of the expenses. When that part of the sentence was pronounced, which +referred to the cost of the proceedings, Bruneau burst into an +insulting laugh, and informed the judges that he would take care to +defray the heavy responsibility laid upon him as soon as he was able. +But, as the saying is, he laughed without his host. The subscriptions +of his dupes were lying at the Bank of France, were confiscated by the +state, and, amply served to pay the pecuniary penalty. After his +imprisonment had expired Bruneau disappeared from public view.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="NAUNDORFF_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE" id="NAUNDORFF_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE"></a>NAÜNDORFF—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE.</h2> + + +<p>One evening, while Napoleon I. was still reigning at the Tuileries and +guiding the destinies of France, a stranger appeared in the +marketplace of Brandenburg, in Prussia. He had travelled far, was very +tired, and sat him down to rest. But the Prussian police had then, and +have still, a deep dislike to weary tramps; and the poor wayfarer had +not been long seated when he was accosted, by the guardians of the +peace, who demanded his papers. The stranger told them he had none, +that he was very weary, that he liked the town, and that he had +resolved <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span> + +to take up his abode in it. The police were astounded by his +coolness, and continued to ply him with questions. They asked what his +station in life was, when he seemed a little confused; but ultimately +said he was a watchmaker. They demanded his name, and he said it was +Naündorff, but whence he had come he refused to tell; and his sole +worldly possession was a seal, which, he said, had belonged to Louis +XVI. of France. The police kept the seal, and, finding that they could +elicit no further information from the mysterious being who had thrust +himself so unceremoniously into their dull town, permitted him to +settle down quietly in Brandenburg.</p> + +<p>Without tools, without money, without friends, he found life hard +enough at first; but an old soldier and his sister took pity upon him, +and took him into their house. To them he first declared himself to be +Louis XVII., and narrated the manner of his escape from the Temple. He +told them all about Simon and his cruelty, and described the dungeon +in which he was confined, the iron wicket, and the loathsomeness of +the place. He said he recollected some persons attending him who, he +thought, were doctors; but he was afraid of them, and would not answer +their questions. As the result of their visit, however, he was +cleaned, his room was put in order, and the wicket was torn down.</p> + +<p>About this time, he said, his friends determined to rescue him; but +they found the guard at the Temple too numerous and too vigilant to +allow them to carry out their plans, or to remove him from the place. +Accordingly they hit upon a strange device, and resolved to conceal +him in the building. They determined to take him from the second floor +which he occupied, and hide him in the fourth storey of the Temple. +Sometime in June, 1795, an opiate was administered to him, and he fell +into a drowsy condition. In this state he saw a child, which they had +substituted for him in his bed, and was himself laid in a basket in +which this child had been concealed under the bed. He perceived as in +a dream that the effigy was only a wooden doll, the face of which had +been carved and painted to imitate his own. The change <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> + +was effected +while the guard was relieved, and the new guard who came on duty was +content to perceive an apparently sleeping figure beneath the +bedclothes, without investigating too closely whether it were the +dauphin or not. Meantime the opiate did its work, and not even his +curiosity could prevent him from dropping off into insensibility.</p> + +<p>When he recovered consciousness he found himself shut up in a large +room which was quite strange to him. This room was crowded with old +furniture, amongst which a space had been prepared for him, and a +passage was left to a closet in one of the turrets, in which his food +had been placed. All other approach was barricaded. Before the +transfer had taken place, one of his friends had told him that, in +order to save his life, he must submit to hardship and suffering, for +a single imprudent step would bring destruction, not only on himself, +but on his benefactors. It was, therefore, agreed that he should +pretend to be deaf and dumb. On awaking he remembered the injunctions +of his friends, resolved that no indiscretion on his part should +endanger their safety, and waited with patience and in silence in his +dreary abode, being supplied at intervals with food, which was brought +to him during the night by one of his protectors.</p> + +<p>His escape was discovered on the same night on which it took place; +but the government thought fit to conceal it, and caused the wooden +figure to be replaced by a deaf and dumb boy. At the same time the +guard was doubled, to give the public the idea that the dauphin was +still in safe-keeping. This extra precaution prevented his friends +from smuggling him out of the Tower, as they had intended; but, in +order to deceive the authorities, they despatched a boy under his +name, in the direction, he believed, of Strasburg. At this time he was +about nine years and a half old, and his long imprisonment had +rendered him accustomed to suffering. Throughout the long winter he +endured the cold without a murmur; and no one guessed his +hiding-place, for the room was disused and was never opened, and if +any one had by chance entered it, he could not have been seen, as even +the friend <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span> + +who visited him could only reach him by crawling on +all-fours, and when he did not come the captive remained patiently in +his concealment. Frequently he waited for several days for his food; +but no murmur escaped his lips, and he was only too glad to endure +present suffering in the hope of future safety.</p> + +<p>While he was thus stowed away in the upper storey of the Temple Tower, +a rumour spread abroad that the dauphin had escaped, and the +government took the alarm. It was decided that the deaf and dumb boy, +who had been substituted for the doll which had taken his place, +should die, and to kill him poison was mixed with his food in small +quantities. The captive became excessively ill, and Desault, the +surgeon, was called in, not to save his life, but to counterfeit +humanity. Desault at once saw that poison had been administered, and +ordered an antidote to be prepared by a friend of his own, an +apothecary called Choppart, telling him at the same time that the +official prisoner was not the son of Louis XVI. Choppart was +indiscreet, and betrayed the confidence which had been reposed in him; +and the floating rumour reached the authorities. In alarm lest the +fraud should be detected, they removed the deaf and dumb child, and +substituted for him a rickety boy from one of the Parisian hospitals. +To make assurance doubly sure, according to Naündorff's version, they +poisoned both Desault and Choppart, and the substituted rickety boy +was attended by physicians, who, never having seen either the real +dauphin, or the deaf and dumb prisoner, naturally believed it was the +dauphin they were attending.</p> + +<p>After recounting further and equally remarkable adventures, Naündorff +declared that he was conveyed out of France, and was placed under the +care of a German lady, with whom he remained until he was about twelve +years of age. He could not recollect either the name or place of +residence of this lady, and only remembered that she was kind to him, +and that he used to call her "<i>bonne maman!</i>" From her custody he was +transferred to that of two gentlemen, who carried him across the sea; +but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span> + +whether they took him to Italy or America he could not tell. One +of these gentlemen taught him watchmaking, a craft which he afterwards +used to very good purpose. He had a distinct recollection of an +attempt which was made to poison him, but the draught was taken by +somebody else, who died in consequence. In 1804, while in the +neighbourhood of the French frontier, near Strasburg, he was arrested, +and was cast into prison, where he remained under the strictest +guard and in the greatest misery till the spring of 1809, when he +was liberated by a friend named Montmorin, through the aid of +the Empress Josephine. Montmorin and himself then set out for +Frankfort-on-the-Maine, and during the journey the former "sewed some +papers in the collar of his greatcoat, which would form undeniable +proofs of his identity to all the sovereigns of Europe." In 1809, +according to his own showing, he was at Stralsund fighting under Major +de Schill of the Brunswick dragoons, and, when that redoubtable +officer was killed, received a blow on the head which fractured his +skull and rendered him unconscious for a long time. In 1810 he was in +Italy, where he was recognised by several old officers of Louis XVI., +who received him with every mark of loyal respect. Napoleon, he +asserted, was aware of his existence, and threatened him with death if +he disturbed the public peace; and when, on the downfall of the +usurper, he wrote to the European powers urging his claims, his +application was coldly passed over in silence, and Louis XVIII. was +raised to the throne in his stead.</p> + +<p>The credulous soldier and his equally simple sister believed this +wonderful tale, and pressed their royal visitor to continue to receive +their humble hospitality. Between them a letter was addressed to the +Duchess of Angoulême, announcing the existence of a brother, who would +be found to be the real man, and no counterfeit. A similar letter was +sent to the king, and another to the Duchess de Berri; but all the +three missives were careful to state that the Duke of Normandy had no +desire to sit upon the throne or to disturb the tranquillity of +France, but would be content to accept a reasonable pension and hold + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span> + +his tongue—to surrender all his claims, and retire into obscurity +for ever, if he were well paid. His letters remained unanswered, but +he returned to the attack, and indulged the Duchess of Angoulême with +a multitude of letters, in which he implored her good offices for a +brother who needed only to be seen to be recognised. But the duchess +remained silent. At length he announced to the French royal family his +intention of marrying a young girl only fifteen years of age, the +daughter of a Prussian corporal. He could not, of course, expect that +such a step would be agreeable to the other members of the House of +Bourbon, but he valued his love more than his pride, and if his royal +uncle would only grant such an allowance as would enable himself and +his wife to live in a position of independence, he would trouble him +no more, and the world need never know that the son of Louis XVI. was +alive, and had perpetrated a <i>mésalliance</i>. But Louis XVIII. was +obdurate, and would not listen even to the seductive voice of Hymen. +The young couple were allowed to wed, but they had to look for their +means of livelihood elsewhere.</p> + +<p>For a time Naündorff was equal to the occasion, and supported the +corporal's daughter and his rising brood by cleaning the watches and +clocks of the Brandenburgers. But trouble came upon him. The house of +his next door neighbour took fire, and the watchmaker was suspected of +being the incendiary. He was arrested and thrown into prison; his wife +and children were turned into the street; and, although his innocence +was unequivocally proved, his trade was ruined, and he had to flee +from the midst of the distrustful and suspicious folks among whom he +had laboured and loved and wedded.</p> + +<p>By the exertions of one of the few friends who remained to him +Naündorff was appointed foreman in a watchmaking factory at Crossen, +and thither he removed, carrying with him his wife and the half-dozen +children who had blessed his union. But the distance was long, the +roads were bad, and the man was poor. When Naündorff reached Crossen +on foot with his weary and half-famished band he found that the post +which he had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span> + +come to obtain had been given to another, and abandoned +himself to despair. Then the plebeian energy of the corporal's +daughter rose superior to the weakness of her royal husband. She +obtained a temporary shelter, procured needlework, and, by her unaided +efforts, managed to keep the wolf from the door. After a little delay +work was obtained for Naündorff also; and as his spirits revived his +hopes and pretensions revived also. Little by little he told his story +to his fellow-workmen, who paid no heed to it at first, but nicknamed +him in derision "the French prince." But the tale was improving as it +got older, and by-and-by he could number among his followers the +syndic of the town, one of the preachers, a magistrate, and a teacher +of languages. The syndic, in particular, was an enthusiastic partizan, +and himself addressed a letter to the Duchess of Angoulême and to the +principal courts of Europe. He also took a journey to Berlin to claim +from the authorities the seal which Naündorff said had been taken from +him by the Brandenburg police—the same seal which Louis XVI., as he +was passing to execution, had handed to Clery with his dying +injunction to deliver it to his son. The government very sharply +ordered their subordinate back to his post, telling him that they knew +nothing of Naündorff, but that they were well aware that Clery had +handed the jewel which he mentioned to Louis XVIII., who had rewarded +him with the riband of St. Louis. The syndic left Berlin in haste, and +arrived at home full of chagrin. He concealed himself from public +view, and shortly afterwards sickened and died. Naündorff declared he +had been poisoned.</p> + +<p>The discomfited impostor, finding that he was not likely to be able to +move the world from his retirement at Crossen, quietly disappeared +from that humble town, and was lost to the public gaze for a +considerable period. His movements about this time were very +mysterious; but it is proved with tolerable certainty that he repaired +to Paris, and his visit to the French capital may have had something +to do with the visions of Martin of Gallardon. This man was an +ignorant peasant, and, being a sort of <i>clairvoyant</i>, pretended that, +as the result of a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span> + +vision, he knew that the son of Louis XVI. was +still alive. He said that, in the year 1818, while he was at mass in +the village church at Gallardon, an angel interrupted his devotions by +whispering in his ear that the dauphin of the Temple was alive, and +that he (Martin) was celestially appointed on a mission to Louis +XVIII. to inform him of the fact, and to announce to him that if he +ever dared to be formally crowned the roof of the cathedral would fall +in and make a very speedy ending of him and his court. The king was +prevailed upon to grant an interview to this impostor, and made no +secret of his message. Therefore, when year after year passed without +a formal coronation, the superstitious whispered that Louis knew +better than tempt the Divine vengeance, and, although he sat upon the +throne, was well aware that he had stolen another man's birthright, +and that the dauphin of the Temple was still alive.</p> + +<p>But people were beginning to forget the existence of the watchmaker of +Crossen, when one evening, in the autumn of 1831, a traveller entered +one of the best frequented inns at Berne, in Switzerland. Attached to +this inn was a parlour, in which some of the most jovial of the local +notables were accustomed to pass their evenings, gossiping over the +occurrences of the day, and whiling away an hour or so with a quiet +game at dominoes. The stranger was a pleasant-looking man, of from +forty to forty-five years of age, and preferred the good company of +the familiar parlour to the dulness of his private sitting-room, or +the staid society of the public <i>salon</i>. He said his name was +Naündorff, and by his affability soon made himself such a general +favourite that one of the leading <i>habitués</i> of the place invited him +to his house and introduced him to his family. In private life he +shone even more brilliantly than in the mixed company of the hotel. +There was a certain dignity about his appearance which seemed to +proclaim him a greater personage than he at first claimed to be, and +his host was not greatly astonished when, after the lapse of a +fortnight, he confided to him the secret that Naündorff was merely an +assumed name, and that he was in reality the Duke of Normandy, the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> + +disinherited heir to the French throne. The whole family rose in a +flutter of excitement at the presence of this distinguished guest in +their midst. They had no doubt of the truth of his story, and one +daughter of the house urged him to take prompt and decisive measures +to recover his crown. As far as her feeble help could go it was freely +at his service. The mouse has e'er now helped the lion; and this +enthusiastic girl was not without hope that she might render some +assistance in restoring to France her legitimate king. She became +amanuensis and secretary to Naündorff, compiled a statement from his +words and documents, laid it before the lawyers, and they pronounced +favourably, and advised the claimant to proceed without delay to Paris +and prosecute his cause vigorously. He went.</p> + +<p>On a May morning in 1833, the watchman of the great Parisian cemetery +at Père la Chaise discovered a dust-stained traveller sleeping among +the tombs, and shaking him up demanded his name, and his reason for +choosing such a strange resting-place. His name he said was Naündorff; +but as he only spoke German the curiosity of the guardian of the place +was not further satisfied. In a short time the same individual met a +gentleman who could speak German, who took pity upon his apparent +weakness and ignorance of the gay capital, and who, when he heard that +he had arrived on foot the night before, and was utterly destitute, +advised him to apply to the old Countess de Richemont, as one who was +proverbially kind to foreigners, and had formerly been one of the +attendants on the dauphin who died in the Temple. The stranger was +profuse in his thanks, muttered that the dauphin was not dead yet, and +set out for the Rue Richer, where the countess lived.</p> + +<p>He obtained easy access to the presence of the lady, and announced +himself as the Duke of Normandy. The countess acted in orthodox +fashion, and straightway fainted, but not before she had hurriedly +exclaimed that he was the very picture of his mother Marie Antoinette. +The first joyful recognition over, and all parties being sufficiently +calm to be practical, the countess produced <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span> + +the numerous relics which +she possessed of the happy time when Louis XVI. reigned in Versailles. +The duke recognised them all down to the little garments which he had +worn in his babyhood. She mentioned scars which were on the body of +the youthful prince, and her visitor assured her that he had similar +marks which he could show in private. The countess was wild with +delight, ordered him to be placed in the best bed the mansion could +afford, sent for a tailor, and had him clothed as befitted his rank, +and invited her royalist friends to come and pay their homage to their +recovered king. They came in crowds, and to all and sundry, the +pretender told the story of his escape from the Tower. They were +disposed to be credulous, and the majority yielding readily to the +prevalent enthusiasm, proclaimed their belief in his truth, and +promised their assistance to restore him to his own again. A few were +dubious, and one lukewarm Bourbonist remarked, "You were an extremely +clever child, and spoke French like an angel. How is it you have so +completely forgotten it?" The duke replied that thirty-seven years of +absence was surely a sufficient explanation of his ignorance; but a +few held a different opinion and retired, and by their withdrawal +somewhat damped the general enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>But there was a safe and certain method of arriving at the truth. The +duke was taken in haste to be confronted with the seer, Martin, who +was then living in the odour of sanctity at St. Arnould, near Dourdin. +That fanatic no sooner beheld the stranger than he hailed him as king, +and told his delighted auditory that he was the exact counterpart of +the lost prince, who had been revealed to him in a vision. The +question of identity was considered solved, the whole party proceeded +to the church to return thanks for the revelation which had been made, +and the village bells were rung to celebrate the auspicious event. The +noble ladies who were attached to the pretender influenced the +priests, the priests influenced the peasantry, and Martin, the +clairvoyant and quack, exerted a powerful influence over all. Money +was wanted, and contributions flowed in abundantly, until the +so-called <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span> + +Duke of Normandy found his coffers filling at the rate of +fifty thousand pounds a-year.</p> + +<p>Thus suddenly enriched, he set up a magnificent establishment in +Paris. His horses and carriages were among the most splendid in the +Champs Elysées, his banquets were equal to those of Lucullus, his name +was in every mouth, and people wondered why the government did not +interpose. They were afraid, said some, to touch the sacred person of +the man they knew to be king; they did not care to meddle with an +obvious impostor, whose crest was a <i>broken</i> crown, said others; but +his partizans maintained that their silence was more dangerous than +their open enmity, and that the crafty Louis Philippe had given orders +that his rival should be assassinated. They declared that this was no +mere supposition, for late on one November evening, when the duke was +returning to his quarters in the Faubourg St. Germain, across the Place +du Carrousel, a dastardly assassin sprang upon him and stabbed him +with a dagger. Fortunately for the illustrious victim he wore a +medallion of his sainted mother, Marie-Antoinette, and the metal disc +caught the point of the weapon, and received the full force of the +blow; but nevertheless a slight wound was inflicted, and the duke +staggered home wounded and bleeding. He was too confused to report the +circumstance at any of the guard-houses which he passed, but in his +own mansion he showed the dint of the cowardly blade, and the cut on +his flesh. It was disgraceful, cried his adherents; it was ridiculous, +said his opponents; and they did not hesitate to add, that if blow +there had been it was self-inflicted.</p> + +<p>But if the calumny was intended to destroy the faith of Naündorff's +partizans, it failed in its effect. Their zeal waxed hotter than ever; +their contributions flowed even more freely than before into his +treasury; and they conceived the idea of solacing his misfortunes by +providing him with a wife. Unfortunately, there remained the +long-forgotten daughter of the corporal and her progeny who were alive +and well, although somewhat impoverished, at Crossen. Their existence +had to be declared, and as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span> + +it was not seemly that they should be +longer separated from their illustrious lord and master, they were +sent for, and a governess was provided for the youthful princes and +princesses. It was now the turn of the lion to help the mouse. The +lady who was selected for the post was the enthusiast of Berne—the +same damsel who had acted as scribe to the wandering heir—the +daughter of the gentleman who had been the first to penetrate the thin +disguise of the illustrious stranger in the cosy parlour of the inn.</p> + +<p>The new governess was a real acquisition to the household, and devoted +herself more to politics than tuition. Once more the duke resumed his +habit of letter-writing, and epistles both supplicatory and minatory +were showered upon the Duchess of Angoulême and the Duchess de Berri. +To the former, however, the pretender generally wrote as to a beloved +sister, whose coldness and reluctance to receive him caused him the +keenest pain. He offered to satisfy her as to his identity by +incontrovertible proofs, and recalled one circumstance which ought to +dissipate her last lingering doubts as to his truth. He reminded her +that when the royal family were confined together in the Temple, his +aunt the Princess Elizabeth, and his mother Marie-Antoinette, had +written some lines on a paper; which paper was subsequently cut in two +and given one half to "Madame Royale," and the other half to the +dauphin. "When we meet," said the pretender, "I will produce the +corresponding half to that which you possess. It has never been out of +my possession since our fatal separation." Even this appeal failed to +move the duchess, and failed simply because she had never heard of the +existence of any such divided document.</p> + +<p>But the claims even of righteous claimants are apt to become wearisome +to the public, and the interest in them dies away unless it is now and +again fanned into a flame. The Duke of Normandy found it so, and +devised a new means of attracting attention. Although he had gone with +his followers to return his grateful thanks to God at the shrine of St. +Arnould, he was not a member of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> + +the Roman Catholic Church, but he +discovered the error of his past ways, and was desirous to embrace the +orthodox faith. Accordingly, he was openly received as a disciple and +proselyte in the church of St. Roche. His conversion was followed by +that of his wife and children; but it cost him a very good friend. It +was hoped that the governess would have consented to change her creed +with the others. But the Swiss girl was a good and conscientious +Protestant, and this wholesale conversion aroused her suspicions as to +the cause in which she was engaged; she reviewed the pretensions of +the duke a little more judiciously than she had ever done before, and +as the result of her investigations, threw up her post and returned to +her father, convinced that she had been ignorantly aiding an +imposture.</p> + +<p>But if he lost a very efficient assistant, he gained many partizans +who had only refrained from acknowledging him previously by a fear +lest the throne should be snatched from the Catholic party. These late +adherents came to pay their homage bringing gifts, and their accession +to his ranks and their contributions to his purse stimulated the duke +to still more ostentatious displays of regal magnificence. His court +grew to an alarming size, and at last a hint was sent from the +prefecture of police, that if he did not moderate his pretensions, and +behave with greater circumspection, it would be necessary for him to +have an interview with the judges of the Assize Court. The threat was +quite sufficient. Naündorff withdrew to a quiet abode in the Rue +Guillaume, and granted his interviews in a more secret manner. Indeed, +from open clamour he turned to underhand plotting, and so mysterious +was his conduct that his landlord requested him to betake himself +elsewhere. He found a yet more retired asylum, and still more +suspicious-looking friends, until the police began to suspect that a +conspiracy was on foot, and favoured him with a domiciliary visit. +They seized his papers and read them; but they treated him with no +great severity. They hired three places in the diligence which, in +1838, travelled between Paris and Calais. The duke occupied one of +these seats, and two police agents <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span> + +the others, and when they reached +the famous little port, his attendants placed him on board the English +packet, and watched her speeding towards Dover with the prisoner of +the Temple as a present to the English nation.</p> + +<p>The duke established himself at Camberwell Green, and made it his +earliest care to write to the Duchess of Angoulême, soliciting her +good offices on behalf of her unfortunate brother, who had been so +vilely treated by the government of Louis Philippe, and had been cast +out from the country over which he should have ruled. In England he +devoted himself to the manufacture of fireworks and explosive shells; +and while he obtained the commendation of the authorities at Woolwich +for his ingeniously-contrived obuses, aroused the ire of the +inhabitants of Camberwell, who could not sleep because of the +continuous explosion of concussion-shells on his premises. They +summoned him before the magistrates as a nuisance, and he transferred +his establishment to Chelsea. Here the emissaries, or supposed +emissaries, of the French king, pursued him. An attempt was made to +shoot him, and he made it a pretext for leaving a country where his +life was not safe, and retired to Delft, in Holland, where he died in +very humble circumstances, on the 10th of August, 1844.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="AUGUSTUS_MEVES_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE" id="AUGUSTUS_MEVES_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE"></a>AUGUSTUS MEVES—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE.</h2> + + +<p>Bloomsbury has been equally honoured with Camberwell and Chelsea in +providing a home for a pretended dauphin of France, and for a dauphin +whose pretensions are not allowed to lapse, although he has himself +sunk into the grave, but are persistently presented before the public +at recurring intervals by his sons. The story which he told, and which +they continue to tell, is a curious jumble of the inventions which +preceded it—a sort of literary patchwork, without design or pattern, +and a flimsy covering either for self-conceit or imposture.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span> + +</p> + +<p>In this case the tale is, that, about September, 1793, Tom Paine, who +was then a member of the National Convention, wrote to England to a +Mrs. Carpenter to bring to Paris a deaf and dumb boy for a certain +purpose. Deaf and dumb boys are not easily procurable, and ladies, +when entrusted with mysterious missions, have an inveterate habit of +communicating them to their personal friends. Mrs. Carpenter knew a Mrs. +Meves, a music teacher, and hastened to inform her of the strange +instructions which she had received from France, and the pair set out +to find a child to suit the requirements of Paine. They failed, and +Mrs. Meves in her chagrin told her husband of their failure. That +worthy, who was then resident in Bloomsbury Square, had a son, +supposed to be illegitimate, living in his house. The lad had been +born in 1785, was about the age required, was in delicate health, and +a burden to his father, and there was no apparent reason why he should +not occupy the precarious position intended for the deaf and dumb boy, +at least until a mute could be found to take his place. Mr. Meves, +therefore, actuated by these ideas, proceeded to France, and, as those +who now bear his name assert, succeeded in procuring an interview with +Marie-Antoinette in her dungeon in the Conciergerie, where he made the +illustrious sufferer a vow of secrecy respecting her son, which he +kept to the latest hour of his existence. And, lest there should be +any doubt about this interview, it is added that many loyalists, both +before and after, penetrated into the gloom of her prison-cell, and +all but one contrived to evade being detected.</p> + +<p>At the interview it was agreed that he should introduce the lad, whom +he had brought, into the Temple, and should place him under the care +of Simon, the shoemaker, till a good opportunity occurred to extricate +Louis XVII. The arrangement was no sooner made than it was carried +out. Madame Simon, who was a party to the plot, found the "good +opportunity." The dauphin was removed in the convenient basket of a +laundress—perhaps the same basket which had held Naündorff, and the +unfortunate bastard of Mr. Meves was left in his stead. On reaching + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span> + +the hotel at which Mr. Meves was staying the rescued prince was +respectably attired, and, having been placed in a carriage by his new +guardian, was escorted by the Marquis of Bonneval as far as the coast +of Normandy. It is not said whether, during the long ride, Mr. Meves +felt a twinge of remorse for his heartless conduct towards the +harmless and delicate child whom he had left in the clutches of Simon; +but, at all events, he is represented as reaching England in safety +with his new charge. The liberated king took up his abode in +Bloomsbury Square, and was adopted as the son of Mr. Meves, who had +better reasons for abiding by the laws of adoption than those of +parentage. At this time he was only eight years and seven months old.</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Meves was not so thoroughly satisfied with the result of her +husband's mission as that astute individual was himself disposed to +be; and having learnt that the boy who had passed as her son was a +prisoner in the Temple Tower, hurried off to her friend Mrs. Carpenter +to tell her doleful tale, and to concoct measures for his release. A +renewed search was instituted for a deaf and dumb boy, and one was +found—"the son of a poor woman"—and in the month of January, 1794, +Mrs. Meves procured passports, and proceeded with this boy and a German +gentleman to Holland to the Abbé Morlet. From Holland the Abbé, the +boy, and Mrs. Meves went to Paris, "and the deaf and dumb boy was +placed in certain hands to accomplish her son's liberation at the most +convenient time, but at what precise date such was carried into effect +remains to be ascertained."</p> + +<p>It is, however, more than suggested that the worn-out child seen by +Lasne and Gomin, who was so abnormally reticent, was the deaf and dumb +boy; and there is a wild attempt to prove either that he never spoke +at all, or that, if the captive under their care did speak, it must +have been a fourth child who had been substituted for the mute. The +whole tale is unintelligible and incoherent; assertions are freely +made without an iota of proof from its beginning to its end. If we are +to credit the sons of the pretender, the dauphin was educated by Mr. +Meves <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span> + +as a musician, and knew nothing of his origin till the year +1818, when Mrs. Meves declared it to him. In the years 1830 and 1831 he +addressed letters (which were not answered) to the Duchess of +Angoulême, stating the circumstances in which he had been conveyed to +England, but making an egregious blunder as to the date, which his +sons vainly endeavour to conceal or explain. They say, also, that a +very large section of the French nobility had no hesitation in +admitting the royal descent of their father. Thus the Count Fontaine +de Moreau expressed himself convinced that the man before him was the +missing dauphin, after examining with singular interest some blood +spots on his breast, resembling "a constellation of the heavens." The +Count de Jauffroy not only called and wrote down his address—21 +Alsopp's Terrace, New Road—but declared his opinion that the British +government was perfectly aware that "at 8 Bath Place, lives the true +Louis XVII." "But, sir," the count went on to say, "the danger lies in +acknowledging you, as from the energy of your character you might put +the whole of Europe into a state of fermentation, as you are not only +King of France in right of your birth, but you are also heir to Maria +Theresa, empress of Germany." His sons add that "Louis Napoleon" is +aware, and has been for many years, that the person called 'Augustus +Meves' was the veritable Louis XVII." At the time these words were +penned the Emperor of the French was alive in this country, and a +<i>Times'</i> reviewer not unreasonably said, "If, indeed, the illustrious +exile of Chiselhurst be aware of so remarkable a fact, he will surely +soon proclaim it, together with his reasons for being aware of it. +Aspirants to the throne of France cannot touch him further; and the +triumphant proof of Augustus Meves' heirship to Louis XVI. would not +only confound the councils of Frohsdorff, but it would turn the +grandest legitimist of Europe into little better than a usurper, if, +as was said by the Count de Jauffroy, Augustus Meves must of necessity +not only be the eldest son of St. Louis, but the eldest son of Rudolf +of Hapsburg to boot."</p> + +<p>Napoleon passed away, and made no sign; but the sons <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span> + +of Augustus +Meves (who himself died in 1859) show no disposition to under-rate his +pretensions. The elder, who styles himself Auguste de Bourbon, and +upon whom the royal mantle is supposed to have fallen, is not +indifferent to the political changes of the time, and has again and +again endeavoured to thrust his claims to the French throne before the +public. In a letter dated June 17, 1871, he says—"Several articles +have recently appeared respecting the chances of the Comte de Chambord +succeeding to power, in virtue of his right of birth as the eldest +representative of legitimate monarchy. This supposition by many is +admitted; nevertheless, it is a palpable hallucination, for the +representative of legitimate hereditary monarchy by actual descent is +directly vested in the eldest son of Louis XVII. Periodically, the +Comte de Chambord issues a manifesto, basing his right for doing such +as representing, by the right of hereditary succession, the head of +the House of Bourbon. Whenever such appears, duty demands that I +should protest against his pretensions. Great the relief would indeed +be to me could the Comte de Chambord, or any historian, produce +rational argument, or rather documents, to support the supposition +that the son of Louis XVI. and Marie-Antoinette died in the Tower of +the Temple, in June, 1795. Those who believe this with such proof as +is now extant to the general public are under a hallucination. Should, +however, the Comte de Chambord or the fused party base the right of +succeeding to power on the principle of inheriting it by the law of +legitimate succession, I, the son of Louis XVII., should demand a +hearing from France, and in France's name now protest against any +political combinations that have the object in view of acknowledging +the Comte de Chambord as the legitimate heir to the throne of +France.... I owe my origin to the French revolution of 1789; for had +not Louis XVII. been delivered from his captivity in the Temple, I +should have had no existence. Being, then, the offspring of the French +revolution, it is compatible with reason that by restoring the heir of +Louis XVII. as a constitutional king, such would be acceptable alike +to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span> + +revolutionists and monarchists, and so end that state of alternate +violence and repression which, ever since the revolution of 1789, has +characterised unhappy France." In a still later document, he +says:—"The Comte de Chambord I can recognise as a nobleman, and as +representing a principle acknowledged; but the House of Orleans can +only be looked upon and recognised as disloyal and renegade royalty, +deserving the obliquy of fallen honour, having forfeited its right to +all regal honours." From his lofty perch this strange mongrel king +still awaits the call of France!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="RICHEMONT_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE" id="RICHEMONT_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE"></a>RICHEMONT—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE.</h2> + + +<p>On the 30th of October, 1834, a mysterious personage was placed at the +bar of the Assize Court of the Seine, on a charge of conspiring to +overthrow the government of Louis Philippe, and of assuming titles +which did not belong to him, for the purpose of perpetrating fraud. +This individual, who is described as a little man, of aristocratic +appearance, was another of the many pretenders who have from time to +time assumed the character of Louis XVII., and his story was so +evidently false that it would scarcely be worth mention were it not +for the fate which befell him. For several years he had been prowling +throughout France in various disguises, and under a multitude of +names, swindling the credulous public; and from being an assumed +baron, he suddenly developed himself into the dauphin of the Temple, +and laid claim to the throne. Like the other impostors, he made his +assumption profitable, and found a peculiarly easy victim in the +Marquise de Grigny, a lady aged eighty-two years, who not only gave +him all her ready-money, but would have assigned her estates to him if +the law had not interposed. So successful was he in victimizing the +public, that he could afford to keep a private printing-press at work, +and disburse large sums to stir up <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span> + +disturbances in various parts of +the country; and so hopeful, that he bought a plumed hat, a sword, and +a gorgeous uniform, to appear before his subjects in fitting guise on +the day of his restoration.</p> + +<p>The clothes-basket of the laundress was brought into requisition for +his benefit also, and in it he lay ensconced while devoted friends +were carrying him away from the Temple, and from the rascally Simon, +who was still in authority. Like Meves, he asserted that Madame Simon +aided the plot, and in the course of his trial placed a certain M. +Remusat in the witness-box, who stated that while he was in the +hospital at Parma a woman called Semas complained bitterly of the +treatment to which she was subjected, and declared loudly that if her +children knew it they would soon come to her relief. Remusat thereupon +asked her if she had any children, when she responded, "My children, +sir, are the children of France! I was their <i>gouvernante</i>!" There was +no mistaking the allusion, and her astonished hearer replied, "But the +dauphin is dead." "Not so," was the answer; "he lives; and, if I +mistake not, was removed from the Temple in a basket of linen." +"Then," added the witness, "I asked the woman who she was, and she +told me that she was the wife of a man called Simon, the former +guardian-keeper. Then I understood her assertion, 'I was their +<i>gouvernante</i>!'"</p> + +<p>This extraordinary piece of evidence was entirely uncorroborated, and +in reality the accused had no case. But if he was deficient in proof +of his assertions, he had abundance of audacity. At first he declined +to answer the interrogatories of the judge, and permitted that +functionary to lay bare his past life, without any attempt to dispute +his assertions; but when the witnesses were brought against him, he +broke his silence, and finally became irrepressibly talkative. The +authorities had traced his career with some care, and showed that his +real name was d'Hébert, and that he always used that name in legal +documents, such as transfers of property to himself, being shrewd +enough to know that a conveyance would be invalid if executed in a +false name. In his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span> + +proclamations, however, he invariably appeared as +"Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Normandy." In private life his favourite +title was Baron Richemont, although sometimes he condescended to be +addressed as Colonel Gustave; and when imperative occasion demanded, +passed under the vulgar cognomen of Bernard.</p> + +<p>The agents of police tracked him under all these disguises with the +greatest facility, by means of a clue which he himself provided. +Having been a man of method, he was in the habit of keeping a +memorandum-book or diary, in which he recorded, in cypher, all his +proceedings. This interesting volume fell into the hands of the +detectives, who soon discovered the key to it, and thus enabled the +judge of the Assize Court to present the sham dauphin with a very +vivid portrait of himself drawn by his own hand. Among other +occurrences which were recorded in this diary, was a visit which had +been paid by the pretender to a certain Madame de Malabre, at Caen; +and it was specially noted that he had granted this lady permission to +erect a monument to himself in her garden, and to dedicate it to the +Duke of Normandy; and, what was a very much graver matter, that he had +visited Lyons with the express purpose of stirring up a revolution +there. In some of his letters, also, he mentioned this attempted +uprising in the great city which rests on the twin rivers, and +asserted that the denouement approached, and that his triumph was +certain. "I am at Lyons," he added, "where I have seen the +representatives of sixty-five departments. We shall march to Paris, +and I have in the capital forces ten times greater than are necessary +to oust the rascal!"</p> + +<p>To follow all the evidence which was led against the prisoner would be +very tedious, and worse than useless; but one witness appeared whose +testimony is worthy of record. He was an old man, aged seventy-six, +who was very deaf, and whose voice was almost gone. It was Lasné, the +faithful keeper of the Temple. He said—</p> + +<p>"Two people came to my house and asked me if the dauphin were really +dead, and if he had not been carried out of the Temple; and I told +them that the poor child <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span> + +died in my arms, and that though a thousand +years were to pass his Majesty Louis XVII. would never reappear."</p> + +<p>Then the interrogatory proceeded:—</p> + +<p>"Was he long ill?"</p> + +<p>"He was ill for nine months after the establishment of the commune. Dr. +Dessault prescribed several drops of a mixture which he was to take +every morning, and three consecutive times the child vomited the +medicine, and asked if it were not injurious. In order to reassure +him, Dr. Dessault took the cup and drank some of it before him, when he +said, 'Very good. You have said that I ought to take this liquid, and +I will take it;' and he swallowed it. Dr. Dessault attended him for +eight days, and every morning drank some of the medicine to reassure +the Child. When Dessault died suddenly from an apoplectic stroke, M. +Pellatan took his place and continued the same treatment. At the end +of three months the poor child died resting on my left arm."</p> + +<p>"Was it easy to approach the child?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir; it was necessary to pass through the courts of the Temple. +The applicant then knocked at a wicket. I answered the summons; and if +I recognised the person I opened the wicket. Then the visitor was +taken to the third floor, where the prince was."</p> + +<p>"Did he show much intelligence?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, he was very intelligent. Every day I walked with him on the +top of the Tower, holding him under the arm. He had a tumour at his +knee, which gave him a great deal of pain."</p> + +<p>"But it is said that another child was substituted for him, and that +the real dauphin was smuggled out of the Tower?"</p> + +<p>"That is a false idea. I used to be a captain of the French Gardes in +the old days, and in that capacity I often saw the young dauphin. I +have attended him in the Jardin des Feuillants, and I am convinced +that the child who was under my care was the same. I was condemned to +death; but the events of the 9th Thermidor saved my life. I was +condemned, at the instigation of Saint-Just, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> + +who caused me to be +arrested by eight gens d'armes. I solemnly declare that the child who +died in my arms was in reality Louis XVII."</p> + +<p>"That he was undoubtedly the same child?"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly the same child, with the same features and the same +figure."</p> + +<p>More than one impostor has tripped, stumbled, and fallen over that +declaration.</p> + +<p>But notwithstanding Lasné's evidence, on the second morning of the +trial a printed sheet was circulated among the audience, which is a +curiosity in its way. This document, which was addressed to the jury, +was signed "Charles-Louis, Duke of Normandy," and was a sort of +protest in favour of Louis XVII., who pretended to have nothing in +common with the sham Baron Richemont. It asserted that "the secret +mover of the puppet Richemont could not be unaware the real son of the +unfortunate Louis XVI. was furnished with the requisite proofs of his +origin, and that he could prove by indisputable evidence his own +identity with the dauphin of the Temple. It was perfectly well known +that every time the royal orphan sought to make himself known to his +family, a sham Louis XVII. was immediately brought forward—an +impostor like the person the jury was called upon to judge—and by +this manœuvre public opinion was changed, and the voice of the real +son of Louis XVI. was silenced." At the opening of the court an +advocate appeared on behalf of this second pretender; but after a +short discussion was refused a hearing.</p> + +<p>As far as Richemont was concerned, all his audacity could not save +him; from the beginning the evidence was dead against him; there was +no difficulty in tracing his infamous career, the public prosecutor +was merciless in his denunciation, and in his demand that a severe +sentence should be passed upon this new disturber of the state, and +Richemont's own eloquence availed him nothing. The prisoner was, +however, bold enough, and in addressing the jury, said—"The public +prosecutor has told you that I cannot be the son of Louis XVI. Has he +told you who I am? He has been formally <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span> + +asked, and has kept silence. +Gentlemen, you will appreciate that silence, and will also appreciate +the reasons which prevent us from producing our titles. This is +neither the place nor the moment. The competent tribunals will be +called upon to give their decision in this matter. He tells you also +that inquiries have been made everywhere; but he has not let you know +the result of these inquiries. He cannot do it!... I repeat to you +that if I am mistaken, I am thoroughly honest in my mistake. It has +lasted for fifty years, and I fear I shall carry it with me to my +tomb."</p> + +<p>The jury were perfectly indifferent to his appeal, and found him +guilty of a plot to upset the government of the king, of exciting the +people to civil war, of attempting to change the order of succession +to the throne, and of three minor offences in addition. The +Advocate-General pressed for the heaviest penalty which the law +allowed, and the judge condemned "Henri-Hebert-Ethelbert-Louis-Hector," +calling himself Baron de Richemont, to twelve years' imprisonment.</p> + +<p>Richemont listened to his sentence unmoved, and as the officers were +about to take him away, said in a low voice to those near him, "The +man who does not know how to suffer is unworthy of persecution!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_REV_ELEAZAR_WILLIAMS_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE" id="THE_REV_ELEAZAR_WILLIAMS_SOI-DISANT_LOUIS_XVII_OF_FRANCE"></a>THE REV. ELEAZAR WILLIAMS—<i>SOI-DISANT</i> LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE.</h2> + + +<p>America also has had her sham dauphin, in the person of an Indian +missionary, whose claims have been repeatedly presented to the public +both in magazine articles and in book form. His adventures, as +recorded by his biographers, are quite as singular as those of his +competitors for royal honours. We are told that in the year 1795, a +French family, calling themselves De Jardin, or De Jourdan, arrived in +Albany, direct from France. At that time French refugees were +thronging to America; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span> + +and in the influx of strangers this party might +have escaped notice, but peculiar circumstances directed attention to +them. The family consisted of a lady, a gentleman, and two children; +and although the two former bore the same name, they did not seem to +be man and wife, Madame de Jourdan dressed expensively and elegantly, +while Monsieur de Jourdan was very plainly attired, and appeared to be +the lady's servant rather than her husband. Great mystery was observed +with respect to their children, who were carefully concealed from the +public gaze. The eldest was a girl, and was called Louise; while the +youngest, a boy of nine or ten years of age, was invariably addressed +as Monsieur Louis. He was very rarely seen, even by the few ladies and +children who were admitted into a sort of semi-friendship by the +new-comers, and when he did appear seemed to be dull, and paid no +attention to the persons present or the conversation. Madame de +Jardin, who had in her possession many relics of Louis XVI. and +Marie-Antoinette, made no secret that she had been a maid of honour to +the queen, and was separated from her on the terrace of the Tuileries, +prior to her imprisonment in the Temple. She had not yet recovered +from the dreadful events of the revolution, and had a theatrical habit +of relieving her highly-strung feelings by rushing to the harpsichord, +wildly playing the Marseillaise, and then bursting into tears. Those +who had free admittance into the family of the De Jourdans had no +difficulty in tracing a resemblance between the children and the +portraits of the royal family of France; but delicacy forbade +questions, and even the most confident could only surmise that this +retired maid of honour had escaped from her native land in charge of +the children of the Temple. After remaining for a short time in +Albany, without any apparent purpose, the De Jardins sold most of +their effects, and disappeared as mysteriously as they had come.</p> + +<p>Later in the same year (1795) two Frenchmen, one of them having the +appearance of a Romish priest, arrived at the Indian settlement of +Ticonderoga, in the vicinity of Lake George, bringing with them a +sickly boy, in a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span> + +state of mental imbecility, whom they left with the +Indians. The child is said to have been adopted by an Iroquis chief, +called Thomas Williams, <i>alias</i> Tehorakwaneken, whose wife was +Konwatewenteta, and although no proof is offered that he was the boy +called Monsieur Louis by Madame de Jardin, and still less that he was +the dauphin of France, it is said by those who support his +pretensions, that whoever considers the coincidences of circumstance, +time and place, age, mental condition and bodily resemblance, must +admit, apart from all other testimony, that it is highly probable that +he was both the sham De Jardin and the real dauphin.</p> + +<p>Thomas Williams, the Iroquis chief, who had some English blood in his +veins, lived in a small log-house on the shores of Lake George. His +unpretending dwelling was about twenty feet square, perhaps a little +larger, roofed with bark, leaving an opening in the centre to give +egress to the smoke from the fire which blazed beneath it on the +floor, in the middle of the ample apartment. Around this fire were +ranged the beds of the family, composed of hemlock boughs, covered +with the skins of animals slaughtered in the chase. The fare of the +family was as simple as their dwelling-place. From cross-sticks over +the fire hung a huge kettle, in which the squaw made soup of pounded +corn flavoured with venison. They purchased their salt and spirits at +Fort-Edward; and the stream supplied them with fish, the woods and +mountains with game. Such was the early upbringing of the missionary +king.</p> + +<p>The boy was known as Lazar or Eleazar Williams; his reputed father, +the chief, invariably acknowledged him and addressed him as his own +son; and the lad himself could tell but little of his earlier years. +He had hazy recollections of soldiers and a gorgeous palace, and a +beautiful lady on whose lap he used to recline; but when he tried to +think closely and recall the past, his mind became confused, and +painted chiefs, shady wigwams, and the homely face of the chieftain's +squaw, obtruded themselves, and blurred the glorious scenes amid which +he faintly remembered to have lived.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span> + +</p> + +<p>But circumstances sometimes occurred which made a deep impression even +on his weak mind. Thus, when the youthful Eleazar was one day sporting +on the lake near Fort-William, in a little wooden canoe, with several +other boys, two strange gentlemen came up to the encampment of Thomas +Williams, and took their seats with him upon a log at a little +distance from the wigwam. With natural curiosity at a circumstance +which broke in upon the usual monotony of Indian life, the boys +paddled their canoe ashore, and strolled up to the encampment to +ascertain who the strangers were, when Thomas Williams called out, +"Lazar, this friend of yours wishes to speak to you." As he approached +one of the gentlemen rose and went off to another Indian encampment. +The one who remained with the chief had every indication in dress, +manners, and language of being a Frenchman. When Eleazar came near, +this gentleman advanced several steps to meet him, embraced him most +tenderly, and when he sat down again on the log made him stand between +his legs. In the meantime he shed abundance of tears, said "Pauvre +garçon!" and continued to embrace him. The chief was soon afterwards +called to a neighbouring wigwam, and Eleazar and the Frenchman were +left alone. The latter continued to kiss him and weep, and spoke a +good deal, seeming anxious that he should understand him, which he was +unable to do. When Thomas Williams returned to them he asked Eleazar +whether he knew what the gentleman had said to him, and he replied, +"No." They both left him, and walked off in the direction in which the +other gentleman had gone. The two gentlemen came again the next day, +and the Frenchman remained several hours. The chief took him out in a +canoe on the lake; and the last which Eleazar remembered was them all +sitting together on a log, when the Frenchman took hold of his bare +feet and dusty legs, and examined his knees and ankles closely. Again +the Frenchman shed tears, but young Eleazar was quite indifferent, not +knowing what to make of it. Before the gentleman left he gave him a +piece of gold.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span> + +</p> + +<p>A few evenings later, when the younger members of the household were +in bed, and were supposed to be asleep, Eleazar, who was lying broad +awake, overheard a conversation between the Indian chief and his squaw +which interested him mightily. The chief was urging compliance with a +request which had been made to them to allow two of their children to +go away for education; but his wife objected on religious grounds. +When he persisted in his demand she said, "If you will do it you may +send away this strange boy. Means have been put into your hands for +his education; but John I cannot part with." Her willingness to +sacrifice him, and the whole tone of the conversation, excited +suspicions in the mind of the listener as to his parentage, but they +soon passed away. Mrs. Williams at last agreed that John, one of her +own children, and Lazar, according to this story, her adopted child, +should be sent to Long Meadow, a village in Massachusetts, to be +brought up under the care of a deacon called Nathaniel Ely. It is said +that when the supposed brothers entered the village, dressed in their +Indian costume, the entire dissimilarity in their appearance at once +excited attention, and they became the subjects of general +conversation among the villagers. At Long Meadow the lads remained for +several years, and are represented as having made "remarkably good +proficiency in school learning," as exhibiting strong proofs of +virtuous and pious dispositions, and as "likely to make useful +missionaries among the heathen." This encomium seems, however, to have +been much more applicable to Eleazar than his companion; for, after +the most persistent attempts, it was found impossible to cultivate the +mind of John, whose passion for savage life was irrepressible, and who +returned home to live and die among the Indians. With Eleazar it was +different, and his biographer proudly records that he was called +familiarly "the plausible boy."</p> + +<p>He was as versatile as he was plausible, and in the course of his long +life played many parts besides that of Louis XVII. When he had +forgotten the early lessons of the wigwam, and had acquired the +learning and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span> + +religious enthusiasm of the New Englanders, he became a +sort of wandering gospel-preacher among the Indians; but the work was +little suited to him, and he found far more congenial employment when +the war broke out between England and America, as superintendent-general +of the Northern Indian Department on the United States side. +In this office "he had under his command the whole secret corps +of rangers and scouts of the army, who spread themselves +everywhere, and freely entered in and out of the enemy's camp." In +other words, he was a sort of chief spy; and if he had been caught in +the British lines would have had a very short shrift, notwithstanding +his sanctimonious utterances, and the peculiarly sensitive conscience +of which he made a perpetual boast. About the same time he was +declared a chief of the Iroquis nation, under the name of +Onwarenhiiaki, or the tree cutter—a compliment little likely to have +been paid to an unknown man, but which would not unreasonably be +bestowed upon the son of a famous chief. Having received a severe +wound he was nursed back into life by his reputed father, and on his +complete recovery expressed his contrition for his backsliding, and +his horror of the bloodthirsty trade of war, and returned to the +peaceful work of attempting to teach and convert his dusky Indian +brethren. He deserted the Congregationalists with whom he had +previously been connected, and joined the Protestant Episcopal Church, +by which he was ordained, and to which he remained faithful during the +later years of his life.</p> + +<p>By this time he was convinced that he was no Indian, and believed that +he was the son of some noble Frenchman, but he scarcely ventured to +think that he was a pure Bourbon; although dim suspicions of his royal +descent sometimes haunted him, although friends assured him that his +likeness to the French king was so strong that his origin was beyond +question, and although he had certain marks on his body which +corresponded with those said to exist on the person of the dauphin. +But as he got older, the evidence in favour of his illustrious +parentage seemed to grow stronger; if he was questioned <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span> + +on the +subject he was too truthful to deny what he thought, and the knowledge +of his name and the number of those who believed in him rapidly +increased. At last, according to his own story, an event occurred +which placed the matter beyond all doubt.</p> + +<p>The Prince de Joinville was travelling in America in 1841, and what +happened in the course of his travels to the Rev. Eleazar Williams +that gentleman may be left to tell. He says—"In October 1841, I was +on my way from Buffalo to Green Bay, and took a steamer from the +former place bound to Chicago, which touched at Mackinac, and left me +there to await the arrival of the steamer from Buffalo to Green Bay. +Vessels which had recently come in announced the speedy arrival of the +Prince de Joinville; public expectation was on tiptoe, and crowds were +on the wharves. The steamer at length came in sight, salutes were +fired and answered, the colours run up, and she came into port in fine +style. Immediately she touched the Prince and his retinue came on +shore, and went out some little distance from the town to visit some +natural curiosities in the neighbourhood. The steamer awaited their +return. During their absence I was standing on the wharf among the +crowd, when Captain John Shook came up to me and asked whether I was +going on to Green Bay, adding that the Prince de Joinville had made +inquiries of him concerning a Rev. Mr. Williams, and that he had told +the prince he knew such a person, referring to me, whom he supposed +was the man he meant, though he could not imagine what the prince +could want with or know of me. I replied to the captain in a laughing +way, without having any idea what a deep meaning attached to my +words—'Oh, I am a great man, and great men will of course seek me +out.'</p> + +<p>"Soon after, the prince and his suite arrived and went on board. I did +the same, and the steamer put to sea. When we were fairly out on the +water, the captain came to me and said, 'The prince, Mr. Williams, +requests me to say to you that he desires to have an interview with +you, and will be happy either to have you come to him, or allow me to +introduce him to you.' 'Present my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span> + +compliments to the prince,' I +said, 'and say I put myself entirely at his disposal, and will be +proud to accede to whatever may be his wishes in the matter.' The +captain again retired, and soon returned, bringing the Prince de +Joinville, with him. I was sitting at the time on a barrel. The prince +not only started with evident and involuntary surprise when he saw me, +but there was great agitation in his face and manner—a slight +paleness and a quivering of the lip—which I could not help remarking +at the time, but which struck me more forcibly afterwards in +connection with the whole train of circumstances, and by contrast with +his usual self-possessed manner. He then shook me earnestly and +respectfully by the hand, and drew me immediately into conversation. +The attention he paid me seemed not only to astonish myself and the +passengers, but also the prince's retinue.</p> + +<p>"At dinner-time there was a separate table laid for the prince and his +companions, and he invited me to sit with them, and offered me the +seat of honour by his side. But I was a little abashed by the +attentions of the prince, so I thought I would keep out of the circle, +and begged the prince to excuse me, and permit me to dine at the +ordinary table with the passengers, which I accordingly did. After +dinner the conversation turned between us on the first French +settlement in America, the valour and enterprise of the early +adventurers, and the loss of Canada to France, at which the prince +expressed deep regret. He was very copious and fluent in speech, and I +was surprised at the good English he spoke; a little broken, indeed, +like mine, but very intelligible. We continued talking late into the +night, reclining in the cabin on the cushions in the stern of the +boat. When we retired to rest, the prince lay on the locker, and I in +the first berth next to it.</p> + +<p>"The next day the steamer did not arrive at Green Bay until about +three o'clock, and during most of the time we were in conversation. On +our arrival the prince said I would oblige him by accompanying him to +his hotel, and taking up my quarters at the Astor House. I begged to +be excused, as I wished to go to the house <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span> + +of my father-in-law. He +replied he had some matters of great importance to speak to me about; +and as he could not stay long at Green Bay, but would take his +departure the next day, or the day after, he wished I would comply +with his request. As there was some excitement consequent on the +prince's arrival, and a great number of persons were at the Astor +House wishing to see him, I thought I would take advantage of the +confusion to go to my father-in-law's, and promised to return in the +evening when he would be more private. I did so, and on my return +found the prince alone, with the exception of one attendant, whom he +dismissed. He opened the conversation by saying he had a communication +to make to me of a very serious nature as concerned himself, and of +the last importance to me; that it was one in which no others were +interested, and therefore, before proceeding farther, he wished to +obtain some pledge of secrecy, some promise that I would not reveal to +any one what he was going to say. I demurred to any such conditions +being imposed previous to my being acquainted with the nature of the +subject, as there might be something in it, after all, prejudicial and +injurious to others; and it was at length, after some altercation, +agreed that I should pledge my honour not to reveal what the prince +was going to say, provided there was nothing in it prejudicial to any +one, and I signed a promise to this effect on a sheet of paper. It was +vague and general, for I would not tie myself down to absolute +secrecy, but left the matter conditional. When this was done the +prince spoke to this effect—</p> + +<p>"'You have been accustomed, sir, to consider yourself a native of this +country, but you are not. You are of foreign descent; you were born in +Europe, sir; and however incredible it may at first sight seem to you, +you are the son of a king. There ought to be much consolation to you +to know this fact. You have suffered a great deal, and have been +brought very low; but you have not suffered more or been more degraded +than my father, who was long in exile and in poverty in this country; +but there is this difference between him and you, that he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> + +was all +along aware of his high birth, whereas you have been spared the +knowledge of your origin.'</p> + +<p>"When the prince said this I was much overcome, and thrown into a +state of mind which you can easily imagine. In fact, I hardly knew +what to do or say; and my feelings were so much excited that I was +like one in a dream. However, I remember I told him his communication +was so startling and unexpected that he must forgive me for being +incredulous, and that I was really between two."</p> + +<p>"'What do you mean,' he said, 'by being between two?'</p> + +<p>"I replied that, on the one hand, it scarcely seemed to me he could +believe what he said; and, on the other, I feared he might be under +some mistake as to the person. He assured me, however, he would not +trifle with my feelings on such a subject, and had ample means in his +possession to satisfy me that there was no mistake whatever. I +requested him to proceed with the disclosure partly made, and to +inform me in full of the secret of my birth. He replied that, in doing +so, it was necessary that a certain process should be gone through in +order to guard the interest of all parties concerned. I inquired what +kind of process he meant. Upon this the prince rose and went to his +trunk, which was in the room, and took from it a parchment which he +laid on the table and set before me, that I might read and give him my +determination in regard to it. There were also on the table pen and +ink and wax, and he placed there a governmental seal of France—the +one, if I mistake not, used under the old monarchy. The document which +the prince placed before me was very handsomely written in double +parallel columns of French and English. I continued intently reading +and considering it for a space of four or five hours. During this time +the prince left me undisturbed, remaining for the most part in the +room, but he went out three or four times.</p> + +<p>"The purport of the document which I read repeatedly word by word, +comparing the French with the English, was this: It was a solemn +abdication of the crown of France in favour of Louis Philippe by +Charles Louis, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> + +son of Louis XVI., who was styled Louis XVII., +King of France and Navarre, with all accompanying names and titles of +honour, according to the custom of the old French monarchy, together +with a minute specification in legal phraseology of the conditions and +considerations and provisos upon which the abdication was made. These +conditions were, in brief, that a princely establishment should be +secured to me either in America or in France, at my option, and that +Louis Philippe would pledge himself on his part to secure the +restoration, or an equivalent for it, of all the private property of +the royal family rightfully belonging to me, which had been +confiscated in France during the revolution, or in any way got into +other hands."</p> + +<p>After excusing himself for not taking a copy of this precious document +when he had the chance, and mentioning, among other reasons, "the +sense of personal dignity which had been excited by these +disclosures," the Rev. Eleazar proceeds with his narrative:—</p> + +<p>"At length I made my decision, and rose and told the prince that I had +considered the matter fully in all its aspects, and was prepared to +give him my definite answer upon the subject; and then went on to say, +that whatever might be the personal consequences to myself, I felt I +could not be the instrument of bartering away with my own hand the +rights pertaining to me by my birth, and sacrificing the interests of +my family, and that I could only give to him the answer which De +Provence gave to the ambassador of Napoleon at Warsaw—'Though I am in +poverty and exile, I will not sacrifice my honour.'</p> + +<p>"The prince upon this assumed a loud tone, and accused me of +ingratitude in trampling upon the overtures of the king, his father, +who, he said, was actuated in making the proposition more by feelings +of kindness and pity towards me than by any other consideration, since +his claim to the French throne rested on an entirely different basis +to mine—viz., not that of hereditary descent, but of popular +election. When he spoke in this strain, I spoke loud also, and said +that as he, by his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span> + +disclosure, had put me in the position of a +superior, I must assume that position, and frankly say that my +indignation was stirred by the memory that one of the family of +Orleans had imbrued his hands in my father's blood, and that another +now wished to obtain from me an abdication of the throne. When I spoke +of superiority, the prince immediately assumed a respectful attitude, +and remained silent for several minutes. It had now grown very late, +and we parted, with a request from him that I would reconsider the +proposal of his father, and not be too hasty in my decision. I +returned to my father-in-law's, and the next day saw the prince again, +and on his renewal of the subject gave him a similar answer. Before he +went away he said, 'Though we part, I hope we part friends,'"</p> + +<p>And this tale is not intended for burlesque or comedy, but as a sober +account of transactions which really took place. It was published in a +respectable magazine, it has been reproduced in a book which sets +forth the claims of "The Lost Prince," and it was brought so +prominently before the Prince de Joinville that he was compelled +either to corroborate it or deny it. His answer is very plain. He had +a perfect recollection of being on board the steamer at the time and +place mentioned, and of meeting on board the steamboat "a passenger +whose face he thinks he recognises in the portrait given in the +<i>Monthly Magazine</i>, but whose name had entirely escaped his memory. +This passenger seemed well informed respecting the history of America +during the last century. He related many anecdotes and interesting +particulars concerning the French, who took part and distinguished +themselves in these events. His mother, he said, was an Indian woman +of the great tribe of Iroquis, and his father was French. These +details could not fail to vividly interest the prince, whose voyage to +the district had for its object to retrace the glorious path of the +French, who had first opened to civilisation these fine countries. All +which treats of the revelation which the prince made to Mr. Williams of +the mystery of his birth, all which concerns the pretended personage +of Louis <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span> + +XVII., is from one end to the other a work of the +imagination—a fable woven wholesale—a speculation upon the public +credulity."</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<p>These are but a few of the numerous sham dauphins who have at various +times appeared. One author, who has written a history of the elder +branch of the House of Bourbon, estimates the total number of +pretenders at a dozen and a half, while M. Beauchesne increases the +list to thirty. But few, besides those whose history has been given, +succeeded in gaining notoriety, and all failed to rouse the French +authorities to punish or even to notice their transparent impostures.</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + +<h2><a name="THOMAS_PROVIS_CALLING_HIMSELF_SIR_RICHARD_HUGH_SMYTH" id="THOMAS_PROVIS_CALLING_HIMSELF_SIR_RICHARD_HUGH_SMYTH"></a>THOMAS PROVIS—CALLING HIMSELF SIR RICHARD HUGH SMYTH.</h2> + + +<p>Great excitement prevailed throughout England towards the close of the +year 1853, in consequence of the result of a trial which took place at +the autumn assizes at Gloucester. A person calling himself Sir Richard +Hugh Smyth laid claim to an extinct baronetcy, and brought an action +of ejectment to recover possession of vast estates, situated in the +neighbourhood of Bristol, and valued at nearly £30,000 a-year. The +baronetcy in question had become, or was supposed to have become, +extinct on the death of Sir John Smyth, in 1849, and at his decease +the estates had passed to his sister Florence; and when she died, in +1852, had devolved upon her son, who was then a minor, and who was +really the defendant in the cause. Mr. Justice Coleridge presided at +the trial, Mr. (afterwards Lord-Justice) Bovill appeared for the +claimant, and Sir Frederick Thesiger represented the defendant.</p> + +<p>According to the opening address of the counsel for the plaintiff, his +client had been generally supposed to be the son of a carpenter of +Warminster named Provis, and had been brought up in this man's house +as one of his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span> + +family. When the lad arrived at an age to comprehend +such matters, he perceived that he was differently treated from the +other members of the household, and, from circumstances which came to +his knowledge, was led to suspect that Provis was not really his +father, but that he was the son of Sir Hugh Smyth of Ashton Hall, near +Bristol, and the heir to a very extensive property. It seemed that +this baronet had married a Miss Wilson, daughter of the Bishop of +Bristol, in 1797, that she had died childless some years later, and +that he had, in 1822, united himself to a Miss Elizabeth. The second +union proved as fruitless as the first, and when Sir Hugh himself +died, in 1824, his brother John succeeded to the title and the greater +portion of the property. By-and-by, however, certain facts came to the +ears of the plaintiff, which left no doubt on his mind that he was the +legitimate son of Sir Hugh Smyth, by a first and hitherto concealed +marriage with Jane, daughter of Count Vandenbergh, to whom he had been +secretly married in Ireland, in 1796. But, although the plaintiff was +thus convinced himself, he knew that, while he possessed documents +which placed his origin beyond a doubt, it would be extremely +difficult for a person in his humble circumstances to substantiate his +claim, or secure the services of a lawyer bold enough to take his case +in hand, and refrained from demanding his rights until 1849; in which +year, rendered desperate by delay, he went personally to Ashton Hall, +obtained an interview with Sir John Smyth, and communicated to him his +relationship and his claims. The meeting was much more satisfactory +than might have been expected. As Sir John had been party to certain +documents which were executed by his brother in his lifetime (which +were among those which had been discovered), and in which the +circumstances of the concealed marriage and the birth of the claimant +were acknowledged, it was useless for him to deny the justice of the +demand, and he recognised his nephew without demur. But the excitement +of the interview was too great for his failing strength, and he was +found dead in bed next morning. Thus all the hopes of the real heir +were dashed to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span> + +ground, for it was not to be expected that the +next-of-kin, who knew nothing of the supposed Provis, or of Sir Hugh's +marriage, would yield up the estates to an utter stranger, without a +severe struggle and a desperate litigation. He, therefore, refrained +from putting forth his pretensions, and travelled the country with his +wife and children, obtaining a precarious living by delivering +lectures; and he took no steps to enforce his rights until 1851, when, +after negotiations with several legal firms, he at length found the +means of pursuing his claims before the tribunals of his country.</p> + +<p>In support of the plaintiff's case a number of documents, family +relics, portraits, rings, seals, &c., were put in evidence. At the time +when the marriage was said to have taken place there was no public +registration in Ireland, but a Family Bible was produced which bore on +a fly-leaf a certification by the Vicar of Lismore that a marriage had +been solemnized on the 19th of May, 1796, "between Hugh Smyth of +Stapleton, in the county of Gloucester, England, and Jane, daughter of +Count John Samuel Vandenbergh, by Jane, the daughter of Major Gookin +and Hesther, his wife, of Court Macsherry, county of Cork, Ireland." +In the same Bible was an entry of the plaintiffs baptism, signed by +the officiating clergyman. A brooch was produced with the name of Jane +Gookin upon it, and a portrait of the claimant's mother, as well as a +letter addressed by Sir Hugh Smyth to his wife on the eve of her +delivery, in which he introduced a nurse to her. Besides these, there +were two formal documents which purported to be signed by Sir Hugh +Smyth, in which he solemnly declared the plaintiff to be his son. The +first of these declarations was written when the baronet was in +extreme ill-health, in 1822, and was witnessed by his brother John and +three other persons. It was discovered in the possession of a member +of the family of Lydia Reed, the plaintiff's nurse. The second paper, +which was almost the same in its terms, was discovered in the keeping +of an attorney's clerk, who had formerly lived in Bristol. The +following is a copy of it:—</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span> + +</p> + +<p>"I, Sir Hugh Smyth, of Ashton Park, in the county of Somerset, and of +Rockley House, in the county of Wilts, do declare that, in the year +1796, I was married in the county of Cork, in Ireland, by the Rev. +Verney Lovett, to Jane, the daughter of Count Vandenbergh, by Jane, +the daughter of Major Gookin, of Court Macsherry, near Bandon. +Witnesses thereto—The Countess of Bandon and Consena Lovett. In the +following year, Jane Smyth, my wife, came to England, and, immediately +after giving birth to a son, she died on the 2d day of February, 1797, +and she lies buried in a brick vault in Warminster churchyard. My son +was consigned to the care of my own nurse, Lydia Reed, who can at any +time identify him by marks upon his right hand, but more especially by +the turning up of both the thumbs, an indelible mark of identity in +our family. My son was afterwards baptized by the Rev. James Symes of +Midsomer Norton, by the names of Richard Hugh Smyth; the sponsors +being the Marchioness of Bath and the Countess of Bandon, who named +him Richard, after her deceased brother, Richard Boyle. Through the +rascality of my butler, Grace, my son left England for the continent, +and was reported to me as having died there; but, at the death of +Grace, the truth came out that my son was alive, and that he would +soon return to claim his rights. Now, under the impression of my son's +death, I executed a will in 1814. That will I do, by this document, +declare null and void, and, to all intents and purposes, sett +asside(<i>sic</i>) in all its arrangements; the payment of my just debts, +the provision for John, the son, of the late Elizabeth Howell, and to +the fulfilment of all matters not interfering with the rights of my +heir-at-law. Now, to give every assistance to my son, should he ever +return, I do declare him my legitimate son and heir to all the estates +of my ancestors, and which he will find amply secured to him and his +heirs for ever by the will of his grandfather, the late Thomas Smyth +of Stapleton, Esq.; and further, by the will of my uncle, the late Sir +John Hugh Smyth, baronet. Both those wills so fully arrange for the +security of the property in possession or reversion that I have now +only to appoint and constitute my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span> + +beloved brother John Smyth, Esq., +my only executor for his life; and I do by this deed place the utmost +confidence in my brother that he will at any future time do my son +justice. And I also entreat my son to cause the remains of his mother +to be removed to Ashton, and buried in the family vault close to my +side, and to raise a monument to her memory.</p> + +<div class="blockquot">"Now, in furtherance of the object of this deed, I do seal with my +seal, and sign it with my name, and in the presence of witnesses, this +10th day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1823. <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> Hugh Smyth</span> +(L.S.). + William Edwards.<br /> + William Dobbson.<br /> + James Abbott."</p> +</div> + +<p>After some proof had been given as to the genuineness of the +signatures to this and the other documents, the plaintiff was put into +the witness-box. He said that his recollections extended back to the +time when he was three years and a half old, when he lived with Mr. +Provis, a carpenter in Warminster. There was at that time an elderly +woman and a young girl living there, the former being Mrs. Reed, the +wet-nurse, and the latter Mary Provis, who acted as nursemaid. He +stayed at the house of Provis until Grace, Sir Hugh's butler, took him +away, and placed him at the school of Mr. Hill at Brislington, where he +remained for a couple of years, occasionally visiting Colonel Gore and +the family of the Earl of Bandon at Bath. From Brislington he was +transferred by the Marchioness of Bath to Warminster Grammar School, +and thence to Winchester College, where he resided as a commoner until +1810. He stated that he left Winchester because his bills had not been +paid for the last eighteen months; and, by the advice of Dr. Goddard, +then headmaster of the school, proceeded to London, and told the +Marchioness of Bath what had occurred. The marchioness kept him for a +few days in her house in Grosvenor Square, but "being a woman of high +tone, and thinking that possibly he was too old for her protection," +she advised him to go to Ashton Court to his father, telling <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span> + +him at +the same time that Sir Hugh Smyth was his father. She also gave him +some £1400 or £1500 which had been left to him by his mother, but +declined to tell him anything respecting her, and referred him for +further information to the Bandon family. The marchioness, however, +informed him that her steward, Mr. Davis, at Warminster, was in +possession of the deceased Lady Smyth's Bible, pictures, jewellery, +and trinkets. But the lad, finding himself thus unexpectedly enriched, +sought neither his living father nor the relics of his dead mother, +but had recourse to an <i>innamorata</i> of his own, and passed three or +four months in her delicious company. He afterwards went abroad, and +returned to England with exhausted resources in 1826. He then made +inquiries respecting Sir Hugh Smyth, his supposed father, and +discovered that he had been dead for some time, and that the title and +estates had passed to Sir John. Under these circumstances he believed +it to be useless to advance his claim, and supported himself for the +eleven years which followed by lecturing on education at schools and +institutions throughout England and Ireland.</p> + +<p>Up to this time he had never made any inquiry for the things which the +Marchioness of Bath had informed him were under the care of Mr. Davis; +but, in 1839, he visited Frome in order to procure them, and then +found that Davis was dead. Old Mr. Provis, who had brought him up, was +the only person whom he met, and with him he had some words for +obstinately refusing to give him any information respecting his +mother. The interview was a very stormy one; but old Provis, who was +so angry with him at first that he struck him with his stick, quickly +relented, and gave him the Bible, the jewellery, and the heir-looms +which he possessed. Moreover, he showed him a portrait of Sir Hugh +which hung in his own parlour, and gave him a bundle of sealed papers +with instructions to take them to Mr. Phelps, an eminent solicitor at +Warminster. The jewellery consisted of four gold rings and two +brooches. One ring was marked with the initials "J.B.," supposed to be +those of "James Bernard;" <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span> + +and on one of the brooches were the words +"Jane Gookin" at length.</p> + +<p>The claimant further stated that, on the 19th of May, 1849, he +procured an interview with Sir John Smyth at Ashton Court. He said +that the baronet seemed to recognise him from the first, and was +excessively agitated when he told him who he was. To calm him, the +so-called Sir Richard said that he had not come to take possession of +his title or property, but only wanted a suitable provision for his +family. It was, therefore, arranged that Sir John's newly-found nephew +should proceed to Chester and fetch his family, and that they should +stay at Ashton Court, while he would live at Heath House.</p> + +<p>But the fates seemed to fight against the rightful heir. When he +returned from Chester twelve days later, accompanied by his spouse and +her progeny, the first news he heard was that Sir John had been found +dead in his bed on the morning after his previous visit. All his hopes +were destroyed, and he reverted calmly to his old trade of stump +orator, which he pursued with equanimity from 1839 till 1851. During +this time he vainly endeavoured to secure the services of a sanguine +lawyer to take up his case on speculation, and it was not until the +latter year that he succeeded; but when the hopeful solicitor once +took the affair in hand, evidence flowed in profusely, and he was at +last enabled to lay his claims before her Majesty's judges at +Gloucester assizes. Such, at least, was his own story.</p> + +<p>In cross-examination he stated that although Provis had two sons, +named John and Thomas, he only knew the younger, and had but little +intercourse with John, who was the elder. He described his youthful +life in the carpenter's house, and represented himself "as the +gentleman of the place," adding that he wore red morocco shoes, was +never allowed to be without his nurse, and "did some little mischief +in the town, according to his station in life, for which mischief +nobody was allowed to check him." After a lengthy cross-examination as +to his relationship with the Marchioness of Bath and his alleged +interview with Sir John Smyth, he admitted that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span> + +as a lecturer he had +passed under the name of Dr. Smyth. He denied that he had ever used the +name of Thomas Provis, or stated that John Provis, the Warminster +carpenter, was his father, or visited the members of the Provis family +on a footing of relationship with them. As far as the picture, which +he said the carpenter pointed out to him in his parlour as the +portrait of his father, was concerned, and which, when produced, bore +the inscription, "Hugh Smyth, Esq., son of Thomas Smyth, Esq., of +Stapleton, county of Gloucester, 1796," he indignantly repudiated the +idea that it was a likeness of John Provis the younger, although he +reluctantly admitted that the old carpenter sometimes entertained the +delusion that the painting represented his son John, and that the +inscription had not been perceivable until he washed it with tartaric +acid, which, he declared, was excellent for restoring faded writings. +He was then asked about some seals which he had ordered to be engraved +by Mr. Moring, a seal engraver in Holborn, and admitted giving an order +for a card-plate and cards; but denied that at the same time he had +ordered a steel seal to be made according to a pattern which he +produced, which bore the crest, garter, and motto of the Smyths of +Long Ashton. However, he acknowledged giving a subsequent order for +two such seals. On one of these seals the family motto, "<i>Qui capit +capitur</i>" had been transformed, through an error of the engraver, into +"<i>Qui capit capitor</i>," but he said he did not receive it until the 7th +of June, and that consequently he could not have placed it on the deed +in which Sir Hugh Smyth so distinctly acknowledged the existence of a +son by a first marriage—a deed which he declared he had never seen +till the 17th of March. A letter was then put into court, dated the +13th of March, which he admitted was in his handwriting, and which +bore the impress of the mis-spelled seal. Thus confronted with this +damning testimony, the plaintiff turned pale, and requested permission +to leave the court to recover from a sudden indisposition which had +overtaken him, when, just at this juncture, the cross-examining +counsel received a telegram from London, in consequence of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span> + +which he +asked, "Did you, in January last, apply to a person at 361 Oxford +Street, to engrave for you the Bandon crest upon the rings produced, +and also to engrave 'Gookin' on the brooch?" The answer, very +hesitatingly given, was, "Yes, I did." The whole conspiracy was +exposed; the plot was at an end. The plaintiff's counsel threw up +their briefs, a verdict for the defendants was returned, and the +plaintiff himself was committed by the judge on a charge of perjury, +to which a charge of forgery was subsequently added.</p> + +<p>The second trial took place at the following spring assizes at +Gloucester. The evidence for the crown showed the utter hollowness of +the plaintiff's claim. The attorney's clerk, from whom the impostor +had stated he received the formal declaration of Sir Hugh Smyth, was +called, and declared that he had written the letter which was said to +have accompanied the deed, from the prisoner's dictation; the deed was +produced at the time, and the witness took a memorandum of the name of +the attesting witnesses on the back of a copy of his letter. This +copy, with the endorsement, was produced in court. The brown paper +which the prisoner had sworn formed the wrapper of the deed when he +received it, was proved to be the same in which Mr. Moring, the +engraver, had wrapped up a seal which he had sent to the prisoner—the +very seal in which the engraver had made the unlucky blunder. It was +also clearly proved that the parchment on which the forgery had been +written was prepared by a process which had only been discovered about +ten years, and chemical experts were decidedly of opinion that the ink +had received its antique appearance by artificial means, and that the +wax was undoubtedly modern. Various startling errors and discrepancies +were pointed out in the document itself, the most noteworthy being a +reference made to Sir Hugh's wife, as "the late Elizabeth Howell," +whereas that lady was alive and in good health at the time the deed +was supposed to have been drawn up, and having been previously married +to Sir Hugh, was known as Lady Smyth up to her death in 1841, she +having survived her husband seventeen years,</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span> + +</p> + +<p>The picture, which had been produced on the first trial as a portrait +of Sir Hugh, was proved beyond all doubt to be that of John Provis, +the eldest son of the carpenter; and the prisoner's sister, a married +woman named Mary Heath, on being placed in the witness-box, recognised +him at once as her youngest brother, Thomas Provis; and said she had +never heard of his being any other, although she knew that upon taking +up the trade of lecturing he had assumed the name of "Dr. Smyth." +Several persons, who were familiarly acquainted with the carpenter's +family, also recognised him as Tom Provis; and evidence was led to +identify him as a person who had kept a school at Ladymede, Bath, and +had been compelled to abscond for disgraceful conduct towards his +pupils. They, however, failed to do so very clearly; "whereon," says +the reporter, "the prisoner, with an air of great triumph, produced an +enormous pig-tail, which up to this moment had been kept concealed +under his coat, and turning round ostentatiously, displayed this +appendage to the court and jury, appealing to it as an irrefragable +proof of his aristocratic birth, and declaiming with solemn emphasis +that he was born with it. He added also that his son was born with one +six inches long." Cocks, the engraver, proved that he was employed by +the prisoner, in January, 1853, to engrave the inscriptions on the +rings, which the prisoner had selected on the supposition that they +were antique rings; but, in fact, they were modern antiques. Mr. Moring +also gave evidence as to the engraving of the fatal seal. On this +evidence Provis was found guilty, and was sentenced to twenty years' +transportation. He retained his composure to the last, and before his +trial assigned all his right, title, and interest in the Smyth estates +to his eldest son, lest they should become forfeited to the crown by +his conviction for felony.</p> + +<p>His history was well known to the authorities, who were prepared to +prove, had it been necessary, that he had been convicted of +horse-stealing in 1811, and had been sentenced to death—a sentence +which was commuted; that he had married one of the servants of Sir +John <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span> + +Smyth, and had deserted her, and that he had fled from Bath to +escape the punishment of the vilest offences perpetrated during his +residence in the City of Springs. But it was needless to produce more +damning testimony than was brought forward. For twenty years the world +has heard nothing more of the sham Sir Richard Hugh Smyth.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="LAVINIA_JANNETTA_HORTON_RYVES_THE_PRETENDED_PRINCESS_OF_CUMBERLAND" id="LAVINIA_JANNETTA_HORTON_RYVES_THE_PRETENDED_PRINCESS_OF_CUMBERLAND"></a>LAVINIA JANNETTA HORTON RYVES—THE PRETENDED PRINCESS OF CUMBERLAND.</h2> + + +<p>In 1866, Mrs. Lavinia Jannetta Horton Ryves, and her son, William Henry +Ryves, appeared before the English courts in support of one of the +most extraordinary petitions on record. Taking advantage of the +Legitimacy Declaration Act, they alleged that Mrs. Ryves was the +legitimate daughter of John Thomas Serres and Olive his wife, and that +the mother of Mrs. Ryves was the legitimate daughter of Henry Frederick +Duke of Cumberland and Olive Wilmot, his wife, who were married by Dr. +Wilmot, at the Grosvenor Square mansion of Lord Archer, on the 4th of +March, 1767. They also asserted that Mrs. Ryves had been lawfully +married to her husband, and that her son was legitimate; and asked the +judges to pronounce that the original marriage between the Duke of +Cumberland and Olive Wilmot was legal; that their child Olive, who +afterwards became Mrs. Serres, was legitimate; that their grandchild +Mrs. Ryves had been lawfully married to her husband; and that +consequently the younger petitioner was their legitimate son and heir. +The Attorney-General (Sir Roundell Palmer) filed an answer denying the +legality of the Cumberland marriage, or that Mrs. Serres was the +legitimate daughter of the duke. There wap no dispute as to the fact +that the younger petitioner, W.H. Ryves, was the legitimate son of his +father and mother. The case was heard before Lord Chief-Justice +Cockburn, Lord Chief-Baron Pollock, Sir James Wilde, and a special +jury.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span> + +</p> + +<p>The opening speech of the counsel for the claimant revealed a story +which was very marvellous, but which, without the strongest +corroborative testimony, was scarcely likely to be admitted to be +true. According to his showing Olive Wilmot was the daughter of Dr. +James Wilmot, a country clergyman, and fellow of a college at Oxford. +During his college <i>curriculum</i> this divine had made the acquaintance +of Count Poniatowski, who afterwards became King of Poland, and had +been introduced by him to his sister. The enamoured and beautiful +Polish princess fell in love with Wilmot and married him, and the +result of their union was a daughter, who grew up to rival her +mother's beauty. The fact of the marriage and the existence of the +daughter were, however, carefully kept from the outer world, and +especially from Oxford, where Dr. Wilmot retained his fellowship. The +girl grew to the age of sweet seventeen, and, in 1767, met the Duke of +Cumberland, the younger brother of George III., at the house of Lord +Archer, in Grosvenor Square. After a short courtship, the duke was +said to have married her—the marriage having been celebrated by her +father on the 4th of March, 1767, at nine o'clock in the evening. Two +formal certificates of the marriage were drawn up and signed by Dr. +Wilmot and by Lord Brooke (afterwards Lord Warwick) and J. Addey, who +were present at it; and these certificates were verified by the +signatures of Lord Chatham and Mr. Dunning (afterwards Lord Ashburton). +These documents were put in evidence. The Duke of Cumberland and Olive +Wilmot lived together for four years; and, in October, 1771, while she +was pregnant, her royal mate deserted her, and, as was alleged, +contracted a bigamous marriage with Lady Anne Horton, sister of the +well-known Colonel Luttrel. George III., having been aware of the +previous union with Olive Wilmot, was very indignant at this second +connection, and would not allow the Duke of Cumberland and his second +wife to come to Court. Indeed, it was mainly in consequence of this +marriage, and the secret marriage of the Duke of Gloucester, that the +Royal Marriage Act was forced through Parliament.</p> + +<p>Olive Wilmot, as the petitioner's counsel asserted, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span> + +having been +deserted by her husband, gave birth to a Child Olive, who ought to +have borne the title of Princess of Cumberland. The baby was baptised +on the day of its birth by Dr. Wilmot, and three certificates to that +effect were produced, signed by Dr. Wilmot and his brother Robert. But, +although the king was irritated at the conduct of his brother, he was +at the same time anxious to shield him from the consequences of his +double marriage, and for that purpose gave directions to Lord Chatham, +Lord Warwick, and Dr. Wilmot that the real parentage of the child +should be concealed, and that it should be re-baptised as the daughter +of Robert Wilmot, whose wife had just been confined. The plastic +divine consented to rob the infant temporarily of its birthright but +at the same time required that all the proceedings should be certified +by the king and other persons as witnesses, in order that at a future +time she should be replaced in her proper position. Perhaps, in +ordinary circumstances, it would not have been possible for a country +priest thus to coerce George III.; but Dr. Wilmot was in possession of +a fatal secret. As is well known, King George was publicly married to +Princess Charlotte in 1762; but, according to the showing of the +petitioners, he had been previously married, in 1759, by this very Dr. +Wilmot, to a lady named Hannah Lightfoot. Thus he, as well as the Duke +of Cumberland, had committed bigamy, and the grave question was raised +as to whether George IV., and even her present Majesty, had any right +to the throne. Proof of this extraordinary statement was forthcoming, +for on the back of the certificates intended to prove the marriage of +the Duke of Cumberland and Olive Wilmot, the following certificates +were endorsed:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">"This is to solemnly certify that I married George, Prince +of Wales, to Princess Hannah, his first consort, April 15, +1759; and that two princes and a princess were the issue of +such marriage.<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> J. Wilmot."</span></p> + +<p> "<i>London, April</i> 2, 176—."</p></div> + +<div class="blockquot">"This is to certify to all it may concern that I lawfully +married George, Prince of Wales, to Hannah Lightfoot, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span> + +April +17, 1759; and that two sons and a daughter are their issue +by such marriage.<br /> + <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">J. Wilmot. +<br /> + Chatham.<br /> + J. Dunning</span>." <br /> +</p></div> + + + +<p>The concealed Princess Olive was meanwhile brought up, until 1782, in +the family of Robert Wilmot, to whom it was said that an allowance of +£500 a year was paid for her support by Lord Chatham. On the 17th of +May, 1773, his Majesty created her Duchess of Lancaster by this +instrument,—</p> + +<p><span class="smcap"> "George R.</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot">"We hereby are pleased to create Olive of Cumberland Duchess +of Lancaster, and to grant our royal authority for Olive, +our said niece, to bear and use the title and arms of +Lancaster, should she be in existence at the period of our +royal demise."</div> + +<p> "Given at our Palace of St. James's, May 17, 1773.</p> + <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">Chatham.<br /> +J. Dunning</span>." +</p> + + <p>A little before this time (in 1772) Dr. Wilmot had been presented to +the living of Barton-on-the-Heath, in Warwickshire, and thither his +grand-daughter Olive went with him, passing as his niece, and was +educated by him. When she was seventeen or eighteen years old she was +sent back to London, and there became acquainted with Mr. de Serres, an +artist and a member of the Royal Academy, whom she married in 1791. +The union was not a happy one, and a separation took place; but, +before it occurred, Mrs. Ryves, the elder petitioner, was born at +Liverpool in 1797. After the separation Mrs. Serres and her daughter +lived together, and the former gained some celebrity both as an author +and an artist. They moved in good society, were visited by various +persons of distinction, and in 1805 were taken to Brighton and +introduced to the Prince of Wales, who afterwards became George IV. +Two years later (in 1807) Dr. Wilmot died at the mature age of +eighty-five, and the papers in his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span> + +possession relating to the +marriage, as well as those which had been deposited with Lord Chatham, +who died in 1778, passed into the hands of Lord Warwick. Mrs. Serres +during all this time had no knowledge of the secret of her birth, +until, in 1815, Lord Warwick, being seriously ill, thought it right to +communicate her history to herself and to the Duke of Kent, and to +place the papers in her hands.</p> + +<p>Having brought his case thus far, the counsel for the petitioners was +about to read some documents, purporting to be signed by the Duke of +Kent, as declarations of the legitimacy of Mrs. Ryves, but it was +pointed out by the court that he was not entitled to do so, as, +according to his own contention, the Duke of Kent was not a legitimate +member of the royal family. Therefore, resigning this part of his +case, he went on to say that Mrs. Serres, up to the time of her death +in 1834, and the petitioners subsequently, had made every effort to +have the documents on which they founded their claim examined by some +competent tribunal. They now relied upon the documents, upon oral +evidence, and upon the extraordinary likeness of Olive Wilmot to the +royal family, to prove their allegations.</p> + +<p>As far as the portraits of Mrs. Serres were concerned, the court +intimated that they could not possibly be evidence of legitimacy, and +refused to allow them to be shown to the jury. The documents were +declared admissible, and an expert was called to pronounce upon their +authenticity. He expressed a very decided belief that they were +genuine, but, when cross-examined, stammered and ended by throwing +doubts on the signatures of "J. Dunning" and "Chatham," who frequently +appeared as attesting witnesses. The documents themselves were +exceedingly numerous, and contained forty-three so-called signatures +of Dr. Wilmot, sixteen of Lord Chatham, twelve of Mr. Dunning, twelve of +George III., thirty-two of Lord Warwick, and eighteen of the Duke of +Kent.</p> + +<p>The following are some of the most remarkable papers:—</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span> + +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + "I solemnly certify that I privately was married to the +princess of Poland, the sister of the King of Poland. But an +unhappy family difference induced us to keep our union +secret. One dear child bless'd myself, who married the Duke +of Cumberland, March 4th, 1767, and died in the prime of +life of a broken heart, December 5th, 1774, in France. <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> +J. +Wilmot."</span></p> + <p> " + <i>January</i> 1, 1780."</p> +</div> + +<p>There were two other certificates to the same effect, and the fourth +was in the following terms:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + "I solemnly certify that I married the Princess of Poland, +and had legitimate issue Olive, my dear daughter, married +March 4th, 1767, to Henry F., Duke of Cumberland, brother of +His Majesty George the Third, who have issue Olive, my +supposed niece, born at Warwick, April 3d, 1772.<br /> + +<span class="smcap">G.R.</span> +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> J.Wilmot<br /> + Robt. Wilmot.<br /> + Chatham."</span> +</p> + +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="quotdate"> "<i>May</i> 23, 1775.</p> + +"As a testimony that my daughter was not at all unworthy of +Her Royal Consort the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Warwick +solemnly declares that he returned privately from the +continent to offer her marriage; but seeing how greatly she +was attached to the Duke of Cumberland, he witnessed her +union with His Royal Highness, March 4th, 1767.<p> + Witness,</p> + <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">J. Wilmot.</span></p> + <p>Warwick Robt. Wilmot." +</p> + <p>"We solemnly certify in this prayer-book that Olive, the +lawful daughter of Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland and +Olive his wife, bears a large mole on the right side, and +another crimson mark upon the back, near the neck; and that +such child was baptised as Olive Wilmot, at St. Nicholas +Church, Warwick, by command of the King (George the Third) +to save her royal father from the penalty of bigamy, &c. +to save her royal father from the penalty of bigamy, &c.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<div class="blockquot"> + <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> J. Wilmot.<br /> +Warwick.<br /> +Robt. Wilmot."</span><br /> +</p> +</div><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span> + +</p> + +<div class="blockquot">"I hereby certify that George, Prince of Wales, married +Hannah Wheeler, <i>alias</i> Lightfoot, April 17th, 1759; but, +from finding the latter to be her right name, I solemnized +the union of the said parties a second time, May the 27th, +1759, as the certificate affixed to this paper will confirm. +1759, as the certificate affixed to this paper will confirm. +<br /> +<br /> + Witness (torn). <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> J. Wilmot."</span> +</p> + +<p>"Not to be acted upon until the king's demise."</p> + +<p>"With other sacred papers to Lord Warwick's care for Olive, +my grand-daughter, when I am no more. J.W."</p></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + <span class="smcap">"My Dear Olive,</span>— As the undoubted heir of Augustus, King of +Poland, your rights will find aid of the Sovereigns that you +are allied to by blood, should the family of your father act +unjustly, but may the great Disposer of all things direct +otherwise. The Princess of Poland, your grandmother, I made +my lawful wife, and I do solemnly attest that you are the +last of that illustrious blood. May the Almighty guide you +to all your distinctions of birth. Mine has been a life of +trial, but not of crime! + <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> +J. Wilmot."</span><br /> +</p><p> +"<i>January</i>, 1791." +</p> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot">"If this pacquet meets your eye let not ambition destroy the +honour nor integrity of your nature. Remember that others +will be dependent on your conduct, the injured children, +perhaps, of the good and excellent consort of your king—I +mean the fruit of his Majesties first marriage—who may have +been consigned to oblivion like yourself; but I hope that is +not exactly the case; but as I was innocently instrumental +to their being, by solemnizing the ill-destined union of +power and innocence, it is but an act of conscientious duty +to leave to your care the certificates that will befriend +them hereafter! The English nation will receive my last +legacy as a proof of my affection, and when corruption has +desolated the land, and famine and its attendant miseries +create civil commotion, I solemnly command you to make known +to the Parliament the first lawful marriage of the king, as +when you are in possession of the papers, Lord Warwick has been +sacredly and affectionately by myself entrusted with, their +constitutional import will save the country! Should the +necessity exist for their operation, consult able and +patriotic men, and they will instruct you. May Heaven bless +their and your efforts in every sense of the subject, and so +shall my rejoiced spirit with approving love (if so +permitted) feel an exultation inseparable from the +prosperity of England. <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> + J. Wilmot."</span></p> +</div><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span> + +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap"> "George R.</span></p> + +<p>"We are hereby pleased to recommend Olive, our niece, to our +faithful Lords and Commons for protection and support, +should she be in existence at the period of our royal +demise; such being Olive Wilmot, the supposed daughter of +Robert Wilmot of Warwick.</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">J. Dunning.<br /> +Robt. Wilmot.</span> <i>January 7th</i>, 1780."<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Ryves, the petitioner, was the principal witness called. She gave +her evidence very clearly and firmly, and when offered a seat in the +witness-box declined it, saying that she was not tired, and could +stand for ever to protect the honour of her family. She said she +recollected coming from Liverpool to London with her father and mother +when she was only two years and a half old, and narrated how she lived +with them conjointly up to the date of the separation, and with her +mother afterwards. It was then proposed to ask her some questions as +to declarations made by Hannah Lightfoot, the reputed wife of George +III., but the Lord Chief-Justice interposed with the remark that there +was no evidence before the court as to the marriage of the king with +this woman. The petitioner's counsel referred to the two following +documents:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + <p class="quotdate"><i> "April</i> 17, 1759.</p> + + "The marriage of these parties was this day duly + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span> + +solemnized at Kew Chapel, according to the rites and +ceremonies of the Church of England, by myself, + +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">J. Wilmot.</span></p> +<span class="smcap"> George P.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap"> Hannah.</span>"<br /> +<br /> +"Witness to this marriage, <p class="quotsig"> <span class="smcap"> +W. Pitt.<br /> + Anne Tayler."</span> +</p> + +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="quotdate"> "<i>May</i> 27, 1759.</p> + +"This is to certify that the marriage of these parties, +George, Prince of Wales, to Hannah Lightfoot, was duly +solemnized this day, according to the rites and ceremonies +of the Church of England, at their residence at Peckham, by +myself, +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">J. Wilmot.</span></p> +<span class="smcap"> George Guelph.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap"> Hannah Lightfoot.</span>"<br /> +<br /> +"Witness to the marriage of these parties, +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> William Pitt.<br /> + Anne Tayler."</span><br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p>Upon this, the Lord Chief-Justice again interposed, saying, "The Court +is, as I understand, asked solemnly to declare, on the strength of two +certificates, coming I know not whence, written on two scraps of +paper, that the marriage—the only marriage of George III. which the +world believes to have taken place—between his Majesty and Queen +Charlotte, was an invalid marriage, and consequently that all the +sovereigns who have sat on the throne since his death, including her +present Majesty, were not entitled to sit on the throne. That is the +conclusion to which the court is asked to come upon these two rubbishy +pieces of paper—one signed 'George P,' and the other 'George Guelph.' +I believe them to be gross and rank forgeries. The court has no +difficulty in coming to the conclusion—even assuming that the +signatures had that character of genuineness which they have not—that +what is asserted in these documents has not the slightest foundation +in fact."</p> + +<p>Lord Chief-Baron Pollock expressed his entire concurrence in the +opinion of the Lord Chief-Justice. After <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span> + +explaining that it was the +province of the court to decide any question of fact, on the truth or +falsehood of which the admissibility of a piece of evidence was +dependent, he declared that these documents did not at all satisfy him +that George III. was ever married before his marriage to Queen +Charlotte; that the signatures were not proved to be even like the +king's handwriting; and that the addition of the word "Guelph" to one +of them was satisfactory proof that the king, at that date Prince of +Wales, did not write it—it being a matter of common information that +the princes of the royal family only use the Christian name.</p> + +<p>Sir James Wilde also assented, characterizing the certificates as +"very foolish forgeries," but adding that he was not sorry that the +occasion had arisen for bringing them into a court of justice, where +their authenticity could be inquired into by evidence, as the +existence of documents of this sort was calculated to set abroad a +number of idle stories for which there was probably not the slightest +foundation.</p> + +<p>The evidence as to Hannah Lightfoot being thus excluded, the +examination of Mrs. Ryves, the petitioner, was continued. She +remembered proceeding to Brighton, in 1805, where herself and her +mother were introduced to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. +The prince had subsequently many conversations with them, and had +bestowed many kindnesses on them. She knew the Duke of Kent from a +very early age—he being a constant visitor at their house from 1805 +till the time of his death. In the spring of 1815 Lord Warwick's +disclosure was made, and the Duke of Kent acknowledged the +relationship even before he saw the proofs which were at the time at +Warwick Castle. Thither the earl went to procure them, at the expense +of Mrs. Serres, he being at this time so poor that he had not the means +to go; indeed, Mrs. Ryves asserted that sometimes the earl was so +terribly impoverished that he had not even a sheet of note-paper to +write upon.</p> + +<p>His mission was successful; and on his return he produced three sets +of papers, one of which he said <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span> + +he had received from Dr. Wilmot, +another set from Lord Chatham, and the third set had been always in +his possession. One packet was marked "Not to be opened until after +the king's death," and accordingly the seal was not broken; but the +others were opened, and the papers they contained were read aloud in +the presence of the Duke of Kent, who expressed himself perfectly +satisfied that the signatures of George III. were in his father's +handwriting, and declared that, as the Earl of Warwick might die at +any moment, he would thenceforward take upon himself the guardianship +of Mrs. Serres and her daughter. The sealed packet was opened in the +latter part of 1819, and Mrs. Ryves, when questioned as to its +contents, pointed out documents for the most part relating to the +marriage of Dr. Wilmot and the Polish princess. Among other documents +was the following:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">"Olive, provided the royal family acknowledge you, keep +secret all the papers which are connected with the king's +first marriage; but should the family's desertion (be) +manifested (should you outlive the king) then, and only +then, make known all the state secrets which I have left in +the Earl of Warwick's keeping for your knowledge. Such +papers I bequeath to you for your sole and uncontrolled +property, to use and act upon as you deem fit, according to +expediency of things. Receive this as the sacred will of +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">James Wilmot.</span></p> + +<p><i>June—st</i>, 1789.<br /> + Witness, <span class="smcap">Warwick."</span></p> + +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Ryves maintained that up to the moment of the opening of the +sealed packet her mother had believed herself to be the daughter of +Robert Wilmot and the niece of Dr. Wilmot, and she did not know of any +Olive Wilmot except her aunt, who was the wife of Mr. Payne. When the +first information as to her birth was given to her by Lord Warwick, +she supposed herself to be the daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by +the Olive Wilmot who was afterwards Mrs. Payne, and had no idea <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span> + +that +her mother was the daughter of Dr. Wilmot, and was another person +altogether. There was a great consultation as to opening the packet +before the king's death; but the Duke of Kent persisted in his desire +to know its contents, and the seals were broken. The Duke of Kent died +on the 26th of January, 1820, and George III. in the following week, +on the 30th of the same month.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ryves then proved the identity of certain documents which bore the +signatures of the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Kent. They were +chiefly written on morsels of paper, and elicited the remark from the +Lord Chief-Justice, that "his royal highness seemed to have been as +poor as to paper as the earl." She said that these documents were +written in her own presence. Among them were these:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot">"I solemnly promise to see my cousin Olive, Princess of +Cumberland, reinstated in her R—l rights at my father's +demise. <p class="quotsig"> <span class="smcap"> + Edward."</span></p> + + <p><i>"May</i> 3, 1816."</p> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + "I bind myself, by my heirs, executors, and assigns, to pay +to my dearest coz. Olive, Princess of Cumberland, four +hundred pounds yearly during her life. +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> Edward."</span></p> + <p><i>"May</i> 3, 1818."</p> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot">"I bequeath to Princess Olive of Cumberland ten thousand +pounds should I depart this life before my estate of +Castlehill is disposed of. <p class="quotsig"> <span class="smcap"> + Edward."</span></p> + + <p><i>"June</i> 9, 1819."</p> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot">"I hereby promise to return from Devonshire early in the +spring to lay before the Regent the certificates of my +dearest cousin Olive's birth. <p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> + Edward."</span></p> + + <p>"<i> Novr</i>. 16, 1819."</p></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="quotsig"> "<i>Jany.</i> (<i>illegible</i>).</p> + +"If this paper meets my dear Alexandria's eye, my dear +cousin Olive will present it, whom my daughter will, for my +sake, I hope, love and serve should I depart this life. +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap"> Edward."</span></p> +</div><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span> + +</p> + +<div class="blockquot">"I sign this only to say that I am very ill, but should I +not get better, confide in the duchess, my wife, who will, +for my sake, assist you until you obtain your royal rights. + <br /> + "God Almighty bless you, my beloved cousin, prays<br /> +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">Edward.</span> +</p> + <p>"To Olive my cousin, and blessing to Lavinia."</p> +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Ryves then went on to state that, after the death of the Duke of +Kent and his father, the Duke of Sussex paid a visit to herself and +her mother. On that occasion, and subsequently, he examined the +papers, and declared himself satisfied that they were genuine.</p> + +<p>In her cross-examination, and in answer to questions put by the court, +Mrs. Ryves stated that her mother, Mrs. Serres, was both a clever +painter and an authoress, and was appointed landscape painter to the +court. She had been in the habit of writing letters to members of the +royal family before 1815, when she had no idea of her relationship to +them. Her mother might have practised astrology as an amusement. A +letter which was produced, and described the appearance of the ghost +of Lord Warwick's father, was in her mother's handwriting—as was also +a manifesto calling upon "the Great Powers, Principalities, and +Potentates of the brave Polish nation to rally round their Princess +Olive, grand-daughter of Stanislaus," and informing them that her +legitimacy as Princess of Cumberland had been proved. Her mother had +written a "Life of Dr. Wilmot," and had ascribed the "Letters of +Junius" to him, after a careful comparison of his MS. with those in +the possession of Woodfall, Junius's publisher. She had also issued a +letter to the English nation in 1817, in which she spoke of Dr. Wilmot +as having died unmarried; and Mrs. Ryves could not account for that, as +her mother had heard of his marriage two years previously.</p> + +<p>A document was then produced in which the Duke of Kent acknowledged +the marriage of his father with Hannah Lightfoot, and the legitimacy +of Olive, praying the latter to maintain secrecy during the life of +the king, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span> + +and constituting her the guardian of his daughter +Alexandrina, and directress of her education on account of her +relationship, and also because the Duchess of Kent was not familiar +with English modes of education. Mrs. Ryves explained that her mother +refrained from acting on that document out of respect for the Duchess +of Kent, who, she thought, had the best right to direct the education +of her own daughter (the present queen). She also stated that her +mother had received a present of a case of diamonds from the Duke of +Cumberland, but she did not know what became of them.</p> + +<p>The Attorney-General, on behalf of the crown, after explaining the +provisions of the Act, proceeded to tear the story of the petitioners +to pieces, pronouncing its folly and absurdity equal to its audacity. +The Polish princess and her charming daughter he pronounced pure +myths—as entirely creatures of the imagination as Shakspeare's +"Ferdinand and Miranda." As to the pretended marriage of George III. +and Hannah Lightfoot, the tale was even more astonishing and +incredible, for not only were wife and children denied by the king, +and a second bigamous contract entered into, but the lady held her +tongue, the children were content to live in obscurity, and Dr. Wilmot +faithfully kept the secret, and preached sermons before the king and +his second wife Queen Charlotte. Not that Dr. Wilmot did not feel these +grave state secrets pressing him down, but the mode of revenge which +he adopted was to write the "<i>Letters of Junius!</i>"</p> + +<p>Yet Dr. Wilmot died in 1807, apparently a common-place country parson. +Surely there never was a more wonderful example of the possibility of +keeping secrets. One would have imagined that the very walls would +have spoken of such events; but although at least seven men and one +woman (the wife of Robert Wilmot) must have been acquainted with them, +the secret was kept as close as the grave for forty-three years, and +was never even suspected before 1815, although all the actors in these +extraordinary scenes seemed to have been occupied day and night in +writing on little bits of paper, and telling the whole story. In 1815 +the facts first came to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span> + +knowledge of Mrs. Serres; but, even then, +they were not revealed, until the grave had closed over every +individual who could vouch as to the handwriting.</p> + +<p>As far as the petitioner, Mrs. Ryves, was concerned, the +Attorney-General said he could imagine that she had brooded on this +matter so long (she being then over 70 years of age), that she had +brought herself to believe things that had never happened. The mind +might bring itself to believe a lie, and she might have dwelt so long +upon documents produced and fabricated by others, that, with her +memory impaired by old age, the principle of veracity might have been +poisoned, and the offices of imagination and memory confounded to such +an extent that she really believed that things had been done and said +in her presence which were entirely imaginary. He contended that Mrs. +Serres, the mother of the petitioner, was not altogether responsible +for her actions, and proceeded to trace her history. Between 1807 and +1815, he said, she had the advantage of becoming personally known to +some members of the royal family, and being a person of ill-regulated +ambition and eccentric character, and also being in pecuniary +distress, her eccentricity took the turn of making advances to +different members of that family. She opened fire on the Prince of +Wales in 1809, by sending a letter to his private secretary, comparing +His Royal Highness to Julius Cæsar, and talking in a mad way about the +politics of the illustrious personages of the day. In 1810 other +letters followed in the same style, and in one of them she asked, +"Why, sir, was I so humbly born?"</p> + +<p>Scattered about these letters were mysterious allusions to secrets of +state and symptoms of insane delusions. In one she imagined she had +been seriously injured by the Duke of York. In another, she fancied +that some one had poisoned her. In one letter she actually offered to +lend the Prince of Wales, £20,000 to induce him to grant the interview +of which she was so desirous, although in other letters she begged for +pecuniary assistance, and represented herself to be in great distress. +The letters were also full of astrology; she spoke of her "occult + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span> + +studies;" and she further believed in ghosts. The manifesto to Poland +also pointed to the same conclusion as to her state of mind. A person +of such an erratic character, he said, was very likely to concoct such +a story, and the story would naturally take the turn of trying to +connect herself with the royal family.</p> + +<p>During the interval between the death of Lord Warwick in 1816 and +1821, when it was first made public, her story passed through no less +than three distinct and irreconcilable stages. At first she stated +that she was the daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by Mrs. Payne, the +sister of Dr. Wilmot; and in 1817 she still described herself as Dr. +Wilmot's niece. It was said that she did not come into possession of +the papers until after Lord Warwick's death, but this assertion was +contradicted by the evidence of Mrs. Ryves, as to events which were +within her own recollection, and which she represented to have passed +in her presence.</p> + +<p>The second stage of the story was contained in a letter to Mr. +Fielding, the Bow Street magistrate, in October, 1817. Having been +threatened with arrest, she wrote to him for protection, and in this +letter she represented herself as the natural daughter of the late +Duke of Cumberland by a sister of the late Dr. Wilmot, whom he had +seduced under promise of marriage, she being a lady of large fortune. +In connection with this stage of the story, he referred to another +letter which she wrote to the Prince-Regent in July, 1818, in which +she stated that Lord Warwick had told her the story of her birth in +his lifetime, but without showing her any documents; that he excused +himself for not having made the disclosure before by saying that he +was unable to repay a sum of £2000 which had been confided to him by +the Duke of Cumberland for her benefit; and then she actually went on +to say that when Lord Warwick died she thought all evidence was lost +until she opened a sealed packet which contained the documents. This +was quite inconsistent with the extraordinary story of Mrs. Ryves as to +the communication of the papers to her and her mother in 1815.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span> + +</p> + +<p>The claim of legitimate royal birth was first brought forward at a +time of great excitement and agitation, when the case of Queen +Caroline was before the public; and it was brought forward in a tone +of intimidation—a revolution being threatened if the claim were not +recognised within a few hours. The documents were changed at times to +suit the changing story, and there was every reason to believe that +they were concocted by Mrs. Serres herself, who was a careful student +of the <i>Junius</i> MSS., who was an artist and practised caligraphist, +and who had gone through such a course of study as well prepared her +for the fabrication of forged documents. The internal evidence of the +papers themselves proved that they were the most ridiculous, absurd, +preposterous series of forgeries that perverted ingenuity ever +invented. If every expert that ever lived in the world swore to the +genuineness of these documents, they could not possibly believe them +to be genuine. They were all written on little scraps and slips of +paper such as no human being ever would have used for the purpose of +recording transactions of this kind, and in everyone of these pieces +of paper the watermark of date was wanting.</p> + +<p>At this stage of his address the Attorney-General was interrupted by +the foreman of the jury, who stated that himself and his colleagues +were unanimously of opinion that the signatures to the documents were +not genuine.</p> + +<p>The Lord Chief-Justice, thereupon, immediately remarked that they +shared the opinion which his learned brethren and himself had +entertained for a long time—that everyone of the documents was +spurious.</p> + +<p>After some observations by the counsel for the petitioner, who +persisted that the papers produced were genuine, the Lord +Chief-Justice proceeded to sum up the facts of the case. He said it +was a question whether the internal evidence in the documents of +spuriousness and forgery was not quite as strong as the evidence +resulting from the examination of their handwriting. Two or three of +them appeared to be such outrages on all probability, that even if +there had been strong evidence of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span> + +the genuineness of their +handwriting, no man of common sense could come to the conclusion that +they were genuine. Some of them were produced to prove that King +George III. had ordered the fraud to be committed of rebaptising an +infant child under a false name as the daughter of persons whose +daughter she was not; another showed that the king had divested the +crown of one of its noblest appendages—the Duchy of Lancaster—by a +document he was not competent by law to execute, written upon a loose +piece of paper, and countersigned by W. Pitt and Dunning; by another +document, also written upon a loose piece of paper, he expressed his +royal will to the Lords and Commons, that when he should be dead they +should recognise this lady as Duchess of Cumberland. These papers bore +the strongest internal evidence of their spuriousness. The evidence as +to the marriage of the Duke of Cumberland with Olive Wilmot could not +be separated from that part of the evidence which struck at the +legitimacy of the Royal Family, by purporting to establish the +marriage of George III. to a person named Hannah Lightfoot. Could any +one believe that the documents on which that marriage was attested by +W. Pitt and Dunning were genuine? But the petitioner could not help +putting forward the certificates of that marriage, because two of them +were written on the back of the certificate of the marriage of the +Duke of Cumberland with Olive Wilmot. Men of intelligence could not +fail to see the motive for writing the certificates of those two +marriages on the same piece of paper. The first claim to the +consideration of the royal family put forward by Mrs. Serres was, that +she was the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by Mrs. +Payne—a married woman. Her next claim was, that she was his daughter +by an unmarried sister of Dr. Wilmot. She lastly put forward her +present claim, that she was the offspring of a lawful marriage between +the duke and Olive, the daughter of Dr. Wilmot. At the time when the +claim was put forward in its last shape, it was accompanied by an +attempt at intimidation, not only on the score of the injustice that +would be done if George IV. refused to recognise the claim, but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span> + +also +on the score that she was in possession of documents showing that +George III., at the time he was married to Queen Charlotte, had a wife +living, and had issue by her; and consequently that George IV., who +had just then ascended the throne, was illegitimate, and was not the +lawful sovereign of the realm. And the documents having reference to +George III.'s first marriage were inseparably attached to the +documents by which the legitimacy of Mrs. Serres was supposed to be +established, with the view, no doubt, of impressing on the king's mind +the fact that she could not put forward her claims, as she intended to +do, without at the same time making public the fact that the marriage +between George III. and Queen Charlotte was invalid. Could any one +believe in the authenticity of certificates like these; or was it +possible to imagine that, even if Hannah Lightfoot had existed, and +asserted her claim, great officers of state like Chatham and Dunning +should have recognised her as "Hannah Regina," as they were said to +have done?</p> + +<p>In another document the Duke of Kent gave the guardianship of his +daughter to the Princess Olive. Remembering the way in which that lady +had been brought up, and the society in which she had moved, could the +Duke of Kent ever have dreamed of superseding his own wife, the mother +of the infant princess, and passing by all the other distinguished +members of his family, and conferring on Mrs. Serres, the landscape +painter, the sole guardianship of the future Queen of England? They +must also bear in mind the way in which the claim had been brought +forward. The irresistible inference from the different tales told was, +that the documents were from time to time prepared to meet the form +which her claims from time to time assumed. A great deal had been said +about different members of the royal family having countenanced and +supported this lady. He could quite understand, if an appeal was made +on her behalf as an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Cumberland, +that a generous-minded prince might say, "As you have our blood +flowing in your veins, you shall not be left in want;" and, very +likely, papers might have been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span> + +shown to some members of the royal +family in support of that claim which they believed to be genuine. It +was just as easy to fabricate papers showing her illegitimacy as to +fabricate those produced; and probably such papers would not be very +rigorously scrutinized. But it was not possible to believe that the +documents now produced (including the Hannah Lightfoot certificates) +had been shown to members of the royal family, and pronounced by them +to be genuine. He could not understand why the secret was to be kept +after the Duke of Cumberland's death, when there was no longer any +danger that he would incur the risk of punishment for bigamy; and why +the death of George III. should be fixed upon as the time for +disclosing it. The death of George III. was the very time when it +would become important to keep the secret, for if it had been then +disclosed, it would have shown that neither George IV. nor the Duke of +Kent were entitled to succeed to the throne. Why then should the Duke +of Kent stipulate for the keeping of the secret until George III. +died? They must look at all the circumstances of the case, and say +whether they believed the documents produced by the petitioner to be +genuine.</p> + +<p>The jury at once found that they were <i>not</i> satisfied that Olive +Serres, the mother of Mrs. Ryves, was the legitimate daughter of Henry +Frederick Duke of Cumberland, and Olive his wife; that they were <i>not</i> +satisfied that Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland was lawfully married +to Olive Wilmot on the 4th of March, 1767. On the other issues—that +Mrs. Ryves was the legitimate daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Serres, and that +the younger petitioner, W.H. Ryves, was the legitimate son of Mr. and +Mrs. Ryves—they found for the petitioner.</p> + +<p>On the motion of the Attorney-General, the judges ordered the +documents produced by the petitioners to be impounded.</p> + +<p>It may be noted, in conclusion, that if Mrs. Ryves had succeeded in +proving that her mother was a princess of the blood royal, she would +at the same time have established her own illegitimacy. The alleged +marriage of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span> + +Duke of Cumberland took place before the passing of +the Royal Marriage Act; and, therefore, if Mrs. Serres had been the +duke's daughter, she would have been a princess of the blood royal. +But that Act had been passed before the marriage of Mrs. Serres to her +husband, and would have rendered it invalid, and consequently her +issue would have been illegitimate. As it was, Mrs. Ryves obtained a +declaration of her legitimacy; but in so doing she sacrificed all her +pretensions to royal descent.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="WILLIAM_GEORGE_HOWARD_THE_PRETENDED_EARL_OF_WICKLOW" id="WILLIAM_GEORGE_HOWARD_THE_PRETENDED_EARL_OF_WICKLOW"></a>WILLIAM GEORGE HOWARD—THE PRETENDED EARL OF WICKLOW.</h2> + + +<p>On the 22d of March, 1869, William, the fourth Earl of Wicklow, died, +without male issue. His next brother, the Hon. and Rev. Francis +Howard, had died during the late earl's lifetime, after being twice +married. By his first marriage he had had three sons, none of whom had +survived; but one son blessed his second nuptials, and he claimed the +peerage at his uncle's death. A rival, however, appeared to contest +his right in the person of William George Howard, an infant, who was +represented by his guardians as the issue of William George Howard, +the eldest son of the Hon. and Rev. Francis Howard by his first +marriage, and a certain Miss Ellen Richardson. As to the birth of the +former claimant there could be no doubt, and it was not denied that +his eldest half-brother had been married as stated; but the birth of +the infant was disputed, and the matter was left for the decision of +the House of Lords.</p> + +<p>The case for the infant was briefly as follows:—Mr. W.G. Howard, his +reputed father, was married to Miss Richardson, in February, 1863. +Four months after their marriage the couple went to lodge with Mr. +Bloor, an outdoor officer in the customs, who resided at 27 Burton +Street, Eaton Square. Here they remained only three weeks, but during +that time appear to have contracted a sort of friendship with the +Bloor family, for, after being <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span> + +absent till the latter end of the +year, they returned to the house in Burton Street, and endeavoured to +procure apartments there. Mr. Bloor's rooms were full, and he was +unable to accommodate them; but, in order to be near his old friends, +Mr. Howard took apartments for his wife, at No. 32, in the same street. +Being a person of dissipated and peculiar habits, and being, moreover, +haunted by duns, he did not himself reside in the new lodgings, or +even visit there; but, by Mr. Bloor's kindness, was accustomed to meet +his wife occasionally in a room, which was placed at his service, in +No. 27. Still later, Mrs. Howard returned to lodge at Mr. Bloor's, and +occupied the whole upper portion of the house, while the lower half +was rented by one of her friends, named Baudenave. Mr. Howard, in the +meantime, remained in concealment in Ireland, and thither Mr. Bloor +proceeded in April or May 1864, and had an interview with him, at +which it was arranged that the Burton Street lodging-house keeper +should allow Mrs. Howard to be confined at his residence, and should +make every arrangement for her comfort. On the 16th of May, Mrs. +Howard, whose confinement was not then immediately expected, informed +the Bloors that she intended to leave London for a time, and set out +in a cab for the railway station. In a very short time she returned, +declaring that she felt extremely ill, and was immediately put to bed; +but there being few symptoms of urgency, she was allowed to remain +without medical attendance until Mr. Bloor returned from his work at +eight o'clock, when his wife despatched him for Dr. Wilkins, a medical +man whom Mrs. Howard specially requested might be summoned, although he +was not the family doctor, and lived at a considerable distance. At +half-past nine o'clock Mr. Bloor returned without the doctor; and was +told by his rejoicing spouse, that her lodger had been safely +delivered of a son under her own superintendence, and that the +services of the recognised accoucheur could be dispensed with. Proud +of the womanly skill of his wife, and glad to be spared the necessity +of another wearisome trudge through the streets, he gladly remained at +home, and Dr. Wilkins was not <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span> + +sent for several weeks, when he saw +and prescribed for the infant, who was suffering from some trifling +disorder. Unfortunately, this fact could not be proved, nor could the +doctor's evidence be obtained as to Mr. Bloor's visit, as he had died +before the case came on. But Mrs. Bloor, who attended Mrs. Howard during +her confinement; Miss Rosa Day, sister of Mrs. Bloor, who assisted her +in that attendance; Miss Jane Richardson, sister of Mrs. Howard; and Mr. +Baudenave, their fellow-lodger, were all alleged to have seen the +child repeatedly during the three following months, although it was +admitted that its existence was kept a profound secret from everybody +else. The three women above-mentioned were placed in the witness-box, +and gave their evidence clearly and firmly, and agreed with each other +in the story which they told; and, although Mrs. Bloor was rigorously +cross-examined, her testimony was not shaken. When Mr. Baudenave was +wanted he could not be found, and even the most urgent efforts of +detectives failed to secure his attendance before the court.</p> + +<p>On the other side it was contended that the story told on behalf of +the infant plaintiff was so shrouded in mystery as to be absolutely +incredible, and that it was concocted by the missing Baudenave, who +was said to have been living on terms of suspicious familiarity with +Mrs. Howard, and who had succeeded in inducing the witnesses to become +accomplices in the conspiracy from motives of self-interest. Evidence +was also produced to show that the birth had not taken place. A +dressmaker, who measured Mrs. Howard for a dress, a little time before +the date of her alleged confinement, swore that no traces of her +supposed condition were then visible. Dr. Baker Brown and another +medical man deposed that they had professionally attended a lady, whom +they swore to as Mrs. Howard, and had found circumstances negativing +the story of the confinement; and Louisa Jones, a servant, who lived +in the house in Burton Street shortly after the birth of the infant, +said she had never seen or heard of its existence. After the hearing +of this evidence the case was postponed.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span> + +</p> + +<p>On its resumption Mrs. Howard produced witnesses to show that she was +at Longley, in Staffordshire, during the whole of that period of +August, 1864, to which the evidence of Dr. Baker Brown and the other +medical witness related.</p> + +<p>At the sitting of the court, on the 1st of March, 1870, Sir Roundell +Palmer (Lord Selborne), who represented Charles Francis Howard, the +other claimant, gave the whole case a new complexion by informing the +court that he was in a position to prove that, in the month of August, +1864, Mrs. Howard and another lady visited a workhouse in Liverpool, +and procured a newly-born child from its mother, Mary Best, a pauper, +then an occupant of one of the lying-in wards of the workhouse +hospital. In support of his assertion he was able to produce three +witnesses—Mrs. Higginson, the head-nurse, and Mrs. Stuart and Mrs. +O'Hara, two of the assistant-nurses, of whom two could swear +positively to Mrs. Howard's identity with the lady who came and took +away the child. The third nurse was in doubt.</p> + +<p>The Solicitor-General, who represented the infant-claimant, thereupon +requested an adjournment, in order to meet the new case thus +presented. Their lordships, however, refused to comply with his desire +until they had had an opportunity of examining Mrs. Howard; but when +that lady was called she did not appear, and it was discovered that +she had left the House of Lords secretly, and could not be found at +her lodgings or discovered elsewhere. The case was therefore +adjourned. At the next sitting, a week later, Mrs. Howard appeared +before the committee, but refused to be sworn, demanding that the +witnesses who were to be brought against her should be examined first. +As she persisted in her refusal, she was given into custody for +contempt of court, and the evidence of the Liverpool witnesses was +taken. As Sir Roundell Palmer had stated, while one of the nurses +remembered the transaction she could not be positive that Mrs. Howard +was the party concerned in it; but the two others, and Mary Best the +child's mother, had no hesitation in asserting that she was the person +who had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span> + +taken away the infant from the hospital. Towards the close of +the sitting it was announced that a telegram had been received from +Boulogne, stating that the real purchasers of Mary Best's child had +been found, and that they would be produced at the next hearing of the +case to re-but the Liverpool evidence; but when the next sitting came +no Boulogne witnesses were forthcoming, and the Solicitor-General was +compelled to state that he had been on the wrong scent; but that he +would be able to refute the story which had been trumped up against +his client. Mary Best was placed in the witness-box, and, in the +course of a rigorous cross-examination, admitted that she had left the +workhouse with a baby which she had passed off as her own. She stated +that this child was given to her while she was in the workhouse, but +she could not tell either its mother's name or the name of the person +who gave it to her. She had never received any payment for it, but had +fed and clothed it at her own expense, had taken it with her to her +father's house in Yorkshire, had represented it as her own to her +family, and had paid the costs of its burial when it died. Her +relatives and friends were produced, and corroborated these facts. The +nurses, on the other hand, when recalled, denied all knowledge of this +second child, and affirmed that a child could not have been brought to +her without their knowledge.</p> + +<p>The court delivered judgment on the 31st of March, 1870, when the Lord +Chancellor announced that their lordships had come to the conclusion +that Charles Francis Arnold Howard had made out his claim, and was +entitled to vote at the election of representative peers for Ireland +as Earl of Wicklow; and that the infant claimant, the son of Mrs. +Howard, had failed in establishing his claim to that privilege. He +said the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Howard was undisputed, and the +real difficulty that surrounded the case was in proving the birth of +this child without the evidence usually forthcoming of such an +event—neither medical man nor nurse having been present at the birth, +or having attended either the mother or the child subsequently. The +fact that the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span> + +existence of the child had been concealed from all the +world, and that it had neither been registered nor baptised, increased +the difficulties in the way of Mrs. Howard's case. It was a remarkable +fact that, up to that time, with the exception of three persons who +had undoubtedly sworn distinctly to certain circumstances, no human +being had been called who had noticed that Mrs. Howard had shown signs +of being in the family-way; and it was equally remarkable that those +who had had ample opportunity of noticing her condition at the time, +and who might have given distinct and positive evidence on the point, +had either not been called, or had refused to give evidence in the +case. Undoubtedly, as far as words could go, their lordships had had +the distinct evidence of two witnesses, who stated that they were +present when the alleged birth occurred, and of another who had stated +that he had gone to fetch the doctor, who was sent for, not because +the birth was expected to occur, but because Mrs. Howard was taken +suddenly ill. Of course, if credence could be given to the statement +of these witnesses, the case put forward by Mrs. Howard was established +beyond a doubt, and most painful it was for him to arrive at the +conclusion, as he felt bound to do, that those persons had been guilty +of the great crime of not only giving false evidence by deposing to +events that had never occurred, but of conspiring together to +endeavour to impose upon the Wicklow family a child who was not the +real heir to the title and estates attaching to the earldom. He was +bound to add that the demeanour of Mrs. Bloor and her sister Rosa Day +in the witness-box, was such that, if the case were not of such +prodigious importance, and if it had not been contradicted by all +surrounding circumstances, their statement, which they had given with +firmness and without hesitation, would have obtained credence. It was, +however, so utterly inconsistent with all the admitted facts, and with +the rest of the evidence, that he was compelled to arrive at the +painful conclusion that it was a mere fabrication, intended to defeat +the ends of justice. The evidence of Dr. Baker Brown, who had +identified Mrs. Howard as the person whom he had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span> + +examined, on the 8th +of July, 1864, and who had stated to him that she had never had a +child, was very strong, and was only to be explained upon the +supposition that it was a case of mistaken identity; and that it was +her sister Jane Richardson, who was examined, and not Mrs. Howard. This +supposition, however, was entirely set aside by the Longney witnesses, +who stated that upon the occasion of the birth-day dinner party at +Longney, which had been brought forward to prove an <i>alibi</i>, both Mrs. +Howard and her sister Jane Richardson were present. It was evident, +therefore, either that the story could not be true, or that the +witnesses were mistaken as to the day on which that event had +occurred, and under these circumstances the whole evidence in support +of the <i>alibi</i> broke down altogether. Having arrived at this +conclusion with respect to the original case set up by Mrs. Howard, it +was scarcely necessary to allude to the Liverpool story, which was +certainly an extraordinary and a singular one, and had a tendency to +damage the case of those who had set it up, although he did not see +how they could possibly have withheld it from the knowledge of their +lordships. Looking at the fact that Mary Best was proved to have been +delivered of a fair child, and that the child she took out of the +workhouse with her was a dark child, he confessed that much might be +said both in favour of and against the truth of her statement; but it +was, perhaps, as well that it might be entirely disregarded in the +present case; and, at all events, in his opinion, there was nothing in +its being brought forward which was calculated to shake their +lordships' confidence in the character of those who were conducting +the case on behalf of the original claimant.</p> + +<p>Lord Chelmsford next delivered a long judgment, agreeing with that of +the Lord Chancellor, and in the course of it remarked that it was +impossible to disbelieve the story of the alleged birth, as he did, +without coming to the conclusion that certain of the witnesses had +been guilty of the grave crimes of conspiracy and perjury. With +reference to the Liverpool story, he said he was satisfied that the +child brought into the workhouse by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span> + +Mary Best, and taken by her to +Yorkshire, was not that of which she had been confined, although he +did not believe her statement of the way in which she had become +possessed of the child which she had subsequently passed off as her +own.</p> + +<p>Lords Colonsay and Redesdale concurred; and the Earl of Winchelsea, as +a lay lord, and one of the public, gave it as his opinion that the +story told by Mrs. Howard was utterly incredible, being only worthy to +form the plot of a sensational novel. He regretted that Mr. Baudenage, +the principal mover in this conspiracy, would escape unscathed.</p> + +<p>Their lordships, therefore, resolved that Mrs. Howard's child had no +claim to the earldom; but that Charles Francis Arnold Howard, the son +of the Hon. Rev. Francis Howard, by his second marriage, had made out +his right to vote at the election of representative peers for Ireland +as Earl of Wicklow.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="AMELIA_RADCLIFFE_THE_SO-CALLED_COUNTESS_OF_DERWENTWATER" id="AMELIA_RADCLIFFE_THE_SO-CALLED_COUNTESS_OF_DERWENTWATER"></a>AMELIA RADCLIFFE—THE SO-CALLED COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER.</h2> + + +<p>The unhappy fate of James, the last Earl of Derwentwater, has been so +often recounted, both in prose and verse, that it is almost +unnecessary to repeat the story; but lest any difficulty should be +found in understanding the grounds on which the so-called countess now +bases her pretensions, the following short summary may be found +useful:—</p> + +<p>James Radcliffe, the third and last Earl of Derwentwater, suffered +death on Tower Hill, in the prime of his youth, for his devotion to +the cause of the pretender. He is described as having been brave, +chivalrous, and generous; his name has been handed down from +generation to generation as that of a martyr; and his memory even yet +remains green among the descendants of those amongst whom he used to +dwell, and to whom he was at once patron and friend.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span> + +</p> + +<p>When he was twenty-three years of age he espoused Anna Maria, eldest +daughter of Sir John Webb of Cauford, in the county of Dorset, and had +by her an only son, the Hon. John Radcliffe, and a daughter, who +afterwards married the eighth Lord Petre. By the articles at this time +entered into, the baronet agreed to give his daughter £12,000 as her +portion; while the earl, on his part, promised £1000 jointure rent +charge to the lady, to which £100 a-year was added on the death of +either of her parents, and an allowance of £300 a-year was also +granted as pin-money. The earl's estates were to be charged with +£12,000 for the portions of daughter or daughters, or with £20,000 in +the event of there being no male issue; while by the same settlement +his lordship took an estate for life in the family property, which was +thereby entailed upon his first and other sons, with remainder, and +after the determination of his or their estate to his brother, Charles +Radcliffe, for life; on his first or other sons the estates were in +like manner entailed.</p> + +<p>If the Earl of Derwentwater had been poor his Jacobite proclivities +might have been overlooked, but he was very rich, and his head fell. +Moreover, after his decapitation on Tower Hill the whole of his +immense property was confiscated, and given by the crown to the +Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital. The commissioners of to-day +assert that the property became the property of the representatives of +the hospital absolutely. On the other hand, it is contended that, by +the Act of Attainder, the property of forfeiting persons was vested in +the crown only, according to their estate, rights, and interest, and +that the earl, having only an estate for life in his property, could +forfeit no greater interest.</p> + +<p>His only son, although he lost his title of nobility by the attainder +of his father, was, by solemn adjudication of law, admitted tenant in +tail of all the settled estates, and the fortune of the earl's +daughter was, moreover, raised and paid thereout. The earl's son was +in possession of the estates during sixteen years; and, had he lived +to attain twenty-one, he might have effectually dealt with them, so +that they could not at any future <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span> + +time have been affected by the +attainder of his father, or of his uncle Charles Radcliffe. At least +so say the supporters of the self-styled countess.</p> + +<p>Upon the death of the martyr-earl's son, in 1791, and presumably +without issue, the life estate of Charles Radcliffe commenced, but it +vested in the crown by reason of the attainder. Not so, however, the +estate in tail of the eldest son, James Bartholomew. This boy was born +at Vincennes, on the 23d of August, 1725; but by a statute passed in +the reign of Queen Anne, he had all the rights of a subject born in +the United Kingdom; and, among others, of course, had the right to +succeed to any property to which he might be legally entitled. But the +government perceived the fix in which they were placed, and +immediately, on the death of the son of the earl, and when James +Bartholomew was an infant of the age of five years, they hurried an +Act through Parliament which declared that nothing contained in the +dictatory law of Queen Anne gave the privilege of a natural born +subject to any child, born or to be born abroad, whose father at the +time of his or her birth either stood attainted of high treason, or +was in the actual service of a foreign state in enmity to the crown of +Great Britain. This excluded the boy, and the government began to +grant leases of the estates which would otherwise have fallen to him.</p> + +<p>And now we begin to plunge into mystery. It is asserted that the +reported death of John Radcliffe, son of the last earl, was merely a +scheme on the part of his friends to protect him against his +Hanoverian enemies who sought his life. Some say that he died at the +age of nineteen, at the house of his maternal grandfather, Sir John +Webb, in Great Marlborough Street, on the 31st of December, 1731. +Others maintain that he was thrown from his horse, and killed, during +his residence in France. But the most recent statement is that his +interment was a sham, and was part of a well-devised plan for +facilitating his escape from France to Germany during the prevalence +of rumoured attempts to restore the Stuarts, and that, after marrying +the Countess of Waldsteine-Waters, he lived, bearing her name, to the +age of eighty-six.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span> + +</p> + +<p>By this reputed marriage it is said that he had a son, who was called +John James Anthony Radcliffe, and who, in his turn, espoused a +descendant of John Sobieski of Poland. To them a daughter was born, +and was named Amelia. Her first appearance at the home of her supposed +ancestors was very peculiar; and the report of her proceedings, which +appeared in the <i>Hexham Courant</i>, of the 29th of September, 1868, was +immediately transferred into the London daily papers, and was quoted +from them by almost the entire provincial press. The following is the +account of the local journal, which excited considerable amusement, +but roused very little faith when it was first made public:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This morning great excitement was occasioned in the +neighbourhood of Dilston by the appearance of Amelia, +Countess of Derwentwater, with a retinue of servants, at the +old baronial castle of her ancestors—Dilston Old +Castle—and at once taking possession of the old ruin. Her +ladyship, who is a fine-looking elderly lady, was dressed in +an Austrian military uniform, and wore a sword by her side +in the most approved fashion. She was accompanied, as we +have said, by several retainers, who were not long in +unloading the waggon-load of furniture which they had +brought with them, and quickly deposited the various goods +and chattels in the old castle, the rooms of which, as most +of our readers are aware, are without roofs; but a plentiful +supply of stout tarpaulings, which are provided for the +purpose, will soon make the apartments habitable, if not +quite so comfortable as those which the countess has just +left. In the course of the morning her ladyship was visited +by Mr. C.J. Grey, the receiver to the Greenwich Hospital +estates, who informed her she was trespassing upon the +property of the commissioners, and that he would be obliged +to report the circumstance to their lordships. Her ladyship +received Mr. Grey with great courtesy, and informed that +gentleman she was acting under the advice of her legal +advisers, and that she was quite prepared to defend the +legality of her proceedings. The sides of the principal + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span> + +room have already been hung with the Derwentwater family +pictures, to some of which the countess bears a marked +resemblance, and the old baronial flag of the unfortunate +family already floats proudly from the summit of the fine, +though old and dilapidated tower."</p></div> + +<p>This is a bald newspaper account; but the lady herself is an +experienced correspondent, and in one of her letters, which she has +published in a gorgeously emblazoned volume, thus gives her version of +the affair in her own vigorous way:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + <p class="quotdate"><span class="smcap"> "Devilstone Castle,</span> 29<i>th September</i>, 1868.</p> + + <p>"Here I am, my dear friend, at my own house, my roofless +home; and my first scrawl from here is to the vicarage. You +will be sorry to hear that the Lords of Her Majesty's +Council have defied all equitable terms in my eleven years' +suffering case. My counsel and myself have only received +impertinent replies from under officials. Had my lords met +my case like gentlemen and statesmen, I should not have been +driven to the course I intend to pursue.</p> + +<p>"I left the Terrace very early this morning, and at +half-past seven o'clock I arrived at the carriage-road of +Dilstone Castle. I stood, and before me lay stretched the +ruins of my grandfather's baronial castle; my heart beat +more quickly as I approached. I am attended by my two +faithful retainers, Michael and Andrew. Mr. Samuel Aiston +conveyed a few needful things; the gentle and docile pony +trotted on until I reached the level top of the +carriage-road, and then we stopped. I dismounted and opened +the gate and bid my squires to follow, and, in front of the +old flag tower, I cut with a spade three square feet of +green sod into a barrier for my feet, in the once happy +nursery—the mother's joyful upstairs parlour—the only room +now standing, and quite roofless. I found not a voice to +cheer me, nothing but naked plasterless walls; a hearth with +no frame of iron; the little chapel which contains the +sacred tombs of the silent dead, and the dishonoured ashes +of my grandsires.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span> + +</p> + +<p>"All here is in a death-like repose, no living thing save a +few innocent pigeons, half wild; but there has been a +tremendous confusion, a wild and wilful uproar of rending, +and a crash of headlong havoc, every angle is surrounded +with desolation, and the whole is a monument of state +vengeance and destruction. But here is the land—the home of +my fathers—which I have been robbed of; this is a piece of +the castle, and the room in which they lived, and talked, +and walked, and smiled, and were cradled and watched with +tender affection. You never saw this old tower nearer than +from the road; the walls of it are three feet or more in +some parts thick, and of rough stone inside. The floor of +this room where I am writing this scrawl is verdure, and +damp with the moisture from heaven. It has not even beams +left for a ceiling, and the stairs up to it are scarcely +passible; but I am truly thankful that all the little +articles I brought are now up in this room, and no accident +to my men.</p> + +<p>"Radcliffe's flag is once more raised! and the portraits of +my grandfather and great-grandfather are <i>here</i>, back again +to Devilstone Castle (<i>alias</i> Dilstone), and hung on each +side of this roofless room, where both their voices once +sounded. Oh! as I gaze calmly on these mute warders on the +walls, I cannot paint you my feelings of the sense of +injustice and wrong, a refining, a resenting sorrow—my +heart bleeds at the thought of the cruel axe, and I am +punished for its laws that no longer exist. I pray not to be +horror-stricken at the thoughts of the past ambition and +power of princes who cast destruction over our house, and +made us spectacles of barbarity. But, nevertheless, many +great and Christian men the Lord hath raised out of the +house of Radcliffe, who have passed away; and now, oh! +Father of Heaven! how wonderfully hast Thou spared the +remnant of my house, a defenceless orphan, to whom no way is +open but to Thy Fatherly heart. Now Thou hast brought me +here, what still awaits me? 'Leave Thou me not; let me never +forget Thee. Thou hast girded me with strength into the +battle. I will not therefore fear what man can do unto me.'</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a>[252]</span> + +</p> + +<p>"These are my thoughts and resolutions. But I am struggling +with the associations of this lone, lone hearth—with no +fire, no father, no mother, sister or brother left—the +whole is heartrending. I quit you now, my kind friends; I am +blind with tears, but this is womanly weakness.</p> + +<p>"Twelve o'clock the same day. My tears of excitement have +yielded to counter-excitement. I have just had an intrusive +visitor, who came to inquire if it is my intention to remain +here. I replied in the affirmative, adding earnestly, 'I +have come to my roofless home,' and asked 'Who are you?' He +answered 'I am Mr. Grey, the agent for her Majesty, and I +shall have to communicate your intention.' I answered, +'Quite right, Mr. Grey. Then what <i>title</i> have you to show +that her Majesty has a right here to my freehold estates?' +He replied, 'I have no <i>title</i>.' I then took out a parchment +with the titles and the barony and manors, and the names of +my forty-two rich estates, and held it before him and said, +'I am the Countess of Derwentwater, and my title and claim +are acknowledged and substantiated by the Crown of England, +morally, legally, and officially; therefore my title is the +title to these forty-two estates.' He has absented himself +quietly, and I do hope my lords will not leave my case now +to under officials.—Yours truly,</p> +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">Amelia, Countess of Derwentwater</span>.</p> + +</div> + +<p>Their lordships left the case to very minor officials, indeed; namely +to a person whom the countess describes as "a dusky little man" and +his underlings, and they without hesitation ejected her from Dilstone +Hall. The lady was very indignant, but was very far from being beaten, +and she and her adherents immediately formed a roadside encampment, +under a hedge, in gipsy fashion, and resolved to re-enter if possible. +From her letters it appears that she was very cold and very miserable, +and, moreover, very hungry at first. But the neighbouring peasantry +were kind, and brought her so much food eventually, that she tells one +of her friends that cases of tinned meats from Paris would be of no +use to her. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span> + +worst of the encampment seems to have been that it +interfered with her usual pastime of sketching, which could not be +carried on in the evenings under a tarpaulin, by the light of a +lantern.</p> + +<p>But her enemies had no idea that she should be permitted to remain +under the hedge any more than in the hall itself. On the 21st of +October, at the quarter sessions for the county of Northumberland, the +chief constable was questioned by the magistrates about the strange +state of affairs in the district, and reported that the encampment was +a little way from the highway, and that, therefore, the lady could not +be apprehended under the Vagrant Act! A summons, however, had been +taken out by the local surveyor, and would be followed by a warrant. +On that summons the so-called countess was convicted; but appealed to +the Court of Queen's Bench.</p> + +<p>During the winter the encampment could not be maintained, and the +weather, more powerful than the Greenwich commissioners, drove the +countess from the roadside. But in the bright days of May she +reappeared to resume the fight, and this time took possession of a +cottage at Dilston, whence, says a newspaper report of the period, "it +is expected she will be ejected; but she may do as she did before, and +pitch her tent on the high-road." On the 30th of the same month, the +conviction by the Northumberland magistrates "for erecting a hut on +the roadside," was affirmed by the Court of Queen's Bench.</p> + +<p>On the 17th November, 1869, while Mr. Grey was collecting the +Derwentwater rents, the countess marched into the apartment, at the +head of her attendants, to forbid the proceedings. She was richly +apparelled, but her semi-military guise did not save herself, or those +who came with her, from being somewhat rudely ejected. Her sole +consolation was that the mob cheered her lustily as she drove off in +her carriage.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of January, in the following year, a great demonstration in +her favour took place at Consett, in the county of Durham. A few days +previously a large <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span> + +quantity of live stock had been seized at the +instance of the countess, for rent alleged to be due to her, and an +interdict had been obtained against her, prohibiting her from +disposing of it. However, she defied the law, and in the midst of +something very like a riot, the cattle were sold, flags were waved, +speeches were made, and the moment was perhaps the proudest which the +heiress of the Derwentwaters is likely to see in this country.</p> + +<p>Such conduct could not be tolerated. The Lords of the Admiralty were +roused, and formally announced that the claims of the so-called +countess were frivolous. They also warned their tenants against paying +their rents to her, and took out summonses against those who had +assisted at the sale. On the 16th of January, the ringleaders in the +disgraceful affair were committed for trial.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this untoward <i>contretemps</i>, the countess made a +further attempt, in February, to collect the rents of the forty-two +freehold estates, which she said belonged to her. But the bailiffs +were in force and resisted her successfully, being aided in their work +by a severe snowstorm, which completely cowed her followers, although +it did not cool her own courage. On the 11th of February, 1870, the +Lords of the Admiralty applied for an injunction to prevent the +so-called countess from entering on the Greenwich estates, and their +application was immediately granted. Shortly afterwards the bailiff +acting on behalf of the countess, and the ringleaders in the Consett +affair, were sentenced to short terms of imprisonment. Thus those in +possession of the property could boast a decided victory.</p> + +<p>But the law courts are free to all, and the countess determined to +take the initiative. She had jewels, and pictures, and documents which +would at once prove her identity and the justice of her claim. +Unfortunately they were all in Germany, and the lady was penniless. By +the generosity of certain confiding gentlemen, about £2000 was +advanced, on loan, to bring them to this country. They came, but their +appearance was not satisfactory even to the creditors, who became +clamorous <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span> + +for their money. There was only one way left to satisfy +them, and Amelia, of Derwentwater, took it. The jewels and pictures +were brought to the hammer in an auction-room in Hexham—the countess +disappeared from public ken, and the newspapers ceased to chronicle +her extraordinary movements.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ARTHUR_ORTON_WHO_CLAIMED_TO_BE_SIR_ROGER_CHARLES_DOUGHTY_TICHBORNE" id="ARTHUR_ORTON_WHO_CLAIMED_TO_BE_SIR_ROGER_CHARLES_DOUGHTY_TICHBORNE"></a>ARTHUR ORTON—WHO CLAIMED TO BE SIR ROGER CHARLES DOUGHTY TICHBORNE, BART.</h2> + + + +<p>The case of Arthur Orton is too recent to need many words of +introduction. We have hardly yet cooled down to a sober realization of +the facts which, as they stand, mark the latest and most bulky of the +claimants, as not only the greatest impostor of modern or perhaps of +any days, the base calumniator who endeavoured to rob a woman of her +fair fame to gratify his own selfish ends, but as a living proof of +the height to which the blind credulity of the public will now and +again elevate itself. Arthur Orton is in prison undergoing what all +thinking men must admit to be a very lenient sentence—a sentence +which in no way meets the justice of the case; for the advent of this +huge carcase lumbering the earth with lies was nothing less than a +misfortune to the people of England. And the word misfortune, if used +even in its highest and widest sense, will in no way imply that which +has happened to a peaceful family, who have been associated with their +lands and titles as long as our history goes back, and who have had +their privacy violated, and the sanctity of their homes invaded; who +have been pilloried before a ruthless and unsympathising mob, who have +had their women's names banded from one coarse mouth to another, and +who—least misfortune of all—have had to expend large sums of money, +and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span> + +great amounts of time and trouble, to free themselves from a +persecution as unparalleled as it was vicious and cruel. Those who, +having neither fame nor fortune to lose, speak lightly and think not +at all of the sorrows which were launched avalanche-like upon the +devoted heads of the Tichbornes and their connections, would do well +to ponder over what such personation as that of Arthur Orton means to +its immediate victims. It means a sudden derangement of all the ties +and sympathies by which life is made dear, a sudden shock which never +in life will be recovered. There is no member of the community, no +matter how well and how carefully he has chosen his path in life, who +would not fear to have his every action published and criticised, his +every motive analysed unfairly, and the most mischievous construction +placed upon each deed or thought found capable of perversion. How much +more terrible would it be, then, for any man to know that his wife or +mother was to be subjected to such ordeal; that for no fault +committed, for nothing but the delectation of an unscrupulous +scoundrel and his admirers, a tender and sensitive lady was to be put +to torture far worse than any physical punishment could ever have +been, even in ages and countries whose only refinement was that of +cruelty?</p> + +<p>Arthur Orton is in prison, but there are still many who loudly assert +their belief in his identity with the lost Sir Roger; there are others +who are quite as strong in their avowals of doubt as to the name found +for the huge mystery being the correct one; and there are again others +who, caring little who or what the man may be, affect to credit many +of his most villanous utterances. But do these people in their blind +impetuosity ever give the merits of the case one thought? do they +remember that Orton was detected in his every lie, and found as +heinously guilty as man can be detected and found guilty, when the +evidence against him admits of but circumstantial proof? They do not; +and like the man who constantly avers that the earth is flat, and his +congeners who deny the existence of a Being who is apparent in every +one of His marvellous works, the believers in Orton must <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a>[257]</span> + +be placed in +the catalogue of those who, either of malice prepense, or from mental +affliction, take the wrong view of a subject as naturally as sparks +fly upwards. If the man now in prison is Sir Roger Tichborne, then +trial by jury, the selection of our judges, and the whole basis of our +legal system—indeed, of almost every system by which calm and +peaceful government is maintained, and the right of the subject duly +regarded—must be radically wrong, and right is wrong also. If he is +not Arthur Orton, then there never was an Arthur Orton, and Wapping is +a place which has no existence out of the annals of the Tichborne +trial.</p> + +<p>The baronetcy of Tichborne, now Doughty-Tichborne, is not only old of +itself, and connected with vast estates, but is held by a family well +known in the history of this country, even as far as that history +goes. No <i>parvenu</i>, whose rank is the result of success in +cheesemongering or kindred pursuit, is the holder of the title, for, +as Debrett tells us, the family of Tichborne was of great importance +in Hampshire before the Conquest, and derives its name from the river +Itchen, at the head of which it had estates; "hence it was called De +Itchenbourne, since corrupted into Tichborne. Sir John de Tichborne, +knight, sheriff of Southampton, on hearing of the death of Queen +Elizabeth, immediately repaired to Winchester, and there proclaimed +King James VI. (of Scotland) as King of England. In 1621, he was +created a baronet, the honour of knighthood having been previously +conferred upon three of his sons, while his fourth son Henry was +subsequently knighted. Sir Henry, the third baronet, hazarded his life +in defence of Charles I. in several enterprises, and his estates were +sequestrated by the Parliamentarians. After the restoration he was +successively Lieutenant of the New Forest, and Lieutenant of +Ordnance." Other Tichbornes have been sufficiently prominent in their +times to leave marks on the history of the country; and altogether +riches and honours seemed, until comparatively recently, to be the +unshadowed lot of the head of the family. That, however, large estates +and long descent do not always secure perfect happiness, has been very + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a>[258]</span> + +well shown in the great trial just past, in many ways perfectly +independent of the actual result, or of any question as to whether or +not the claimant was he whom he professed to be.</p> + +<p>Family differences and unpleasantnesses seem to have been the actual, +even if remote, cause of the great imposition of Arthur Orton. Had +matters been conducted as one might have anticipated they would among +people blessed with the means of gratifying every whim and caprice, +Roger Tichborne would have lived and died like other men, and his name +would never have been known except as a quiet country gentleman of +English origin and French tastes, which led him into more or less +eccentricities, and caused him to be more or less popular among his +neighbours and dependants. But this was not to be. All great families +have their secret unpleasantnesses, and in these the Tichbornes were +by no means behindhand. The Tichbornes generally had a knack of +disagreeing, and this feeling was shown in excelsis by James, the +father of Roger, and his wife, who lived abroad for many years, she +being French in every sentiment, while the husband was but +naturalized, and now and again exhibited a desire to return to his +native land. When Roger was born there was but little chance of his +ever becoming the owner of either titles or estates, and so his +education was entirely foreign, his tutors being M. Chatillon, and a +priest named Lefevre. As time wore on, it became evident that Mr. James +Tichborne would in due course become Sir James, and he felt it his +duty to secure to his son an English education. This the mother +opposed most strenuously, and it was only by artifice that the boy was +brought to England. Sir Henry Joseph Tichborne, who had succeeded to +the baronetcy in 1821, had no son, and though time after time a child +was born to him, Providence blessed him with no male heir. Again and +again a child would be born at Tichborne, but it was always a girl. +Sir Henry had seven children, of whom six lived, all celebrated for +their good looks, and their tall and handsome proportions; but all +were daughters. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>[259]</span> + +Still there was Sir Henry's brother, Edward +Tichborne, who had taken large estates under the will of a Miss +Doughty—which led to the present junction of the Doughty and +Tichborne properties, and to the double surname—and with them had +assumed the name of that lady, and he was after Sir Henry the next +heir. Edward had a son and daughter. But one day there came the news +to James and his wife in France, that Sir Edward's little boy had +died, and then it was that the father perceived more clearly the error +that he had made in permitting Roger to grow up ignorant of English +habits and the English tongue. Edward Doughty was an old man. His +brother James Tichborne himself was growing in years. The prospect of +Roger one day becoming the head of the old house of Tichborne, which +had once been so remote, had now become almost a certainty. It would +not do for the Lord of Tichborne to be a Frenchman; sooner or later he +must learn English, and receive an education fitting him to take the +position which now appeared in store for him. All this was clear +enough to Mr. James, but not so clear to his weak-headed and prejudiced +wife. The father did, indeed, obtain her consent to take the boy over +to England, and let him see his uncle and aunt, the Doughtys, at +Upton, in Dorsetshire, and his uncle, Sir Henry, at the ancestral home +down in Hampshire. But Roger was then but a child, and as he grew +older Mrs. Tichborne became more than ever resolute in her +determination that, come what might, her darling should be a +Frenchman. What cared she for the old Hampshire traditions? France was +to her the only land worth living in; a Frenchman's life was the only +life worthy of the name. Her dear Roger might succeed to the title and +estates, but she could not bear the thought of his going to England. +It was in her imagination a land of cold bleak rains and unwholesome +fogs. But it was worse; it was the country of a people who had been +false to their ancient faith. Even the Tichbornes, though still +Catholics, had not always been true to their religion. And so Mrs. +Tichborne planned out for the future heir of Tichborne a life of +perpetual absenteeism. He should <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260"></a>[260]</span> + +marry into some distinguished family +in France or Italy, and little short of a Princess should share his +fortunes. If he went into the army it should be in some foreign +service. But in no case should he go to Tichborne, or set foot in +England again, if she could help it.</p> + +<p>James Tichborne was like many other weak men who have self-willed +wives. He put off the inevitable day as long as he could, but finally +achieved his purpose by strategy. Roger was in his seventeenth year +when the news arrived that Sir Henry had died. It was right that James +Tichborne should be present at his brother's funeral, and reasonable +that he should take with him the heir, as everyone regarded him to +be. Accordingly Roger took leave of his mother under solemn +injunctions to return quickly. But there was no intention of allowing +him to return. The boy attended the funeral of his uncle at the old +chapel at Tichborne, went to his grandfather's place at Knoyle, and +thence, by the advice of relations and friends, and with the consent +of the boy himself, he was taken down to the Jesuit College at +Stonyhurst, and there placed in the seminary with the class of +students known as "philosophers." When Mrs. Tichborne learnt that this +step had been completed her fury knew no bounds. Roger wrote her kind +and filial letters in French—ill-spelt it is true, but admirably +worded, and testifying an amount of good sense which promised well for +his manhood. But Mrs. Tichborne gave no reply, and for twelve months +the son, though longing ardently for a letter, got no token of +affection. Yet Mrs. Tichborne was not the person to see her son removed +from her control without an effort. She upbraided her husband +violently, and there was a renewal of the old scenes in the Tichborne +household; but Roger was now far away, and the danger of Mr. +Tichborne's yielding in a momentary fit of weakness was at an end. +Meanwhile the mother wrote violent letters to the heads of the +college, exposing family troubles in a way which called forth a +remonstrance from even the lad himself. What was the precise nature of +his studies at Stonyhurst, and what progress he made in them, are +questions that have been much debated, but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261"></a>[261]</span> + +it is certain that he +applied himself resolutely to the study of English, and made such +progress that, although he could never speak it with so much purity +and command of words as when conversing in his mother tongue, he +learnt to write it with only occasional errors in spelling and +construction. In Latin he made some little progress, and in +mathematics more. He attended voluntary classes on chemistry, and his +letters evidence an inclination for the study both of science and +polite literature. At Stonyhurst Roger may be said to have passed the +three happiest years of his life.</p> + +<p>During the period just mentioned, the then last of the Tichbornes made +many friends, and if he did not become what we understand as +accomplished, he was refined and sensitive. During the vacations he +used to visit his English relatives in turn; but there was one place +above all others to which he preferred to go. This was the house at +Tichborne, then in possession of his father's brother Sir Edward +Doughty. There was a certain amount of delicacy in his position +towards his uncle and his aunt Lady Doughty, which cannot but be +intelligible to any one who has the least knowledge of human failings. +It is not in the nature of things that either Lady Doughty or her +husband could have been greatly predisposed towards the youthful +stranger, and Roger was shy and reserved and over-sensitive. He had +the misfortune to stand in the place which they must once have +ardently hoped that their dead child would have lived to inherit. Sir +Edward was in failing health, and his brother James was an old man. +The time could not therefore be far distant when this youth, with his +foreign habits and his strong French accent, would take possession of +Tichborne Park with all the ancient lands. More than that, he would +come into absolute possession of the new Doughty property, including +the beautiful residence of Upton, near Poole, in Dorsetshire, for +which Sir Edward and his family had so strong an affection. It was +through Sir Edward alone that this property had been acquired, but the +lady who had bequeathed it to him had no notion of founding a second +family; in time all the lands and houses in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a>[262]</span> + +various countries +bequeathed by her, as well as those which were purchased by trustees +under her will, were to go to swell the Tichborne estate, and to +increase the grandeur and renown of the old house. Upton was the +favourite home of the Doughtys. Sir Edward, who had been in the West +Indies, had returned thence with his black servant named Andrew Bogle, +then a boy, and had married—he and his wife doubtless for a long time +looking on Upton as their home for life. It cost them a pang to remove +even to the house at Tichborne. It was at Upton that their only +surviving child Kate had spent her early years, and to return there +and enjoy the fresh sea breezes in the summer holidays was always a +fresh source of delight. It was hard to think that even Upton must +pass from them, and that the day was probably not far distant when +there would be nothing left for them but to yield up their home and +estates to the new comer, and retire even upon a widow's handsome +jointure and the fortune of Miss Kate. But if such feelings ever +passed through the minds of the family at Tichborne, they could have +been only transient. The shy, pale-faced boy with the long dark locks, +came always to Tichborne in his holidays, making his way steadily in +the favour of that household, and this not from interested motives on +the part of Lady Doughty, as has been falsely alleged, and +triumphantly disproved, but clearly from something in the nature of +the youth which disarmed ill-feeling. Roger, despite his early +training abroad, soon showed good sound English tastes. He took +delight in country life; and though he did not bring down the +partridges in the woods, or throw the fly upon the surface of the +Itchen, with a degree of skill that would command much respect in the +county of Hants, he did his best, and really liked the out-door life. +In hunting he took delight from the time when he donned his first +scarlet coat, and he rarely missed an opportunity of appearing at "the +meet" in that neighbourhood. The time soon came when Roger had to +think of a profession, and James Tichborne again gave mortal offence +to his wife by determining that the young man <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263"></a>[263]</span> + +should go into the +army. Among the daughters of Sir Henry, was one who had married +Colonel William Greenwood of the Grenadier Guards. Their house at +Brookwood was but half an hour's ride from Tichborne, and Roger was +fond of visiting there. Colonel Greenwood's brother George was also in +the army, and he took kindly to Roger, and determined to do his best +to get him on. So he took him one morning to the Horse Guards, and +introduced him to the commander-in-chief, who promised him a +commission. There was a little delay in keeping this promise, and the +young man did not go troubling uncles again, but took the self-reliant +course of writing direct to the Horse Guards, to remind the +Commander-in-chief of what he had said; and before long Mr. Roger +Charles Tichborne was gazetted a cornet in the 6th Dragoons, better +known as the Carabineers. He passed his examination at Sandhurst +satisfactorily, and went straight over to Dublin to join his regiment. +From Dublin he went to the south of Ireland, and twice he came over to +England on short visits. He went through the painful ordeal of +practical joking which awaited every young officer in those days, and +came out of it, not without annoyance and an occasional display of +resentment, yet in a way which conciliated his brother officers; and +few men were more liked in the regiment than Roger Tichborne, +affectionately nicknamed among them "Teesh." In 1852 the Carabineers +came over to England, and were quartered at Canterbury. They expected +then to be sent to India, but the order was countermanded, and Roger +saw himself doomed apparently to a life of inaction. There is a letter +of Roger's among the mass of correspondence which he kept up at this +period of his life, in which he notices the fact that his mother still +dwelt upon her old idea of providing him with a wife in the shape of +one of those Italian princesses of which he had heard so much, and +with whom he had always been threatened. But Roger was by this time in +love with his cousin, and his love was by no means happy. Roger had +been for years visiting at Tichborne before he had ever seen his +cousin Kate there. He had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264"></a>[264]</span> + +met her long before when he came over as a +child from Paris on a visit, but Miss Doughty was too young at that +time to have retained much impression of the little dark-haired French +boy, who could hardly have said "Good morning, cousin," in her native +tongue. When Roger was twenty years of age, they met for a few days at +Bath, where both had come on the melancholy duty of taking leave of Mr. +Seymour, then lying dangerously ill and near his death. Then they +parted again; Roger went to Tichborne for a long stay, but Miss +Doughty returned to school at the convent at Taunton. In the Midsummer +holidays, however, they once more met at the house in Hampshire, and +for six weeks the young cousins saw each other daily. Then Miss +Doughty went away to Scotland with her parents; and the youth took +upon himself the pleasant duty of going to see the party take their +departure from St. Katherine's Wharf. October found the party again +assembled at Tichborne Park; and there Roger took farewell of uncle, +aunt, and cousin, to go to Ireland and join his regiment; and Miss +Doughty, whose schooldays were not yet ended, went down to a convent +at Newhall, in Essex. When Roger got a short leave of absence, his +first thought was to visit his uncle and aunt, who had so affectionate +a regard for him. There was a summer visit to Upton, in Dorsetshire, +for a week, when Miss Doughty happened to be there; and there was a +visit to Tichborne in January 1850, when there were great festivities, +for Roger then attained his majority; again the cousins took farewell, +and met no more for eighteen months. No wonder Roger loved Tichborne, +with all its associations. In that well-ordered and affectionate +household he found a tranquillity and happiness to which he had been a +stranger in his own home. In his correspondence with his father and +mother at this time there were no lack of tokens of a loving son; but +no one was more sensible than Roger of the miseries of that life which +he had led up to the day when he came away to pursue his studies at +the Jesuit College, and to learn to be an Englishman. But there was +another association, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a>[265]</span> + +long unsuspected, yet growing steadily, until it +absorbed all his thoughts, and gave to that neighbourhood a glory and +a light invisible to other eyes. Roger had spent many happy hours with +his cousin; she had grown in those few years from a girl almost into a +woman, and he had come to love her deeply. To her he said not a word, +to Sir Edward he dared not speak, but one day Roger took an +opportunity of confiding to Lady Doughty the new secret of his life. +His aunt did not discourage the idea; but Miss Doughty was still but a +girl of fifteen; and there was the grave objection that the twain were +first cousins. And besides, though Roger was of a kind and considerate +disposition, truthful, honourable, and scrupulous in points of duty, +he had certain habits which assumed serious proportions in the mind of +a lady so strict in notions of propriety. He had in Paris acquired a +habit of smoking immoderately. In the regiment he had been compelled, +by evil customs then prevailing, to go through a noviciate in the +matter of imbibing "military port;" and his habits had followed him to +Tichborne, and the young officer had been seen at least on one +occasion in a state of semi-intoxication—no less a word will describe +his condition. He was also accustomed to bring in his portmanteau +French novels, which were decidedly objectionable, though few young +men would probably regard it as much sin to read them. So little did +the young man appreciate her objections to this exciting kind of +literature that he had actually recommended to his aunt some stories +which no amount of humour and cleverness could prevent that pious lady +regarding as debasing and absolutely immoral. How Lady Doughty felt +under all the circumstances of Roger's love, as compared with his +general conduct, will be best shown by the following letter:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="quotdate">"1850. <span class="smcap">Tichborne Park,</span> <i>begun</i> 29 <i>Jan., finished 31st.</i></p> + +<span class="smcap">"My Dearest Roger,</span>—After three weeks being between life and +death it has pleased God to restore me so far that I have +this day for the first time been in the wheel chair to the +drawing-room, and I hasten to begin my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a>[266]</span> + +thanks to you for +your letters, especially that private one, though it may yet +be some days before I finish all I wish to say to you, for I +am yet very weak, and my eyes scarcely allow of reading or +writing.... Remember, dear Roger, that by that conversation +in town you gave me every right to be deeply interested in +your fate, and therefore doubly do I feel grieved when I see +you abusing that noblest of God's gifts to man, reason, by +diminishing its power.... I cannot recall to my mind the +subject you say I was beginning in the drawing-room when +interrupted; probably it might have had reference to the +confidence which you say you do not repent having placed in +me. No, dear Roger, never repent it; be fully assured that I +never shall betray that confidence. You are young, and +intercourse with life and the society you must mix with +might very possibly change your feelings towards one now +dear to you, or rather settle them into the affection of a +brother towards a sister; but whatever may be the case +hereafter, my line of duty is marked out, and ought steadily +to be followed; that is, not to encourage anything that +could fetter the future choice of either party before they +had fully seen others and mixed with the world, and with all +the fond care of a mother endeavour, while she is yet so +young, to prevent her heart and mind from being occupied by +ideas not suited to what should be her present occupations, +and hereafter, with the blessing of God, guard her against +the dangers she may be liable to be ensnared into by the +position in which she is placed.... You have been, I rejoice +to hear, raised in the opinion of all with whom you have +lately had to transact business by your firmness and +decision. You are in an honourable profession, which gives +you occupation.... Resist drink, or a rash throwing away +life, or wasting in any way the energies of a naturally +strong, sensible mind, and really attached heart. Now write +to me soon; tell me truly if I have tried your patience by +this long letter which I venture to send, for it is when +returning to life as I now feel that renewed love for all +dear to one seems to take possession of our hearts, so you +must forgive it if you find it long. Your <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267"></a>[267]</span> + + uncle and cousin +send their kindest love.—Adieu, dearest Roger, ever be +assured of the sincere affection and real attachment of your +aunt. +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">Katherine Doughty."</span></p> + +</div> + +<p>Roger protested that his failings had been exaggerated, and by his +letters it is noticeable there is a trace of vexation that Lady +Doughty should have lent an ear to coloured reports of his manner of +life; but there is no abatement in the affectionate terms on which he +stood with his aunt at Tichborne. Matters, however, could not long go +on in this fashion. As yet Roger Tichborne had never spoken of his +love to Miss Doughty, though it cannot be doubted that some tokens had +revealed that secret. But love must find expression in something more +than hints and tokens, and at last came the inevitable time. It was on +Christmas eve, 1851, that Roger joyfully set foot in Tichborne Park +once more. That was a happy meeting in all but the fact that Sir +Edward Doughty was in weak health. Now comes the <i>dénoûment</i>. Miss +Doughty had given Roger a keepsake volume of Father Faber's Hymns, and +there was an exchange of gifts. Suddenly the truth flashed across the +mind of the father, and he was vexed and angry. On a Sunday morning, +when the two cousins had been walking in the garden enjoying the +bright winter day, and they were sitting together at breakfast, a +message came that Sir Edward desired to see his nephew in the library. +The girl waited, but Roger did not come back to the breakfast table. +The eyes of the cousins met sorrowfully in the chapel, and in the +afternoon, with Lady Doughty's permission, they saw each other in the +drawing-room to take farewell. For Sir Edward's fiat had gone forth. +Marriage between first cousins was forbidden by the Church, and there +were other reasons why he was resolute that this engagement should be +broken off before it grew more serious. So it was arranged that on the +very next morning the young man should leave the house for ever. Thus +the great hope of Roger's life was suddenly extinguished, and there +was nothing left for him but to sail <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268"></a>[268]</span> + +with his regiment for India, and +endeavour, if he could, to forget the past. Some days after that, at +his cousin's request, he wrote out for her a narrative of his sorrows +at this time, in which he said:—</p> + +<p>"What I felt when I left my uncle it is difficult for me to explain. I +was like thunderstruck. I came back to my room, and tried to pack up +my things, but was obliged to give up the attempt, as my mind was +quite absent. I sank on a chair, and remained there, my head buried +between my two knees for more than half an hour. What was the nature +of my thoughts, my dearest K., you may easily imagine. To think that I +was obliged to leave you the next day, not to see you again—not, +perhaps, for years, if ever I came back from India. The idea was +breaking my heart. It passed on, giving me no relief, until about two +o'clock, when my aunt told me that you wished to see me. That news +gave me more pleasure than I could express; so much so that I never +could have expected it. The evening that I saw you, my dear K., about +five o'clock, you cannot conceive what pleasure it gave me. I saw you +felt my going away, so I determined to tell you everything I felt +towards you. What I told you it is not necessary to repeat, as I +suppose you remember it. When I came away from the drawing-room my +mind was so much oppressed that it was impossible to think of going to +bed. I stopped up until two o'clock in the morning. I do not think it +necessary, my dearest K., to tire you with all the details of what I +have felt for you during these two days; suffice it to say, that I +never felt more acute pain, especially during the night when I could +not sleep. I promise to my own dearest Kate, on my word and honour, +that I will be back in England, if she is not married or engaged, +towards the end of the autumn of 1854, or the month of January 1855. +If she is so engaged I shall remain in India for ten or fifteen years, +and shall wish for her happiness, which I shall be too happy to +promote."</p> + +<p>Neither Roger nor Kate had, however, given up hope of some change. +Lady Doughty, despite a secret dread of her nephew's habits, had a +strong regard for him, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269"></a>[269]</span> + +would be certain to plead his cause. And +in a very few days circumstances unexpectedly favoured his suit. Sir +Edward's malady grew worse, the physicians despaired, and he believed +himself near his end. Roger was sent for hurriedly to take farewell of +his uncle. As he approached the sick bed his uncle said, "I know, my +dear Roger, the mutual attachment which exists between you and your +cousin. If you were not so near related I should not object at all to +a marriage between you two: but, however, wait, three years; then, if +the attachment still exists between you, and you can get your father's +consent, and also leave from the Church, it will be the will of God, +and I will not object to it any longer."</p> + +<p>To which Roger replied—"Ever since I have had the pleasure of knowing +you and my cousin, I have always tried to act towards you two in the +most honourable way I possibly could. The Church, as you know, grants +dispensations on these occasions. Of course, if you approve of it, I +will get my father's consent, and also leave from the Church, and do +it in an honourable way in the eyes of God and of the world." These +two speeches seem rather stilted and unnatural, yet this is how they +have been given in evidence. Days passed, and Roger sat up night after +night with his uncle. It was during those tedious watchings that he +again wrote at Miss Doughty's request a narrative of his feelings, +which ran thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + <p class="quotdate"><span class="smcap"> "Tichborne Park</span>, <i>Feb</i>. 4, 1852 (1.30 A.M.)</p> + + "I shall go on," he said, "with my confessions, only asking +for some indulgence if you find them too long and too +tedious. You are, my dearest K., the only one for whom I +have formed so strong and sincere an attachment. I never +could have believed, a few years ago, I was able to get so +attached to another. You are the only young person who has +shown me some kindness, for which I feel very thankful. It +is in some respects rather a painful subject for me to have +to acknowledge my faults; but, as I have undertaken the +task, I must write all I have done, and what have been my +thoughts, for the last five weeks. I had a very wrong idea +when <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a>[270]</span> + +I left Ireland. It was this: I thought that you had +entirely forgotten me. I was, nevertheless, very anxious to +come to Tichborne for a short time to take a last farewell +of you, my uncle, and my aunt. My mind and heart were then +so much oppressed by these thoughts, that it was my +intention not to come back from India for ten or fifteen +years. I loved you, my dearest K., as dearly as ever. I +would have done anything in this world to oblige you, and +give you more of that happiness which I hoped I might see +you enjoy. I would have given my life for your happiness' +sake. To have seen all these things, I repeat again, with a +dry eye and an unbroken heart, or for a person who has a +strong feeling of attachment towards another to behold it, +is almost beyond human power. These feelings will arise when +I shall be thousands of miles from you, but I have taken my +pains and sorrows and your happiness in this world, and said +a prayer that you might bear the pains and sorrows of this +world with courage and resignation, and by these means be +happy in the next. When I came here I found I had been +mistaken in the opinion I had formed, and I reproached +myself bitterly for ever having such an idea. It is not +necessary for me to mention that I got rid of these bad +thoughts in a few minutes. Things went on happily until +Sunday, January 11, 1852, when I was sent for by my uncle at +breakfast. What took place between us I think it unnecessary +to repeat, as you know already. I was obliged to leave the +next morning by the first train for London. I never felt +before so deeply in my life what it was to part with the +only person I ever loved. How deeply I felt I cannot +express, but I shall try to explain as much of it as I can +in the next chapter. + +<p>"What I have suffered last night I cannot easily explain. +You do not know, my own dearest K., what are my feelings +towards you. You cannot conceive how much I loved you. It +breaks my heart, my own dearest K., to think how long I +shall be without seeing you. I do feel that more than I can +tell you. You have the comfort of a home, and, moreover, at +some time or other, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271"></a>[271]</span> + +some person to whom you can speak, and +who will comfort you. I have none. I am thrown on the world +quite alone, without a friend—nothing; but, however, I +shall try and take courage, and I hope that when you will +see me in three years you will find a change for the better. +I shall employ these three years to reform my conduct, and +become all that you wish to see me. I shall never, my own, +my dearest K., forget the few moments I have spent with you; +but, on the contrary, I shall only consider them as the +happiest of my life. You cannot imagine how much pleasure +your letter has given me. It proved to me, far beyond any +possible doubt, what are your feelings towards me. I did +not, it is true, require that proof to know how you felt for +me. It is for that reason that I thank you most sincerely +for that proof of confidence, by expressing yourself so +kindly and openly to me. You may rest assured, my own +dearest K., that nothing in this world will prevent me, +except death in actual service, from coming back from India +at the time I have named to you—the latter part of the +autumn of 1854, or the beginning of 1855. It will be a great +comfort for me, my own dearest K., when I shall be in India, +to think of you. It will be, I may say, the only pleasure I +shall have to think of the first person I ever loved. You +may rest assured that nothing in the world will make me +change. Moreover, if you wish me to come back sooner, only +write to me, and I shall not remain five minutes in the army +more than I can help. I shall always be happy to comply with +your wishes, and come back as soon as possible. Again rest +assured, my dearest K., that if in any situation of life I +can be of help or service to you, I shall only be too happy, +my dearest K., to serve and oblige you.—Your very +affectionate cousin, </p> +<p class="quotsig"> +<span class="smcap">"R.C. tichborne</span>."</p> +</div> + +<p>Roger went back to his regiment in Ireland soon after the date given +in the foregoing extract; but the Carabineers were finally removed to +Canterbury, and in the summer he again got leave of absence, which he +spent with his aunt and cousin in London, and at Tichborne; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272"></a>[272]</span> + +and it +was on the 22d of June 1852, that the young people walked together for +the last time in the garden of Tichborne house. They talked of the +future hopefully; and for her comfort he told her a secret. Some +months before that time he had made a vow, and written out and signed +it solemnly. It was in these words:—"I make on this day a promiss, +that if I marry my Cousin Kate Doughty, this year, or before three +years are over, at the latest, to build a church or chapel at +Tichborne to the Holy Virgin, in thanksgiving for the protection which +she has showed us in praying God that our wishes might be fulfilled." +Roger went back to his regiment and indulged his habitual melancholy. +To his great regret, the order for the Carabineers to go to India had +been countermanded; but he had no intention of leading the dull round +of barrack life in Canterbury. He had determined to go abroad for a +year and a half or two years; by that time the allotted period of +trial would be near an end. He had determined to leave a profession +which offered no outlet for his energies. The tame round of the cities +and picture-galleries of Europe had no charms for him. Among the many +books which he had read at this time were the Indian romances of +Chateaubriand, "René," "Attila," and "Le Dernier Abencerage." How +deeply these stories had impressed his mind is apparent in his letters +to Lady Doughty. "Happy," he says, "was the life of René. He knew how +to take his troubles with courage, and keep them to himself,—retired +from all his friends to be more at liberty to think about his sorrows +and misfortunes, and bury them in himself. I admire that man for his +courage; that is, the courage to carry those sorrows to the grave +which drove him into solitude." Among his intimate friends and +schoolfellows at Stonyhurst, was Mr. Edward Waterton, whose father, the +celebrated naturalist, had given to the college a collection of +stuffed foreign birds and other preserved animals; and there can be no +doubt that the famous narratives of adventure in South America of that +distinguished traveller were among the books which Roger and other +college friends read at that period. How deeply the splendours <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273"></a>[273]</span> + +of the +natural history collection of Stonyhurst had impressed the mind of the +boy is evidenced in the fact that Roger took delight at school in +practising the art of preserving birds and other animals; while long +afterwards, in humble emulation of the great naturalist's achievement, +he gathered and sent home, when on his travels, many a specimen of +birds of splendid plumage. South America, in short, had long been the +subject of his dreams; and now in travelling in that vast continent, +he would try to find occupation for the mind, and get through the long +time of waiting which he had undertaken to bear patiently. His scheme +was to spend a twelvemonth in Chili, Guayaquil, and Peru, seeing not +only wild scenes but famous cities; thence to visit Mexico, and so by +way of the United States find his way back to England. Having taken +this resolution, he set about putting his affairs in order, for Roger +was a man of business-like habits, and by no means prone to neglect +his worldly interests. He made his will,—saying, however, as he +remarked in one of his letters, "nothing about the church or chapel at +Tichborne," which he said he would only build under the conditions +mentioned in a paper which he had left in the hands of his dearest and +most trusted friend, Mr. Gosford, the steward of the family estates. In +truth, months before the day when he gave Miss Doughty a copy of "The +Vow" in the garden at Tichborne, he had solemnly signed and sealed up +a compact with his own conscience, and deposited it with other +precious mementoes of that time in his friend's safe keeping. Parting +with friends in England cost him, perhaps, but little sorrow, for his +mind was full of projects to be carried into effect on his return. He +aspired to the character of a traveller, and to be qualified for +membership at the Travellers' Club, where, in one of his letters while +abroad, he requests that his name may be inscribed as a candidate. He +had an old habit of keeping diaries, and he promised to send extracts, +and, after all, the time would not be long. There was one house in +which Roger naturally shrank from saying farewell. He had made a +solemn resolution that he would go to Tichborne no more while matters +remained thus, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span> + +and his pride was wounded by what appeared to him to +be a want of confidence on the part of Lady Doughty. In a worldly +point of view it is difficult to conceive any union more desirable +than that of the two cousins. But it is clear that the mother trembled +for the future of her child. Hence she still gave ready ear to tales +of the wild life of the regiment, and hinted them in her letters to +her nephew in a way that made him angry, but not vindictive. He was +asked to go and see his uncle, Sir Edward, before starting; but his +will was inflexible, and he went away, as he had all along said that +he would, resolved to bury his sorrows within himself. Roger went away +in February, and spent nearly three weeks in Paris with his parents +and some old friends of his early days. His mother was much averse to +his plan of travelling; and she opposed it both by her own +upbraidings, and by the persuasion of spiritual advisers who had +influence over her son. But it was of no avail. Roger had chosen to +sail in a French vessel from Havre—"La Pauline"—and sail he would. +His voyage to Valparaiso was to last four months, and thence he was +going on in the same vessel to Peru. It was doubtless because of the +strong hold which the French language and many French manners still +had on him, that, though he took an English servant with him, he +preferred a French ship with a French captain and French seamen. On +the 1st of March, 1853, he sailed away from Europe, and, as we are +bound to believe, never returned. The "Pauline" started with bad +weather, which detained her in the Channel, and compelled her to put +in at Falmouth, but after that she made a good voyage round Cape Horn +to Valparaiso, where she arrived on the 19th of June. As the vessel +was to remain there a month, Roger, after spending a week in +Valparaiso, started with his servant John Moore to see Santiago, the +capital of Chili, about ninety miles inland. Thence he returned and +sailed for Peru, where he embarked for places in the north. At +Santiago his servant had been taken ill, and, though recovering, was +unfitted to travel. His master thereupon furnished him with funds to +set up a store, and took another servant, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a>[275]</span> + +with whom he underwent many +adventures. At Lima he visited the celebrated churches, and purchased +souvenirs for his friends and relatives. Having stored a little yacht +with provisions, he started with his servant on a voyage of about +three hundred miles up the river Guayaquil, and was for some days +under the Line; he made similar journeys in a canoe with his servant +and two Indians, still bent on collecting and preserving rare birds of +gorgeous plumage. He also visited and explored silver and copper +mines. During all this travelling he continued his home correspondence +with great regularity. But the first news he received was bad. +Scarcely had the "Pauline" left sight of our shores, when Sir Edward +Doughty died, and Roger's father and mother were now Sir James and +Lady Tichborne. By and by the wanderer began to retrace his steps, +came back to Valparaiso, and with his last new servant, Jules Berraut, +rode thence in one night ninety miles to Santiago again. Again he +started with muleteers and servants on the difficult and perilous +journey over the Cordilleras, and thence across the Pampas to Buenos +Ayres, Monte Video, and Rio de Janeiro. In April 1854, there was in +the harbour of Rio a vessel which hailed from Liverpool, and was +called the "Bella." She was about to sail for Kingston, Jamaica, and +it was to Kingston that Roger had directed his letters and remittances +to be forwarded, that being a convenient resting place on his journey +to Mexico, where he intended to spend a few months. The "Bella" was a +full-rigged ship of nearly 500 tons burden, clipper-built, and almost +new. Aboard this ship, then taking in her cargo of coffee and logwood, +came one April morning a young English gentleman who introduced +himself as Mr. Tichborne. He was dressed in a half tourist, half +nautical costume, and wanted a passage to Kingston. Travelling with +servants, hiring yachts and canoes, buying paintings, curiosities, and +natural history specimens, had proved more expensive than he expected. +His funds were exhausted; nor could his purse be replenished until he +got to Kingston, where letters of credit were expected to be waiting +for him. It was some little time before the captain <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a>[276]</span> + +believed the +young man's story, but when he did, he not only undertook to convey +him and his people to Kingston; he determined to help him in a matter +of some delicacy and not a little danger; for when the vessel was near +sailing, Roger was found to be without that indispensable requisite, a +passport. Great excitement then prevailed in Brazil on the subject of +runaway slaves. Black slaves had escaped by making themselves +stowaways; "half-caste" people, relying on their comparative fairness +of skin, had openly taken passage as seamen or even passengers, and +thus got away from a hateful life of bondage. Hence the peremptory +regulation that no captain should sail with a stranger aboard without +an official license. Under these circumstances a plan was devised by +the captain. When the Government officers came aboard, no Tichborne or +other stranger was visible. As the vessel, loosened from her moorings, +was slowly drifting down the harbour in the morning, the officers sat +at a little table on deck, smoked and drank with the captain. At +length the moment came to call their boat and take farewell, wishing +the good ship "Bella" and her valuable freight a pleasant voyage. +Scarcely had they departed, when the table was removed; and just +beneath where they had been sitting a circular plug closing the +entrance to what is known as the "lazarette" was lifted, and out came +Roger laughing at the success of their harmless device. Before noon +the "Bella" had passed from the harbour of Rio into the open ocean, +and was soon on her voyage northward. That was on the 20th of April +1854, and that is the last ever known in good sooth of the "Bella," +except as a foundered vessel. Six days after she had left the port of +Rio, a ship, traversing her path, found tokens of a wreck—straw +bedding such as men lay on deck in hot latitudes, a water-cask, a +chest of drawers, and among other things a long boat floating bottom +upwards, and bearing on her stern the ominous words "Bella, +Liverpool." These were brought into Rio, and forthwith the Brazilian +authorities caused steam vessels to go out and scour the seas in quest +of survivors; but none were seen. That the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277"></a>[277]</span> + +"Bella" had foundered +there was little room to doubt; though the articles found were chiefly +such as would have been on her deck. Even the items of cabin furniture +were known to have been placed on deck to make way for merchandise, +with which she was heavily laden. The night before these articles were +found had been gusty, but there had been nothing like a storm. When +time went by and brought no tidings, Captain Oates, a great friend of +the captain of the "Bella," who had been instrumental in getting Roger +on board, came with other practical seamen to the conclusion that she +had been caught in a squall; that her cargo of coffee had shifted; and +that hence, unable to right herself, the "Bella" had gone down in deep +water, giving but little warning to those on board. In a few months +this sorrowful news was brought to Tichborne, where there was of +course great mourning. One by one the heirs of the old house were +disappearing; and now it seemed that all the hopes of the family must +be centred in Alfred, then a boy of fifteen. So, at least, felt Sir +James Tichborne. He had inquiries made in America and elsewhere. For a +time there was a faint hope that some aboard the "Bella" had escaped, +and had, perhaps, been rescued. But months went by, and still there +was no sign. The letters of news that poor Roger had so anxiously +asked to be directed to him at the Post Office, Kingston, Jamaica, +remained there till the paper grew faded. The banker's bill, which was +wanted to pay the passage money, lay at the agents, but neither the +captain nor his passenger of the "Bella" came to claim it. Weeks and +months rolled on; the annual allowance of one thousand a year, which +was Roger's by right, was paid into Glyn & Co.'s bank, but no draft +upon it was ever more presented at their counters. The diligent +correspondent ceased to correspond. At Lloyd's the unfortunate vessel +was finally written down upon the "Loss Book"—the insurance was paid +to the owners, and in time the "Bella" faded away from the memories of +all but those who had lost friends or relatives in her. Lady Tichborne +was always full of hope that her son had been saved, and could never +be brought <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"></a>[278]</span> + +to regard him as drowned; but we have now seen the last of +the real Roger Tichborne, and our next business will be with the +counterfeit.</p> + +<p>At last, in the neighbourhood in which Sir James and his wife lived, +it became notorious that the mother was prepared to receive any one +kindly who professed to have news of her son, and naturally when the +story once got wind there were many who tried to profit by her +credulity. Among other adventurers, a tramp in the dress of a sailor +found his way to Tichborne, and, having poured into the willing ears +of the poor mother a wild story about some of the survivors of the +"Bella" being picked up off the coast of Brazil, and carried to +Melbourne, was forthwith regaled and rewarded. There is a freemasonry +among beggars which sufficiently explains the fact, that very soon the +appearance of ragged sailors in Tichborne Park became common. Sailors +with one leg, and sailors with one arm, loud-voiced, blustering +seamen, and seamen whose troubles had subdued their tones to a +plaintive key, all found their way to the back door of the great +house. Everyone of them had heard something about the "Bella's" crew +being picked up; and could tell more on that subject than all the +owners, or underwriters, or shipping registers in the world. And poor +Lady Tichborne believed, as is evidenced by a letter of hers written +in 1857, only three years after the shipwreck, to a gentleman in +Melbourne, imploring him to make inquiries for her son in that part of +the world. Sir James, however, though no less sorrowful, had no faith; +and he made short work of tramping sailors who came to impose on the +poor lady with their unsubstantial legends. But Sir James died in +1862. Shortly before this event his only surviving son Alfred had +married Theresa, a daughter of the eleventh Lord Arundel of Wardour. +This, however, did not prevent the mother, in one of her crazy moods, +taking a step calculated to induce some impostor to come forward and +claim to be the rightful heir—which was the insertion of an +advertisement in the <i>Times</i>, offering a reward for the discovery of +her eldest son, and giving a number of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279"></a>[279]</span> + +particulars with regard to his +birth, parentage, age, date and place of shipwreck, name of vessel, +and other matters. She also incorporated in her advertisement the +stories of the tramping sailors about his having been picked up and +carried to Melbourne; and this mischievous advertisement was published +in various languages, and doubtless copied in the South American and +Australian newspapers. This is the first step we find towards the +formation of the imposture.</p> + +<p>Time rolled on, and no Roger, true or false, made his appearance. One +day the Dowager happened to see in a newspaper a mention of the fact +that there was in Sydney a man named Cubitt, who kept what he called a +"Missing Friends' Office." To Cubitt accordingly she wrote a long +rambling letter, in which, among other tokens of her state of mind, +she gave a grossly incorrect account of her son's appearance, and even +of his age; but Cubitt was to insert her long advertisement in the +Australian papers, and he was promised a handsome reward. Cubitt, in +reply, amused the poor lady with vague reports of her son being found +in the capacity of a private soldier in New Zealand; and as there was +war there at that time the poor lady wrote back in an agony of terror +to entreat that he might be bought out of the regiment. Mr. Cubitt soon +perceived the singular person he had to deal with; and his letters +from that time were largely occupied with requests for money for +services which had no existence out of the letters. At last came more +definite information. A Mr. Gibbes, an attorney at the little town of +Wagga-Wagga, two hundred miles inland from Sydney, had, he said, found +the real Roger living "in a humble station of life," and under an +assumed name. Again money was wanted. Then Gibbes, apparently +determined to steal a march on Cubitt, wrote directly to the credulous +lady, and there was much correspondence between them. At first there +were some little difficulties. The man who, after a certain amount of +coyness, had pleaded guilty to being the long-lost heir, still held +aloof in a strange way, concealed his present name and occupation, and +instead of going home at once, preferred to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280"></a>[280]</span> + +bargain for his return +through the medium of an attorney and the keeper of a missing-friends' +office. All this, however, did not shake the faith of Lady Tichborne. +Then he gave accounts of himself which did not in the least tally with +the facts of Roger's life. He said he was born in Dorsetshire, whereas +Roger was born in Paris; he accounted for being an illiterate man by +saying that he had suffered greatly in childhood from St. Vitus's +dance, which had interfered with his studies. "My son," says Lady +Tichborne, in reply, "never had St. Vitus's dance." When asked if he +had not been in the army, he replied, "Yes," but that he did not know +much about it, because he had merely enlisted as a private soldier "in +the Sixty-sixth Blues," and had been "bought off" by his father after +only thirteen days' service. What ship did you leave Europe in? +inquired Mr. Gibbes, with a view of sending further tokens of identity +to the Dowager. To this inquiry, Roger Tichborne might have been +expected to answer in "La Pauline," but, as was shown in the trial, +this mysterious person replied, in "The Jessie Miller." "And when did +she sail?" "On the 28th of November, 1852," was the reply; whereas +Roger sailed on the 1st of March, 1853. Asked as to where he was +educated, the long-lost heir replied, "At a school in Southampton," +where Roger never was at school. But it happened that Lady Tichborne +in a letter to Mr. Gibbes had said that her son was for three years at +the Jesuit College of Stonyhurst, in Lancashire; Mr. Gibbes accordingly +suggested to the client "in a humble station of life," that his memory +was at fault on that point, but the client maintained his ground. "Did +she say he had been at Stonyhurst College? If so, it was false;" and, +he added, with an oath, "I have a good mind never to go near her again +for telling such a story." Yet this strange person was able to confirm +the entire story of the tramping sailors. He <i>had</i> embarked in the +"Bella," he <i>had</i> been picked up at sea with other survivors in a boat +off the coast of Brazil, and it was quite true that he was landed with +them in Melbourne. In short, he corroborated the Dowager's long +advertisement in every <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a>[281]</span> + +particular; but beyond that he had nothing of +the slightest importance to tell which was not absurdly incorrect. His +replies, however, were forwarded to the Lady Tichborne, with pressing +requests to send £200, then £250, and finally £400, to enable the lost +heir to pay his debts—an indispensable condition of his leaving the +colony. It is evident that the statements thus reported puzzled the +poor lady a little, and she seems to have been unable to account for +the lost heir sending his kind remembrance to his "grandpa," because +Roger's' paternal grandfather died before he was born; and his +grandfather by the mother's side had also died several years before +Roger left England, as the young man knew well enough. She was clearly +a little surprised to hear that the resuscitated Roger did not +understand a word of French, for "my son," she says, "was born in +Paris, and spoke French better than English." But yet, with the +strange pertinacity which causes people to cling to that which they +know to be wrong, and try to force themselves into belief of its +truth, she believed in the <i>bona-fides</i> of the claimant for maternal +solicitude and the paternal acres. "I fancied," she said in one letter +to Gibbes, "that the photographies you sent me are like him, but of +course after thirteen years' absence there must have been some +difference in the shape, as Roger was very slim; but," she added, "I +suppose all those large clothes would make him appear bigger than he +is." Again, alluding to the "photographies," she remarks that at least +the hand in the portrait is small, and adds, "that peculiar thing has +done a good deal with me to make me recognise him. A year and a half +was consumed in these tedious hagglings with brokers and agents for +the restoration of a lost heir, and during great part of that time the +lost heir himself made no sign, but contented himself with begging +trifling loans of Gibbes on the strength of his pretensions. Sometimes +a pound was the modest request; sometimes more. He had married, and a +child was born, and on that occasion he implored for "three pound," +plaintively declaring that he was "more like a mannick than a B. of +B.K. (supposed to mean a Baronet of British Kingdom) <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a>[282]</span> + +to have a child +born in such a hovel." Still the new man wrapped himself in +impenetrable secrecy. The Dowager Lady Tichborne complained that while +pressed to send everybody money, she was not even allowed to know the +whereabouts nor present name of her lost Roger; and she entreated +piteously to be allowed to communicate more directly. It was nothing +to her that the accounts the pretender had given of Roger's life were +wrong in every particular, except where her own advertisement had +furnished information. I think she said on this point, "My poor dear +Roger confuses everything in his head just as in a dream, and I +believe him to be my son, though his statements differ from mine." In +the midst of this curious correspondence trouble once more entered the +old home at Tichborne. Sir Alfred, the younger brother of Roger, was +dead, and the poor half-crazed mother in a solitary lodging in her +loved Paris was left more than ever desolate. Widowed and childless, +she had nothing now but to brood over her sorrows, and cling to the +old dream of the miraculous saving of her eldest born, who, since the +terrible hour of shipwreck—now twelve years past—had given no real +token of existence. The position of affairs at Tichborne was +remarkable, for though there were hopes of an heir to Tichborne, Sir +Alfred had left no child. Should the child—unborn, but already +fatherless—prove to be a girl, or other mischance befall, there was +an end of the old race of Tichborne. The property would then go to +collaterals, and the baronetcy must become extinct. It was under the +weight of these new sorrows that the Dowager Lady Tichborne wrote +pitiable letters to Gibbes, promising money and asking for more +particulars; while enclosing at the same time to the man who thus so +unaccountably kept himself aloof a letter beginning, "My dear and +beloved Roger, I hope you will not refuse to come back to your poor +afflicted mother. I have had the great misfortune to lose your poor +dear father, and lately I have lost my beloved son Alfred. I am now +alone in this world of sorrow, and I hope you will take that into +consideration, and come back." It is hardly surprising that during +this time Mr. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span> + +Gibbes was constantly urging his mysterious client to +relinquish his disguise. Why not write to the mother and mention some +facts known only to those two which would at once convince her? True, +he had already mentioned "facts," which turned out to be fictions, and +yet the Dowager's faith was unabated. Mr. Gibbes's client was therefore +justified in his answer, that he "did not think it needful." But +Gibbes was pressing, for it happened that the Dowager had in one of +her letters said, "I shall expect an answer from him. As I know his +handwriting, I shall know at once whether it is him." Accordingly we +find the Claimant, under the direction of Mr. Gibbes, penning this:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="quotdate"> <span class="smcap">"Wagga-Wagga,</span> <i>Jan</i>. 17 66.</p> + <span class="smcap">"My Dear Mother,</span>—The delay which has taken place since my +last Letter Dated 22d April 54 Makes it very difficult to +Commence this Letter. I deeply regret the truble and +anxoiety I must have cause you by not writing before. But +they are known to my Attorney And the more private details I +will keep for your own Ear. Of one thing rest Assured that +although I have been in A humble conditoin of Life I have +never let any act disgrace you or my Family. I have been A +poor Man and nothing worse Mr. Gilbes suggest to me as +essential. That I should recall to your Memory things which +can only be known to you and me to convince you of my +Idenitity I dont thing it needful my dear Mother, although I +sind them Mamely. the Brown Mark on my side. And the Card +Case at Brighton. I can assure you My Dear Mother I have +keep your promice ever since. In writing to me please +enclose your letter to Mr. Gilbes to prevent unnesersery +enquiry as I do not wish any person to know me in this +Country. When I take my proper prosition and title. Having +therefore mad up my mind to return and face the Sea once +more I must request to send me the Means of doing so and +paying a fue outstranding debts. I would return by the +overland Mail. The passage Money and other expences would be +over two Hundred pound, for I propose Sailing from Victoria +not this colonly And to Sail <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284"></a>[284]</span> + +from Melbourne in my own Name. +Now to annable me to do this my dear Mother you must send +me"—</div> + +<p>The half-sheet is torn off at this point, but it has been stated by +Lady Tichborne's solicitor, who saw it when complete, that the ending +originally contained the words "How's Grandma?" This must have again +puzzled the Dowager, for Roger had no "Grandma" living when he went +away. The date "22d April 54" was also incorrect, for the "Bella" +sailed on April 20th. But there were other difficulties; Lady +Tichborne had never seen, and, what is more, had never heard of any +brown mark on her son Roger; she could say nothing about the "card +case at Brighton" (which referred, according to Mr. Gibbes, to the +Claimant's assertion that he had left England in consequence of having +been swindled out of £1500 by Johnny and Harry Broome, prize-fighters, +and others at Brighton races); and lastly, the anxious mother could +not recognise the handwriting. The Australian correspondent was +somewhat disappointed that the mother did not at once acknowledge him +as her son. But the Dowager soon declared her unabated faith; sent +small sums and then larger, and finally made up her mind to forward +the four hundred pounds. Meanwhile she sent to him, as well as to her +other Australian correspondents, much family information. Among other +things she told him that there was a man named Guilfoyle at Sydney, +who had been gardener for many years at Upton and Tichborne, and +another man in the same town named Andrew Bogle, a black man, who had +been in the service of Sir Edward. Mr. Gibbes's client lost no time in +finding out both these persons, and soon became pretty well primed. It +was shortly after this period that it became known in Victoria and New +South Wales that there was a man named Thomas Castro, living in +Wagga-Wagga as a journeyman slaughterman and butcher, who was going to +England to lay claim to the baronetcy and estates of Tichborne. From +the letters and other facts it is manifest that it was originally +intended to keep all this secret even from the Dowager. "He wishes," +says his attorney, Mr. Gibbes, "that his present identity should be +totally <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285"></a>[285]</span> + +disconnected from his future." It happened that one Cator, a +Wagga-Wagga friend of the Claimant, whose letters show him to have +been a coarse-minded and illiterate man, was leaving for England +shortly before the time that Castro had determined to embark. Whether +invited or not Cator was not unlikely to favour his friend with a +visit in the new and flourishing condition which appeared to await him +in that country. Perhaps to make a virtue of necessity, Castro gave to +Cator a sealed envelope, bearing outside the words, "To be open when +at sea," and inside a note which ran as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="quotdate"><span class="smcap">"Wagga-Wagga,</span> <i>April 2nd</i>, 1866.</p> "Mr. Cater,—At any time wen you are in England you should +feel enclined for a month pleasure Go to Tichborne, in +Hampshire, Enquire for Sir Roger Charles Tichborne, +Tichborne-hall, Tichborne, And you will find One that will +make you a welcome guest. But on no account Mension the Name +of Castro or Alude to me being a Married Man, or that I have +being has a Butcher. You will understand me, I have no +doubt. Yours truely, Thomas Castro. I Sail by the June +Mail."</div> + +<p>All this secrecy, however, was soon given up as impracticable for +articles in the Melbourne, Wagga-Wagga, and Sydney journals, quickly +brought the news to England, and finally Castro determined to take +with him his wife and family. One of his earliest steps was to take +into his service the old black man Bogle, and pay the passage-money +both of himself and his son to Europe with him. Certain relics of +Upton and of Tichborne which the Claimant forwarded to a banker at +Wagga-Wagga from whom he was trying to obtain advances, were described +by the Claimant himself as brought over by "my uncle Valet who is now +living with me." The bankers, however, were cautious; and "declined to +make loans." Nevertheless, the Claimant had the good fortune to +convince a Mr. Long, who was in Sydney, and had seen Roger "when a boy +of ten years old riding in Tichborne Park," and accordingly this +gentleman advanced him a considerable sum. Finally the Claimant +embarked <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a>[286]</span> + +aboard the "Rakaia," on his way to France <i>viâ</i> Panama, and +accompanied by his family, and attended by old Bogle, his son, and a +youthful secretary, left Sydney on September 2d, 1866, and was +expected by the Dowager in Paris within two months from that date. But +nearly four months elapsed, and there were no tidings. Between +Christmas day and New Year's eve of 1866, there arrived in Alresford a +mysterious stranger, who put up at the Swan Hotel in that little town, +and said that his name was Taylor. He was a man of bulk and eccentric +attire. He wrapped himself in large greatcoats, muffled his neck and +chin in thick shawls, and wore a cap with a peak of unusual +dimensions, which, when it was pulled down, covered a considerable +portion of his features. The stranger, at first very reserved, soon +showed signs of coming out of his shell. He sent for Rous, the +landlord, and had a chat with him, in the course of which he asked +Rous to take him the next day for a drive round the neighbourhood of +Tichborne. Rous complied, and the innkeeper, chatting all the way on +local matters, showed his guest Tichborne village, Tichborne park and +house, the church, the mill, the village of Cheriton, and all else +that was worth seeing in that neighbourhood. In fact, Mr. Taylor became +very friendly with Rous, invited him to drink in his room, and then +confided to him an important secret—which, however, was by this time +no secret at all, for Mr. Rous had just observed upon his guest's +portmanteau the initials "R.C.T." Indeed it was already suspected in +the smoking-room of the Swan that the enormous stranger was the +long-expected heir. Suspicion became certainty when the stranger +telegraphed for Bogle, and that faithful black, once familiar in the +streets of Alresford, suddenly made his appearance there, began +reconnoitring the house at Tichborne, contrived to get inside the old +home, to learn that it had been let by the trustees of the infant +baronet to a gentleman named Lushington, and to examine carefully the +position of the old and new pictures hanging on the walls. This done, +the stranger and his black attendant disappeared as suddenly as they +had come. But the news spread <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287"></a>[287]</span> + +abroad, and reached many persons who +were interested. Roger's numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins heard of +the sudden appearance of the long-expected Australian claimant. The +Dowager in Paris, the mother of the infant, then at Ryde, all heard +the news; and finally Mr. Gosford, Roger's dearest and most intimate +friend and confidant, then in North Wales, got intelligence, and +hastened to London to ascertain if the joyful news could be true.</p> + +<p>But the enormous individual had vanished again. The circumstance was +strange. Bogle had written letters from Australia declaring that this +was the identical gentleman he had known years before as Mr. Roger +Tichborne when a visitor at Sir Edward's; and the Dowager had declared +herself satisfied. But why did the long-lost Roger hold aloof? No one +could tell. There was no reason for such conduct, and so suspicion was +engendered. With infinite pains Mr. Gosford and a gentleman connected +with the Tichborne family ascertained that the person who had figured +as Mr. Taylor at the Swan had taken apartments for himself and his +family at a hotel near Manchester Square, and that he had even been +there since Christmas day. But once more the clue was lost. Sir Roger +Tichborne had gone away with his wife and children, and left no one +there but Bogle and his secretary. Then by chance Mr. Gosford +discovered that "Sir Roger" was staying at the Clarendon Hotel, +Gravesend. Forthwith Mr. Gosford, with the gentleman referred to, and +Mr. Cullington, the solicitor, went to the Clarendon Hotel at +Gravesend, where, after long waiting in the hall, they saw a stout +person muffled, and wearing a peaked cap over the eyes, who, having +glanced at the party suspiciously, rushed past them, hurried upstairs, +and locked himself in a room. In vain the party sent up cards, in vain +they followed and tapped at the door. The stout person would not open, +and the party descended to the coffee-room, where soon afterwards they +received a mysterious note, concluding:—"pardon me gentlemen but I +did not wish any-one to know where I was staying with my family. And +was much anoyed to see you all here." Lady Tichborne herself had +failed to recognise in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a>[288]</span> + +letters from Wagga-Wagga the handwriting +of her son, and Mr. Gosford was equally unsuccessful. The party +therefore left the house after warning the landlord that he had for a +guest an "impostor and a rogue." Still the idea that his old friend, +who had made him his executor and the depositary of his most secret +wishes, could have come back again alive, however changed, was too +pleasing to be abandoned by Mr. Gosford, even on such evidence. +Accordingly, by arrangement with an attorney named Holmes, he went +down again, and, more successful this time, had conversation with the +stranger who called himself Roger. But nothing about the features of +the man brought back to him any recollection, and subsequent +interviews but confirmed the first impression.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Lady Tichborne had learned that he whom she called Roger +had arrived in England; and she wrote letters imploring him to come to +her, to which the Claimant, who had not been in London more than a +fortnight, answered, that he was "prevented by circumstances!" and +added, "Oh! Do come over and see me at once." On the very day after +the date of this letter, however, he arrived in Paris, accompanied by +a man whose acquaintance he had made in a billiard room, and by Mr. +Holmes, the attorney to whom his casual acquaintance had introduced +him. The party put up at an hotel in the Rue St. Honoré. They knew Lady +Tichborne's address in the Place de la Madeleine, scarcely five +minutes' walk from their hotel; but they had arrived somewhat late, +and "Sir Roger" paid no visit to his mother that day. Lady Tichborne +had in the meantime consulted her brother and others on the subject, +but though the opinions given by them were adverse to the claims of +the impostor, she only became more fixed in her ideas. Early the +morning after the Claimant's arrival, she sent her Irish servant, John +Coyne, to the hotel in the Rue St. Honoré with a pressing message, but +was told that "Sir Roger" was not well; his mistress, dissatisfied +with that message, sent him again, whereupon "Sir Roger" came out of +his bedroom and walked past him "slowly and with his head down," +bidding him at the same time <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"></a>[289]</span> + +go and tell his mamma that he was not +able to come to her; and his mistress, still more dissatisfied, then +directed her servant "to take a cab immediately and fetch her son." +Coyne then went a third time and found "Sir Roger" with his attorney +and his casual acquaintance sitting at breakfast, but was again +unsuccessful. Lady Tichborne that afternoon went herself to the hotel, +and was then permitted to see her son in a darkened chamber, and in +the presence of his attorney and friend. "Sir Roger," said Coyne, who +tells the story, "was lying on the bed with his back turned to us and +his face to the wall," and he added that while he was in that +position, his mistress leaned over and kissed Sir Roger on the mouth, +observing at the same time that "he looked like his father, though his +ears were like his uncle's." Then "Sir Roger" having remarked that he +was "nearly stifled," Lady Tichborne directed Coyne to "take off her +son's coat and undo his braces;" which duties the faithful domestic +accomplished with some difficulty, while at the same time he "managed +to pull him over as well as he could." Upon this Mr. Holmes, solemnly +standing up, addressed John Coyne in the words: "You are a witness +that Lady Tichborne recognises her son," and John Coyne having +replied, "And so are you," the ceremony of recognition was complete.</p> + +<p>Soon after this it was rumoured in the neighbourhood of Alresford, +that the Dowager Lady Tichborne had acknowledged the stranger as her +lost son Roger; that she had determined to allow the repentant +wanderer £1000 a year; and that he was going to take a house at +Croydon pending his entering into the possession of the Tichborne +estates. There happened then to be living in Alresford a gentleman +named Hopkins. He had been solicitor to the Tichborne family, but they +had long ceased to employ him. He had also been a trustee of the +Doughty estates, but had been compelled to resign that position, at +which he had expressed much chagrin. Hopkins had an acquaintance named +Baignet at Winchester, an eccentric person of an inquisitive turn. +Both these began at this time to busy themselves greatly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290"></a>[290]</span> + +in the +matter of the Tichborne Claimant, who, on his next visit to Alresford, +was accordingly invited to stay at Mr. Hopkins's house. From that time +Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Baignet became active partisans of the Claimant's +cause. Hopkins had not been the solicitor of Roger Tichborne, but he +had seen him occasionally from fifteen to twenty years previously; and +he made an affidavit, that "though he could not recall the expression +of Roger Tichborne's features," he had no doubt, from the knowledge +which the Claimant had shown of the neighbourhood of Tichborne and of +family matters, that he was the same person. All Alresford may, in +fact, be said to have been converted; the bells were rung on the +Claimant's arrival there; and Colonel Lushington, the tenant of +Tichborne house, invited the Australian stranger and his wife to stay +with him there. Colonel Lushington had never seen Roger Tichborne, but +he has explained that he was impressed by his visitor's knowledge of +the old pictures on the walls, which, it will be remembered, Bogle had +been sent by "Mr. Taylor" to reconnoitre. When the news came that "Sir +Roger's wife," on a visit with her husband to Col. Lushington, had had +a child baptised in the chapel at Tichborne, while Mr. Anthony +Biddulph, another convert, and a remote connection of the Tichborne +family, had become godfather, the bells of Alresford rang louder; and +nobody seemed for a moment to doubt the right of the Claimant to the +estates and title. Still it was felt strange that "Sir Roger" went +near none of his old friends. He had left Paris without an effort to +see his former circle of acquaintances. Chatillon, his early tutor, +had been brought by the Dowager there to see him; but Chatillon had +said, "Madame, this is not your son!" Neither the Abbé Salis, nor +Roger's dear old instructor, Father Lefevre, nor Gossein, the faithful +valet, who had played with him from childhood, and had known him well +as a man, nor, indeed, any person in Paris who had been acquainted +with Roger Tichborne, received a visit. In England the facts were the +same. The stranger would go nowhere, and at last it began to be +believed that he was afraid of detection.</p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291"></a>[291]</span> + +</p> + +<p>Active measures were meanwhile in preparation for those legal +proceedings which have, within the past three years, occupied so large +a share of public attention. Mr. Holmes and many others were busy in +procuring information. The voluminous will of Roger Tichborne, setting +forth a mass of particulars about the family property, was examined at +Doctors' Commons. Then there were records of proceedings in the +Probate Court and in Chancery relating to the Tichborne estates, of +which copies were procured. The Horse Guards furnished the +indefatigable attorney with minute and precise statements of the +movements of the Carabineers during Roger Tichborne's service, and of +the dates of every leave of absence and return. Then the Dowager's +attorney procured from Stonyhurst lists of the professors and +officials during Roger's three years' study there; and finally, the +books of Lloyd's and the "Merchant Seamen's Register" were searched +for information about the movements of the "Pauline," the "Bella," and +other vessels. Coincident with these researches, there was a marked +improvement in the Claimant's knowledge of the circumstances of what +he alleged to be his own past life. There was no mention now of "the +Sixty-sixth Blues," or of having been a private soldier; no denial, +with or without an oath, of having been at Stonyhurst; no allusion to +any other of the numerous statements he had made to Mr. Gibbes on those +points. Then converts began to multiply, but not among the Tichborne +family, or in any other circle that had known Roger very intimately. +Affidavits, however, increased in number. People related wonderful +instances of things the Claimant reminded them of, and which had +happened in the past. On the one hand, these facts were regarded as +"genuine efforts of memory;" on the other, they were stigmatised as +the result of an organized system of extracting information from one +person, and playing it off upon another.</p> + +<p>At the end of July 1867, there was a public examination of the +Claimant in Chancery, at which, for the first time, he made generally +known that famous account of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a>[292]</span> + +his alleged wreck and—escape in one of +the boats of the "Bella," with eight other persons, which, with some +variations, he has since maintained. It was then that, in answer to +questions, he stated that he was not certain of the name of the vessel +that picked him up, but was "under the impression that it was the +'Osprey.'" He also said that her captain's name was "Owen Lewis, or +Lewis Owen," but he was "not certain," though he said that three +months elapsed between the date of his being saved and his being +landed in Melbourne in July 1854. Besides these, the most remarkable +points in his examination were his statements that, on the very next +day after his arrival, he was engaged by a Mr. William Foster, of +Boisdale, an extensive farmer in Gippsland, to look after cattle; and +that he henceforward lived in obscurity in Australia under the name of +Thomas Castro. The name of Thomas Castro, he added, had occurred to +him because, during his travels in South America, he had known a +person so named at Melipilla, in Chili.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gosford was also examined on that occasion, with results which had +an important influence on the progress of the great <i>cause célèbre</i>. +Some time before that gentleman had been induced to have one more +interview with the Claimant in the presence of two of his most +influential supporters, who thereupon requested Mr. Gosford to test +their <i>protégé</i> by asking him about some private matter between him +and his friend Roger in the past. Thus challenged Mr. Gosford naturally +bethought him of the sealed paper, in which Roger had recorded his +intention of building a chapel or church at Tichborne, and dedicating +it to the Virgin, in the event of his marrying his cousin within three +years; and he therefore requested the Claimant to declare, if he +could, what were the contents of a certain packet marked "private" +which Roger left in his hands when he went away. Having obtained no +definite answer, Mr. Gosford, for the sake of fairness, went a step +further, and said that it recorded an intention "to carry out an +arrangement at Tichborne in the event of his marrying a certain lady." +Still there was no answer; and thereupon Mr. Gosford, declaring that +the whole <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293"></a>[293]</span> + +interview "was idle," left the place. That packet, +unfortunately, was no longer in existence. Some years after Roger +Tichborne's death appeared to be beyond all doubt, Mr. Gosford had +simply burnt it, regarding it as a document which it would be useless, +and which he had no right, to keep, and yet one which, on the other +hand, he should not be justified in giving up to any living person. +The fact of its being burnt he had for obvious reasons concealed, but +being now asked on the subject he was compelled to state the +circumstance. It is remarkable that, on the very morrow of that +disclosure, the Claimant for the first time made a statement to his +supporter, Mr. Bulpett, as to the packet. It may be supposed that Mr. +Bulpett and the Claimant's friends generally were inclined to draw +unfavourable inferences from his apparent ignorance of the contents of +the packet. He now, however, declared that not ignorance of its +contents, but delicacy and forbearance towards Mrs. Radcliffe, had +alone prevented his answering Mr. Gosford's test question. Mr. Gosford, +he said, was right. It did relate to "an arrangement to be carried out +at Tichborne," but an arrangement of a very painful kind. Then it was +that he wrote out the terrible charge against the lady whom Roger had +loved so well—confessing, it is true, his own diabolical wickedness, +but at the same time casting upon her the cruellest of imputations. +This, he said, was what he had sealed up and given to Mr. Gosford. Mr. +Bulpett, the banker, put his initials solemnly to the document, and +within a few months all Hampshire had whispered the wicked story. It +is to be observed that, during all this time, no word had been spoken +by the Claimant of his having confided to Mr. Gosford a vow to build a +church. Four years later, when under examination, he was asked whether +he had ever left any other private document with Mr. Gosford, and he +answered, "I think not." Then it was that counsel produced the copy of +the vow to build the church in Roger Tichborne's hand, which he had +fortunately given to his cousin on the sorrowful day of their last +parting; and finally there was found and read aloud the letter of +Roger Tichborne to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a>[294]</span> + +Mr. Gosford, dated January 17th, 1852, in which +occur the precious words, "I have written out my will, and left it +with Mr. Slaughter; the only thing which I have left out is about the +church, which I will only build under the circumstances which I have +left with you in writing." Happily these facts render it unnecessary +to enter upon the question, Whether this story was not wholly +irreconcilable, both with itself and with the ascertained dates and +facts in Roger Tichborne's career?</p> + +<p>The estates of Tichborne were not likely to be left undefended either +by the trustees or by the family, who, with the exception of the +Dowager Lady Tichborne, had, with one accord, pronounced the Claimant +an impostor. Accordingly, very soon after his arrival in England, a +gentleman named Mackenzie was despatched to Australia to make +inquiries. Mr. Mackenzie visited Melbourne, Sydney, and Wagga-Wagga, +and up to a certain time was singularly successful in tracing +backwards the career of Thomas Castro. He discovered that, some months +before the Dowager's advertisement for her son had appeared, and Mr. +Gibbes' client had set up his claim, the slaughter-man of Wagga-Wagga +had married an Irish servant-girl named Bryant, who had signed the +marriage register with a cross. He also found that the marriage was +celebrated, not by a Roman Catholic priest, but by a Wesleyan +minister. Searching further he found out that immediately after the +date of the arrival of a letter from the Dowager, informing Mr. Gibbes +that her son was a Roman Catholic, Thomas Castro and Mary Anne Bryant +had again gone through the ceremony of marriage in those names, and on +this occasion the wedding was celebrated in a Roman Catholic chapel. +By applying to Mr. Gibbes, Mr. Mackenzie then discovered that the +Claimant, before leaving Australia, had given instructions for a will, +which was subsequently drawn up and executed by him, in which he +pretended to dispose of the Tichborne estates, and described +properties in various counties, all of which were purely fictitious. +The Tichborne family had not, and never had, any such estates as were +there elaborately set forth, nor did any such estates exist; and the +will contained no bequest, nor indeed any <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a>[295]</span> + +allusion to a solitary +member of Roger's family except his mother, whom it described as Lady +"Hannah Frances Tichborne," though her Christian names were, in fact, +"Henriette Félicité." Mr. Gibbes explained that it was the knowledge +which this document seemed to display of the Tichborne estates and +family which induced him to advance money, and that the Dowager Lady +Tichborne's letters being merely signed "H.F. Tichborne," he had +inserted the Christian names, "Hannah Frances," on the authority of +his client. Lastly, Mr. Mackenzie learnt that there had been a butcher +in Wagga-Wagga named Schottler, and that Higgins's slaughterman, known +as Tom Castro, had once told some one that he had known Schottler's +family, and lived very near their house when he was a boy. Schottler +had disappeared, but he was believed to have originally come from +London. This information was slight, but it appeared to the shrewd Mr. +Mackenzie to be valuable. If the Schottlers were known to Tom Castro +as neighbours when he was a boy in London, it would seem to be only +necessary to find the Schottler family in order to discover who the +Claimant to the Tichborne estates really was. After much trouble, +though Schottler was not discovered, a clue was found. The solicitor +to the defendants in the Chancery suits obtained old directories of +London, and discovered that there was one Schottler, who had kept a +public-house, called The Ship and Punchbowl, in High Street, Wapping. +In that direction, therefore, inquiries were instituted. The +Schottlers had, it was found, gone and left no trace, but it was easy +to instruct a detective to inquire after old neighbours, to show them +a portrait of the Claimant, and to ask if any one in that locality +recognised the features. At last the man prosecuting inquiries found +himself in the Globe public-house in Wapping, the landlady of which +hostelry at once declared the carte de visite to be a portrait of a +mysterious individual of huge bulk who had visited her on the night of +the previous Christmas day, stayed an hour in her parlour, and made +numerous inquiries after old inhabitants of Wapping. His inquiries +included the Schottlers, and he had particularly wanted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a>[296]</span> + +the address +of the family of the late Mr. George Orton, a butcher in the High +Street, who answered the description of an old "neighbour of the +Schottlers." The Christmas day referred to was the very day of the +Claimant's arrival in England, and the landlady of the Globe was +positive that the portrait represented her visitor, whoever he might +have been. Moreover, she informed the gentleman that, struck by his +inquiries after the Ortons, she had scanned her mysterious visitor's +features closely, and observed, "Why, you must be an Orton; you are +very like the old gentleman." Three daughters of old George Orton were +then applied to, but they declared that the portrait had no +resemblance to any brother of theirs. Neighbours, however, had +perceived that these persons, who had been extremely poor, had +suddenly shown signs of greatly improved circumstances. Further +inquiry led to the discovery that they had a brother named Charles, "a +humpbacked man," who had been a butcher in a small way, in partnership +with a Mr. Woodgate, in Hermitage Street, Wapping. He had recently +dissolved partnership rather suddenly, but he had previously confided +to Mr. Woodgate the curious information that he had a brother just come +home from Australia, who was entitled to great property, and who had +promised him an allowance of "£5 a month," and £2000 "when he got his +estates." When, after some trouble, Charles Orton was discovered, he +showed signs of being disposed to explain the mystery "if the +solicitors" would promptly "make it worth his while;" but in the very +midst of the inquiry he suddenly vanished from the neighbourhood, and +for a long while all trace of him was lost. Meanwhile, the Claimant +had, by some mysterious means, become aware that these inquiries were +in progress, for he wrote at this period to his confidential friend +Rous, the landlord of the Swan, as follows:—"We find the other side +very busy with another pair of sisters for me. They say I was born in +Waping. I never remember having been there, but Mr. Holmes tell me it a +very respectiabel part of London." Shortly afterwards two out of the +three daughters of old Mr. Orton made affidavit <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297"></a>[297]</span> + +that the Claimant was +not their brother, nor any relation of theirs; the other sister and +Charles Orton, however, made no affidavit. Four years later the +Claimant confessed that he was, after all, the mysterious visitor at +the Globe public-house on that Christmas eve; that he shortly +afterwards entered into secret correspondence and transactions with +the Orton family; that he gave the sisters money whenever they wrote +to say they were in want of any; and that after the period when +Charles Orton was solicited to give information to "the other side," +he allowed him £5 a month—Charles Orton, who was then in concealment, +being addressed in their correspondence by the assumed name of +"Brand." The Claimant's explanation of these relations with the Orton +family, which he at first denied, was, that their brother, Arthur +Orton, had been a great friend of his for many years, and in various +parts of Australia, and that hence he was desirous of assisting his +family. At one time he said that his object was to ascertain if his +friend, Arthur Orton, had arrived in England; at another he stated, on +oath, that when he sailed from Australia he left Arthur Orton there. +The solicitors for the defendants in the Chancery suit, however, did +not hesitate to declare their conviction that the pretended Roger +Tichborne was no other than Arthur Orton, youngest son of the late +George Orton, butcher, of High Street, Wapping; that his visit to +Wapping on the very night of his arrival was prompted by curiosity to +know the position of his family, of whom he had not heard for some +years; and that his stealthy transactions with the three sisters, and +with the brother of Arthur Orton, had no object but that of furnishing +them with an inducement to keep the dangerous secret of his true name +and origin.</p> + +<p>While all these discoveries were being made, the poor old lady went to +live for a time with her supposed son at Croydon; but even she could +not manage to stay in the extraordinary household, and after a time, +though still strong, despite the advice of her best friends, that the +huge impostor was her son, she left, and gradually becoming weaker and +weaker in body as well as mind, she was, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298"></a>[298]</span> + +on the 12th of March 1868, +found by a servant dead in a chair, and with no relative or friend at +hand, in a hotel near Portman Square, where she had sought and found a +shelter.</p> + +<p>Amidst much that was vague in the Claimant's account of his past life, +there were, at all events, two statements of a precise and definite +character. These were, first, that he had been at Melipilla, in Chili, +and had there known intimately a man named Thomas Castro, whose name +he had afterwards assumed; and, secondly, that in 1854, he had been +engaged as herdsman to Mr. William Foster, of Boisdale, in Gippsland, +Australia. If he were an impostor, these statements were undoubtedly +imprudent. But they served the purpose of establishing the identity of +his career with that of the man whom he claimed to be, for Roger +Tichborne had, undoubtedly, travelled in Chili; and, according at +least to the tramping sailors' story, embodied in the Dowager's +advertisement, he had been carried thence to Australia. The importance +attached by his supporters to these apparent tokens of identity +sufficiently explains the Claimant's explicitness on these points. +Melipilla is a long way off; and Boisdale is still further. It may +have been supposed that witnesses could not be brought from so far; +but vast interests were at stake, and the defendant in the Chancery +suit speedily applied for Commissions to go out to South America and +Australia to collect information regarding the Claimant's past +history. The proposition was strenuously opposed as vexatious, and +designed merely to create delay, but the Court granted the +application. Then the Claimant asked for an adjournment, on the ground +that he intended to go out and confront the Melipilla folks, including +his intimate friend Don Thomas Castro, before the Commission; and also +to accompany it to Australia. The postponement was granted, a large +sum was raised to defray his expenses, and he finally started with the +Commission, accompanied by counsel and solicitors, bound for +Valparaiso and Melipilla, and finally for Victoria and New South +Wales. When the vessel, however, arrived at Rio. the Claimant went +ashore, declaring that he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299"></a>[299]</span> + +preferred to go thence to Melipilla +overland. But he never presented himself at that place, and finally +the Commission proceeded to examine witnesses and to record their +testimony, which thus became part of the evidence in the suit. The +Claimant had, in fact, re-embarked at Rio for England, having +abandoned the whole project; for which strange conduct he made various +and conflicting excuses. Even before he had started, circumstances had +occurred which had induced some of his supporters to express doubts +whether he would ever go to Melipilla. When the Commission had become +inevitable, the Claimant had written a letter to his "esteemed friend, +Don Tomas Castro," reminding him of past acquaintance in 1853, sending +kind remembrances to a number of friends, and altogether mentioning at +least sixteen persons with Spanish names whom he had known there. The +purpose of the letter was to inform Don Tomas that he had returned to +England, was claiming "magnificent lands," and in brief to prepare his +old acquaintances to befriend him there. This letter was answered by +Castro through his son Pedro, with numerous good wishes and much +gossip about Melipilla, and what had become of the old circle. But to +the astonishment and dismay of the Claimant's attorney, Mr. Holmes, +Pedro Castro reminded his old correspondent, that when among them he +had gone by the name of Arthur Orton. A Melipilla lady named Ahumada +then sent a portion of a lock of hair which the Claimant acknowledged +as his own hair, and thanked her for. But this lady declared that she +had cut the lock from the head of an English lad named Arthur Orton; +and the Claimant thereupon said that he must have been mistaken in +thanking her, and acknowledging it as his. In the town of +Melipilla—sixty or seventy miles inland from Valparaiso—everyone of +the sixteen or seventeen persons mentioned by the Claimant as old +acquaintances—except those who were dead or gone away—came before +the Commission, and were examined. They proved to have substantially +but one tale to tell. They said they never knew any one of the name of +Tichborne. Melipilla is a remote little towns far off the great high +road, and the only <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300"></a>[300]</span> + +English person, except an English doctor there +established, who had ever sojourned there, was a sailor lad who, not +in 1853, but in 1849, came to them destitute; was kindly treated; +picked up Spanish enough to converse in an illiterate way; said his +name was Arthur, and was always called Arthur by them; declared his +father was "a butcher named Orton, who served the queen;" and said he +had been sent to sea to cure St. Vitus's Dance, but had been ill-used +by the captain, and ran away from his ship at Valparaiso. This lad, +they stated, sojourned in Melipilla eighteen months, and finally went +back to Valparaiso and re-embarked for England. Don Tomas Castro, the +doctor's wife, and others, declared they recognised the features of +this lad in the portrait of the Claimant; and being shown two +daguerreotype portraits of Roger Tichborne, taken in Chili when he was +there, said that the features were not like those of any person they +had ever known. Searches were then made in the records of the consul's +office at Valparaiso, from which it resulted that a sailor named +Arthur Orton did desert from the English ship "Ocean" in that port at +the very date mentioned, and did re-embark, though under the name of +"Joseph M. Orton," about eighteen months later.</p> + +<p>To Boisdale, in Australia, the Commission then repaired, and though +this is many thousands of miles from South America, but here similar +discoveries were made. Mr. William Foster, the extensive cattle farmer, +was dead, but the widow still managed his large property. In reference +to the Claimant's statement that in July, 1854, the very day after he +was landed by the vessel which he believed was named the "Osprey," at +Melbourne, he was engaged by Mr. William Foster, and went with him at +once to Gippsland, under the assumed name of Thomas Castro, the lady +declared that her husband did not settle at Boisdale, or have anything +to do with that property till two years later than that date, and that +they never had any herdsman named Thomas Castro. The ledgers and other +account books of Mr. Foster were then examined, but no mention of any +Castro, either in 1854 <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301"></a>[301]</span> + +or at any other time, could be found. On the +other hand, there were numerous entries, extending over the two years +1857 and 1858, of wages paid and rations served out to a herdsman +named Arthur Orton, whom the lady perfectly well remembered, and who +had come to them from Hobart Town.</p> + +<p>All these discoveries were confirmed by the registers of shipping, +which showed that Arthur Orton embarked for Valparaiso in 1848, +re-embarked for London in 1851, and sailed again for Hobart Town in +the following year. But there were other significant circumstances. +The ship in which Arthur Orton had returned from Valparaiso was called +the "Jessie Miller," which was the very name which the Claimant in his +solemn declaration, prepared by Mr. Gibbes, gave as the name of the +vessel in which he came out to Australia. In the same document he had +stated the date of his sailing from England as the "28th of November, +1852," and this was now discovered to be the very day, month, and year +on which Arthur Orton embarked in the vessel bound for Hobart Town. Mr. +Foster's widow had specimens of Arthur Orton's writing, and other +mementoes of his two years' service among them, and she unhesitatingly +identified a portrait of the Claimant as that of the same man. Among +other witnesses, a farmer named Hopwood deposed that he had known +Arthur Orton at Boisdale under that name, and again at Wagga-Wagga +under his assumed name of Thomas Castro. At Wagga-Wagga the will +executed by the Claimant, and already referred to, was produced, and +it was found that amidst all its fictitious names and imaginary +Tichborne estates, it appointed as trustees two gentlemen residing in +Dorsetshire, England, who have since been discovered to have been +intimate friends of old Mr. Orton, the butcher. The testimony on the +Claimant's behalf before the Commission threw but little light. It +consisted chiefly of vague stories of his having spoken when in +Australia of being entitled to large possessions, and of having been +an officer in the army, and stationed in Ireland. Such testimony +could, of course, have little weight against the statements of the +Claimant in writing, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"></a>[302]</span> + +made just before embarking at Sydney, with a +view of satisfying capitalists of his identity, and betraying total +ignorance of Roger Tichborne's military life.</p> + +<p>While these exposures were being made abroad, matters at home began to +look very bad for the Claimant. Charles Orton, the brother of Arthur, +called upon the solicitors for "the other side," and volunteered to +give information. In the presence of Lord Arundell and other +witnesses, this man then stated that the Claimant of the Tichborne +estates was his brother Arthur, that he had been induced by him to +change his name to Brand, and to remain in concealment, that in return +the Claimant had allowed him £5 per month; but that, since his +departure for Chili, the allowance had ceased. Letters of Charles +Orton to the Claimant's wife, asking whether "Sir Roger Tichborne, +before he went away, left anything for a party of the name of Brand," +have been found and published; and this same Charles has, since the +conviction of the Claimant, put forth a statement of the whole matter, +so far as he was concerned. Under these circumstances, Mr. Holmes +withdrew from the case, and the county gentlemen who, relying in great +measure on Lady Tichborne's recognition, and the numerous affidavits +that had been made, had supported the Claimant, held a meeting at the +Swan, at Alresford, at which, among other documents, certain +mysterious letters to the Orton sisters were produced. These letters +were signed, "W.H. Stephens," and they contained inquiries after the +Orton family, and also after Miss Mary Anne Loader, who was an old +sweetheart of Arthur Orton's, long resident in Wapping. They enclosed +as portraits of Arthur Orton's wife and child, certain photographic +likenesses which were clearly portraits of the Claimant's wife and +child; and though they purported to be written by "W.H. Stephens," a +friend of Arthur Orton's just arrived from Australia, it was suspected +that the letters—which were evidently in a feigned hand—were really +written by the Claimant. They manifested that desire for information +about Wapping folks, and particularly the Ortons, which the Claimant +was known to have exhibited on more <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303"></a>[303]</span> + +occasions than one; and they +indicated a wish to get this information by a ruse, and without +permitting the writer to be seen. But the correspondence showed that +the sisters of Orton had discovered, or at least believed that they +had discovered, that the writer was in truth their brother Arthur. The +Claimant, however, being called in and questioned, solemnly affirmed +that the letters were "forgeries," designed by his enemies to "ruin +his cause." Nor was it until he was pressed in cross-examination, +three years later, that he reluctantly confessed that his charges of +forgery were false; and that, in fact, he, and no one else, had +written the Stephens' letters. The Claimant's solemn assurances did +not convince all his supporters at the meeting at the Swan, but they +satisfied some; and funds were still found for prosecuting the +Chancery, and next the great Common Law suit which was technically an +action for the purpose of ejecting Col. Lushington from Tichborne +house, which had been let to him. Col. Lushington was then a supporter +of the Claimant, and had not the least objection to be ejected. But +the action at once raised the question whether the Claimant had a +right to eject him. Of course that depended on whether he was, or was +not, the young man who was so long believed to have perished in the +"Bella;" and accordingly this was the issue that the jury had to try +on Thursday, the 11th of May, 1871, that Sergeant Ballantine rose to +address the jury on behalf of the Claimant, and it was not until the +6th of March, 1872, that the trial was concluded—the proceedings +having extended to 103 days. On both sides a large number of witnesses +were examined, many being persons of respectability, while some were +of high station. The military witnesses for the Claimant were very +numerous; and among them were five of Roger Tichborne's old brother +officers, the rest being sergeants, corporals, and privates. There +were Australian witnesses, and medical witnesses, old servants, +tenants of the Tichborne family, and numerous other persons. With the +exception of two remote connexions, however, no members of the +numerous families of Tichborne and Seymour presented themselves to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a>[304]</span> + +support the plaintiffs claims; and even the two gentlemen referred to +admitted that their acquaintance with Roger was slight, and that it +was in his youth; and finally, that they had not recognised the +features of the Claimant, but had merely inferred his identity from +some circumstances he had been able to mention. The plaintiffs case +was almost entirely unsupported by documentary evidence, and rested +chiefly on the impressions or the memory of witnesses, or on their +conclusions drawn from circumstances, which often, when they were +inquired into in cross-examination, proved to be altogether +insufficient.</p> + +<p>But the cross-examination of the Claimant himself was really the +turning-point of the trial. It extended over twenty-seven days, and +embraced the whole history of Roger Tichborne's life, his alleged +rescue, the life in Australia, and all subsequent proceedings. Besides +this, matters connected with the Orton case were inquired into. Much +that was calculated to alarm supporters of the Claimant was elicited. +He was compelled to admit that he had no confirmation to offer of his +strange story of the rescue, and that he could produce no survivor of +the "Osprey," nor any one of the crew of the "Bella" alleged to have +been rescued with him. The mere existence of such a vessel was not +evidenced by any shipping register or gazette, or custom-house record. +It was moreover admitted that he had changed his story—had for a +whole year given up the "Osprey," and said the vessel was the +"Themis," and finally returned to the "Osprey" again. All the strange +circumstances of the Wagga-Wagga will, the Gibbes and Cubitt +correspondence, the furtive transactions with the Orton family, the +curious revelations of the commissions in South America and Australia, +were acknowledged, and either left unexplained or explained in a way +which was evasive, inconsistent, and contradictory. His accounts of +his relations with Arthur Orton were also vague, and his attempts to +support his assertion that Castro and Orton were not one and the same, +but different persons, were unsatisfactory, while by his own +confession his habitual associates in Australia had been highway +robbers and other persons of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305"></a>[305]</span> + +the vilest class. With regard to his +life in Paris he admitted that his mind was "a blank," and he +confessed that he could not read a line of Roger Tichborne's letters +in French. He gave answers which evidenced gross ignorance on all the +matters which Roger's letters and other evidence showed that he had +studied. He said he did not think Euclid was connected with +mathematics, though Roger had passed an examination in Euclid; and +that he believed that a copy of Virgil handed to him was "Greek," +which it doubtless was to him. He was compelled again and again to +admit that statements he had deliberately made were absolutely false. +When questioned with regard to that most impressive of all episodes in +Roger's life, his love for his cousin, now Lady Radcliffe, he showed +himself unacquainted not merely with precise dates, but with the broad +outline of the story and the order of events. His answers on these +matters were again confused, and wholly irreconcilable. Yet the +Solicitor-General persisting for good reasons in interrogating him on +the slanderous story of the sealed packet, he was compelled to repeat +in Court, though with considerable variations, what he had long ago +caused to be bruited abroad. Mrs. (she was not then Lady) Radcliffe, by +her own wish, sat in Court beside her husband, confronting the false +witness, and they had the satisfaction of hearing him convicted, out +of his own mouth, and by the damnatory evidence of documents of +undisputed authenticity, of a deliberate series of abominable +inventions. It was during the course of this trial that the +pocket-book left behind by the Claimant at Wagga-Wagga was brought to +England. It was found to contain what appeared to be early attempts at +Tichborne signatures, in the form "Rodger Charles Titchborne," besides +such entries as "R.C.T., Bart., Tichborne Hall, Surrey, England, +G.B.;" and among other curious memoranda in the Claimant's handwriting +was the name and address, in full, of Arthur Orton's old sweetheart, +at Wapping—the "respectiabel place" of which he had assured his +supporters in England that he had not the slightest knowledge. The +exposure of Mr. Baigent's unscrupulous <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306"></a>[306]</span> + +partisanship by Mr. Hawkins, and +the address to the jury by Sir John Coleridge, followed in due course, +and then a few family witnesses, including Lady Radcliffe, were heard, +who deposed, among many other matters, to the famous tattoo marks on +Roger's arm; and, finally, the jury declared that they were satisfied. +Then the Claimant's advisers, to avoid the inevitable verdict for +their opponents, elected to be nonsuit. But, notwithstanding these +tactics, Lord Chief-Justice Bovill, under his warrant, immediately +committed the Claimant to Newgate, on a charge of wilful and corrupt +perjury.</p> + +<p>Those who fondly hoped that the great Tichborne imposture had now for +ever broken down, and that the last in public had been seen of the +perjured villain, were mistaken, as, after a few weeks in Newgate, the +Claimant was released on bail in the sum of £10,000—his sureties +being Earl Rivers, Mr. Guildford Onslow, M.P., Mr. Whalley, M.P., and Mr. +Alban Attwood, a medical man residing at Bayswater. Now began that +systematic agitation on the Claimant's behalf, and those public +appeals for subscriptions, which were so remarkable a feature of the +thirteen months' interval between the civil and the criminal trial. +The Tichborne Romance, as it was called, had made the name of the +Claimant famous; and sightseers throughout the kingdom were anxious to +get a glimpse of "Sir Roger." It was true his case had entirely broken +down, but the multitude were struck by the fact that he could still +appear on platforms with exciteable members of Parliament to speak for +him, and could even find a lord to be his surety. It was not everyone +who, in reading the long cross-examination of the Claimant, had been +able to see the significance of the admissions which he was compelled +to make; and owing to the Claimant's counsel stopping the case on the +hint of the jury, the other side of the story had really not been +heard; and this fact was made an argument in the Claimant's favour. +Meanwhile, the propagandism continued until there was hardly a town in +the kingdom in which Sir Roger Charles Tichborne, Bart., had not +appeared on platforms, and addressed crowded meetings; while Mr. +Guildford Onslow <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307"></a>[307]</span> + +and Mr. Whalley were generally present to deliver +foolish and inflammatory harangues. At theatres and music halls, at +pigeon matches and open-air <i>fêtes</i>, the Claimant was perseveringly +exhibited; and while the other side preserved a decorous silence, the +public never ceased to hear the tale of his imaginary wrongs. <i>The +Tichborne Gazette</i>, the sole function of which was to excite the +public mind still further, appeared; and the newspapers contained long +lists of subscribers to the Tichborne defence fund. This unexampled +system of creating prejudice with regard to a great trial still +pending was permitted to continue long after the criminal trial had +commenced. There had been proceedings, it is true, for contempt +against the Claimant and his supporters, Mr. Onslow, Mr. Whalley, and Mr. +Skipworth, and fine and imprisonment were inflicted; but the agitation +continued, violent attacks were made upon witnesses, and even upon the +judges then engaged in trying the case, and at length the Court was +compelled peremptorily to forbid all appearances of the Claimant at +public meetings.</p> + +<p>The great "Trial at Bar," presided over by Sir Alexander Cockburn, +Lord Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench, Mr. Justice Mellor, and Mr. +Justice Lush, commenced on the 23d of April, 1873, and ended on the +28th of February 1874—a period of a little over ten months. On the +side of the prosecution 212 witnesses gave their testimony; but the +documentary evidence, including the enormous mass of Roger Tichborne's +letters, so valuable as exhibiting the character, the pursuits, the +thoughts, and feelings of the writer, were scarcely less important. +The entire Tichborne and Seymour families may be said to have given +their testimony against the defendant. Lady Doughty had passed away +from the troubled scene since the date of the last trial; but she had +been examined and cross-examined on her death bed, and had then +repeated the evidence which she gave on the previous occasion, and +declared that the Claimant was an impostor. Lady Radcliffe again +appeared in the witness-box, and told her simple story, confirmed as +it was in all important particulars by the correspondence and other +records. Old Paris <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308"></a>[308]</span> + +friends and acquaintances were unanimous. Father +Lefevre and the venerable Abbé Salis, Chatillon the tutor and his +wife, and numerous others, declared this man was not Roger Tichborne, +and exposed his ignorance both of them and their past transactions. +When questioned, the defendant had sworn that his father never had a +servant named Gossein; but the letters of Sir James were shown to +contain numerous allusions to "my faithful Gossein," and Gossein +himself came into the witness-box and told how he had known Roger +Tichborne from the cradle to his boyhood, and from his boyhood to the +very hour of his going on his travels. On the Orton question, nearly +fifty witnesses declared their conviction that the defendant sitting +then before them was the butcher's son whom they had known in Wapping. +The witnesses from Australia and from South America unhesitatingly +identified the defendant with Orton; but it is more important to +observe, that their testimony was supported by records and documents +of various kinds, including the ledgers of Mr. Foster of Boisdale, +letters under the defendant's own hand, and writings which it could +not be denied were from the hand of Arthur Orton.</p> + +<p>On the other side, the witnesses were still more numerous. They +included a great number of persons from Wapping, who swore they did +not recognise in the defendant the lad whom they had known as Arthur +Orton. Many others swore they had known both Orton and the defendant +in Australia, and that they were different persons, but their stories +were irreconcilable with each other, and were moreover in direct +conflict with the statements of the Claimant on oath, while several of +these witnesses were persons of proved bad character, and unworthy of +belief. Great numbers of Carabineers declared that the defendant was +exactly like their old officer; but while ten officers of that +regiment appeared for the prosecution, and positively affirmed that +the defendant was not Roger Tichborne, only two officers gave +testimony on the other side; and even these admitted that they had +doubts. Eight years had elapsed since Mr. Gibbes fancied he had +discovered Sir Roger at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309"></a>[309]</span> + +Wagga-Wagga, but still no Arthur Orton was +forthcoming; nor did the sisters of Orton venture to come forward on +behalf of the man who had been compelled to admit having taken them +into his pay. Not only was the Claimant's story of his wreck and +rescue shown to be absurd and impossible, but it was unsupported by +any evidence, except vague recollections of witnesses having seen an +"Osprey" and some shipwrecked sailors at Melbourne in July, 1854; and +it was admitted that if their tale were true the phantom vessel and +the fact of its picking up nine precious lives must have escaped the +notice of Lloyd's agents, of custom-house officers, and of the +Australian newspapers. More, the Claimant's "Osprey" must have escaped +the notice of such authorities in every port which she had entered +from the day that she was launched. So, indeed, the matter stood until +the witness Luie, the "pretended steward of the 'Osprey'" swore to his +strange story, as well as to the defendant's recognition of him by +name as an old friend. The Luie episode, terminating in the +identification of that infamous witness as an habitual criminal and +convict named Lundgren, only recently released on a ticket-of-leave, +together with the complete disproof of his elaborate "Osprey" story, +is familiar to the public. It was a significant fact, that other +witnesses for the defence were admitted to be associates of this +rascal; while one of the most conspicuous of all—a man calling +himself "Captain" Brown—had pretended to corroborate portions of +Luie's evidence which are now proved to be false.</p> + +<p>Some allowance may perhaps be made in the defendant's favour for the +singularly unskilful and damaging character of his counsel Dr. +Kenealy's two addresses to the jury, which occupied no less than +forty-three entire days. This barrister not only made violent personal +attacks on every witness of importance for the prosecution, without, +as the judges observed, "any shadow of foundation," but he assailed +his own client with a vehemence and a persistence which are without +parallel in the case of an advocate defending a person against a +charge of perjury. He gave up statements of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310"></a>[310]</span> + +defendant at almost +every period of his extraordinary story as "false;" declared them to +be "moonshine;" expressed his conviction that no sensible person could +for a moment believe them; acknowledged that to attempt to verify them +in the face of the evidence, or even to reconcile them with each +other, would be hopeless; set some down as "arrant nonsense," +denounced others as "Munchausenisms," and recommended the jury "not to +believe them" with a heartiness which would have been perfectly +natural in the mouth of Mr. Hawkins, but which, coming from counsel for +the defence, was, as one of the learned judges remarked, "strange +indeed." But the doctrine of the learned gentleman was, that the very +extent of the perjury should be his client's protection, because it +showed that he was not a man "to be tried by ordinary standards." +When, in addition to this, he laboured day after day to persuade the +jury that Roger Tichborne was a drunkard, a liar, a fool, an undutiful +son, an ungrateful friend, and an abandoned libertine—declared in +loud and impassioned tones that he would "strip this jay of his +borrowed plumes," and indignantly repudiated the notion that the man +his client claimed to be had one single good quality about him, the +humour of the situation may be said to have reached its climax. Yet Dr. +Kenealy at least proved his sincerity by not only insinuating charges +against the gentleman who disappeared with the "Bella," but by +actually calling witnesses to contradict point blank statements of his +own client which lay at the very foundation of the charges of perjury +against him. There were, it is true, many unthinking persons of the +kind that mistake sound for sense, who considered Dr. Kenealy a vastly +clever fellow. If he be so, then the world in general, and the +constitution of the English bar in particular, are wrong; but anyhow +one thing is certain, that the counsel damaged the case materially, +and showed himself eminently unfitted for the position of leader. Mr. +Hawkins' powerful address quickly disposed of Dr. Kenealy and his +crotchets. The inquiry was raised into a calmer height when the Lord +Chief-Justice commenced his memorable summing up, going minutely +through the vast <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311"></a>[311]</span> + +mass of testimony—depicting the true character of +Roger Tichborne from the rich mine of materials before him, +contrasting it with that of the defendant as shown by the evidence, +and, while giving due weight to the testimony in his favour, exposing +hundreds of examples of the falsity of his statements made upon oath. +The verdict of Guilty had been anticipated by all who paid attention +to the evidence. The foreman publicly declared that there was no doubt +in the mind of any juryman that the man who has for eight years +assumed the name and title of the gentleman whose unhappy story is +recorded in these pages is an impostor who has added slander of the +wickedest kind to his many other crimes. But not only were they +satisfied of this; they were equally agreed as to his being Arthur +Orton. The sentence of fourteen years' penal servitude followed, and +was assuredly not too heavy a punishment for offences so enormous. Yet +there are others still at large, who, having aided the impostor with +advice and money, should not be allowed to escape, while the more +clumsy scoundrel suffers the award of detected infamy.</p> + +<p>Thus ended the great Tichborne impersonation case, the most remarkable +feature in which was, not that a rude ignorant butcher should proclaim +himself a baronet, but that thousands of persons sane in every other +respect should have gone crazy about him, and should, despite the +evidence given—sufficient many hundreds of times told, or for any +reasonable being—even now persist that Roger Tichborne still lives, +and is the victim of a gross conspiracy. What need is there to point +out the idiotcy of such ravings? What necessity ever to contradict +statements which contradict themselves?</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Celebrated Claimants from Perkin +Warbeck to Arthur Orton, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CELEBRATED CLAIMANTS FROM *** + +***** This file should be named 16486-h.htm or 16486-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/4/8/16486/ + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Sankar Viswanathan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** + + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/16486-h/images/image_01.jpg b/16486-h/images/image_01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6ec9ab --- /dev/null +++ b/16486-h/images/image_01.jpg diff --git a/16486-h/images/image_02.jpg b/16486-h/images/image_02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7a3839 --- /dev/null +++ b/16486-h/images/image_02.jpg diff --git a/16486.txt b/16486.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b79dfb4 --- /dev/null +++ b/16486.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10958 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to +Arthur Orton, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: August 8, 2005 [EBook #16486] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CELEBRATED CLAIMANTS FROM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Sankar Viswanathan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + CELEBRATED + + CLAIMANTS + + FROM + + PERKIN WARBECK TO ARTHUR ORTON. + + + + + + _SECOND EDITION._ + + + London: + CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY. + + 1874. + + + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This book is intended much less to gratify a temporary curiosity than +to fill an empty page in our literature. In our own and in other +countries Claimants have been by no means rare. Wandering heirs to +great possessions have not unfrequently concealed themselves for many +years until their friends have forgotten them, and have suddenly and +inopportunely reappeared to demand restitution of their rights; and +unscrupulous rogues have very often advanced pretensions to titles and +estates which did not appertain to them, in the hope that they would +be able to deceive the rightful possessors and the legal tribunals. +When such cases have occurred they have created more or less +excitement in proportion to the magnitude of the claim, the audacity +of the imposture, or the romance which has surrounded them. But the +interest which they have aroused has been evanescent, and the only +records which remain of the vast majority are buried in ponderous +legal tomes, which are rarely seen, and are still more rarely read, by +non-professional men. The compiler of the present collection has +endeavoured to disinter the most noteworthy claims which have been +made either to honours or property, at home or abroad, and, while he +has passed over those which present few remarkable features, has +spared no research to render his work as perfect as possible, and to +supply a reliable history of those which are entitled to rank as +_causes celebres_. The book must speak for itself. It is put forward +in the hope that, while it may serve to amuse the hasty reader in a +leisure hour, it may also be deemed worthy of a modest resting-place +in the libraries of those who like to watch the march of events, and +who have the prudent habit, when information is found, of preserving a +note of it. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + + + JACK CADE--THE PRETENDED MORTIMER, + + LAMBERT SIMNEL--THE FALSE EARL OF WARWICK, + + PERKIN WARBECK--THE SHAM DUKE OF YORK, + + DON SEBASTIAN--THE LOST KING OF PORTUGAL, + + JEMELJAN PUGATSCHEFF--THE SHAM PETER III., + + OTREFIEF--THE SHAM PRINCE DIMITRI, + + PADRE OTTOMANO--THE SUPPOSED HEIR OF SULTAN + IBRAHIM, + + MOHAMMED BEY--THE COUNTERFEIT VISCOUNT DE + CIGALA, + + THE SELF-STYLED PRINCE OF MODENA, + + JOSEPH--THE FALSE COUNT SOLAR, + + JOHN LINDSAY CRAWFURD--CLAIMING TO BE EARL + OF CRAWFURD, + + JOHN NICHOLS THOM--_ALIAS_ SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY, + + JAMES ANNESLEY--CALLING HIMSELF EARL OF + ANGLESEA, + + CAPTAIN HANS-FRANCIS HASTINGS--CLAIMING TO + BE EARL OF HUNTINGDON, + + REBOK--THE COUNTERFEIT VOLDEMAR, ELECTOR + OF BRANDENBURG, + + ARNOLD DU TILH--THE PRETENDED MARTIN + GUERRE, + + PIERRE MEGE--THE FICTITIOUS DE CAILLE, + + MICHAEL FEYDY--THE SHAM CLAUDE DE VERRE, + + THE BANBURY PEERAGE CASE, + + JAMES PERCY--THE SO-CALLED EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND, + + THE DOUGLAS PEERAGE CASE, + + ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS--THE PRETENDED EARL + OF STIRLING, + + THE SO-CALLED HEIRS OF THE STUARTS, + + JOHN HATFIELD--THE SHAM HONOURABLE ALEXANDER + HOPE, + + HERVAGAULT--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, + + MATURIN BRUNEAU--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF + FRANCE, + + NAUeNDORFF--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, + + AUGUSTUS MEVES--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF + FRANCE, + + RICHEMONT--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE, + + THE REV. ELEAZAR WILLIAMS--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS + XVII. OF FRANCE, + + THOMAS PROVIS CALLING HIMSELF SIR RICHARD + HUGH SMYTH, + + LAVINIA JANNETTA HORTON RYVES--THE PRETENDED + PRINCESS OF CUMBERLAND, + + WILLIAM GEORGE HOWARD--THE PRETENDED + EARL OF WICKLOW, + + AMELIA RADCLIFFE--THE SO-CALLED COUNTESS + OF DERWENTWATER, + + ARTHUR ORTON--WHO CLAIMED TO BE SIR ROGER + CHARLES DOUGHTY TICHBORNE, BART., + + + + + + +JACK CADE--THE PRETENDED MORTIMER. + + +Henry VI. was one of the most unpopular of our English monarchs. +During his reign the nobles were awed by his austerity towards some +members of their own high estate, and divided between the claims of +Lancaster and York; and the peasantry, who cared little for the claims +of the rival Roses, were maddened by the extortions and indignities to +which they were subjected. The feebleness and corruption of the +Government, and the disasters in France, combined with the murder of +the Duke of Suffolk, added to the general discontent; and the result +was, that in the year 1450 the country was ripe for revolution. In +June of that year, and immediately after the death of Suffolk, a body +of 20,000 of the men of Kent; assembled on Blackheath, under the +leadership of a reputed Irishman, calling himself John Cade, but who +is said in reality to have been an English physician named Aylmere. +This person, whatever his real cognomen, assumed the name of Mortimer +(with manifest allusion to the claims of the House of Mortimer to the +succession), and forwarded two papers to the king, entitled "The +Complaint of the Commons of Kent," and "The Requests of the Captain of +the Great Assembly in Kent." Henry replied by despatching a small +force against the rioters. Cade unhesitatingly gave battle to the +royal troops, and having defeated them and killed their leader, Sir +Humphrey Stafford, at Seven Oaks, advanced towards London. Still +preserving an appearance of moderation, he forwarded to the court a +plausible list of grievances, asserting that when these were +redressed, and Lord Say, the treasurer, and Cromer, the sheriff of +Kent, had been punished for their malversations, he and his men would +lay down their arms. These demands were so reasonable that the king's +troops, who were far from loyal, refused to fight against the +insurgents; and Henry, finding his cause desperate, retired for safety +to Kenilworth, Lord Scales with a thousand men remaining to defend the +Tower. Hearing of the flight of his majesty, Cade advanced to +Southwark, which he reached on the 1st of July, and, the citizens +offering no resistance, he entered London two days afterwards. Strict +orders had been given to his men to refrain from pillage, and on the +same evening they were led back to Southwark. On the following day he +returned, and having compelled the Lord Mayor and the people to sit at +Guildhall, brought Say and Cromer before them, and these victims of +the popular spite were condemned, after a sham trial, and were +beheaded in Cheapside. This exhibition of personal ill-will on the +part of their chief seemed the signal for the commencement of outrages +by his followers. On the next day the unruly mob began to plunder, and +the citizens, repenting of their disloyalty, joined with Lord Scales +in resisting their re-entry. After a sturdy fight, the Londoners held +the position, and the Kentishmen, discouraged by their reverse, began +to scatter. Cade, not slow to perceive the danger which threatened +him, fled towards Lewis, but was overtaken by Iden, the sheriff of +Kent, who killed him in a garden in which he had taken shelter. A +reward of 1000 marks followed this deed of bravery. Some of the +insurgents were afterwards executed as traitors; but the majority even +of the ringleaders escaped unpunished, for Henry's seat upon the +throne was so unstable, that it was deemed better to win the people by +a manifestation of clemency, rather than to provoke them by an +exhibition of severity. + + + + +LAMBERT SIMNEL--THE FALSE EARL OF WARWICK. + + +After the downfall of the Plantagenet dynasty, and the accession of +Henry VII. to the English throne, the evident favour shown by the king +to the Lancastrian party greatly provoked the adherents of the House +of York, and led some of the malcontents to devise one of the most +extraordinary impostures recorded in history. + +An ambitious Oxford priest, named Richard Simon, had among his pupils +a handsome youth, fifteen years of age, named Lambert Simnel. This +lad, who was the son of a baker, and, according to Lord Bacon, was +possessed of "very pregnant parts," was selected to disturb the +usurper's government, by appearing as a pretender to his crown. At +first it was the intention of the conspirators that he should +personate Richard, duke of York, the second son of Edward IV., who was +supposed to have escaped from the assassins of the Tower, and to be +concealed somewhere in England. Accordingly, the monk Simon, who was +the tool of higher persons, carefully instructed young Simnel in the +_role_ which he was to play, and in a short time had rendered him +thoroughly proficient in his part. But just as the plot was ripe for +execution a rumour spread abroad that Edward Plantagenet, earl of +Warwick, and only male heir of the House of York, had effected his +escape from the Tower, and the plan of the imposture was changed. +Simnel was set to learn another lesson, and in a very brief time had +acquired a vast amount of information respecting the private life of +the royal family, and the adventures of the Earl of Warwick. When he +was accounted thoroughly proficient, he was despatched to Ireland in +the company of Simon--the expectation of the plotters being that the +imposition would be less likely to be detected on the other side of +the channel, and that the English settlers in Ireland, who were known +to be attached to the Yorkist cause, would support his pretensions. + +These anticipations were amply fulfilled. On his arrival in the +island, Simnel at once presented himself to the Earl of Kildare, then +viceroy, and claimed his protection as the unfortunate Warwick. The +credulous nobleman listened to his story, and repeated it to others of +the nobility, who in time diffused it throughout all ranks of society. +Everywhere the escape of the Plantagenet was received with +satisfaction, and at last the people of Dublin unanimously tendered +their allegiance to the pretender, as the rightful heir to the throne. +Their homage was of course accepted, and Simnel was solemnly crowned +(May 24, 1487), with a crown taken from an effigy of the Virgin Mary, +in Christ Church Cathedral. After the coronation, he was publicly +proclaimed king, and, as Speed tells us, "was carried to the castle on +tall men's shoulders, that he might be seen and known." With the +exception of the Butlers of Ormond, a few of the prelates, and the +inhabitants of Waterford, the whole island followed the example of the +capital, and not a voice was raised in protest, or a sword drawn in +favour of King Henry. Ireland was in revolt. + +When news of these proceedings reached London, Henry summoned the +peers and bishops, and devised measures for the punishment of his +secret enemies and the maintenance of his authority. His first act was +to proclaim a free pardon to all his former opponents; his next, to +lead the real Earl of Warwick in procession from the Tower to St. +Paul's, and thence to the palace of Shene, where the nobility and +gentry had daily opportunities of meeting him and conversing with him. +Suspecting, not without cause, that the Queen-Dowager was implicated +in the conspiracy, Henry seized her lands and revenues, and shut her +up in the Convent of Bermondsey. But he failed to reach the active +agents; and although the English people were satisfied that the Earl +of Warwick was still a prisoner, the Irish persisted in their revolt, +and declared that the person who had been shown to the public at St. +Paul's was a counterfeit. By the orders of the Government a strict +watch was kept at the English ports, that fugitives, malcontents, or +suspected persons might not pass over into Ireland or Flanders; and a +thousand pounds reward was offered to any one who would present the +State with the body of the sham Plantagenet. + +Meanwhile John, earl of Lincoln, whom Richard had declared heir to the +throne, and whom Henry had treated with favour, took the side of the +pretender, and having established a correspondence with Sir Thomas +Broughton of Lancashire, proceeded to the court of Margaret, +dowager-duchess of Burgundy--a woman described by Lord Bacon as +"possessing the spirit of a man and the malice of a woman," and whose +great aim it was to see the sovereignty of England once more held by +the house of which she was a member. She readily consented to abet the +sham Earl of Warwick, and furnished Lincoln and Lord Lovel with a body +of 2000 German veterans, commanded by an able officer named Martin +Schwartz. The countenance given to the movement by persons of such +high rank, and the accession of this military force, greatly raised +the courage of Simnel's Irish adherents, and led them to conceive the +project of invading England, where they believed the spirit of +disaffection to be as general as it was in their own island. + +The news of the intended invasion came early to the ears of King +Henry, who promptly prepared to resist it. Having always felt or +affected great devotion, after mustering his army, he made a +pilgrimage to the shrine of our Lady of Walsingham, famous for +miracles, and there offered up prayers for success and for the +overthrow of his enemies. Being informed that Simnel and his gathering +had landed at Foudrey, in Lancashire, the king advanced to Coventry to +meet them. The rebels had anticipated that the disaffected provinces +of the north would rise and join them, but in this they were +disappointed; for the cautious northerners were not only convinced of +Simnel's imposture, but were afraid of the king's strength, and were +averse to league themselves with a horde of Irishmen and Germans. The +Earl of Lincoln, therefore, who commanded the invading force, finding +no hopes but in victory, determined to bring the matter to a speedy +decision. The hostile armies met at Stoke, in Nottinghamshire, and +after a hardly-contested day, the victory remained with the king. +Lincoln, Broughton, and Schwartz perished on the field of battle, with +four thousand of their followers. As Lord Lovel was never more heard +of, it was supposed that he shared the same fate. Lambert Simnel, with +his tutor the monk Simon, were taken prisoners. The latter, as an +ecclesiastic, escaped the doom he merited, and, not being tried at +law, was only committed to close custody for the rest of his life. As +for Simnel, when he was questioned, he revealed his real parentage; +and being deemed too contemptible to be an object either of +apprehension or resentment, Henry pardoned him, and made him first a +scullion in the royal kitchen, and afterwards promoted him to the +lofty position of a falconer. + + + + +PERKIN WARBECK--THE SHAM DUKE OF YORK. + + +Although Lambert Simnel's enterprise had miscarried, Margaret, +dowager-duchess of Burgundy, did not despair of seeing the crown of +England wrested from the House of Lancaster, and determined at least +to disturb King Henry's government if she could not subvert it. To +this end she sedulously spread abroad a report that Richard, duke of +York, the second son of Edward IV., had escaped the cruelty of his +uncle Richard III., and had been set at liberty by the assassins who +had been sent to despatch him. This rumour, although improbable, was +eagerly received by the people, and they were consequently prepared to +welcome the new pretender whenever he made his appearance. + +After some search, the duchess found a stripling whom she thought had +all the qualities requisite to personate the unfortunate prince. This +youth is described as being "of visage beautiful, of countenance +majestical, of wit subtile and crafty; in education pregnant, in +languages skilful; a lad, in short, of a fine shape, bewitching +behaviour, and very audacious." The name of this admirable prodigy was +Peterkin, or Perkin Warbeck, and he was the son of John Warbeck, a +renegade Jew of Tournay. Some writers, and among others Lord Bacon, +suggest that he had certain grounds for his pretensions to royal +descent, and hint that King Edward, in the course of his amorous +adventures, had been intimate with Catherine de Faro, Warbeck's wife; +and Bacon says "it was pretty extraordinary, or at least very +suspicious, that so wanton a prince should become gossip in so mean a +house." But be this as it may, the lad was both handsome and crafty, +and was well suited for the part which he was destined to play. + +Some years after his birth, the elder Warbeck returned to Tournay, +carrying the child with him; but Perkin did not long remain in the +paternal domicile, but by different accidents was carried from place +to place, until his birth and fortunes became difficult to trace by +the most diligent inquiry. No better tool could have been found for +the ambitious Duchess of Burgundy; and when he was brought to her +palace, she at once set herself to instruct him thoroughly with +respect to the person whom he was to represent. She so often described +to him the features, figures, and peculiarities of his deceased--or +presumedly deceased--parents, Edward IV. and his queen, and informed +him so minutely of all circumstances relating to the family history, +that in a short time he was able to talk as familiarly of the court of +his pretended father as the real Duke of York could have done. She +took especial care to warn him against certain leading questions which +might be put to him, and to render him perfect in his narration of the +occurrences which took place while he was in sanctuary with the queen, +and particularly to be consistent in repeating the story of his escape +from his executioners. After he had learnt his lesson thoroughly, he +was despatched under the care of Lady Brampton to Portugal, there to +wait till the fitting time arrived for his presentation to the English +people. + +At length, when war between France and England was imminent, a proper +opportunity seemed to present itself, and he was ordered to repair to +Ireland, which still retained its old attachment to the House of York. +He landed at Cork, and at once assuming the name of Richard +Plantagenet, succeeded in attracting many partizans. The news of his +presence in Ireland reached France; and Charles VIII., prompted by the +Burgundian duchess, sent him an invitation to repair to Paris. The +chance of recognition by the French king was too good to be idly cast +away. He went, and was received with every possible mark of honour. +Magnificent lodgings were provided for his reception; a handsome +pension was settled upon him; and a strong guard was appointed to +secure him against the emissaries of the English king. The French +courtiers readily imitated their master, and paid the respect to +Perkin which was due to the real Duke of York; and he, in turn, both +by his deportment and personal qualities, well supported his claims to +a royal pedigree. For a time nothing was talked of but the +accomplishments, the misfortunes, and the adventures of the young +Plantagenet; and the curiosity and credulity of England became +thoroughly aroused by the strange tidings which continued to arrive +from France. Sir George Nevill, Sir John Taylor, and many English +gentlemen who entertained no love for the king, repaired to the French +capital to satisfy themselves as to the pretensions of this young man; +and so well had Warbeck's lesson been acquired, that he succeeded in +convincing them of his identity, and in inducing them to pledge +themselves to aid him in his attempt to recover his inheritance. + +About this time, however, the breach between France and England was +lessened, and when friendly relations were restored, Henry applied to +have the impostor put into his hands. Charles, refusing to break faith +with a youth who had come to Paris by his own solicitation, refused to +give him up, and contented himself with ordering him to quit the +kingdom. Warbeck thereupon in all haste repaired to the court of +Margaret of Burgundy; but she at first astutely pretended ignorance +of his person and ridiculed his claims, saying that she had been +deceived by Simnel, and was resolved never again to be cajoled by +another impostor. Perkin, who admitted that she had reason to be +suspicious, nevertheless persisted that he was her nephew, the Duke of +York. The duchess, feigning a desire to convict him of imposture +before the whole of her attendants, put several questions to him which +she knew he could readily answer, affected astonishment at his +replies, and, at last, no longer able to control her feelings, "threw +herself on his neck, and embraced him as her nephew, the true image of +Edward, the sole heir of the Plantagenets, and the legitimate +successor to the English throne." She immediately assigned to him an +equipage suited to his supposed rank, appointed a guard of thirty +halberdiers to wait upon him, and gave him the title of "The White +Rose of England"--the symbol of the House of York. + +When the news reached England, in the beginning of 1493, that the Duke +of York was alive in Flanders, and had been acknowledged by the +Duchess of Burgundy, many people credited the story; and men of the +highest rank began to turn their eyes towards the new claimant. Lord +Fitzwater, Sir Simon Mountfort, and Sir Thomas Thwaites, made little +secret of their inclination towards him; Sir William Stanley, King +Henry's chamberlain, who had been active in raising the usurper to the +throne, was ready to adopt his cause whenever he set foot on English +soil, and Sir Robert Clifford and William Barley openly gave their +adhesion to the pretender, and went over to Flanders to concert +measures with the duchess and the sham duke. After his arrival, +Clifford wrote to his friends in England, that knowing the person of +Richard, duke of York, perfectly well, he had no doubt that this young +man was the prince himself, and that his story was compatible with the +truth. Such positive intelligence from a person of Clifford's rank +greatly strengthened the popular belief, and the whole English nation +was seriously discomposed and gravely disaffected towards the king. + +When Henry was informed of this new plot, he set himself cautiously +but steadily and resolutely to foil it. His first object was to +ascertain the reality of the death of the young prince, and to confirm +the opinion which had always prevailed with regard to that event. +Richard had engaged five persons to murder his nephews--viz., Sir +James Tirrel, whom he made custodian of the Tower while his nefarious +scheme was in course of execution, and who had seen the bodies of the +princes after their assassination; Forrest, Dighton, and Slater, who +perpetrated the crime; and the priest who buried the bodies. Tirrel +and Dighton were still alive; but although their stories agreed, as +the priest was dead, and as the bodies were supposed to have been +removed by Richard's orders, and could not be found, it was impossible +to prove conclusively that the young princes really had been put to +death. + +By means of his spies, Henry, after a time, succeeded in tracing the +true pedigree of Warbeck, and immediately published it for the +satisfaction of the nation. At the same time he remonstrated with the +Archduke Philip on account of the protection which was afforded to the +impostor, and demanded that "the theatrical king formed by the Duchess +of Burgundy" should be given up to him. The ambassadors were received +with all outward respect, but their request was refused, and they were +sent home with the answer, that "the Duchess of Burgundy being +absolute sovereign in the lands of her dowry, the archduke could not +meddle with her affairs, or hinder her from doing what she thought +fit." Henry in resentment cut off all intercourse with the Low +Countries, banished the Flemings, and recalled his own subjects from +these provinces. At the same time, Sir Robert Clifford having proved +traitorous to Warbeck's cause, and having revealed the names of its +supporters in England, the king pounced upon the leading conspirators. +Almost at the same instant he arrested Fitzwater, Mountfort, and +Thwaites, together with William D'Aubeney, Thomas Cressener, Robert +Ratcliff, and Thomas Astwood. Lord Fitzwater was sent as a prisoner to +Calais with some hopes of pardon; but being detected in an attempt to +bribe his gaolers, he was beheaded. Sir Simon Mountfort, Robert +Ratcliff, and William D'Aubeney were tried, condemned, and executed, +and the others were pardoned. + +Stanley, the chamberlain, was reserved for a more impressive fate. His +domestic connection with the king and his former services seemed to +render him safe against any punishment; but Henry, thoroughly aroused +by his perfidy, determined to bring the full weight of his vengeance +upon him. Clifford was directed to come privately to England, and cast +himself at the foot of the throne, imploring pardon for his past +offences, and offering to condone his folly by any services which +should be required of him. Henry, accepting his penitence, informed +him that the only reparation he could now make was by disclosing the +names of his abettors; and the turncoat at once denounced Stanley, +then present, as, his chief colleague. The chamberlain indignantly +repudiated the accusation; and Henry, with well-feigned disbelief, +begged Clifford to be careful in making his charges, for it was +absolutely incredible "that a man, to whom he was in a great measure +beholden for his crown, and even for his life; a man to whom, by every +honour and favour, he had endeavoured to express his gratitude; whose +brother, the Earl of Derby, was his own father-in-law; to whom he had +even committed the trust of his person by creating him lord +chamberlain; that this man, enjoying his full confidence and +affection, not actuated by any motive of discontent or apprehension, +should engage in a conspiracy against him." But Clifford persisted in +his charges and statements. Stanley was placed under arrest, and was +subsequently tried, condemned, and beheaded. + +The fate of the unfortunate chamberlain, and the defection of +Clifford, created the greatest consternation in the camp of Perkin +Warbeck. The king's authority was greatly strengthened by the +promptness and severity of his measures, and the pretender soon +discovered that unless he were content to sink into obscurity, he must +speedily make a bold move. Accordingly, having collected a band of +outlaws, criminals, and adventurers, he set sail for England. Having +received intelligence that Henry was at that time in the north, he +cast anchor off the coast of Kent, and despatched some of his +principal adherents to invite the gentlemen of Kent to join his +standard. The southern landowners, who were staunchly loyal, invited +him to come on shore and place himself at their head. But the wary +impostor was not to be entrapped so easily. He declined to trust +himself in the hands of the well-disciplined bands which expressed so +much readiness to follow him to death or victory; and the Kentish +troops, despairing of success in their stratagem, fell upon such of +his retainers as had already landed, and took 150 of them prisoners. +These were tried, sentenced, and executed by order of the king, who +was determined to show no lenity to the rebels. Perkin being an +eye-witness of the capture of his people, immediately weighed anchor, +and returned to Flanders. + +Hampered, however, by his horde of desperadoes, he could not again +settle quietly down under the protecting wing of the Duchess Margaret. +Work and food had to be found for his lawless followers; and in 1495 +an attempt was made upon Ireland, which still retained its preference +for the House of York. But the people of Ireland had learnt a salutary +lesson at the battle of Stoke, and Perkin, meeting with little +success, withdrew to Scotland. At this time there was a coolness +between the Scottish and English courts, and King James gave him a +favourable reception, being so completely deceived by his specious +story, that he bestowed upon him in marriage the beautiful and +virtuous Lady Catherine Gordon, the daughter of the Earl of Huntly, +and his own kinswoman. Not content with this, the King of Scots, with +Perkin in his company, invaded England, in the hope that the adherents +of the York family would rise in favour of the pretender. In this +expectation he was disappointed, and what at first seemed likely to +prove a dangerous insurrection ended in a mere border raid. + +For a time Warbeck remained in Scotland; but when King James +discovered that his continued presence at his court completely +prevented all hope of a lasting peace with England, he requested him +to leave the country. The Flemings meanwhile had passed a law barring +his retreat into the Low Countries. Therefore, after hiding for a time +in the wilds of Ireland, he resolved to try the affections of the men +of Cornwall. No sooner did he land at Bodmin, than the people crowded +to his banners in such numbers, that the pretender, hopeful of +success, took upon himself for the first time the title of Richard +IV., king of England. Not to suffer the expectation of his followers +to languish, he laid siege to Exeter; but the men of Exeter, having +shut their gates in his face, waited with confidence for the coming of +the king. Nor were they disappointed. The Lords D'Aubeney and Broke +were despatched with a small body of troops to the relief of the city. +The leading nobles offered their services as volunteers, and the king, +at the head of a considerable army, prepared to follow his advanced +guard. Perkin's followers, who numbered about 7000 men, would have +stood by him; but the cowardly Fleming, despairing of success, +secretly withdrew to the sanctuary of Beaulieu. The Cornish rebels +accepted the king's clemency, and Lady Gordon, the wife of the +pretender, fell into the hands of the royalists. To Henry's credit it +must be mentioned that he did not visit the sins of the husband upon +the poor deluded wife, but placed her in attendance upon the queen, +and bestowed upon her a pension which she continued to enjoy +throughout his reign, and even after his death. + +It was a difficult matter to know how to deal with the impostor +himself. It would have been easy to make the privileges of the church +yield to reasons of state, and to take him by violence from the +sanctuary; but at the same time it was wise to respect the rights of +the clergy and the prejudices of the people. Therefore agents were +appointed to treat with the counterfeit prince, and succeeded in +inducing him, by promises that his life would be spared, to deliver +himself up to King Henry. Once a captive, he was treated with derision +rather than with extreme severity, and was led in a kind of mock +triumph to London. As he passed along the road, and through the +streets of the city, men of all grades assembled to see the impostor, +and cast ridicule upon his fallen fortunes; and the farce was ended by +the publication of a confession in which Warbeck narrated his real +parentage, and the chief causes of his presumption to royal honours. + +But although his life was spared, he was still detained in custody. +After a time he escaped from prison, and fled to the Priory of Sheen, +near Richmond, where he desired the prior, who was a favourite with +the king, to petition for his life and a pardon. If Henry had listened +to the advice of his counsellors he would have taken advantage of the +opportunity to rid himself of this persistent disturber of his peace; +but he was content to give orders that "the knave should be taken out +and set in the stocks." Accordingly, on the 14th of June 1499, Warbeck +was exposed on a scaffold, erected in the Palace Court, Westminster, +as he was on the day following at the Cross on Cheapside, and at both +these places he read a confession of his imposture. Notwithstanding +this additional disgrace, no sooner was he again under lock and key, +than his restless spirit induced him to concoct another plot for +liberty and the crown. Insinuating himself into the intimacy of four +servants of Sir John Digby, lieutenant of the Tower, by their means he +succeeded in opening a correspondence with the Earl of Warwick, who +was confined in the same prison. The unfortunate prince listened +readily to his fatal proposals, and a new plan was laid. Henry was +apprised of it, and was not sorry that the last of the Plantagenets +had thus thrust himself into his hands. Warbeck and Warwick were +brought to trial, condemned, and executed. Perkin Warbeck died very +penitently on the gallows at Tyburn. "Such," says Bacon, "was the end +of this little cockatrice of a king." The Earl of Warwick was beheaded +on Tower Hill, on the 28th of November 1499. + + + + +DON SEBASTIAN--THE LOST KING OF PORTUGAL. + + +King Sebastian of Portugal, who inherited the throne in 1557, seems, +even from his infancy, to have exhibited a remarkable love of warlike +exercises, and at an early age to have given promise of distinguishing +himself as a warrior. At the time of his accession, Portugal had lost +much of her old military prestige; the Moors had proved too strong for +her diminished armies; the four strongholds of Arzilla, +Alcazar-Sequer, Saphin, and Azamor, had been wrested from her; and +Mazagan, Ceuta, and Tangier alone remained to her of all her African +possessions. Consequently, the tutors of the boy-king were delighted +to see his warlike instinct, and carefully instilled into his mind a +hatred of the Paynim conquerors. + +The lesson was well learnt, and from the moment King Sebastian reached +his 14th year (the period of his majority), it was evident that all +his thoughts centred on an expedition to Africa, to revive the former +glories of his house, and to extend his empire even beyond its former +limits. In 1574 he set out, not to conquer the land, but simply to +view it, and with youthful audacity landed at Tangier, accompanied by +only 1500 men. Finding no opposition to his progress, he organized a +hunting expedition among the mountains, and actually put his project +into execution. The Moors, by this time thoroughly incensed by his +audacity, mustered a force and attacked his escort, but he succeeded +in beating them off, and escaped in safety to his ships, and reached +his kingdom unharmed. + +This peculiar reconnaissance only strengthened his resolution to wrest +his former possessions from the Moslems; and although Portugal was +impoverished and weak, he resolved at once to enter on a crusade +against Muley Moluc and the Moors. The protests of his ministers were +unheeded; he laid new and exorbitant imposts on his people, caused +mercenaries to be levied in Italy and the Low Countries, and +reluctantly persuaded his uncle, Philip I. of Spain, to promise a +contingent. His preparations being at last completed, and a regency +established, he put to sea in June 1578. His armament consisted of +9000 Portuguese, 2000 Spaniards, 3000 Germans, and some 600 +Italians--in all, about 15,000 men, with twelve pieces of artillery, +embarked on fifty-five vessels. + +On the 4th of August the opposing forces met. The Moorish monarch, who +was stricken with a fatal disorder, was carried on a litter to the +field, and died while struggling with his attendants, who refused to +allow him to rush into the thick of the fight. The Portuguese were +routed with great slaughter, notwithstanding the valour with which +they were led by Don Sebastian. Two horses were killed under the +Christian king; the steed on which he rode was exhausted, and the +handful of followers who remained with him entreated him to surrender. +Sebastian indignantly refused, and again dashed into the middle of the +fray. From this moment his fate is uncertain. Some suppose that he was +taken prisoner, and that his captors beginning to dispute among +themselves as to the possession of so rich a prize, one of the Moorish +officers slew him to prevent the rivalry ending in bloodshed. Another +account, however, affirms that he was seen after the battle, alone and +unattended, and apparently seeking some means of crossing the river. +On the following day search was made for his body, Don Nuno +Mascarcuhas, his personal attendant, having stated that he saw him put +to death with his own eyes. At the spot which the Portuguese noble +indicated, a body was found, which, though naked, Resende, a valet of +Sebastian, recognised as that of his master. It was at once conveyed +to the tent of Muley Hamet, the brother and successor of Muley Moluc, +and was there identified by the captive Portuguese nobles. That their +grief was sincere there could be no doubt; and the Moorish king having +placed the royal remains in a handsome coffin, delivered them for a +heavy ransom to the Spanish ambassador, by whom they were forwarded to +Portugal, where they were buried with much pomp. + +But although the nobles were well content to believe that Sebastian +was dead, the mob were by no means equally satisfied that the story of +his fate was true, and were prepared to receive any impostor with open +arms. Indeed, in some parts of Portugal, Don Sebastian is supposed by +the populace to be still alive, concealed like Roderick the Goth, or +our own Arthur, in some hermit's cell, or in some enchanted castle, +until the fitting time for his re-appearance arrives, when he will +break the spell which binds him, and will restore the faded glory of +the nation. During the incursions of Bonaparte, his appearance was +anxiously expected, but he delayed the day of his coming. But if the +real Sebastian remains silent, there have been numerous pretenders to +his throne and his name. + +In 1585 a man appeared who personated the dead king. He was a native +of Alcazova, and a person of low birth and still lower morals. In his +earlier days he had been admitted into the monastic society of Our +Lady of Mount Carmel, but had been expelled from the fraternity on +account of his misconduct. Even in his later life, when, by pretended +penitence, he succeeded in gaining re-admission, his vices were found +so far to outweigh his virtues and his piety that it was necessary +again to confide him to the tender mercies of a sacrilegious world. He +fled to the hermitage of Albuquerque, and there devotees visited him. +Widows and full-blooded donnas especially frequented his cell; and the +results of his exercises were such that the Alcalde threatened to lay +hands upon him. Once more he disappeared, but only to turn up again in +the guise of Don Sebastian. Two of his accomplices who mixed among the +people pointed out his resemblance to the lost monarch: the credulous +crowd swallowed the story, and he soon had a respectable following. +Orders from Lisbon, however, checked his prosperous career. He was +arrested and escorted by 100 horsemen to the dungeons of the capital. +There he was tried and condemned to death. The sentence was not, +however, carried into effect; for the imposture was deemed too +transparent to merit the infliction of the extreme penalty. The +prisoner was carried to the galleys instead of the scaffold, and +exhibited to visitors as a contemptible curiosity rather than as a +dangerous criminal. So ended the first sham Sebastian. + +In the same year another pretender appeared. This was Alvarez, the son +of a stone-cutter, and a native of the Azores. So far from originating +the imposture, it seems to have been thrust upon him. Like the youth +of Alcazova, after being a monk, he had become a hermit, and thousands +of the devout performed pilgrimages to his cell, which was situated on +the sea-coast, about two miles from Ericeira. The frequency and +severity of his penances gained him great celebrity, and at last it +began to be rumoured abroad that the recluse was King Sebastian, who, +by mortifying his own flesh, was atoning for the calamity he had +brought upon his kingdom. At first he repudiated all claim to such +distinction; but after a time his ambition seems to have been aroused; +he ceased to protest against the homage of the ignorant, and consented +to be treated as a king. Having made up his mind to the imposture, +Alvares resolved to carry it out boldly. He appointed officers of his +household, and despatched letters, sealed with the royal arms, +throughout the kingdom, commanding his subjects to rally round his +standard and aid him in restoring peace and prosperity to Portugal. +The local peasantry, in answer to the summons, hastened to place +themselves at his service, and were honoured by being allowed to kiss +his royal hand. Cardinal Henrique, the regent, being informed of his +proceedings, despatched an officer with a small force to arrest this +new disturber of the public tranquillity; but on the approach of the +troops Alvares and his followers took to the mountains. The cardinal's +representative, unable to pursue them into their inaccessible +fastnesses, left the alcalde of Torres Vedras at Ericeira with +instructions to capture the impostor dead or alive, and himself set +out for Lisbon. He had scarcely reached the plain when Alvares, at the +head of 700 men, swooped down upon the town and took the alcalde and +his soldiers prisoners. He next wrote to the cardinal regent, +ordering him to quit the palace and the kingdom. He then set out for +Torres Vedras, intending to release the criminals confined there, and +with their assistance to seize Cintra, and afterwards to attack the +capital. On the march he threw the unfortunate alcalde and the notary +of Torres Vedras, who had been captured at the same time, over a high +cliff into the sea, and executed another government official who had +the misfortune to fall into his clutches. The corregedor Fonseca, who +was not far off, hearing of these excesses, immediately started at the +head of eighty horsemen to oppose the rebel progress. Wisely +calculating that if he appeared with a larger force Alvares would +again flee to the hills, he ordered some companies to repair in +silence to a village in the rear, and aid him in case of need. He +first encountered a picked band of 200 rebels, whom he easily routed; +and then, being joined by his reinforcements, fell upon the main body, +which his also dispersed. Alvares succeeded in escaping for a time, +but at last he was taken and brought to Lisbon. Here, after being +exposed to public infamy, he was hanged amid the jeers of the +populace. + +Nine years later, in 1594, another impostor appeared, this time in +Spain, under the very eyes of King Philip, who had seized the +Portuguese sovereignty. Again an ecclesiastic figured in the plot; but +on this occasion he concealed himself behind the scenes, and pulled +the strings which set the puppet-king in motion. Miguel dos Santos, an +Augustinian monk, who had been chaplain to Sebastian, after his +disappearance espoused the cause of Don Antonio, and conceived the +scheme of placing his new patron on the Lusitanian throne, by exciting +a revolution in favour of a stranger adventurer, who would run all the +risks of the rebellion, and resign his ill-gotten honours when the +real aspirant appeared. He found a suitable tool in Gabriel de +Spinosa, a native of Toledo. This man resembled Sebastian, was +naturally bold and unscrupulous, and was easily persuaded to undertake +the task of personating the missing monarch. The monk, Dos Santos, who +was confessor to the nunnery of Madrigal, introduced this person to +one of the nuns, Donna Anna of Austria, a niece of King Philip, and +informed her that he was the unfortunate King of Portugal. The lady, +believing her father-confessor, loaded the pretender with valuable +gifts; presented him with her jewels; and was so attracted by his +appearance that it was said she was willing to break her vows for his +sake, and to share his throne with him. Unfortunately for the +conspirators, before the plot was ripe, Spinosa's indiscretion ruined +it. Having repaired to Valladolid to sell some jewels, he formed a +criminal acquaintance with a female of doubtful repute, who informed +the authorities that he was possessed of a great number of gems which +she believed to be stolen. He was arrested, and on his correspondence +being searched, the whole scheme was discovered. The rack elicited a +full confession, and Spinosa was hung and quartered. Miguel dos Santos +shared the same fate; but the Donna Anna, in consideration of her +birth, was spared and condemned to perpetual seclusion. + +The list of pretenders to regal honours was not even yet complete. In +1598, a Portuguese noble was accosted in the streets of Padua by a +tattered pilgrim, who addressed him by name, and asked if he knew him. +The nobleman answered that he did not. "Alas! have twenty years so +changed me," cried the stranger, "that you cannot recognise in me your +missing king, Sebastian?" He then proceeded to pour his past history +into the ears of the astonished hidalgo, narrating the chief events of +the African battle, detailing the circumstances of his own escape, and +mentioning the friends and events of his earlier life so fluently and +correctly that his listener had no hesitation in accepting him as the +true Sebastian. The news of the appearance of this pretender in Padua +soon reached Portugal, and spread with unexampled rapidity throughout +the country. Philip II. was gravely disturbed by the report, knowing +that his own rule was unpopular, and that the people would be disposed +to rally round any claimant who promised on his accession to the +throne to relieve them from the heavy burdens under which they +groaned. He therefore lost no time in forestalling any attempt to oust +him from the Portuguese sovereignty; and despatched a courier to +Venice, demanding the interference of the authorities. The governor of +Venice, anxious to please the powerful ruler of the Spanish peninsula, +issued an order for the immediate expulsion of "the man calling +himself Don Sebastian;" but the "man" had no intention of being +disposed of in this summary manner. Immediately on receipt of the +order he proceeded to Venice, presented himself at court, and declared +himself ready to prove his identity. The Spanish minister, acting upon +his instructions, denounced him as an impostor, and as a criminal who +had been guilty of heinous offences, and demanded his arrest. He was +thrown into prison; but when the charges of the Spanish minister were +investigated, they failed signally, and no crime could be proven +against him. At the solicitation of Philip, however, he was kept under +arrest, and was frequently submitted to examination by the +authorities, with a view of entrapping him into some damaging +admission. At first he answered readily, and astonished his +questioners by his intimate knowledge of the inner life of the +Portuguese court, not only mentioning the names of Sebastian's +ministers and the ambassadors who had been accredited to Lisbon, but +describing their appearance and peculiarities, and recounting the +chief measures of his government, and the contents of the letters +which had been written by the king. At length, after cheerfully +submitting to be examined on twenty-eight separate occasions, he grew +tired of being pestered by his questioners, and refused to answer +further interrogatories, exclaiming, "My Lords, I am Sebastian, king +of Portugal! If you doubt it, permit me to be seen by my subjects, +many of whom will remember me. If you can prove that I am an impostor, +I am willing to suffer death." + +The Portuguese residents in Italy entertained no doubt that the +pretender was their countryman and their monarch, and made most +strenuous exertions to procure his release. One of their number, Dr. +Sampajo, a man of considerable eminence, and of known probity, +personally interceded with the governor of Venice on his behalf. He +was told that the prisoner could only be released upon the most ample +and satisfactory proof of his identity; and Sampajo, confident that he +could procure the necessary evidence, set out forthwith for Portugal. +After a brief stay in Lisbon, he returned with a mass of testimony +corroborating the pretender's story; and, what was naturally +considered of greater importance, with a list of the marks which were +on the person of King Sebastian. The accused was stripped, and on his +body marks were found similar to those which had been described to Dr. +Sampajo. Still the authorities hesitated; and explained that in a +matter of such importance, and where such weighty interests were +involved, they could not act on the representations of a private +individual; but if any of the European powers should demand the +release of their prisoner it would be granted. + +Nothing daunted by their failure, the believers in the claims of the +so-called Sebastian endeavoured to enlist the sympathy of the foreign +potentates on behalf of one of their own order who was unjustly +incarcerated and deprived of his rights. In this they failed; but at +last the government of Holland, which had no love for Philip, espoused +the cause of his rival, and despatched an officer to Venice to see +that justice was done. A day was appointed for the trial, and the +prisoner being brought before the senate, presented his claims in +writing. Witnesses came forward who swore that the person before them +was indeed Sebastian, although he had changed greatly in the course of +twenty years. Several scars, malformed teeth, moles, and other +peculiarities which were known to be possessed by the king, were +pointed out on the person of the pretender, and the evidence was +decidedly favourable to his claims; when, on the fifth day of the +investigation, a courier arrived from Spain, and presented a private +message from King Philip. The proceedings were at once brought to a +close; and, without further examination, the prisoner was liberated, +and ordered to quit the Venetian territory in three days. He +proceeded to Florence, where he was again arrested by command of the +Grand Duke of Tuscany. The reason for this harsh treatment is not very +clearly apparent, but it was probably instigated by the Spanish +representative at the Florentine court; for no sooner did the news +that he was in confinement reach Philip, than he demanded the delivery +of the prisoner to his agents. The duke at first refused to comply +with this request, but a threatened invasion of his dominions led him +to reconsider his decision, and the unfortunate aspirant to the +Portuguese sceptre was handed over to the Spanish officials. He was +hurried to Naples, then an appanage of the Spanish crown, and was +there offered his liberty if he would renounce his pretensions; but +this he staunchly refused to do, saying, "I am Sebastian, king of +Portugal, and have been visited by this severe punishment as a +chastisement for my sins. I am content to die in the manner that +pleases you best, but deny the truth I neither can nor will." + +The Count de Lemnos, who had been the minister of Spain at Lisbon when +Sebastian was on the throne, at that time was Viceroy of Naples, and +naturally went to visit the pretended king in prison. After a brief +interview, he unhesitatingly asserted that he had never seen the +prisoner before; whereupon the pretended Sebastian exclaimed, "You say +that you have no recollection of me, but I remember you very well. My +uncle, Philip of Spain, twice sent you to my court, where I gave you +such-and-such private interviews." Staggered by this intimate +knowledge of his past life, De Lemnos hesitated for a minute or two, +but at last ordered the gaoler to remove his prisoner, adding to his +command the remark, "He is a rank impostor,"--a remark which called +forth the stern rebuke, "No, Sir; I am no impostor, but the +unfortunate King of Portugal, and you know it full well. A man of your +station ought at all times to speak the truth or preserve silence!" + +Whatever the real opinion of De Lemnos may have been, he behaved +kindly to his prisoner, and treated him with no more harshness than +was consistent with his safe-keeping. Unfortunately, the life of the +ex-ambassador was short, and his successor had no sympathy for the +_soi-disant_ king. On the 1st of April 1602, he was taken from his +prison and mounted upon an ass, and, with three trumpeters preceding +him, was led through the streets, a herald proclaiming at +intervals:--"His Most Catholic Majesty hath commanded that this man be +led through the streets of Naples with marks of infamy, and that he +shall afterwards be committed to serve in the galleys for life, for +falsely pretending to be Don Sebastian, king of Portugal." He bore the +ordeal firmly; and each time that the proclamation was made, added, in +clear and sonorous tones, "And so I am!" + +He was afterwards sent on board the galleys, and for a short time had +to do the work of a galley slave; but as soon as the vessels were at +sea he was released, his uniform was removed, and he was courteously +treated. What ultimately became of him was never clearly ascertained, +but it is certain that on more than one occasion he succeeded in +confounding his opponents, and by his startling revelations of the +past led many who would fain have disputed his identity to express +their doubts as to the justice of his punishment. The probability is +that he was a rogue, but he was a clever one. Rumour says he died in a +Spanish fortress in 1606. + + + + +JEMELJAN PUGATSCHEFF--THE FICTITIOUS PETER III. + + +The reign of Catherine II. fills one of the darkest pages of Russian +history. This lustful and ambitious empress waded to the throne +through her husband's blood--bloodshed was necessary to establish her +rule; infamous cruelties characterised her whole reign, and no +princess ever succeeded in making herself more heartily detested by +her subjects than the vicious daughter of Anhalt Zerbst. Plot after +plot was concocted to oust her from her high estate; and impostor +after impostor appeared claiming the imperial purple; but the empress +held her own easily, and suppressed each successive rebellion without +difficulty, until Pugatscheff appeared at the head of the Cossacks, +and threatened to hurl her from her throne, and dismember the empire. + +Jemeljan Pugatscheff Was the son of Jemailoff Pugatscheff, a Cossack +of the Don, and was born near Simonskaga. His father was killed on the +field of battle, and left him to the care of an indifferent mother, +who deserted him and sought the embraces of a second husband. An +uncle, pitying the lad's desolation, carried him to Poland, where he +picked up the French, Italian, German, and Polish languages, and +distinguished himself by his aptitude for learning. After a time he +returned to Russia, and took up his abode among the Cossacks of the +Ukraine, who, attracted alike by his bodily vigour and his mental +accomplishments, elected him one of their chiefs. He was not, however, +contented with the comparative quiet of Cossack life, and longed for +some greater excitement than was afforded by an occasional raid +against the neighbouring tribes. Accordingly, taking advantage of the +law promulgated by Peter III.,--that any Russian might leave the +country and enter the service of any power not at war with the +empire,--he entered the army of the King of Prussia. On the conclusion +of peace he obtained a command in the Russian army, and served for a +considerable time. At last his regiment was relieved, and Pugatscheff +was allowed to return home. On his return he found the Cossacks of the +Ukraine gravely dissatisfied with the government and the empire. The +viciousness of the court had been reported to them; they were +oppressed both by the clergy and the judges, and they only wanted a +leader to break out into open revolt. Pugatscheff saw the golden +opportunity, and presented himself. But spies were numerous, the +garrisons were strong, and it was necessary to proceed with caution. +In order the better to conceal his designs, he entered the service of +a Cossack named Koshenikof, and after a short time succeeded in +gaining the adhesion of his master to his cause. The friends and +kinsmen of Koshenikof were one by one, under oath of secrecy, informed +of the plot, and by degrees the rebellious scheme was perfected. +Pugatscheff was elected chief; and as he bore a strong resemblance to +the murdered emperor, it was resolved that he should present himself +to the people as Peter III. Accordingly, rumours were assiduously +circulated that the emperor was still alive; that a soldier had been +killed in his stead; and that although he was in hiding, he would +shortly appear, and would avenge himself upon his enemies. Thousands +listened and believed, and only waited for the first sign of success +to join the movement. But the government was on the alert. Pugatscheff +and his master were suspected and denounced; and while the latter was +arrested, the former with difficulty escaped. In a few days, however, +he succeeded in surrounding himself with 500 adherents, and marched at +their head to the town of Jaizkoi, which he summoned to surrender. The +answer was sent by 5000 Cossacks who had orders to take him prisoner. +Strong in his faith in his fellow-countrymen, Pugatscheff advanced +towards this formidable force, and caused one of his officers to +present them with a manifesto explaining his claims, and his reasons +for taking up arms. The general in command seized the document, but +the men, who had no great love for the empress, insisted that it +should be read. Their request was refused, and 500 of them at once +deserted their standards and joined the ranks of the rebel chief. +Alarmed by this defection, the Russian general withdrew to the +citadel, while Pugatscheff encamped about a league off, hoping that +further desertions would follow, and that the place would fall into +his hands. In this he was disappointed; for his fellow-countrymen, +although disloyal at heart, did not wish to commit themselves to a +desperate undertaking which might involve them in ruin, and were +disposed to wait until some success had attended the insurrection. The +500 who had precipitately chosen the rebellion had induced about a +dozen of their officers to join them; but these men, suddenly +repenting, refused to break their oath of allegiance, and were at +once hanged from the neighbouring trees. Finding further persuasion +fruitless, Pugatscheff wisely refrained from any attempt to reduce the +fortress, and marched his band towards Orenburg. On the way he secured +large accessions to his force, and in a few days found himself at the +head of 1500 men. With this army he attacked the fortified town of +Iletzka, which offered no resistance--the garrison passing over to +him. The commandant consented to share in the enterprise with his +followers, but Pugatscheff wanted no commandants or men of +intelligence who might interfere with his schemes, and gave orders for +his immediate execution. The cannon captured at Iletzka were then +pointed against Casypnaja, which yielded after a brief struggle. Thus +fortress after fortress fell into the hands of the reputed emperor, +who gladly received the common soldiery, but mercilessly slew their +leaders. + +By this time the news had spread abroad throughout Southern Russia +that Peter III. was not dead, but was in arms for the recovery of his +throne and for the redress of the grievances under which his people +were suffering. Crowds of Cossacks heard the intelligence with joy, +and hastened to cast in their lot with the army of Pugatscheff. +Talischova, a powerful fortress, defended by 1000 regular troops, fell +before his assault; and the false Peter soon found himself possessed +of numerous strongholds, a formidable train of artillery, and a +fighting force of 5000 men. Considering himself strong enough to +attempt the reduction of Orenburg, the capital of the southern +provinces, he marched against it. Here, however, he encountered a +stubborn resistance, and attack after attack was repulsed with heavy +loss. These repeated failures did not discourage the pretender or his +adherents. The Cossacks continued to flock to his banners, and when +General Carr, who had been despatched from Moscow to suppress the +revolt, arrived in the neighbourhood of Orenburg, he found the rebel +chief at the head of 16,000 soldiers. An advanced guard, which was +sent to harass his movements, fell into the hands of Pugatscheff, who +nearly exterminated it, and straightway hanged the officers who were +made captive, according to his usual custom. Emboldened by his +success, he attacked the main body, and ignominiously defeated it in +the open field; and Carr, panic-struck, fled to the capital, leaving +General Freyman, if possible, to oppose the advance of the +revolutionists. The result of this decisive victory was soon apparent. +Province after province declared in favour of the pretender, chief +after chief placed his sword at his service, and Pugatscheff began to +play the emperor in earnest. He conferred titles upon his most +distinguished officers, granted sealed commissions, and constructed +foundries and powder manufactories in various places. + +Catherine, by this time thoroughly alarmed, despatched another army to +the Ukraine under General Bibikoff, an experienced and resolute +officer. He arrived at Casan in February 1774, and issued a manifesto, +exposing Pugatscheff's imposture, and calling upon the rebels to lay +down their arms. Pugatscheff replied by another manifesto, declaring +himself the Czar, Peter III., and threatening vengeance against all +who resisted his just claims. He also caused coin to be impressed with +his effigy, and the inscription "_Redivivus et Ultor_." In the +meantime he continued to lay siege to Orenburg and Ufa. But Bibikoff +was not a man to remain inactive, and lost no time in attacking him. +Again and again he was defeated, the siege of the two strongholds was +raised, and on more than one occasion his army was dispersed, and he +was left at the head of only a few hundred followers. But, if the +Cossack hordes could be easily dissipated, they could rally with equal +ease; and on several occasions, when the rebellion seemed to be +completely crushed, it suddenly burst out afresh, and Pugatscheff, who +was supposed to be hiding like a hunted criminal, appeared at the head +of a larger force than ever. Thus at one time scarcely 100 men +followed him to a retreat in the Ural Mountains: in a few days he was +at the head of 20,000 men, and took Casan by storm, with the exception +of the citadel, which resisted his most determined attacks. Here he +perpetrated the greatest atrocities, until the imperial troops arrived +and wrested the town from his grasp, seizing his artillery and his +ammunition. For a time his position appeared desperate, and he fled +across the Volga, but only to re-appear again at the head of an +enormous force, and, as a conqueror, fortress after fortress yielding +at his summons. At length a Russian army under Colonel Michelsohn +overtook him and gave him battle. Pugatscheff held a strong position, +had 24 pieces of artillery and 20,000 men, but his raw levies were no +match for the regular troops. His position was turned, and a panic +seized his followers, who deserted their guns and their baggage, and +fled precipitately, leaving 2000 dead and 6000 prisoners behind them. +Pugatscheff himself made for the Volga, closely pursued by the Russian +cavalry, who cut down the half of his escort before they could embark. +With sixty men he succeeded in escaping into the desert, and at last +it was evident that his game was played out. The only three outlets +were soon closed by separate detachments of the imperial troops, and +the fugitives were thus confined in an arid waste without shelter, +without provisions, and without water. The situation was so hopeless +that each man only thought of saving himself, and Pugatscheff's +companions were not slow to perceive that their sole chance of life +lay in sacrificing their leader. Accordingly, they fell upon him while +he was ravenously devouring a piece of horseflesh--the only food which +he could command--and, having bound him, handed him over to his +enemies. As Moscow had shown some sympathy for him, he was carried in +chains to that city, and was there condemned to death. Several of his +principal adherents likewise suffered punishment at the same time. + +On the 23d of January 1775, Pugatscheff and his followers were led to +the place of execution, where a large scaffold had been erected. Some +had their tongues cut out, the noses of others were cut off, eighteen +were knouted and sent to Siberia, and the chief was decapitated--his +body being afterwards cut in pieces and exposed in different parts of +the town. He met his fate with the utmost fortitude. + + + + +OTREFIEF--THE SHAM PRINCE DIMITRI. + + +On the death of Feodor, son of Ivan the Terrible, the Russian throne +was occupied by Boris Godunoff, who had contrived to procure the +murder of Dimitri, or Demetrius, the younger brother of Feodor. For a +time he governed well; but the crafty nobles beginning to plot against +him, he had recourse to measures of extreme cruelty and severity, so +that even the affections of the common people were alienated from him, +and universal confusion ensued. Advantage was taken of this state of +affairs by a monk named Otrefief, who bore an almost miraculous +likeness to the murdered Dimitri, to assume the name of the royal +heir. At first he proceeded cautiously, and, retiring to Poland, by +degrees made public the marvellous tale of his wrongs and of his +escape from his assassins. Many of the leading nobles listened to his +recitals and believed them. In order to render his campaign more +certain, the pretender set himself to learn the Polish language, and +acquired it with remarkable rapidity. Nor did he rest here. He +represented to the Poles that he was disposed to embrace the Catholic +faith; and by assuring the Pope that if he regained the throne of his +ancestors, his first care should be to recall his subjects to their +obedience to Rome, he succeeded in securing the patronage and the +blessing of the Pontiff. Sendomir, a wealthy boyard, not only espoused +his cause, and gave him pecuniary help, but promised him his daughter +Marina in marriage whenever he became the Czar of Muscovy. Marina +herself was no less eager for the union, and through Sendomir's +influence the support of the King of Poland was obtained. + +News of the imposture soon reached Moscow, and Boris instantly +denounced Dimitri as an impostor, and sent emissaries to endeavour to +secure his arrest. In this, however, they were unsuccessful; and the +false Dimitri not only succeeded in raising a considerable force in +Poland, but also in convincing the great mass of the Russian +population that he really was the son of Ivan. In 1604 he appeared on +the Russian frontier at the head of a small but efficient force, and +overthrew the army which Boris had sent against him. His success was +supposed by the ignorant peasantry to be entirely due to the +interposition of Providence, which was working on the side of the +injured prince, and Dimitri was careful to foster the delusion that +his cause was specially favoured by heaven. He treated his prisoners +with the greatest humanity, and ordered his followers to refrain from +excesses, and to cultivate the goodwill of the people. The result was +that his ranks rapidly increased, while those of the czar diminished. +Even foreign governments began to view the offender with favour; and +at last Boris, devoured by remorse for the crimes which he had +committed, and by chagrin at the evil fate which had fallen upon him, +lost his reason and poisoned himself. + +The chief nobles assembled when the death of the czar was made known, +and proclaimed his son Feodor emperor in his stead; but the lad's +reign was very brief. The greater part of the army and the people +declared in favour of Dimitri, and the citizens of Moscow having +invited him to assume the reins of power, Dimitri made a triumphal +entry into the capital, and was crowned with great pomp. At first he +ruled prudently, and, had he continued as he began, might have +retained his strangely acquired throne. But after a time he gave +himself up to the gratification of his own wild passions, and lost the +popularity which he really had succeeded in gaining. He disgusted the +Russians by appointing numerous Poles, who had swelled his train, to +the highest posts in the empire, to the exclusion of meritorious +officers, who not only deserved well of their country, but also had +claims upon himself for services which they had rendered. These Polish +officers misconducted themselves sadly, and the people murmured sore. +The czar, too, made no secret of his attachment to the Catholic faith; +and while by so doing he irritated the clergy, he provoked the boyards +by his haughty patronage, and disgusted the common people by his +cruelty and lewdness. At last the murmurs grew so loud and +threatening, that some means had to be devised to quiet the popular +discontent, and Dimitri had recourse to a strange stratagem. The widow +of Ivan, who had long before been immured in a convent by the orders +of Boris, and had been kept there by his successor, was released from +her confinement, and was induced publicly to acknowledge Dimitri as +her son. The widowed empress knew full well that her life depended +upon her obedience; but notwithstanding her outward consent to the +fraud, the people were not satisfied, and demanded proofs of Dimitri's +birth, which were not forthcoming. Discontent continued to spread, and +at length the popular fury could no longer be restrained. According to +his promise, the sham czar married Marina, the daughter of the Polish +boyard. The very fact that she was a Pole made her distasteful to the +Russians; but that fact was rendered still more offensive by the +manner of her entrance into the capital, and the treatment which the +Muscovites received at the bridal ceremony. The bride was surrounded +by a large retinue of armed Poles, who marched through the streets of +Moscow with the mien of conquerors; the Russian nobles were excluded +from all participation in the festivities; and the common people were +treated by their emperor with haughty insolence, and held up to the +scorn of his foreign guests. A report also became rife that a timber +fort, which Dimitri had erected opposite the gates of the city, had +been constructed solely for the purpose of giving the bloodthirsty +Marina a martial spectacle, and that, sheltered behind its wooden +walls, the Polish troops and the czar's bodyguard would throw +firebrands and missiles among the crowds of spectators below. This +idle rumour was carefully circulated; the clergy, who had long been +disaffected, went from house to house denouncing the czar as a +heretic, and calling an their countrymen to rise against the insolent +traducer of their religion; and the secret of his birth and imposition +was everywhere proclaimed. The people burst into open revolt, and, +headed by the native prince Schnisky, rushed to storm the imperial +palace. The Polish troops broke their ranks and fled, and were +massacred in the streets. Dimitri himself sought to escape by a +private avenue in the confusion; but watchful enemies were lying in +wait for him. He was overtaken and killed, and his body was exposed +for three days in front of the palace, so that the mob might wreak +their vengeance upon his inanimate clay. Marina and her father were +captured, and after being detained for a little time were set at +liberty. + +By the death of the impostor, the throne was left vacant, and the +privilege of electing a new czar reverted to the people. Schnisky, who +had headed the revolt, made good use of his opportunity and +popularity, and while the people were exulting over their success, +contrived to secure the empire for himself. But when the heat of +triumph died away, the nobles were chagrined because they had elevated +one of their own number to rule over them, and the reaction against +the new czar was as strong and as rapid as the extraordinary movement +in his favour had been. The Muscovite nobles were determined to oust +him from his newly-found dignities, and for this purpose adopted the +strange expedient of reviving the dead Dimitri. It mattered little to +them that the breathless carcase of the impostor had been seen by +thousands. They presumed upon the gullibility of their countrymen, +and, asserting that Dimitri had escaped and was prepared to come +forward to claim his throne, endeavoured to stir up an insurrection. +The cheat, however, was not popular, and the sham czar of the nobles +never appeared. + +But although the nobles failed in their attempt to foist another +Dimitri upon their fellow-countrymen, the Poles, who were interested +for their countrywoman Marina, were not discouraged from trying the +same ruse. They produced a flesh-and-blood candidate for the Russian +sceptre. This person was a Polish schoolmaster, who bore a striking +likeness to the real Dimitri, and who was sufficiently intelligent to +play his part creditably. To give a greater semblance of truth to +their imposture, they succeeded in persuading Marina to abet them; +and not only did she openly assert that the new Dimitri was her +husband, but she embraced him publicly, and actually lived with him as +his wife. + +At the time that this impostor appeared, Sigismund declared war +against Russia, and his marshal Tolkiewski succeeded in inflicting a +terrible defeat on Schnisky. Moscow yielded before the victorious +Poles; and in despair Schnisky renounced the crown and retired into a +monastery. But no sooner was the diadem vacant than a host of false +Dimitris appeared to claim it, and the chief power was tossed from one +party to another during a weary interregnum. At last, in 1609, +Sigismund, who had remained at Smolensko while his marshal advanced +upon Moscow, proclaimed his own son Vladislaf to the vacant +sovereignty, and the pretended Dimitri sank into obscurity. Others, +however, arose; and although some of them perished on the scaffold, it +was not until 1616 that Russia was freed from the last of the +disturbing impostors who attempted to personate princes of the race of +Ivan the Terrible. + + + + +PADRE OTTOMANO--THE SUPPOSED HEIR OF SULTAN IBRAHIM. + + +In the year 1640, there lived in Constantinople one Giovanni Jacobo +Cesii, a Persian merchant of high repute throughout the Levant. This +man, who was descended from a noble Roman family, was on most intimate +terms with Jumbel Agha, the Sultan's chief eunuch, who sometimes gave +him strange commissions. Among other instructions which the merchant +received from the chief of the imperial harem, was an order to procure +privately the prettiest girl he could find in the slave marts of +Stamboul, where at this time pretty girls were by no means rare. +Jumbel Agha intended this damsel as an adornment for his own +household, and a personal companion for himself, and particularly +specified that to her beauty she should add modesty and virginity. +Cesii executed his orders to the best of his ability, and procured for +the bloated and lascivious Agha a Russian girl called Sciabas, as fair +as a _houri_, and apparently as timid as a fawn. Unfortunately, +notwithstanding her innocent demeanour, it only too soon became +apparent that her virtue was not unimpeachable, and that ere long she +would add yet another member to the household of her new master. +Jumbel Agha, who was at first wroth with his pretty plaything, after +the heat of his passion had passed, consented to forgive her if she +would divulge the name of the father of her expected offspring; but +the fair one, although frail, was firm, and despising alike threats +and cajoleries, declined to give any hint as to its paternity. +Thereupon her master handed her over to his major-domo to be re-sold +for the best price she would fetch; but before she could be disposed +of she was brought to bed of a goodly boy. + +Some time after the child was born, the Agha, moved either by +curiosity or compassion, expressed a strong desire to see it, and when +it was brought into his presence, was so captivated by its appearance, +that he loaded it with gifts, and gave orders that it should be +sumptuously apparelled, and should remain with its mother in the house +of the major-domo until he had decided as to its future fate. Just +about this time the Grand Sultana had presented her Lord Ibrahim with +a baby boy; and proving extremely weak after her delivery, it was +found necessary to procure a wet-nurse for the heir to the sword and +dominions of Othman. No better opportunity could have offered for +Jumbel Agha. He at once introduced his disgraced slave and her "pretty +by-blow" to his imperial mistress, who accepted the services of the +mother without hesitation. For two years mother and child had their +home in the grizzled old palace on Seraglio Point, until at last the +Sultan began to display such a decided preference for the nurse's boy, +that the jealousy of the Sultana was aroused, and she banished the +offenders from her sight. Her anger was also excited against the +unfortunate Agha, who had been the means of introducing them into the +harem, and she set herself to plot his ruin. Her dusky servitor was, +however, sufficiently shrewd to perceive his danger, and begged +Ibrahim's permission to resign his office, in order to undertake the +pilgrimage to Mecca. At first his request was refused; for Jumbel Agha +was a favourite slave, and whoever obtains leave to go the holy +pilgrimage is _ipso facto_ made free. But the chief eunuch having +agreed to go as a slave, and to return to his post when he had +performed his devotions, Ibrahim permitted him to set out. + +A little fleet of eight vessels was ready to sail for Alexandria, and +one of these was appropriated to Jumbel Agha and his household, +amongst whom was his beautiful slave and her little son. After +drifting about for some time in the inconstant breezes off the Syrian +coast, they fell in with six galleys, which they at first supposed to +be friendly ships of the Turkish fleet, but which ultimately proved +Maltese cruisers, and showed fight. The Agha made a valiant +resistance, and fell in the struggle, as did also Sciabas, the fair +Russian--the cause of his journey and his misfortunes. The baby, +however, was preserved alive; and when the Maltese boarded their +prize, they were attracted by the gorgeously dressed child, and +inquired to whom it belonged. The answer, given either in fear or in +the hope of obtaining better treatment, was that he was the son of +Sultan Ibrahim, and was on his way to Mecca, under the charge of the +chief eunuch, to be circumcised. The captors, greatly exhilarated by +the intelligence, at once made all sail for Malta, and there the +glorious news was accepted without question. For a time the knights +were so elated that they seriously began to consult together as to the +possibility of exchanging the supposed Ottoman prince for the Island +of Rhodes, which had slipped from their enfeebled grasp. The Grand +Master of the Order and the Grand Croci had no doubt as to the +genuineness of their captive, and wrote letters to Constantinople +informing the Sultan where he might find his heir and his chief +spouse, if he chose to comply with the Frankish conditions. It is +true that Sciabas was dead, but the worthy knights had recourse to +subterfuge in dealing with the infidel, and had dressed up another +slave to represent her. Portraits also were taken of the reputed +mother and child, and were sent with descriptive letters to the +European courts. The French and Italians eagerly purchased these +representations of the beloved of the Grand Turk; but that mysterious +being himself preserved an ominous silence. Even the knights of Malta, +who hated him as a Mohammedan, nevertheless supposed that the Ottoman +ruler was human, and when he made no effort to recover his lost ones, +began to have some doubt as to the identity of the child of whom they +made so much. In their dilemma they despatched a secret messenger to +Constantinople, who contrived to ingratiate himself at the seraglio, +and lost no opportunity of inquiring whether any of the imperial +children were missing, and whether it were true that the Sultana had +been captured by the Maltese some years before. Of course his +researches were fruitless, and in 1650 he wrote to his employers +assuring them that they had all the while been on a false scent. It +was deemed best to let the imposture die slowly. Little by little the +knights forbore to boast of their illustrious hostage; by degrees they +lessened the ceremonials with which he had been treated, and at last +neglected him altogether. He was made a Dominican friar; and the only +mark of his supposed estate was the name Padre Ottomano, which was +conferred upon him more in scorn than reverence, and which he +continued to bear till the day of his death. + + + + +MOHAMMED BEY--THE COUNTERFEIT VISCOUNT DE CIGALA. + + +In the miscellaneous writings of John Evelyn, the diary-writer, there +is an account of this extraordinary impostor, whose narration of his +own adventures outshines that of Munchausen, and whose experiences, +according to his own showing, were more remarkable than those of +Gulliver. In 1668 this marvellous personage published a book entitled +the "History of Mohammed Bey; or, John Michel de Cigala, Prince of the +Imperial Blood of the Ottomans." This work he dedicated to the French +king, who was disposed to favour his pretensions. + +In this remarkable book the pretender sums up the antiquity of the +family of Cigala, entitling it to most of the crowns of Europe, and +makes himself out to be the descendant of Scipio, son of the famous +Viscount de Cigala, who was taken prisoner by the Turks in 1651. He +pretends that Scipio, after his capture, was persuaded to renounce +Christianity, and, having become a renegade, was advanced to various +high offices at the Porte by Sultan Solyman the Magnificent. Under the +name of Sinam Pasha, he asserts that his father became first general +of the Janizaries, then seraskier, or commander-in-chief of the whole +Turkish forces, and was finally created Grand Vizier of the empire. He +also maintains that various illustrious ladies were bestowed as wives +upon the new favourite; and among others the daughter of Sultan +Achonet, who gave himself birth. According to his own story he was +educated by the Moslem _muftis_ in all the lore of the Koran, and by a +series of strange accidents was advanced to the governorship of +Palestine. Here, in consequence of a marvellous dream, he was +converted, and was turned from his original purpose of despoiling the +Holy Sepulchre of its beautiful silver lamps and other treasures. His +Christianity was not, however, of that perfervid kind which demands an +open avowal; and, continuing to outward appearance a Mussulman, +he was promoted to the governorship of Cyprus and the islands. In +this post he used his power for the benefit of the distressed +Christians--redressing their wrongs, and delivering such of them as +had fallen into slavery. From Cyprus, after two years made brilliant +by notable exploits (which no man ever heard of but himself), he was +constituted Viceroy of Babylon, Caramania, Magnesia, and other ample +territories. At Iconium another miracle was performed for his +benefit; and thus specially favoured of heaven, he determined openly +to declare his conversion. At this important crisis, however, his +father-confessor died, and all his good resolutions seem to have been +abandoned. He repaired to Constantinople once more (still preserving +the outward semblance of a true believer, and ever obedient to the +muezzin's call), and was created Viceroy of Trebizonde and +Generalissimo of the Black Sea. Before setting out for his new home on +the shores of the Euxine, he had despatched a confidant named Chamonsi +to Trebizonde in charge of all his jewels and valuables, and his +intention was to seize the first opportunity of throwing off the yoke +of the Grand Signior, and declaring himself a Christian. But Chamonsi +proved faithless; and instead of repairing to the place of tryst, +plotted with the Governor of Moldavia to seize his master. Mohammed +Bey fell into the trap which they had prepared for him, but succeeded +in making his escape, although grievously wounded, after a wonderful +fight, in which he killed all his opponents. In his flight he met a +shepherd who exchanged clothes with him, and in disguise and barefoot +he contrived to reach the head-quarters of the Cossacks, who were at +the time in arms against Russia. + +In the Cossack camp there were three soldiers whom the _quondam_ +Ottoman general had released from captivity, and they, at once +penetrating the flimsy disguise of the stranger, revealed him to their +own commander in his true character. At first he was well treated by +the Cossack chief, who was anxious that the honour of his baptism +should appertain to the Eastern Greek Church; but our prince, +designing from the beginning to make his solemn profession at Rome, +and to receive that sacrament from the Pope's own hands, was neglected +upon making his resolve known. He, therefore, stole away from the +Cossacks, and, guided by a Jew, succeeded in reaching Poland, where +the queen, hearing the report of his approach, and knowing his high +rank, received him with infinite respect and at last persuaded him to +condescend to be baptized at Warsaw by the archbishop, she herself +standing sponsor at the font, and bestowing upon him the name of John. + +After his baptism and subsequent confirmation, this somewhat singular +Christian set out on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of +Loretto, and afterwards proceeded to Rome, where he was received with +open arms by Alexander VII. On his return journey through Germany he +found that the emperor was at war with the Turks; and, without +hesitation, espoused the Christian cause against the circumcised +heathen, slaying the Turkish general with his own hand, and performing +other stupendous exploits, of which he gives a detailed narration. + +As a reward for his services the German emperor created him "Captain +Guardian" of his artillery, and would have loaded him with further +honours, but a roving spirit was upon him, and he started for Sicily +to visit his noble friends who were resident in that island. On his +route he was everywhere received with the utmost respect by the +Princes of Germany and Italy; and when he arrived in Sicily, not only +did Don Pedro d'Arragon house him in his own palace, but the whole +city of Messina turned out to meet him, acknowledging his high +position as a member of the noble house of Cigala, from which it seems +the island had received many great benefits. Leaving Sicily he next +came to Rome, into which he made a public entry, and was warmly +received by Clement IX., before whom, in bravado, he drew and +flourished his dreadful scimitar in token of his defiance of the +enemies of the Church. At last, after touching at Venice and Turin, he +arrived in Paris, where he was received by the king according to his +high quality, and where he published the extraordinary narrative from +which we have taken the above statements, and which honest John +Evelyn, who was roused by his appearance in England, sets himself to +disprove. + +Right willingly does Evelyn devote himself to the task of stripping +the borrowed feathers from this fine jackdaw. After inaugurating his +work by quoting the Horatian sneer, "_Spectatum admissi risum +teneatis, amici_?" he at once plunges _in medias res_, and not mincing +his language, says:--"This impudent vagabond is a native of Wallachia, +born of Christian parents in the city of Trogovisti;" and throughout +his exposure employs phrases which are decidedly more forcible than +polite. From Evelyn's revelation it appears that the family of the +pretended Cigala were at one time well-to-do, and ranked high in the +esteem of Prince Mathias of Moldavia, but that this youth was a black +sheep in the flock from the very beginning. After the death of his +father he had a fair chance of distinguishing himself, for the +Moldavian prince took him into his service, and sent him to join his +minister at Constantinople. Here he might have risen to some eminence; +but he was too closely watched to render his life agreeable, and after +a brief sojourn in the Turkish capital returned to his native land. +Here he became intimately acquainted with a married priest of the +Greek Church, and made love to his wife; but the woman, the better to +conceal the familiarity which existed between herself and the young +courtier, led her husband to believe that he had an affection for her +daughter, of which she approved. The simple ecclesiastic credited the +story; until it became apparent that the stranger's practical fondness +extended to the mother as well as the daughter, and that he had taken +advantage of the hospitality which was extended to him to debauch all +the priest's womankind. A complaint was laid before Prince Mathias, +who would have executed him if he had not fled to the shores of the +Golden Horn. He remained in Constantinople until the death of the +Moldavian ruler, when he impudently returned to Wallachia, thinking +that his former misdemeanours had been forgotten, and hoping to be +advanced to some prominent post during the general disarrangement of +affairs. His identity was, however, discovered; his old crimes were +brought against him; and he only escaped the executioner's sword by +flight. For the third time Constantinople became his home, and on this +occasion he embraced the Moslem faith, hoping to secure his +advancement thereby. The Turks, however, viewed the renegade with +suspicion, and treated him with neglect. Therefore, driven by +starvation, he ranged from place to place about Christendom, and in +countries where he was utterly unknown concocted and published the +specious story of his being so nearly related to the Sultan, and +succeeded in deceiving many. Of his ultimate fate nothing is known. + + + + +THE SELF-STYLED PRINCE OF MODENA. + + +In the beginning of the year 1748, a small French merchantman, which +was bound from Rochelle to Martinique, was so closely chased by the +British cruisers that the captain and crew were compelled to take to +their boat. By so doing they avoided the fate of the ship and cargo, +which fell a prey to the pursuers, and succeeded in effecting a safe +landing at Martinique. In their company was a solitary passenger--a +youth of eighteen or nineteen summers, whose dignified deportment and +finely-cut features betokened him of aristocratic lineage. His name, +as given by himself, was the Count de Tarnaud, and his father, +according to his own showing, was a field-marshal in the French +service; but the deference with which he was treated by his shipmates +seemed to suggest that his descent was even more illustrious, and his +dignity loftier than that to which he laid claim. He was unattended, +save by a sailor lad to whom he had become attached after his +embarkation. This youth, called Rhodez, treated him with the utmost +deference, and, while on an intermediate footing between friendship +and servitude, was careful never to display the slightest familiarity. + +This strangely assorted couple had no sooner landed upon the island +than the _pseudo_ De Tarnaud asked to be directed to the house of one +of the leading inhabitants, and was referred to Duval Ferrol, an +officer, whose residence was situated near the spot at which he had +come on shore. This gentleman, attracted by the appearance of the +youth, and sympathising with his misfortunes, at once offered him a +home, and De Tarnaud and Rhodez took up their abode at the _maison_ +Ferrol. The hospitable advances of its proprietor were received by his +new guest in a kindly spirit, yet more as due than gratuitous; and +this air of superiority, combined with the extreme deference of +Rhodez, aroused curiosity. The captain of the vessel which had brought +the distinguished guest was questioned as to his real name, but +professed himself unable to give any information beyond stating that +the youth had been brought to him at Rochelle by a merchant, who had +privately recommended him to treat him with great attention, as he was +a person of distinction. + +Ample scope was, therefore, left for the curiosity and credulity of +the inhabitants of Martinique, who at this time were closely blockaded +by the English, and were sadly in want of some excitement to relieve +the monotony of their lives. Every rumour respecting the stranger was +eagerly caught up and assiduously disseminated by a thousand gossips, +and, as statement after statement and _canard_ after _canard_ got +abroad, he rose higher and higher in popular repute. No one doubted +that he was at least a prince; and why he had elected to come to +Martinique at such an inconvenient season nobody stopped to inquire. + +As far as could be made out from the disjointed stories which were +afloat, this mysterious individual had been seen to arrive at Rochelle +some time before the date of his embarkation. He was then accompanied +by an old man, who acted as a sort of mentor. On their arrival they +established themselves in private lodgings, in which the youth +remained secluded, while his aged friend frequented the quays on the +look-out for a ship to convey his companion to his destination. When +one was at last found he embarked, leaving his furniture as a present +to his landlady, and generally giving himself the air of a man of vast +property, although at the time possessed of very slender resources; +and that he really was a person of distinction and wealth the +colonists were prepared to believe. They only awaited the time when +he chose to reveal himself to receive him with acclamations. + +After treating him hospitably for some time, Duval Ferrol precipitated +matters by informing his strange guest, that as he did not know +anything of his past life, and was himself only a subaltern, he had +been under the necessity of informing his superior officers of his +presence, and that the king's lieutenant who commanded at Port Maria +desired to see him. The young man immediately complied with this +request, and presented himself to the governor as the Count de +Tarnaud. M. Nadau (for such was the name of this official) had of +course heard the floating rumours, and was resolved to penetrate the +mystery. He therefore received his visitor with _empressement_, and +offered him his hospitality. The offer was accepted, but again rather +as a matter of right than of generosity, and the young count and +Rhodez became inmates of the house of the commandant. + +Two days after young Tarnaud's removal to the dwelling of Nadau, the +latter was entertaining some guests, when, just as they were sitting +down to dinner, the count discovered that he had forgotten his +handkerchief, on which Rhodez got up and fetched it. Such an +occurrence would have passed without comment in France; but in +Martinique, where slavery was predominant, and slaves were abundant, +such an act of deference from one white man to another was noted, and +served to strengthen the opinions which had already been formed +respecting the stranger. During the course of the meal also, Nadau +received a letter from his subordinate, Duval Ferrol, to the following +effect:--"You wish for information relative to the French passenger +who lodged with me some days; his signature will furnish more than I +am able to give. I enclose a letter I have just received from him." +This enclosure was merely a courteous and badly-composed expression of +thanks; but it was signed _Est_, and not De Tarnaud. As soon as he +could find a decent excuse, the excited commandant drew aside one of +his more intimate friends, and communicated to him the surprising +discovery which he had made, at the same time urging him to convey +the information to the Marquis d'Eragny, who lived at no great +distance. The marquis had not risen from table when the messenger +arrived, and disclosed to those who were seated with him the news +which he had just received. A reference to an official calendar or +directory showed that _Est_ was a princely name, and the company at +once jumped to the conclusion that the mysterious stranger was no +other than Hercules Renaud d'Est, hereditary Prince of Modena, and +brother of the Duchess de Penthievre. The truth of this supposition +was apparently capable of easy proof, for one of the company, named +Bois-Ferme, the brother-in-law of the commandant, asserted that he was +personally well acquainted with the prince, and could recognise him +anywhere. Accordingly, after a few bottles of wine had been drunk, the +whole company proceeded uproariously to Radau's, where Bois-Ferme (who +was a notorious liar and braggart) effusively proclaimed the stranger +to be the hereditary Prince of Modena. The disclosure thus +boisterously made seemed to offend, rather than give pleasure to, the +self-styled Count de Tarnaud, who, while not repudiating the title +applied to him, expressed his dissatisfaction at the indiscretion +which had revealed him to the public. + +At this time the inhabitants of Martinique were in a very discontented +and unhappy position. Their coast was closely blockaded by the English +fleet, provisions were extremely scarce, and the necessities of the +populace were utilised by unscrupulous officials who amassed riches by +victimising those who had been placed under their authority. The +Marquis de Caylus, governor of the Windward Islands, was one of the +most rapacious of these harpies; and although, perhaps, he was more a +tool in the hands of others than an independent actor, the feeling of +the people was strong against him, and it was hoped that the +newly-arrived prince would supersede him, and redress the grievances +which his maladministration had created. Accordingly Nadau, who +entertained a private spite against De Caylus, lost no time in +representing the infamy of the marquis, and was comforted by the +assurance of his youthful guest, that he would visit those who had +abused the confidence of the king with the severest punishment, and +not only so, but would place himself at the head of the islands to +resist any attempt at invasion by the English. + +These loyal and generous intentions, which Nadau did not fail to make +public, increased the general enthusiasm, and rumours of the plot +which was hatching reached Fort St. Pierre, where the Marquis de Caylus +had his head-quarters. He at once sent a mandate to Nadau, ordering the +stranger before him. A message of similar purport was also sent to the +youth himself, addressed to the Count de Tarnaud. Upon receiving it he +turned to the officers who had brought it, saying--"Tell your master +that to the rest of the world I am the Count de Tarnaud, but that to +him I am Hercules Renaud d'Est. If he wishes to see me let him come +half-way. Let him repair to Fort Royal in four or five days. I will be +there." + +This bold reply seems to have completely disconcerted De Caylus. He +had already heard of the stranger's striking resemblance to the +Duchess de Penthievre, and the assumption of this haughty tone to an +officer of his own rank staggered him. He set out for Fort Royal, but +changed his mind on the way, and returned to St. Pierre. The prince, on +the other hand, kept his appointment, and not finding the marquis, +proceeded to Fort St. Pierre, which he entered in triumph, attended by +seventeen or eighteen gentlemen. The governor caught a glimpse of him +as he passed through the streets, and exclaimed "that he was the very +image of his mother and sister," and in a panic quitted the town. +Nothing could have been more fortunate than his flight. The prince +assumed all the airs of royalty, and proceeded to establish a petty +court, appointing state officers to wait upon him. The Marquis +d'Eragny he created his grand equerry; Duval Ferrol and Laurent +'Dufont were his gentlemen-in-waiting; and the faithful Rhodez was +constituted his page. Regular audiences were granted to those who came +to pay their respects to him, or to present memorials or petitions, +and for a time Martinique rejoiced in the new glory which this +illustrious presence shed upon it. + +It so happened that the Duc de Penthievre was the owner of +considerable estates in the colony, which were under the care of a +steward named Lievain. This man, who seems to have been a simple soul, +no sooner heard of the arrival of his master's brother-in-law in the +island than he hastened to offer him not only his respects, but, what +was far better, the use of the cash which he held in trust for the +duke. He was, of course, received with peculiar graciousness, and +immediate advantage was taken of his timely offer. The prince was now +supplied with means adequately to support the royal state which he had +assumed, and the last lingering relics of suspicion were dissipated, +for Lievain was known to be a thoroughly honest and conscientious man, +and one well acquainted with his master's family and affairs, and it +was surmised that he would not thus have committed himself unless he +had had very good grounds for so doing. + +On his arrival at St. Pierre the prince had taken up his quarters in +the convent of the Jesuits; and now the Dominican friars, jealous of +the honour conferred upon their rivals, besought a share of his royal +favour, and asked him to become their guest. Nothing loth to gratify +their amiable ambition, the prince changed his residence to their +convent, in which he was entertained most sumptuously. Every day a +table of thirty covers was laid for those whom he chose to invite; he +dined in public--a fanfaronade of trumpets proclaiming his +down-sitting and his up-rising--and the people thronged the +banqueting-hall in such numbers that barriers had to be erected in the +middle of it to keep the obtrusive multitude at a respectful distance. + +Meanwhile vessels had left Martinique for France bearing the news of +these strange proceedings to the mother country. The prince had +written to his family, and had entrusted his letters to the captain of +a merchantman who was recommended by Lievain. And the discomfited +governor, the Marquis de Caylus, had forwarded a full account of the +extraordinary affair to his government, and had demanded +instructions. Six months passed away and no replies came. The prince +pretended to be seriously discomposed by this prolonged silence, but +amused himself in the meantime by defying M. de Caylus, by indulging +in the wildest excesses, and by gratifying every absurd or licentious +caprice which entered his head. But at last it became apparent that +letters from France might arrive at any moment; the rainy season was +approaching; the prince was apprehensive for his health; and the +inhabitants had discovered by this time that their visitor was very +costly. Accordingly, when he expressed his intention of returning to +France, nobody opposed or gainsaid it; and, after a pleasant sojourn +of seven months among the planters of Martinique, he embarked on board +the "Raphael," bound for Bordeaux. His household accompanied him, and +under a salute from the guns of the fort he sailed away. + +A fortnight later the messenger whom the governor had despatched to +France returned bearing orders to put his so-called highness in +confinement. An answer was also sent to a letter which Lievain had +forwarded to the Duc de Penthievre, and in it the simple-minded agent +was severely censured for having so easily become the dupe of an +impostor. At the same time he was informed that since his indiscretion +was in part the result of his zeal to serve his master, and since he +had only shared in a general folly, the duc was not disposed to deal +harshly with him, but would retain his services and share the loss +with him. This leniency, and the delay which had taken place, only +served to confirm the inhabitants of Martinique in their previous +belief, and they were more than ever convinced that the real Prince of +Modena had been their guest, although neither his relatives nor the +government were willing to admit that he had been guilty of such an +escapade. + +The "Raphael" in due course arrived at Faro, where her illustrious +passenger was received with a salute by the Portuguese authorities. On +landing, the prince demanded a courier to send to Madrid, to the +charge d'affaires of the Duke of Modena, and also asked the means of +conveying himself and his retinue to Seville, where he had resolved to +await the return of his messenger. These facilities were obligingly +afforded to him, and he arrived at Seville in safety. His fame had +preceded him, and he was received with the most extravagant +demonstrations of joy by the inhabitants. The susceptible donnas of +the celebrated Spanish city adored this youthful scion of a royal +house; sumptuous entertainments were prepared in his honour, and his +praises were in every mouth. His courier came not, but instead there +arrived an order for his arrest, which was communicated to him by the +governor in person. He seemed much astonished, but resignedly +answered, "I was born a sovereign as well as he: he has no control +over me; but he is master here, and I shall yield to his commands." + +His ready acquiescence in his inevitable fate was well thought of; and +while it excited popular sympathy in his favour, rendered even those +who were responsible for his safe-keeping anxious to serve him. +Immediately on his apprehension he was conveyed to a small tower, +which was occupied by a lieutenant and a few invalids, and very little +restraint was placed upon his movements. His retinue were allowed to +visit him, and every possible concession was made to his assumed rank. +But he was far from content, and succeeded by a scheme in reaching the +sanctuary of the Dominican convent. From this haven of refuge he could +not legally be removed by force; but on the urgent representations of +the authorities the Archbishop of Seville sanctioned his transfer, if +it could be accomplished without bloodshed. A guard was despatched to +remove him. No sooner, however, had the officer charged with the duty +entered his apartment than the prince seized his sword, and protested +that he would kill the first man that laid a finger upon him. The +guard surrounded him with their bayonets, but he defended himself so +valiantly that it became evident that he could not be captured without +infringing the conditions laid down by the archbishop, and the +soldiers were compelled to withdraw. Meanwhile news of what had been +going on reached the populace, a crowd gathered, and popular feeling +ran so high that the discomfited emissaries of the law reached their +quarters with difficulty. This disturbance made the government more +determined than ever to bring the affair to an issue. Negotiations +were renewed with the Dominicans, who were now anxious to deliver up +their guest, but his suspicions were aroused, and his capture had +become no easy matter. He always went armed, slept at night with a +brace of pistols under his pillow, and even at meal times placed one +on either side of his plate. At last craft prevailed--a young monk, +who had been detailed to wait upon him at dinner, succeeded in +betraying him into an immoderate fit of laughter, and before he could +recover himself, pinioned him and handed him over to the alguazils, +who were in waiting in the next apartment. He was hurried to gaol, +loaded with chains, and cast into a dungeon. After twenty-four hours' +incarceration he was summoned for examination, but steadily refused to +answer the questions of his judges. He was not, however, remitted to +his former loathsome place of confinement, as might have been expected +from his obstinacy, but was conveyed to the best apartment in the +prison. His retinue were meanwhile examined relative to his supposed +design of withdrawing Martinique from its allegiance to France. The +result of these inquiries remained secret, but, without further trial, +the prince was condemned to the galleys, or to labour in the king's +fortifications in Africa, and his attendants were banished from the +Spanish dominions. + +In due time he was despatched to Cadiz to join the convict gangs +sentenced to enforced labour at Ceuta. The whole garrison of Seville +was kept under arms on the morning of his departure, to suppress any +popular commotion, and resist any possible attempt at rescue. On his +arrival at Cadiz he was conducted to Fort la Caragna, and handed over +to the commandant, a sturdy Frenchman named Devau, who was told that +he must treat the prisoner politely, but would be held answerable for +his safe-keeping. Devau read these orders, and replied, "When I am +made responsible for the safe custody of anybody, I know but one way +of treating him, and that is to put him in irons." So the _pseudo_ +prince was ironed, until the convoy was ready to escort the prisoners +to Ceuta. On the voyage the pretender was treated differently from the +other galley-slaves, and on reaching his destination was placed under +little restraint. He had full liberty to write to his friends, and +availed himself of this permission to send a letter to Nadau, who had +been ordered home to France to give an account of his conduct. In this +document he mentioned the courtesy with which he was treated, and +begged the Port Maria governor to accept a handsome pair of pistols +which he sent as a souvenir. To Lievin, the Duc de Penthievre's agent, +he also wrote, lamenting the losses which he had sustained, and +promising to make them good at a future time. His prison, however, had +not sufficient charms to retain his presence. He took the first +opportunity of escaping, and having smuggled himself on board an +English ship, arrived in the Bay of Gibraltar. The captain informed +the governor of the fort that he had on board his ship the person who +claimed to be the Prince of Modena, and that he demanded permission to +land. A threat of immediate apprehension was sufficient to deter the +refugee from again tempting the Spanish authorities: he remained on +board; and the ship sailed on her voyage, carrying with her the +prince, who was seen no more. + + + + +JOSEPH--THE FALSE COUNT SOLAR. + + +On the 1st of August 1773, a horseman, who was approaching the town of +Peronne in France, discovered by the wayside a boy, apparently about +eleven years of age, clad in rags, evidently suffering from want, and +uttering piercing cries. Stirred with pity for this unfortunate +object, the traveller dismounted, and, finding his efforts to comfort +his new acquaintance, or to discover the cause of his sorrow, +unavailing, persuaded him to accompany him to the town, where his +immediate necessities were attended to. The boy ate ravenously of the +food which was set before him, but continued to preserve the strictest +silence, and, at length, it was discovered that he was deaf and dumb. +A charitable woman, moved by his misfortunes, gave him a temporary +home, and at the end of a few weeks he was transferred to the +Bicetre--then an hospital for foundlings--through the intervention of +M. de Sartine, the well-known minister of police. Here his conduct was +remarkable. From the first day of his entrance he shrank from +association with the other inmates, who were for the most part boys +belonging to the lower orders, and by so doing earned their ill-will, +and brought upon himself their persecution. Indeed, so uncomfortable +did his new home prove through the malignity of his fellow-pensioners, +that the health of the poor waif gave way, and it was found necessary +to remove him to the Hotel Dieu of Paris. Here he was noticed by the +Abbe de l'Epee, who was attracted by his quiet and aristocratic +manners and gentle demeanour, and who at the same time considered +that, by reason of his intelligence, he was likely to prove an apt +pupil in acquiring the manual alphabet which the worthy ecclesiastic +had invented. Accordingly, the Abbe removed him to his own house, and +in a few months had rendered him able to give some account of himself +by signs. His story was that he had a distinct recollection of living +with his father and mother and sister, in a splendid mansion, situated +in spacious grounds, and that he was accustomed to ride on horseback +and in a carriage. He described his father as a tall man and a +soldier, and stated that his face was seamed by scars received in +battle. He gave a circumstantial account of his father's death, and +said that he, as well as his mother and sister, were mourning for him. +After his father's funeral he asserted that he was taken from home by +a man whom he did not know, and that when he had been carried come +distance he was deserted by his conductor and left in the wood, in +which he wandered for some days, until he reached the highway, where +he was discovered by the passing traveller, as above narrated. + +When this tale was made public, it naturally created great excitement, +and people set themselves to discover the identity of this foundling, +whom the Abbe de l'Epee had named Joseph. The Abbe himself was never +tired of conjecturing the possible history of his protege, or of +communicating his conjectures to his friends. At length, in the year +1777, a lady, who had heard the boy's story, suggested a solution of +the mystery. She mentioned that in the autumn of 1773, a deaf and dumb +boy, the only son and heir of Count Solar, and head of the ancient and +celebrated house of Solar, had left Toulouse, where his father and +mother then dwelt, and had not returned. It had been given out that he +had died, but she suggested that the account of his death was false, +and that Joseph was the young Count Solar. Inquiries were instituted, +and showed that the hypothesis was at least tenable. The family of +Count Solar had consisted of his wife and a son and daughter. The son +was deaf and dumb, and was twelve years old at his father's death, +which occurred in 1773. After the decease of the old count, the boy +was sent by his mother to Bagneres de Bigorre, under the care of a +young lawyer, named Cazeaux, who came back to Toulouse early in the +following year, with the story that the heir had died of small-pox. +The mother died in 1775. + +The Abbe de l'Epee, astounded by the striking similarity between the +facts and Joseph's account of himself, at once came to the conclusion +that Providence had chosen him as the instrument for righting a great +wrong, and set himself to supply the missing links in the chain of +evidence, and to restore his ward to what he doubted not was his +rightful inheritance. He maintained that young Solar's mother, either +wearied with the care of a child who was deprived of speech and +hearing, or to secure his estates for herself or her daughter, had +given her son to Cazeaux to be exposed, and that that ruffian had made +tolerably certain of his work, by carrying the lad 600 miles from +home, to the vicinity of Peronne, and there abandoning him in a dense +wood, from which the chances were he would never be able to extricate +himself, but in the mazes of which he would wander till he died. God +alone, the Abbe declared, guided the helpless and hungry lad within +the reach of human assistance, and sent the traveller to rescue him, +opened the woman's heart to give him shelter, and brought him to +Paris, so that he might be instructed and enabled to tell his doleful +tale. + +Fired by enthusiasm, the Abbe succeeded in engaging the co-operation +of persons of the highest eminence. The Duc de Penthievre, a prince of +the blood, espoused the cause of the wronged noble, and provided for +his support as became his supposed rank. From the same princely +source, also, funds were forthcoming to obtain legal redress for his +hardships, and to prosecute his claims before the courts. Proceedings +were instituted against Cazeaux, who was still alive, and a formal +demand was made for the reinstatement of the foundling of Peronne in +the hereditary honours of Solar. The boy was taken to Clermont, his +reputed birthplace, at which he was said to have passed the first four +years of his life in the company of his mother. It could scarcely be +supposed that those who knew the young heir, aged four, would be able +to trace much similarity to him in the claimant of seventeen. But +there was far more recognition than might have been anticipated. +Madame de Solar's father fancied that Joseph resembled his grandson, +and he was the more thoroughly convinced of his identity, because he +felt an affection for the youth which he believed to be instinctive. +The brother of the countess was convinced that Joseph was his nephew, +because he had the large knees and round shoulders of the deceased +count. The mistress of the dame-school at Clermont recognised in the +Abbe's protege her former pupil. Several witnesses also, who could not +be positive as to the identity of the two persons, remembered that the +youthful count had a peculiar lentil-shaped mole on his back, and a +similar mole was found on the back of the claimant. As it afterwards +proved, Joseph was not completely deaf, but was shrewd enough to +conceal the fact. Consequently he succeeded in acquiring a good deal +of useful information with respect to the Solar family, and +re-produced it as the result of his own recollection when the proper +time came. + +On the other hand, the evidence against his pretensions was very +strong. Many persons in Toulouse who had been intimately acquainted +with the youthful count declared that Joseph bore no resemblance to +him; and the young countess repudiated him most emphatically, +asserting that he was not her brother, and he failed to recognise her +as his sister. However, he persevered in asserting his rights, and +claimed before the Cour du Chatelet, in Paris, the name and honours of +Count Solar; and orders were given by the court for the arrest of +Cazeaux as his abductor and exposer. The unfortunate lawyer was seized +and hurried to the Misericorde, a loathsome dungeon below the Hotel de +Ville, at Toulouse. Next day, heavily ironed, he was thrown into a +cart, and thus set out on a journey of 500 miles to Paris. While the +cart was in motion he was chained to it; when they halted he was +chained to the inn table; at night he was chained to his bed. At +length, after seventeen wearisome days, the capital was reached, and +the prisoner was taken from his cart and cast into the vaults of the +Chatelet. After considerable and unnecessary delay, the supposed +abductor was brought to trial; and not only were the charges against +him easily disproved, but the whole of the Abbe's grand hypothesis was +destroyed beyond reconstruction. A host of witnesses came forward to +testify that the young count did not leave Toulouse under the +guardianship of Cazeaux, until the 4th of September 1773, whereas +Joseph was found at Peronne on the 1st of August. Moreover, the +contemporary history of the two youths was clearly traced, it being +shown that in November 1773, the Count Solar was at Bagneres de +Bigorre while Joseph was an inmate of the Bicetre; and finally it was +conclusively proved that on the 28th of January 1774, the real Count +Solar died at Charlas, near Bagneres, of small-pox, having outlived +his father about a year. + +The acquittal of Cazeaux followed as a matter of course, and he was +dismissed from the bar of the Chatelet with unblemished reputation, +but broken in health and ruined in fortune. Happily for him, a M. +Avril, a rich judge of the Chatelet, who had been active against him +during his trial, repented of the evil he had done him, sought his +acquaintance, and bequeathed him a large fortune. Thus raised to +wealth, and aided by the revolution, which levelled all social +distinctions, he aspired to the hand of the widowed Countess Solar who +had lost her estates. Success crowned his suit, and his former +patroness became his wife. After their marriage the pair settled on an +estate a few leagues from Paris, where Cazeaux died in 1831 and his +wife in 1835. Joseph, who was undoubtedly the son of a gentleman, soon +ceased to interest the public, and, his pretensions having failed, +retired into comparative obscurity, accepting service in the army, and +meeting an untimely death early in the revolutionary war. + + + + +JOHN LINDSAY CRAWFURD--CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF CRAWFURD. + + +In 1808, George Lindsay Crawfurd, twenty-second Earl of Crawfurd and +sixth Earl of Lindsay, died without issue, and his vast estates +descended to his sister, Lady Mary Crawfurd. After the death of the +earl various claims were advanced to the peerage, one of them being +preferred by a person of the name of John Crawfurd, who came from +Dungannon, in the north of Ireland. When this claimant arrived at Ayr, +in January 1809, he gave himself out as a descendant of the Hon. James +Lindsay Crawfurd, a younger son of the family, who had taken refuge in +Ireland from the persecutions of 1666-1680. At first he took up his +abode at the inn of James Anderson, and from his host and a weaver +named Wood he received a considerable amount of information respecting +the family history. From Ayr he proceeded to visit Kilbirnie Castle, +once the residence of the great knightly family of Crawfurd. The house +had been destroyed by fire during the lifetime of Lady Mary's +grandfather, and had not been rebuilt--the family taking up their +residence on their Fifeshire estates. At the time of the fire, +however, many family papers and letters had been saved, and had been +stored away in an old cabinet, which was placed in an out-house. To +these Mr. Crawfurd obtained access, and found among them many letters +written by James Lindsay Crawfurd, whose descendant he pretended to +be. He appropriated them and produced them when the fitting time came. +At Kilbirnie he also introduced himself to John Montgomerie of +Ladeside, a man well acquainted with the family story and all the +vicissitudes of the Crawfurds, and one who was disposed to believe any +plausible tale. The farmer, crediting the pretender's story, spread it +abroad among the villagers, and they in turn fell into ecstacies over +the idea of a poor man like themselves arriving at an earldom, +rebuilding the ancient house of Kilbirnie, and restoring the old +glories of the place. Their enthusiasm was turned to good account. The +claimant was very poor, and stood in need of money to prosecute his +claim, and he made no secret of his poverty or his necessities, and +promised large returns to those who would help him in his time of +need. "Farms," we are told, "were to be given on long leases at +moderate rents; one was to be factor, another chamberlain, and many +were to be converted from being hewers of wood and drawers of water to +what they esteemed the less laborious, and therefore more honourable, +posts of butlers and bakers, and body servants of all descriptions." +These cheering prospects, of course, depended upon the immediate faith +which was displayed, and the amount of assistance which was at once +forthcoming. Therefore, each hopeful believer exerted himself to the +utmost, and "poor peasants and farmers, cottagers and their masters, +threw their stakes into the claimant's lucky-bag, from which they were +afterwards to draw 'all prizes and no blanks.'" Men of loftier +position, also, were not averse to speculate upon the chances of this +newly-discovered heir. Poor John Montgomerie gave him every penny he +had saved, and every penny he could borrow, and after mortgaging his +little property, was obliged to flee to America from his duns, where, +it is said, he died. His son Peter, who succeeded to Ladeside, also +listened to the seductive voice of the claimant, until ruin came upon +him, and he was compelled to compound with his creditors. + +In due time the pretender to the Crawford peerage instituted judicial +proceedings. His advocates brought forward some very feasible parole +evidence; but they mainly rested their case upon the documents which +had been discovered in the old cabinet at Kilbirnie. These letters, +when they were originally discovered, had been written on the first +and third pages; but in the interim the second pages had been filled +up in an exact imitation of the old hand with matter skilfully +contrived to support the pretensions of the new-comer. In these +interpolations the dead Crawfurd was made to describe his position and +circumstances in Ireland, his marriage, the births of his children, +and his necessities, in a manner which could leave no doubt as to the +rightful claims of the pretender. Unfortunately for his cause, he +refused to pay his accomplices the exorbitant price which they +demanded, and they, without hesitation, made offers to Lady Mary, into +the hands of whose agents they confided the forged and vitiated +letters. The result was that a charge of forgery was brought against +the claimant, and he and his chief abettor, James Bradley, were both +brought to trial before the High Court of Justiciary, in February +1812, and were sentenced to fourteen years' transportation. This +result was obtained by the acceptance of the evidence of Fanning, one +of the forgers, as king's evidence. While under sentence the claimant +wrote a sketch of his life, which was printed at Dairy, in Ayrshire, +and was published before the sentence was carried into execution. +After some delay the sham earl was shipped off to Botany Bay, and +arrived in New South Wales in 1813. Many persons in Scotland continued +under the belief that he had been harshly treated, and had fallen a +victim to the perjured statements of witnesses who were suborned by +Lady Mary Crawfurd. It was not disputed that the documents which had +been put in evidence really were forged; but it was suggested that the +forgery had been accomplished without his knowledge, in order to +accomplish his ruin. Public feeling was aroused in his favour, and he +was regarded not only as an innocent and injured man, but as the +rightful heir of the great family whose honours and estates he sought. + +During his servitude in Australia, John Lindsay Crawfurd contrived to +ingratiate himself with MacQuarrie, the governor of New South Wales, +and got part of his punishment remitted, returning to England in 1820. +He immediately recommenced proceedings for the recovery of the +Crawfurd honours; and, as his unexpected return seemed to imply that +he had been unjustly transported, his friends took encouragement from +this circumstance, and again came forward with subscriptions and +advances. Many noblemen and gentlemen, believing him to be injured, +contributed liberally to his support and to the cost of the +proceedings which he had begun. At last the case came,--and came under +the best guidance--before the Lords Committee of Privileges, to which +it had been referred by the king. Lord Brougham was counsel in the +cause, and he publicly expressed his opinion that it was extremely +well-founded. Many of the claimant's adherents, however, were deterred +from proceeding further in the matter by the unfavourable report of +two trustworthy commissioners who had been appointed to investigate +the affair in Scotland. On the other hand, Mr. Nugent Bell, Mr. William +Kaye, and Sir Frederick Pollock, with a host of eminent legal +authorities, predicted certain success. Thus supported, the pretender +assumed the _role_ of Earl of Crawfurd, and actually voted as earl at +an election of Scotch peers at Holyrood. Unfortunately for all +parties, the claimant died before a decision could be given either for +or against him. His son, however, inheriting the father's pretensions, +and also apparently his faculty for raising money, contrived to find +supporters, and carried on the case. Maintaining his father's +truthfulness, he declared that his ancestor, the Hon. James Lindsay +Crawfurd, had settled in Ireland, and that he had died there between +1765 and 1770, leaving a family, of which he was the chief +representative. On the other hand, Lord Glasgow, who had succeeded by +this time to the estates, insisted that the scion of the family who +was supposed to have gone to Ireland, and from whom the pretender +traced his descent, had in reality died in London in 1745, and had +been buried in the churchyard of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. It was +finally proved that a record remained of the death of James Lindsay +Crawfurd in London, as stated, and 120 genuine letters were produced +in his handwriting bearing a later date than that year. The decision +of the House of Lords was--"That from the facts now before us we are +satisfied that any further inquiry is hopeless and unnecessary." This +opinion was given in 1839, and since that time no further steps have +been taken to advance the claim. Strange to say, Lord Glasgow allowed +the body of the original claimant to be interred in the family +mausoleum; and it has been more than suggested that if John Lindsay +Crawfurd was not the man that he represented himself to be, he was at +least an illegitimate offshoot of the same noble house, and that had +he been less pertinacious in advancing his claims to the earldom, he +might have ended his days more happily. + + + + +JOHN NICHOLS THOM, _ALIAS_ SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY. + + +In 1830 or 1831 a Cornishman, named John Nichols Thom, suddenly left +his home, and made his appearance in Kent as Sir William Courtenay, +knight of Malta. He was a man of tall and commanding appearance, had +ready eloquence, and contrived to persuade many of the Kentish people +that he was entitled to some of the fairest estates in the county, and +that when he inherited his property they should live on it rent free. +This pleasant arrangement agreeing with the views of a large +proportion of the agriculturists, they entertained him hospitably, and +made no secret of their impatience for the arrival of the happy time +of which he spoke. Unfortunately Thom became involved in some +smuggling transaction, and having been found guilty of perjury in +connection with it, was sentenced to six years' transportation. After +his condemnation it was discovered that he was insane, and his +sentence was not carried out, but he was removed from Maidstone gaol +to the county lunatic asylum, where he remained four years. In 1837 he +was released by Lord John Russell, who considered that he was +sufficiently recovered to be delivered up to the care of his friends. +They, however, failed to discharge their duty efficiently; and in +1838, Thom reappeared in Kent, conducting himself more extravagantly +than ever. The farmers and others supplied him with money, and he +moved about the county delivering inflammatory harangues in the towns +and villages--harangues in which he assured his auditors that if they +followed his advice they should have good living and large estates, as +he had great influence at court, and was to sit at her majesty's right +hand on the day of the coronation. He told the poor that they were +oppressed and down-trodden by the laws of the land, and invited them +to place themselves under his command, and he would procure them +redress. Moreover, he assured those whose religious convictions were +disturbed, that he was the Saviour of the world; and in order to +convince them, pointed to certain punctures in his hands, as those +inflicted by the nails of the cross, and to a scar on his side, as the +wound which had discharged blood and water. By these representations +he succeeded in attaching nearly a hundred people to himself. + +On the 28th of May he set out at the head of his tatterdemalion band +from the village of Boughton, and proceeded to Fairbrook. Here a pole +was procured, and a flag of white and blue, representing a rampant +lion, was raised as the banner which was to lead them to victory. +From Fairbrook they marched in a kind of triumphal procession round +the neighbouring district, until a farmer of Bossenden, provoked by +having his men seduced from their employment by Thom's oratory, made +an application for his apprehension. A local constable named Mears, +assisted by two others, proceeded to arrest the crazy impostor. After +a brief parley, Thom asked which was the constable; and on being +informed by Mears that he held that position, produced a pistol, and +shot the unoffending representative of the law, afterwards stabbing +him with a dagger. The wounds were almost immediately fatal, and the +body was tossed into a ditch. The remaining constables fled to the +magistrates who had authorised them to make the capture, and reported +the state of affairs. When the intelligence of Mears's death spread +abroad, the general indignation and excitement was very great, and a +messenger was despatched to fetch some soldiers from Canterbury. A +military party soon arrived, but their approach had been heralded to +Thom and his strolling vagrants, who had betaken themselves to the +recesses of Bossenden wood, where the _soi-disant_ Sir William, by his +wild gesticulations and harangues, roused his adherents to a pitch of +desperate fury. To show his own valour, as soon as the soldiers, who +were intended rather to overawe than injure the mob appeared, he +strode out from among his ignorant attendants, and deliberately shot +Lieutenant Bennett of the 45th regiment, who was in advance of his +party. The lieutenant fell dead on the spot. The soldiers, excited by +the murder of their leader, immediately returned the fire, and Thom +was one of the first killed. As he fell, he exclaimed, "I have Jesus +in my heart!" Ten of his adherents shared his fate, and many were +severely wounded. Some of the more prominent among his followers were +subsequently arrested, tried, and found guilty of participating in +Bennett's murder. Two of them were sentenced to transportation for +life; one had ten years' transportation, while six expiated their +offences by a year's imprisonment in the House of Correction. + + + + +JAMES ANNESLEY--CALLING HIMSELF EARL OF ANGLESEA. + + +Arthur Annesley, Viscount Valencia, who founded the families both of +Anglesea and Altham, was one of the staunchest adherents of Charles +II., and had a considerable hand in bringing about his restoration to +the throne. Immediately after that event his efforts were rewarded by +an English peerage--his title being Baron Annesley of Newport-Pagnel, +in the county of Buckingham and Earl of Angelsea. Besides this honour +he obtained the more substantial gift of large tracts of land in +Ireland. The first peer had five sons. James Annesley, the eldest son, +having married the daughter of the Earl of Rutland, and having been +constituted heir of all his father's English real property, and a +great part of his Irish estates, the old earl became desirous of +establishing a second noble family in the sister kingdom, and +succeeded in procuring the elevation of his second son Altham to the +Irish peerage as Baron Altham of Altham, with remainder, on failure of +male issue, to Richard his third son. + +Altham, Lord Altham, died without issue, and the title and estates +accordingly devolved upon Richard, who, dying in 1701, left two sons, +named respectively Arthur and Richard. The new peer, in 1706, espoused +Mary Sheffield, a natural daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, against +the wishes of his relatives. He lived with his wife in England for two +or three years, but was at last obliged to flee to Ireland from his +creditors, leaving Lady Altham behind him in the care of his mother +and sisters. These ladies, who cordially hated her, set about ruining +her reputation, and soon induced her weak and dissipated husband to +sue for a divorce, but, as proof was not forthcoming, the case was +dismissed. Thereupon his lordship showed a disposition to become +reconciled to his wife, and she accordingly went over to Dublin in +October 1713; and through the good offices of a friend a +reconciliation was effected, and the re-united couple, after a +temporary residence in Dublin, went to live at Lord Altham's country +seat of Dunmain, in the county of Wexford. Here, in April or May 1715, +Lady Altham bore a son, which was given to a peasant woman, named Joan +Landy, to nurse. At first the young heir was suckled by this woman at +the mansion, and afterwards at the cabin of her father, less than a +mile from Dunmain. In order to make this residence a little more +suitable for the child it was considerably improved externally and +internally, and a coach road was constructed between it and Dunmain +House, so that Lady Altham might be able frequently to visit her son. + +Soon after the birth of the child Lord Altham's dissipation and his +debts increased, and he proposed to the Duke of Buckingham that he +should settle a jointure on Lady Altham, and for this purpose the pair +visited Dublin. The effort was unsuccessful, as the estate was found +to be covered by prior securities; and Lord Altham, in a fury, ordered +his wife back to Dunmain, while he remained behind in the Irish +capital. On his return his spite against her seemed to have revived, +and not only did he insult her in his drunken debauches, but contrived +an abominable plot to damage her reputation. Some time in February +1717, a loutish fellow named Palliser, who was intimate at the house, +was called up to Lady Altham's apartment, on the pretence that she +wished to speak to him. Lord Altham and his servants immediately +followed; my lord stormed and swore, and dragged the supposed seducer +into the dining-room, where he cut off part of one of his ears, and +immediately afterwards kicked him out of the house. A separation +ensued, and on the same day Lady Altham went to live at New Ross. + +Before leaving her own home she had begged hard to be allowed to take +her child with her, but was sternly refused, and at the same time the +servants were instructed not to carry him near her. The boy therefore +remained at Dunmain under the care of a dry nurse, but, +notwithstanding his father's injunctions, was frequently taken to his +mother by some of the domestics, who pitied her forlorn condition. +When he came to an age to go to school, he was sent to several +well-known seminaries, and was attended by a servant both on his way +to them and from them; "was clothed in scarlet, with a laced hat and +feather;" and was universally recognised as the legitimate son and +heir of Lord Altham. + +Towards the end of 1722, Lord Altham--who had by this time picked up a +mistress named Miss Gregory--removed to Dublin, and sent for his son +to join him. He seemed very fond of the boy, and the woman Gregory for +a time pretended to share in this affection, until she conceived the +idea of supplanting him. She easily persuaded her weak-minded lover to +go through the form of marriage with her, under the pretence that his +wife was dead, took the title of Lady Altham, and fancied that some of +her own possible brood might succeed to the title, for the estates +were by this time well-nigh gone. With this purpose in her mind she +used her influence against the boy, and at last got him turned out of +the house and sent to a poor school; but it is, at least, so far +creditable to his father to say, that he did not quite forget him, +that he gave instructions that he should be well treated, and that he +sometimes went to see him. + +Lord Altham's creditors, as has been stated, were very clamorous, and +his brother Richard was practically a beggar: they were both sadly in +want of money, and only one way remained to procure it. If the boy +were out of the way, considerable sums might be raised by his lordship +by the sale of reversions, in conjunction with the remainder-man in +tail, who would in that case have been Lord Altham's needy brother +Richard. Consequently the real heir was removed to the house of one +Kavanagh, where he was kept for several months closely confined, and +in the meantime it was industriously given out that he was dead. The +boy, however, found means to escape from his confinement, and, +prowling up and down the streets, made the acquaintance of all the +idle boys in Dublin. Any odd work which came in his way he readily +performed; and although he was a butt for the gamins and an object of +pity to the town's-people, few thought of denying his identity or +disputing his legitimacy. Far from being unknown, he became a +conspicuous character in Dublin; and although, from his roaming +proclivities, it was impossible to do much to help him, the citizens +in the neighbourhood of the college were kindly disposed towards him, +supplied him with food and a little money, and vented their abuse in +unmeasured terms against his father. + +In 1727 Lord Altham died in such poverty that it is recorded that he +was buried at the public expense. After his death, his brother Richard +seized all his papers and usurped the title. The real heir then seems +to have been stirred out of his slavish life, and declaimed loudly +against this usurpation of his rights, but his complaints were +unavailing, and, although they provoked a certain clamour, did little +to restore him to his honours. However, they reached his uncle, who +resolved to put him out of the way. The first attempt to seize him +proved a failure, although personally superintended by the uncle +himself; but young Annesley was so frightened by it that he concealed +himself from public observation, and thus gave grounds for a +rumour--which was industriously circulated--that he was dead. +Notwithstanding his caution, however, he was seized in March 1727, and +conveyed on board a ship bound for Newcastle in America, and on his +arrival there was sold as a slave to a planter named Drummond. + +The story of his American adventures was originally published in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_, and has since been rehearsed by modern +writers. It seems that Drummond, who was a tyrannical fellow, set his +new slave to fell timber, and finding his strength unequal to the +work, punished him severely. The unaccustomed toil and the brutality +of his master told upon his health, and he began to sink under his +misfortunes, when he found a comforter in an old female slave who had +herself been kidnapped, and who, being a person of some education, not +only endeavoured to console him, but also to instruct him. She +sometimes wrote short pieces of instructive history on bits of paper, +and these she left with him in the field. In order to read them he +often neglected his work, and, as a consequence, incurred Drummond's +increased displeasure, and aggravated his own position. His old friend +died after four years, and after her death, his life having become +intolerable, he resolved to run away. He was then seventeen years of +age, and strong and nimble, and having armed himself with a +hedging-bill, he set out. For three days he wandered in the woods +until he came to a river, and espied a town on its banks. Although +faint from want of food, he was afraid to venture into it until +night-fall, and lay down under a tree to await the course of events. +At dusk he perceived two horsemen approaching--the one having a woman +behind him on a pillion, while the other bore a well-filled +portmanteau. Just as they reached his hiding-place, the former, who +was evidently the second man's master, said to the lady that the place +where they were was an excellent one for taking some refreshment; and +bread and meat and wine having been produced from the saddle-bags, the +three sat down on the ground to enjoy their repast. Annesley, who was +famished, approached closer and closer, until he was discovered by the +servant, who, exclaiming to his master that they were betrayed, rushed +at the new comer with his drawn sword. Annesley, however, succeeded in +convincing them of his innocence, and they not only supplied him with +food, but told him that they were going to Apoquenimink to embark for +Holland, and that, out of pity for his misfortunes, they would procure +him a passage in the same vessel. His hopes were destined to be very +short-lived. The trio re-mounted, and Annesley had followed them for a +short distance painfully on foot, when suddenly horsemen appeared +behind them in chase. There was no time for deliberation. The lady +jumped off and hid herself among the trees. The gentleman and his +servant drew their swords, and Annesley ranged himself beside them +armed with his hedge-bill, determined to help those who had generously +assisted him. The contest was unequal, the fugitives were soon +surrounded, and, with the lady, were bound and carried to Chester +gaol. + +It appeared that the young lady was the daughter of a rich merchant, +and had been compelled to marry a man who was disagreeable to her; and +that, after robbing her husband, she had eloped with a previous lover +who held a social position inferior to her own. All the vindictiveness +of the husband had been aroused; and when the trial took place, the +lady, her lover, and the servant, were condemned to death for the +robbery. James Annesley contrived to prove that he was not connected +with the party, and escaped their fate; but he was remanded to prison, +with orders that he should be exposed to public view every day in the +market-place; and that if it could be proved by any of the frequenters +that he had ever been seen in Chester before, he should be deemed +accessory to the robbery and should suffer death. + +He remained in suspense for five weeks, until Drummond chanced to come +to Chester on business, and, recognising the runaway, claimed him as +his property. The consequence was that the two years which remained of +his period of servitude were doubled; and when he arrived at +Newcastle, Drummond's severity and violence greatly increased. A +complaint of his master's ill-usage was made to the justices, and that +worthy was at last obliged to sell him to another; but Annesley gained +little by the change. For three years he continued with his new owner +in quiet toleration of his lot; but having fallen into conversation +with some sailors bound for Europe, the old desire to see Ireland once +more came upon him, and he ventured a second escape. He was recaptured +before he could gain the ship; and under the order of the court, the +solitary year of his bondage which remained was increased into five. +Under this new blow he sank into a settled state of melancholy, and +seemed so likely to die that his new master had pity upon his +condition, began to treat him with less austerity, and recommended him +to the care of his wife, who often took him into the house, and +recommended her daughter Maria to use him with all kindness. The +damsel exceeded her mother's instructions, and straightway fell in +love with the good-looking young slave, often showing her affection in +a manner which could not be mistaken. Nor was she the only one on +whom his appearance made an impression. A young Iroquis Indian girl, +who shared his servitude, made no secret of her attachment to him, +exhibited her love by assisting him in his work, while she assured him +that if he would marry her when his time of bondage was past, she +would work so hard as to save him the expense of two slaves. In vain +Annesley rejected her advances, and tried to explain to her the +hopelessness of her desires. She persistently dogged his footsteps, +and was never happy but in his sight. Her rival Maria, no less eager +to secure his affection, used to stray to the remote fields in which +she knew he worked, and on one occasion encountered the Indian girl, +who was also bent upon visiting him. The hot-blooded Indian then lost +her self-control, and, having violently assaulted her young mistress, +sprang into the river close by, and thus ended her love and her life +together. + +Maria, who had been seriously abused, was carried home and put to bed, +and her father naturally demanded some explanation of the +extraordinary quarrel which had cost him a slave and very nearly a +daughter. The other slaves had no hesitation in recounting what they +had seen, or of saying what they thought, and the truth came out. +Annesley's master was, however, resolved to be certain, and sent him +into her room, while he and his wife listened to what passed at the +interview. Their stratagem had the desired success. They heard their +daughter express the most violent passion, which was in no way +returned by their slave. As they could not but acknowledge his +honourable feeling and action, they resolved to take no notice of what +had passed, but for their daughter's sake to give him his liberty. +Next day his master accompanied him to Dover; but instead of releasing +him--as he had promised his wife--sold him to a planter near +Chichester for the remainder of his term. + +After various ups and downs, he was transferred to a planter in +Newcastle county, whose house was almost within sight of Drummond's +plantation. While in this employ he discovered that he was tracked by +the brothers of the Indian girl, who had sworn to avenge her untimely +fate, and nearly fell a victim to their rage, having been wounded by +one of them who lay in wait for him. By another accident, while he was +resting under a hedge which divided his master's ground from a +neighbouring plantation, he fell asleep, and did not awake until it +was perfectly dark. He was aroused by the sound of voices, and on +listening found that his mistress and Stephano, a slave on another +farm, were plotting to rob his master, and to flee together to Europe. +Repressing his desire to reveal the whole scheme to his master, he +took the first opportunity of informing his mistress that her infamy +was discovered, and that if she persevered in her design he would be +compelled to reveal all that he had overheard. The woman at first +pretended the utmost repentance, and not only earnestly promised that +she would never repeat her conduct, but by many excessive acts of +kindness led him to believe that her unlawful passion had changed its +object. Finding, however, that she could not prevail upon him either +to wink at her misdeeds or gratify her desires, she endeavoured to get +rid of him by poison; and an attempt having been made upon his life, +Annesley resolved once more to risk an escape, although the time of +his servitude had almost expired. + +On this occasion he was successful; and having made his way in a +trading ship to Jamaica, got on board the "Falmouth," one of his +Majesty's ships, and declared himself an Irish nobleman. His arrival, +of course, created a great stir in the fleet, and the affair came to +the ears of Admiral Vernon, who, having satisfied himself that his +pretensions were at least reasonable, ordered him to be well treated, +wrote to the Duke of Newcastle about him, and sent him home to +England. He arrived in October 1741. His uncle Richard had in the +meantime succeeded, through default of issue, to the honours of +Anglesea, as well as those of Altham, and became seriously alarmed at +the presence of this pretender on English soil. At first he asserted +that the claimant, although undoubtedly the son of his deceased +brother, was the bastard child of a kitchen wench. He next tried to +effect a compromise with him, and subsequently endeavoured to procure +his conviction on a charge of murder. It is also said that assassins +were hired to kill him. But it is certainly true that Annesley having +accidentally shot a man near Staines, the Earl of Anglesea spared +neither pains nor money to have him condemned. He was tried at the Old +Bailey, and being acquitted by the jury, proceeded to Ireland to +prosecute his claim to the Altham estates. On his arrival at Dunmain +and New Ross, he was very warmly received by many of the peasantry. +His first attempt to secure redress was by an action at law. An action +for ejectment was brought in the Court of Exchequer in Ireland for a +small estate in the county of Meath, and a bill was at the same time +filed in the Court of Chancery of Great Britain for the recovery of +the English estates. + +In Trinity term 1743, when everything was ready for a trial at the +next ensuing assizes, a trial at bar was appointed on the application +of the agents of the Earl of Anglesea. The case began on the 11th of +November 1743, at the bar of the Court of Exchequer in Dublin, being, +as is noted in Howell's _State Trials_, "the longest trial ever known, +lasting fifteen days, and the jury (most of them) gentlemen of the +greatest property in Ireland, and almost all members of parliament." A +verdict was found for the claimant, with 6d. damages and 6d. costs. A +writ of error was at once lodged on the other side, but on appeal the +judgment of the Court below was affirmed. Immediately after the trial +and verdict, the claimant petitioned his Majesty for his seat in the +Houses of Peers of both kingdoms; but delay after delay took place, +and he finally became so impoverished that he could no longer +prosecute his claims. + +James Annesley was twice married; but although he had a son by each +marriage, neither of them grew to manhood. He died on the 5th of +January 1760. + + + + +CAPTAIN HANS-FRANCIS HASTINGS, CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF HUNTINGDON. + + +The earldom of Huntingdon was granted by King Henry VIII. to George, +Lord Hastings, on the 8th of November 1529. The first peer left five +sons, of whom the eldest succeeded to the title on his father's +decease; but notwithstanding the multiplicity of heirs-male, and the +chances of a prolonged existence, the title lapsed in 1789, on the +death of Francis, the tenth earl, who never was married. + +In 1817, there was living at Enniskillen, in Ireland, an ordnance +store-keeper called Captain Hans-Francis Hastings, and this gentleman +there made the acquaintance of a solicitor named Mr. Nugent Bell, who, +like himself, was ardently devoted to field-sports. The friendship +subsisting between the pair was of the closest kind; and it having +been whispered about that the captain had made a sort of side-claim to +the earldom of Huntingdon, Mr. Bell questioned him about the truth of +the rumour. As it turned out, the circumstantial part of the story was +totally false; but it nevertheless was a fact that Captain Hastings +had a faint idea that he had some right to the dormant peerage. +However, as he said himself, he had been sent early to sea, had been +long absent from his native country, and had little really valuable +information as to his family history. He said that his uncle, the Rev. +Theophilus Hastings, rector of Great and Little Leke, had always +endeavoured to impress upon him that he was the undoubted heir to the +title, and that fourteen years previously he had himself so far +entertained the notion as to pay a visit to College of Arms in London, +to learn the proper steps to be taken to establish his claim; but that +when he was told that the cost of the process would be at least three +thousand guineas, he abandoned all notion of legal proceedings, which +were simply impossible because of his scanty resources. Mrs. Hastings, +who was present during the conversation, contributed all that she +knew respecting the whimsical old clergyman who had so carefully +instructed his nephew to consider himself a peer in prospective, and +particularly pointed out that the old gentleman entertained an +irreconcileable hatred of the Marquis of Hastings. It seemed also that +some time after the last earl's death, the Rev. Mr. Hastings had +assumed the title of Earl of Huntingdon, and that a stone pillar had +been erected in front of the parsonage-house at Leke, on which there +was a metal plate bearing a Latin inscription, to the effect that he +was the eleventh Earl of Huntingdon, godson of Theophilus the ninth +earl, and entitled to the earldom by descent. + +These reminiscences and suspicions could not have been poured into +more attentive ears. Mr. Bell had long been a student of heraldry, and +saw an opportunity not only of benefiting his friend, but of +signalizing himself. Accordingly he undertook to investigate the +matter, and offered, in the event of failure, to bear the whole of the +attendant expense, simply premising that, if he succeeded, he should +be recouped. On the 1st of July a letter passed between Captain +Hastings and Mr. Bell, which shows the sentiments of both parties. This +is it:-- + + "MY DEAR BELL,--I will pay you all costs in case you succeed in + proving me the legal heir to the Earldom of Huntingdon. If not, the + risk is your own; and I certainly will not be answerable for any + expense you may incur in the course of the investigation. But I pledge + myself to assist you by letters, and whatever information I can + collect, to the utmost of my power; and remain very sincerely yours, + F. HASTINGS." + "Nugent Bell, Esq." + +On the back of this letter Captain Hastings wrote: + + "By all that's good, you are mad." + +On the 17th of August Mr. Bell sailed for England, and proceeded to +Castle Donnington, where he had a very unsatisfactory interview with a +solicitor named Dalby, who had long been in the employment of the +Hastings family. Bit by bit, however, he picked up information, and +every addition seemed to render the claim of the Enniskillen captain +stronger, until at last Bell drew up a case which met the unqualified +approval of Sir Samuel Romilly, who said, "I do not conceive that it +will be necessary to employ counsel to prepare the petition which is +to be presented to the Prince-Regent. All that it will be requisite to +do is to state that the first earl was created by letters-patent to +him and the heirs-male of his body; and the fact of the death of the +last Earl of Huntingdon having left the petitioner the heir-male of +the body of the first earl, surviving him, together with the manner in +which he makes out his descent; and to pray that his Royal Highness +will be pleased to give directions that a writ of summons should issue +to call him up to the House of Lords." A petition was accordingly +prepared in this sense, and was submitted to the Attorney-General, Sir +Samuel Shepherd, who made the recommendation as suggested. After the +Attorney-General's report had received the approbation of the Lord +Chancellor, the Prince-Regent signed the royal warrant, and Captain +Hastings took his place in the House of Lords as Earl of Huntingdon. + + + + +REBOK--THE COUNTERFEIT VOLDEMAR, ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG. + + +Voldemar II., Marquis and Elector of Brandenburg, actuated by a fit of +devotion, set out from his dominions in 1322 on a pilgrimage to the +Holy Land, leaving his brother John IV. to rule in his absence. He +left no clue as to his intended route; but simply announcing his +purpose of visiting the sacred shrines of Palestine, started on his +journey accompanied by only two esquires. Four-and-twenty days after +his departure his brother John sickened and died--not without +suspicions of foul play--and Louis of Bavaria, then possessing the +empire, presented the electorate to his own eldest son as a vacant +fief of Germany. The change was quietly effected; but in 1345 a man +suddenly appeared as from the dead, proclaiming himself the missing +Voldemar, and demanding the restoration of his rights. He was of about +the same age as the elector would have been, and the story which he +told of captivity among the Saracens was sufficient to account for any +perceptible change in his gait and appearance, and in the colour of +his hair. Those who were interested in opposing his claim stoutly +asserted that he was a miller of Landreslaw, called Rebok, and that he +was a creature of the Duke of Saxony, who coveted the Brandenburgian +possessions, and who, being a relative of the family, had thoroughly +instructed him as to the private life of Voldemar. His plausibility, +and the accuracy of his answers, however, led many persons of +influence to believe that he was no counterfeit. The Emperor Charles +IV. (of Bohemia), the Primate of Germany, the Princes of Anhalt, and +the Dukes of Brunswick, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and Saxony, all +supported his pretensions; the most of the nobility of the marquisate +acknowledged him to be their prince; and the common people, either +touched with the hardships he was said to have suffered, or wearied of +Bavarian rule, lent him money to acquire his rights and drive out +Louis. All the cities declared for him except Frankfort-on-the-Oder, +Spandau, and Brisac, and war was at once begun. The victory at first +rested with the so-called Voldemar; many of the towns opened their +gates to him; and his rival Louis fled to his estates in the Tyrol, +leaving the electorate to his two brothers--a disposition which was +confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV. in 1350. There are two versions +of the death of Voldemar. Lunclavius asserts that he was finally +captured and burnt alive for his imposture; while De Rocoles maintains +that he died at Dessau in 1354, nine years after his return, and was +buried in the tombs of the Princes of Anhalt. The general impression, +however, is that he was an impostor. + + + + +ARNOLD DU TILH--THE PRETENDED MARTIN GUERRE. + + +There are few cases in the long list of French _causes celebres_ more +remarkable than that of the alleged Martin Guerre. This individual, +who was more greatly distinguished by his adventures than by his +virtues, was a Biscayan, and at the very juvenile age of eleven was +married to a girl called Bertrande de Rols. For eight or nine years +Martin and his wife lived together without issue from their marriage, +notwithstanding masses said, consecrated wafers eaten by the wife and +charms employed by the husband to drive away the bewitchment under +which he supposed himself to labour. But in the tenth year after the +marriage a son was born, and was named Sanxi. The father's joy was of +brief duration; for having been guilty of defrauding his own father of +a quantity of corn, he was compelled to abscond to avoid the paternal +rage and the probable consequences of a prosecution. It was at first +intended that he should only stay away until the family difficulty +blew over. But Martin, once gone, was not so easily persuaded to come +back, and eight long years elapsed before his wife saw his face. At +the end of that time he suddenly returned, and was received with open +arms by Bertrande, who was congratulated by her husband's four +sisters, his uncle, and her own relations. The re-united pair lived +together at Artigues for three years in apparent peace and happiness, +and during this period two children were born to them. But suddenly +the wife Bertrande appeared before the magistrates of Rieux, and +lodged a complaint against her husband, praying "that he might be +condemned to make satisfaction to the king for a breach of his laws; +to demand pardon of God, the king, and herself, in his shirt, with a +lighted torch in his hand; declaring that he had falsely, rashly, and +traitorously imposed upon her in assuming the name and passing himself +upon her for Martin Guerre." + +The affair created no small stir in the neighbourhood, and the gossips +were driven to their wits' end to explain it. Some asserted that, +either through an old grudge or a recent quarrel, she had adopted this +method of getting quit of her husband, while others maintained that +she was naturally a woman of undecided character and opinions, and +that, as at first she had been easily persuaded that this man was her +husband, she had acted latterly on the suggestions and advice of Peter +Guerre, her husband's uncle, who pretended to have discovered that he +was an impostor, and had recommended her to apply to the authorities. +The accused himself staunchly maintained that the charge was the +result of a conspiracy between his wife and his uncle, and that the +latter had contrived the plot with a view to possess himself of his +effects. That no doubt might remain as to his identity he gave an +outline of his personal history from the time of his flight from home +to the time of his arrest, stating the reasons which induced him to +leave his wife in the first instance, and his adventures during his +absence. He said that for seven or eight years he had served the king +in the wars; that he had then enlisted in the Spanish army; and that, +having returned home, longing to see his wife and children, he had +been welcomed without hesitation by his relations and acquaintances, +and even by Peter Guerre, notwithstanding the alteration which time +and camp-life had made in his appearance. He declared, moreover, that +his uncle had persistently quarrelled with him since his return, that +blows had frequently been exchanged between them, and that thus an +evil _animus_ had been created against him. + +In answer to the interrogatories of the judge, he unhesitatingly told +the leading circumstances of his earlier life, mentioning trivial +details, giving prominent dates glibly, and showing the utmost +familiarity with petty as with important matters of family history. As +far as his marriage was concerned, he named the persons who were +present at the nuptials, those who dined with them, their different +dresses, the priest who performed the ceremony, all the little +circumstances that happened that day and the next, and even named the +people who presided at the bedding. And, as if the official +interrogatory were not sufficiently complete, he spoke, of his own +accord, of his son Sanxi, and of the day he was born; of his own +departure, of the persons he met on the road, of the towns he had +passed through in France and Spain, and of people with whom he had +become acquainted in both kingdoms. + +Nearly a hundred and fifty witnesses were examined in the cause, and +of these between thirty and forty deposed that the accused really was +Martin Guerre; that they had known him and had spoken to him from his +infancy; that they were perfectly acquainted with his person, manner, +and tone of voice; and that, moreover, they were convinced of his +identity by certain scars and marks on his person. + +On the other hand, a greater number of persons asserted as positively +that the man before them was one Arnold du Tilh, of Sagais, and was +commonly called Pansette; while nearly sixty of the witnesses--who had +known both men--declared that there was so strong a resemblance +between these two persons that it was impossible for them to declare +positively whether the accused was Martin Guerre or Arnold du Tilh. + +In this dilemma the judge ordered two inquiries--one with regard to +the likeness or unlikeness of Sanxi Guerre to the accused, and the +other as to the resemblance existing between the child and the sisters +of Martin Guerre. It was reported that the boy bore no resemblance to +the prisoner, but that he was very like his father's sisters, and upon +this evidence the judge pronounced the prisoner guilty, and sentenced +him to be beheaded and quartered. + +But the public of the neighbourhood not being so easily satisfied as +the criminal judge of Rieux, and unable to comprehend the grounds of +the decision, became clamorous, and an appeal was made on behalf of +the convict to the Parliament of Toulouse. That Assembly ordered the +wife (Bertrande de Rols) and the uncle (Peter Guerre) to be confronted +separately with the man whom they accused of being an impostor, and +when the parties were thus placed face to face, the so-called Arnold +du Tilh maintained a calm demeanour, spoke with an air of assurance +and truth, and answered the questions put to him promptly and +correctly. On the other hand, the confusion of Peter Guerre and +Bertrande de Rols was so great as to create strong suspicions of their +honesty. New witnesses were called, but they only served to complicate +matters; for out of thirty, nine or ten were convinced that the +accused was Martin Guerre, seven or eight were as positive that he was +Arnold du Tilh, and the rest would give no distinct affirmation either +one way or another. + +When the testimony came to be analysed, it was seen that forty-five +witnesses, in all, had asserted in the most positive terms that the +man presented to them was not Guerre, but Du Tilh, which they said +they were the better able to do, because they had known both men +intimately, had eaten and drank with them, and conversed with them at +intervals from the days of their common childhood. Most of these +witnesses agreed that Martin Guerre was taller and of a darker +complexion, that he was of slender make and had round shoulders, that +his chin forked and turned up, his lower lip hung down, his nose was +large and flat, and that he had the mark of an ulcer on his face, and +a scar on his right eyebrow, whereas Arnold du Tilh was a short +thickish man who did not stoop, although at the same time similar +marks were on his face. + +Among others who were called was the shoemaker who made shoes for the +undisputed Martin Guerre, and he swore that Martin's foot was three +sizes larger than that of the accused. Another declared that Martin +was an expert fencer and wrestler, whereas this man knew little of +manly exercises; and many deponed "that Arnold du Tilh had from his +infancy the most wicked inclinations, and that subsequently he had +been hardened in wickedness, a great pilferer and swearer, a defier of +God, and a blasphemer: consequently in every way capable of the crime +laid to his charge; and that an obstinate persisting to act a false +part was precisely suitable to his character." + +But the opinion on the other side was quite as firm. Martin Guerre's +four sisters had no hesitation in declaring that the accused was their +brother, the people who were present at Martin's wedding with +Bertrande de Rols deposed in his favour, and about forty persons in +all agreed that Martin Guerre had two scars on his face, that his left +eye was bloodshot, the nail of his first finger grown in, and that he +had three warts on his right hand, and another on his little finger. +Similar marks were shown by the accused. Evidence was given to show +that a plot was being concocted by Peter Guerre and his sons-in-law to +ruin the new comer, and the Parliament of Toulouse was as yet +undecided as to its sentence, tending rather to acquit the prisoner +than affirm his conviction, when most unexpectedly the real Martin +Guerre appeared on the scene. + +He was interrogated by the judges as to the same facts to which the +accused had spoken, but his answers, although true, were neither so +full nor satisfactory as those which the other man had given. When the +two were placed face to face, Arnold du Tilh vehemently denounced the +last arrival as an impostor in the pay of Peter Guerre, and expressed +himself content to be hanged if he did not yet unravel the whole +mystery. Nor did he confine himself to vituperation, but +cross-questioned Martin as to private family circumstances, and only +received hesitating and imperfect answers to his questions. The +commissioners having directed Arnold to withdraw, put several +questions to Martin that were new, and his answers were very full and +satisfactory; then they called for Arnold again, and questioned him as +to the same points, and he answered with the same exactness, "so that +some began to think there was witchcraft in the case." + +It was then directed, since two claimants had appeared, that the four +sisters of Martin Guerre, the husbands of two of them, Peter Guerre, +the brothers of Arnold du Tilh, and those who recognised him as the +real man, should be called upon and obliged to fix on the true +Martin. Guerre's eldest sister was first summoned, and she, after a +momentary glance, ran to the new comer and embraced him, crying, as +the report goes, "Oh, my brother Martin Guerre, I acknowledge the +error into which this abominable traitor drew me, and also all the +inhabitants of Artigues." The rest also identified him; and his wife, +who was the last of all, was as demonstrative as the others. "She had +no sooner cast her eyes on Martin Guerre than, bursting into tears, +and trembling like a leaf, she ran to embrace him, and begged his +pardon for suffering herself to be seduced by the artifices of a +wretch. She then pleaded for herself, in the most innocent and artless +manner, that she had been led away by his credulous sisters, who had +owned the impostor; that the strong passion she had for him, and her +ardent desire to see him again, helped on the cheat, in which she was +confirmed by the tokens that traitor had given, and the recital of so +many peculiarities which could be known only to her husband; that as +soon as her eyes were open she wished that the horrors of death might +hide those of her fault, and that she would have laid violent hands on +herself if the fear of God had not withheld her; that not being able +to bear the dreadful thought of having lost her honour and reputation, +she had recourse to vengeance, and put the impostor into the hands of +justice;" and, moreover, that she was as anxious as ever that the +rascal should die. + +Martin, however, was not to be moved by her appeals, alleging that "a +wife has more ways of knowing a husband than a father, a mother, and +all his relations put together; nor is it possible she should be +imposed on unless she has an inclination to be deceived;" and even the +persuasions of the commissioners could not move him from his decision. + +The doubts being at last dissipated, the accused Arnold du Tilh was +condemned "to make _amende honorable_ in the market-place of Artigues +in his shirt, his head and feet bare, a halter about his neck, and +holding in his hands a lighted waxen torch; to demand pardon of God, +the king, and the justice of the nation, of the said Martin Guerre, +and De Rols, his wife; and this being done, to be delivered into the +hands of the capital executioner, who, after making him pass through +the streets of Artigues with a rope about his neck, at last should +bring him before the house of Martin Guerre, where, on a gallows +expressly set up, he should be hanged, and where his body should +afterwards be burnt." It was further ordered that such property as he +had should be devoted to the maintenance of the child which had been +born to him by Bertrande de Rols. + +At the same time, the court had very serious thoughts of punishing +Martin Guerre, because his abandonment of his wife had led to the +mischief, and his desertion of his country's flag seemed to merit +censure. It was, however, finally decided that when he ran away he +"acted rather from levity than malice;" and as he had entered the +Spanish army in a roundabout way, and after considerable persuasion, +that the loss of his leg in that service was sufficient punishment. +The guilt of his wife, Bertrande de Rols, was thought even more +apparent, and that a woman could be deceived in her husband was a +proposition few could digest. Yet, as the woman's life-long character +was good, and it spoke well for her that not only the population of +Artigues, but also the man's four sisters, had shared her delusion, it +was finally determined to discharge her. + +Arnold de Tilh, the impostor, was carried back to Artigues for the +execution of his sentence, and there made a full confession. He said +that the crime had been accidentally suggested to his mind; that on +his way home from the camp in Picardy he was constantly mistaken for +Martin Guerre by Martin's friends; that from them he learned many +circumstances respecting the family and the doings of the man himself; +and that, having previously been an intimate and confidential comrade +of Guerre in the army, he was able to maintain his imposture. His +sentence was carried out in all its severity in 1560. + + + + +PIERRE MEGE--THE FICTITIOUS DE CAILLE. + + +Scipio Le Brun, of Castellane, a Provencal gentleman, and lord of the +manors of Caille and of Rougon, in 1655 married a young lady called +Judith le Gouche. As is common in France, and also in certain parts of +Britain, this local squire was best known by the name of his estates, +and was commonly termed the Sieur de Caille. Both he and his wife +belonged to the strictest sect of the Calvinists, who were by no means +favourites in the country. Their usual residence was at Manosque, a +little village in Provence, and there five children were born to them, +of whom three were sons and two were daughters. The two youngest sons +died at an early age, and Isaac, the eldest, after living to the age +of thirty-two, died also. + +When this Isaac, who has just been mentioned, was a lad of fifteen, +his mother died, and in her will constituted him her heir, at the same +time bequeathing legacies to her daughters, and granting the life +interest of all her property to her husband. The King having revoked +the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the Sieur de Caille quitted the kingdom +with his family, which then consisted of his mother, his son Isaac, +and his two daughters. The fugitives made their home in Lausanne, in +Switzerland. In 1689 the French king, in the zeal of his Catholicism, +issued a decree, by which he bestowed the property of the Calvinist +fugitives upon their relations. The possessions of the Sieur de Caille +were therefore divided between Anne de Gouche, his wife's sister, who +had married M. Rolland, the _Avocat-General_ of the Supreme Court of +Dauphine, and Madame Tardivi, a relation on his own side. + +Meantime Isaac, the son of the Sieur de Caille, who was by courtesy +styled the Sieur de Rougon, assiduously applied himself to his +studies, and, as the result of over-work, fell into a consumption, of +which he died at Vevay on the 15th of February 1696. + +In March 1699, Pierre Mege, a marine, presented himself before M. de +Vauvray, the intendant of marines at Toulon, and informed him that he +was the son of M. de Caille, at the same time telling the following +story. He said that he had had the misfortune to be an object of +aversion to his father because of his dislike to study, and because of +his ill-concealed attachment to the Catholic religion; that his father +had always exhibited his antipathy to him, and, while he was at +Lausanne, had frequently maltreated him; that rather than submit to +the paternal violence he had often run away from home, but had been +brought back again by officious friends, who met him in his flight; +that he had at last succeeded in making his escape, by the aid of a +servant, in December 1690; that, in order to avoid recapture, and to +satisfy his own desire to become a member of the Catholic Church, he +had formed the design of returning into Provence; that on his homeward +way he had been stopped by the Savoyard troops, who compelled him to +enlist in their ranks; and that he had subsequently been captured by +some French soldiers. He added that M. de Catinat, who commanded this +part of the French army, and to whom he had presented himself as the +son of M. de Caille, had given him a free pass; that he had arrived at +Nice, and had enlisted in the Provencal militia; and that having been +on duty one day at the residence of the governor, he had seen a silver +goblet carried past him which bore arms of his family, and which he +recognised as a portion of the plate which his father had sold in +order to procure the means to fly into Switzerland. The sight of this +vessel stirred up old recollections, and he burst into such a violent +paroxysm of grief that the attention of his comrades was attracted, +and they demanded the cause of his tears, whereupon he told them his +story, and pointed out the same arms impressed on his _cachet_. This +tale came to the ears of the Chevalier de la Fare, who then commanded +at Nice, and after a hasty investigation he treated his subordinate +with excessive courtesy, evidently believing him to be the man whom he +represented himself to be. + +The militia having been disbanded, the claimant to manorial rights +and broad estates repaired to Marseilles, where he fell in with a +woman called Honorade Venelle, who was residing with her mother and +two sisters-in-law. The morality of these females seems to have been +of the slightest description; and Henriade Venelle had no hesitation +in yielding to a proposal of this infamous soldier that he should +represent her husband, who was at the time serving his king and +country in the ranks of the army. The easy spouse drew no distinctions +between the real and the supposititious husband, and the latter not +only assumed the name of Pierre Mege, but collected such debts as were +due to him, and gave receipts which purported to bear his signature. +In 1695 he enlisted under the name of Mege, on board the galley "La +Fidele"--a ship in which the veritable Mege was known to have been a +marine from 1676--and served for nearly three years, when he was again +dismissed. In order to eke out a temporary livelihood he sold a +balsam, the recipe for which he declared had been given him by his +grandmother Madame de Caille. He made little by this move, and was +compelled once more to enlist at Toulon; and here it was that he met +M. de Vauvray, and told him his wonderful story. + +The intendant of marines listened to the tale with open ears, and +recommended his subordinate to make an open profession of his adhesion +to the Romish Church as a first step towards the restitution of his +rights. The soldier was nothing loth to accept this advice, and after +being three weeks under the tutelage of the Jesuits, he publicly +abjured the Calvinistic creed in the Cathedral of Toulon, on the 10th +of June 1699. + +In his act of abjuration he took the name of Andre d'Entrevergues, the +son of Scipio d'Entrevergues, Sieur de Caille, and of Madame Susanne +de Caille, his wife. He stated that he was twenty-three years of age, +and that he did not know how to write. The falsehood of his story was, +therefore, plainly apparent from the beginning. The eldest son of the +Sieur de Caille was called Isaac and not Andre; the soldier took the +name of d'Entrevergues, and gave it to the father, while the family +name was Brun de Castellane; he called his mother Susanne de Caille, +whereas her maiden name was Judith le Gouche. He said that he was +twenty-three years of age, while the real son of the Sieur de Caille +ought to have been thirty-five; and he did not know how to write, +while numerous documents were in existence signed by the veritable +Isaac, who was distinguished for his accomplishments. + +News of this abjuration having spread abroad, it reached Sieur de +Caille, at Lausanne, who promptly forwarded the certificate of his +son's death, dated February 15, 1696, to M. de Vauvray, who at once +caused the soldier to be arrested. M. d'Infreville, who commanded the +troops at Toulon, however, pretended that de Vauvray had no authority +to place soldiers under arrest, and the question thus raised was +referred from one to another, until it came to the ears of the king. +The following answer was at once sent:-- + + "The King approves the action of M. de Vauvray in arresting + and in placing in the arsenal the soldier of the company of + Ligondes, who calls himself the son of the Sieur de Caille. + His Majesty's commands are, that he be handed over to the + civil authorities, who shall take proceedings against him, + and punish him as his imposture deserves, and that the + affidavits of the real de Caille shall be sent to them." + +The soldier was accordingly conveyed to the common prison of Toulon, +and was subsequently interrogated by the magistrates. In answer to +their inquiries, he said that he had never known his real name; that +his father had been in the habit of calling him d'Entrevergues de +Rougon de Caille; that he believed he really was twenty-five years +old, although two months previously he had stated his age to be +twenty-three; that he had never known his godfather or his godmother; +that only ten years had elapsed since he left Manosque; that he did +not know the name of the street nor the quarter of the town in which +his father's house was situated; that he could not tell the number of +rooms it contained; and that even if he were to see it again he could +not recognise it. In his replies he embodied the greater part of his +original story, with the exception of the episode with regard to +Honorade Venelle, respecting which he was prudently silent. He said +that he neither recollected the appearance nor the height of his +sister Lisette, nor the colour of her hair; but that his father had +black hair and a black beard, and a dark complexion, and that he was +short and stout. (The Sieur de Caille had brown hair and a reddish +beard, and was pale complexioned.) He did not know the height nor the +colour of the hair of his aunt, nor her features, although she had +lived at Lausanne with the son of the Sieur de Caille. He could not +remember the colour of the hair, nor the appearance, nor the +peculiarities of his grandmother, who had accompanied the family in +its flight into Switzerland; and could not mention a single friend +with whom he had been intimate, either at Manosque, or Lausanne, or +Geneva. + +One would have supposed that this remarkable display of ignorance +would have sufficed to convince all reasonable men of the falsity of +the story, but it was far otherwise. The relatives of de Caille were +called upon either to yield to his demands or disprove his identity; +and M. Rolland, whose wife, it will be remembered, had obtained a +large portion of the property, appeared against him. Twenty witnesses +were called, of whom several swore that the accused was Pierre Mege, +the son of a galley-slave, and that they had known him for twenty +years; while the others deposed that he was not the son of the Sieur +de Caille, in whose studies they had shared. The soldier was very +firm, however, and very brazen-faced, and demanded to be taken to the +places where the real de Caille had lived, so that the people might +have an opportunity of recognising him. Moreover, he deliberately +asserted that while he was in prison M. Rolland had made two attempts +against his life. He was conducted, according to his request, to +Manosque, Caille, and Rougon, and upwards of a hundred witnesses swore +that he was the man he represented himself to be. The court was +divided; but, after eight hours' consideration, twelve out of the +twenty-one judges of the Supreme Court of Provence pronounced in his +favour, and several of M. Rolland's witnesses were ordered into +custody to take their trial for perjury. + +Three weeks after this decision the soldier married the daughter of +the Sieur Serri, a physician, who had privately supplied the funds for +carrying on the case. This girl's mother was a cousin of one of the +judges, and it soon came to be more than hinted that fair play had not +been done. However, the soldier took possession of the Caille +property, and drove out the poor persons who had been placed in the +mansion by Madame Rolland. + +Honorade Venelle, the wife of Pierre Mege, who had preserved silence +during the proceedings, now appeared on the scene, all her fury being +roused by the marriage. She made a declaration before a notary at Aix, +in which she stated that she had unexpectedly heard that Pierre Mege +had been recognised as the son of the Sieur de Caille, and had +contracted a second marriage; and affirmed upon oath, "for the ease of +her conscience and the maintenance of her honour," that he was her +real husband, that he had been married to her in 1685, and that he had +cohabited with her till 1699; therefore she demanded that the second +marriage should be declared void. The judges, zealous of their own +honour, and provoked that their decision should be called in question, +gave immediate orders to cast her into prison, which was accordingly +done. + +The authorities at Berne meantime, believing that the decision of the +Provencal Court, which had paid no attention to the documents which +they had forwarded from Lausanne and Vevay, to prove the residence and +death of the son of the Sieur de Caille in Switzerland was insulting, +addressed a letter to the King, and the whole affair was considered by +his Majesty in council at Fontainebleau. After the commissioners, to +whom the matter was referred, had sat nearly forty times, they +pronounced judgment. The decision of the court below was upset; the +soldier was deprived of his ill-acquired wealth, was ordered to pay +damages, was handed over to the criminal authorities for punishment, +while the former holders were restored to possession of the property. + + + + +MICHAEL FEYDY--THE SHAM CLAUDE DE VERRE. + + +At the beginning of the seventeenth century, a French gentleman, named +Guy de Verre, lived with his wife and two sons at Saumur. Claude, the +elder of these children, who had a peculiar scar on his brow (which +had been left by a burn), at an early age expressed a strong desire to +become a soldier, and his father accordingly procured an ensigncy for +him in the regiment of Clanleu. In 1638 Claude de Verre left the +paternal mansion to join his regiment; and from that date till 1651 +nothing was heard of him. In the latter year, however, one of the +officers of a regiment which had been ordered to Saumur presented +himself at the chateau of Chauvigny, which was occupied by Madame de +Verre, now a widow; and no sooner had he appeared than Jacques, the +second son, observed his perfect resemblance to his missing brother. +He communicated his suspicions to his mother, who was overwhelmed with +delight, and without consulting more than her emotions, addressed the +stranger as her son. At first the officer feebly protested that he did +not enjoy that relationship, but, seeing the lady's anxiety, he at +last admitted that he was Claude de Verre, and that he had hesitated +to declare himself at first until he had assured himself that his +reception would be cordial after his eighteen years of absence. He had +no reason to doubt the maternal love and forgiveness. From the first +moment of his discovery he was acknowledged as the heir, and the happy +mother celebrated his return by great rejoicings, to which all her +friends and relatives were invited. He was presented to the members of +the family, and they recognised him readily; although they did not +fail to notice certain distinctions of feature and manner between him +and the Claude de Verre who had gone to join the regiment of Clanleu. +Still, as he answered all the questions which were put to him promptly +and correctly, and as he sustained the character of the lost son +perfectly, it was easy to suppose that absence and increasing age had +effected a slight change in him, and he was received everywhere with +marked demonstrations of friendship. M. de Piedselon, a brother of +Madame de Verre, alone denounced him as an impostor; but his words +were unheeded, and the new comer continued to possess the confidence +of the other relatives, and of the widow and her second son, with whom +he continued to reside for some time. + +At last the day came when he must rejoin his regiment, and his brother +Jacques accompanied him into Normandy, where it was stationed, and +where they made the acquaintance of an M. de Dauple, a gentleman who +had a very pretty daughter. Claude de Verre soon fell over head and +ears in love with this girl, who reciprocated his passion and married +him. Before the ceremony a marriage-contract was signed, and this +document, by a very peculiar clause, stipulated that, in the event of +a separation, the bridegroom should pay a reasonable sum to Madlle de +Dauple. Jacques de Verre signed this contract as the brother of the +bridegroom, and it was duly registered by a notary. After their +marriage the happy couple lived together until the drum and trumpet +gave the signal for their separation, and Claude de Verre marched to +the wars with his regiment. + +But when released from service, instead of returning to pass the +winter with his wife, he resorted once more to Chauvigny, to the house +of Madame de Verre, and took his brother back. She was delighted to +see him again, and on his part it was evident that he was resolved to +make amends for his past neglect and his prolonged absence. +Nevertheless, during his stay at the family mansion, he found time to +indulge in a flirtation--if nothing worse--with a pretty girl named +Anne Allard. Soon after his arrival intelligence reached Saumur of the +death of the Madlle de Dauple whom Claude had married in Normandy--an +occurrence which seemed to give him the utmost sorrow, but which did +not prevent him from marrying Anne Allard within a very short time, +his own feelings being ostensibly sacrificed to those of his mother, +who was anxious that he should settle down at home. In this instance, +also, a marriage-contract was entered into, and was signed by Madame +de Verre and her son Jacques. Not content with this proof of +affection, the mother of Claude, seeing her eldest son thus settled +down beside her, executed a deed conveying to him all her property, +reserving only an annuity for herself and the portion of the second +son. + +For some time Claude de Verre lived peacefully and happily with Anne +Allard, rejoicing in the possession of an affectionate wife, managing +his property carefully, and even adding to the attractiveness and +value of the family estate of Chauvigny. Two children were born of the +marriage, and nothing seemed wanting to his prosperity, when suddenly +a soldier of the French Gardes presented himself at Chauvigny. This +man also claimed to be the eldest son of Madame de Verre, and gave a +circumstantial account of his history from the time of his +disappearance in 1638 to the period of his return. Among other +adventures, he said that he had been made a prisoner at the siege of +Valenciennes, that he had been exchanged, and that, while he was +quartered in a town near Chauvigny, the news had reached him that an +impostor was occupying his position. This intelligence determined him +to return home at once, and, by declaring himself, to dissipate the +illusion and put an end to the comedy which was being played at his +expense. + +The revelations of the soldier did not produce the result which he had +anticipated; for, whether she was still persuaded that the husband of +Anne Allard was the only and real Claude de Verre, or whether, while +recognising her mistake, she preferred to leave matters as they were +rather than promote a great family scandal and disturbance, Madame de +Verre persisted that the new comer was not her son, for she had only +two, and they were both living with her. Of course, the husband of +Anne Allard had no hesitation in declaring the soldier an impostor, +and Jacques de Verre united his voice to the others, and repudiated +all claims to brotherhood on the part of the guardsman. + +However, affairs were not allowed to remain in this position. The new +arrival, rejected by those with whom he claimed the most intimate +relationship, appealed to a magistrate at Saumur, and lodged a +complaint against his mother because of her refusal to acknowledge +him, and against the so-called Claude de Verre for usurping his title +and position, in order to gain possession of the family property. When +the matter was brought before him the magistrate ordered the soldier +to be placed under arrest, and sent for Madame de Verre to give her +version of the affair. The lady declined to have anything to do with +the claimant, although she admitted that there were some circumstances +which told in his favour. Her brother M. Piedselon, however, who had +refused to recognise Anne Allard's husband in 1651, was still at +Saumur, and he was confronted with the claimant. The recognition +between the two men was mutual, and their answers to the same +questions were identical. Moreover, the new comer had the scar on his +brow, which was wanting on the person of the possessor of the estate. +The other relatives followed the lead of M. Piedselon; and ultimately +it was proved that the husband of Anne Allard was an impostor, and +that his real name was Michael Feydy. Consequently, on the 21st of May +1657, the Criminal-Lieutenant of Saumur delivered sentence, declaring +that the soldier of the Gardes was the true Claude de Verre, +permitting him to take possession of the property of the deceased Guy +de Verre, and condemning Michael Feydy to death. + +The first part of this sentence was carried out. The new Claude took +forcible possession of the mansion and estate of Chauvigny. But it was +found that Michael Feydy had disappeared, leaving his wife full power +to act for him in his absence. Anne Allard at once instituted a +suit--not against the possessor of the estates, whom she persistently +refused to acknowledge--but against Madame de Verre and her son +Jacques, and petitioned that they might be compelled to put an end to +the criminal prosecution which the soldier of the Gardes had +instituted against her husband, to restore her to the possession and +enjoyment of the mansion of Chauvigny, and the other property which +belonged to her; and that, in the event of their failure to do so, +they should be ordered to repay her all the expenses which she had +incurred since her marriage; to grant her an annuity of two hundred +livres per annum, according to the terms of her marriage-settlement; +and further, to pay her 20,000 livres as damages. + +At this stage another person appeared on the scene--none other than +Madlle de Dauple, whom the sham Claude had married in Normandy, and +whom he had reported as dead. She also had recourse to the legal +tribunals, and demanded that Madame de Verre and her second son should +pay her an annuity of 500 livres, and the arrears which were due to +her since her abandonment by her husband, and 1500 livres for expenses +incurred by Jacques Verre during his residence with her father and +mother in Normandy. The children of Anne Allard, moreover, brought a +suit to establish their own legitimacy. + +The Avocat-General was of opinion that the marriage contract between +Michael Feydy and Mademoiselle de Dauple should be declared void, +because there was culpable carelessness on the father's part and on +the girl's part alike. He thought the marriage of Michael Feydy and +Anne Allard binding, because it had been contracted in good faith. +Jacques de Verre he absolved from all blame, and was of opinion that +since Madame de Verre had signed the marriage-contract it was only +just to make her pay something towards the support of Anne Allard and +her children. The Supreme Court did not altogether adopt these +conclusions. By a decree of the 31st of June 1656, it dismissed the +appeals of Anne Allard and of Madeline de Dauple. It declared the +children of Michael Feydy and of Anne Allard legitimate, and adjudged +to them and to their mother all the property acquired by their father, +which had accrued to him by his division with Jacques de Verre, under +the name of Claude de Verre, until the signature of the matrimonial +agreement, and also the guarantee of the debts which Anne Allard had +incurred conjointly with her husband. Madame de Verre was also +condemned to pay 2000 livres to Anne Allard, under the contract which +had been signed. Of Feydy himself nothing further is known. + + + + +THE BANBURY PEERAGE CASE. + + +Since the reign of Edward III. the family of Knollys has been +distinguished in the annals of the kingdom. In those days Sir Robert +Knollys, one of the companions of the Black Prince, not only proved +himself a gallant soldier, but fought to such good purpose that he +enriched himself with spoils, and was elevated to the distinction of +the Blue Ribbon of the Garter. His heirs continued to enjoy the royal +favour throughout successive reigns; and Sir Francis Knollys, one of +his descendants, who likewise was a garter-knight in the earlier part +of the sixteenth century, espoused Catherine Cary, a grand-daughter of +the Earl of Wiltshire, and a grand-niece of Queen Anne Boleyn. Two +sons were born of this marriage, and were named Henry and William +respectively. Henry died before his father, and William, who was born +in 1547, succeeded to the family honours in 1596. He had worn them for +seven years, when King James created him Baron Knollys of Grays, in +Oxfordshire, in 1603. Sixteen years afterwards, King James further +showed his royal favour towards him by creating him Baron Wallingford, +and King Charles made him Earl of Banbury in 1626. He was married +twice during his long life--first to Dorothy, widow of Lord Chandos, +and daughter of Lord Bray, but by her he had no children; and +secondly, and in the same year that his first wife died, to Lady +Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of the Earl of Suffolk. The +couple were not well-assorted, the earl verging on three-score years, +while the lady had not seen her twentieth summer on the day of her +nuptials. Still their married life was happy, and her youth gladdened +the old man's heart, as is proved by his settlement upon her, in 1629, +of Caversham, in Berkshire, and by his constituting her his sole +executrix. In the settlement, moreover, he makes mention of "the love +and affection which he beareth unto the said Lady Elizabeth his wife, +having always been a good and loving wife;" and in the will he calls +her his "dearly-beloved wife Elizabeth, Countess of Banbury." Lord +Banbury died on the 25th of May 1632, having at least reached the age +of eighty-five. + +No inquiry was made immediately after his death as to the lands of +which he died seised; but about eleven months afterwards, a commission +was issued to the feodor and deputy-escheator of Oxfordshire, pursuant +to which an inquisition was taken on the 11th of April 1633, at +Burford, when the jury found that Elizabeth, his wife, survived him; +that the earl had died without heirs-male of his body, and that his +heirs were certain persons who were specified. Notwithstanding this +decision there appears to have been little doubt that about the 10th +of April 1627, the countess had been delivered of a son, who was +baptized as Edward, and that on the 3d of January 1631, she had given +birth to another son, who received the name of Nicholas. Both of these +children were living when the inquisition was made. The first was born +when the Earl of Banbury was in his eightieth year, and his wife +between forty and forty-one years of age, and the second came into the +world almost when his father was about to leave it, and when the +countess was between forty and forty-five. Within five weeks after the +death of the earl, her ladyship married Lord Vaux of Harrowden, who +had been on terms of intimate friendship with the family during the +deceased nobleman's lifetime, and it was plainly said that the +children of Lady Banbury were the issue of Lord Vaux, and not of the +earl. + +On the 9th of February 1640-41, a bill was filed in Chancery by +Edward, the eldest son, described as "Edward, Earl of Banbury, an +infant," by William, Earl of Salisbury, his guardian, and +brother-in-law of the Countess of Banbury. Witnesses were examined in +the cause; but after a century and a-half their evidence was rejected +in 1809 by the House of Lords. There was, however, a more rapid and +satisfactory means of procedure. A writ was issued in 1641, directing +the escheator of Berkshire "to inquire after the death of William, +Earl of Banbury;" and the consequence was that a jury, which held an +inquisition at Abingdon, found, with other matters, "that Edward, now +Earl of Banbury, is, and at the time of the earl's decease was, his +son and next heir." The young man, therefore, assumed the title, and +set out on a foreign tour. He was killed during the next year near +Calais, while he was yet a minor. His brother Nicholas, then about +fifteen years of age, at once assumed the title. In the same year Lord +Vaux settled Harrowden and his other estates upon him. His mother, the +Countess of Banbury, died on the 17th of April 1658, at the age of +seventy-three, and Lord Vaux departed this life on the 8th of +September 1661, aged seventy-four. Meantime Nicholas had taken his +seat in the House of Lords, and occupied it without question for a +couple of years. The Convention Parliament having been dissolved, +however, he was not summoned to that which followed it, and in order +to prove his right to the peerage petitioned the Crown for his writ. +This petition was heard by the Committee for Privileges, which +ultimately decided that "Nicholas, Earl of Banbury, is a legitimate +person." + +At his death he left one son, Charles, who assumed the title of Earl +of Banbury, and who petitioned the House of Lords to take his case +into consideration. After thirty years' delay, occasioned by the +disturbed state of the times, the so-called Lord Banbury having +accidentally killed his brother-in-law in a duel, was indicted as +"Charles Knollys, Esq.," to answer for the crime on the 7th of +November 1692. He appealed to the House of Lords, and demanded a trial +by his peers: it was therefore necessary to re-open the whole case. +After a patient investigation, his petition to the House of Lords was +dismissed, and it was resolved that he had no right to the earldom of +Banbury. He was consequently removed to Newgate. + +When he was placed before the judges, and was called upon to plead, he +admitted that he was the person indicted, but pleaded a misnomer in +abatement--or, in other words, that he was the Earl of Banbury. The +pleas occupied, subsequently, more than a year, during which time the +prisoner was admitted to bail. At last the House of Lords interfered, +and called upon the Attorney-General to produce "an account in +writing of the proceedings in the Court of King's Bench against the +person who claims the title of the Earl of Banbury." The +Attorney-General acted up to his instructions, and Lord Chief-Justice +Holt was heard by the Lords on the subject. Parliament, however, was +prorogued soon afterwards, and no decision was arrived at in the +matter. Meantime, the Court of King's Bench proceeded to act as if no +interference had been made, and quashed the indictment on the ground +that the prisoner was erroneously styled "Charles Knollys" instead of +"The Earl of Banbury." + +When the Lords reassembled on the 27th of November 1694 they were very +wroth, but, after an angry debate, the affair was adjourned, and +nothing more was heard of the Banbury Peerage until the beginning of +1698, when Charles Banbury again petitioned the king, and the petition +was once more referred to the House of Lords. Lord Chief-Justice Holt +was summoned before the committee, and in answer to inquiries as to +the motives which had actuated the judges of the King's Bench, +replied, "I acknowledge the thing; there was such a plea and such a +replication. I gave my judgment according to my conscience. We are +trusted with the law. We are to be protected, not arraigned, and are +not to give reasons for our judgment; therefore I desire to be excused +giving any." Mr. Justice Eyre maintained the same dignified tone, and +at length the House of Lords abandoned its fruitless struggle with the +common-law Judges. The petition of Lord Banbury was subsequently laid +before the Privy Council, when the sudden death of Queen Anne once +more put an end to the proceedings. + +When the Hanoverian princes came to the throne, Lord Banbury again +tempted fate by a new petition to the Crown. Sir Philip York, the then +Attorney-General, investigated the whole of the past proceedings from +1600 up to his time, and made a full report to the king, but no +definite decision was given. In 1740, the claimant Charles, so-called +Earl of Banbury, died in France. During his lifetime he had never +ceased to bear the title he had presented five petitions to the +Crown, demanding the acknowledgment of his rights, and neither he nor +any of his family, during the eighty years which had elapsed from the +first preferment of the claim, had ever relinquished an iota of their +pretensions. + +At his death Charles, the third assumed Earl of Banbury, left a son +called Charles, who adopted the title, and, dying in 1771, bequeathed +it to his son William, who bore it until his decease in 1776. He was, +in turn, succeeded by his brother Thomas, at whose death, in 1793, it +devolved upon his eldest son, William Knollys, then called Viscount +Wallingford, who immediately assumed the title of Earl of Banbury, and +in 1806 presented a formal petition to the Crown--a petition which was +in due course referred to the Attorney-General, and was by his advice +transferred to the House of Lords. + +Until 1806, when the claim was renewed, the pretenders to the Banbury +honours had not only styled themselves earls in all legal documents, +but they had been so described in the proceedings which had taken +place, and in the commissions which they had held; and while their +wives had been styled Countesses of Banbury, their children had borne +those collateral titles which would have been given by courtesy to the +sons and daughters of the Earls of Banbury. But, although there had +thus been an uninterrupted usage of the title for upwards of 180 +years, when William Knollys succeeded his father a new system was +practised. His father, the deceased earl, had held a commission in the +third regiment of foot, and during his father's lifetime he had been +styled in his own major-general's commission, "William Knollys, +commonly called Viscount Wallingford." But on his father's decease, +and the consequent descent of his father's claims, the title of earl +was refused to him, and therefore it was that he presented his +petition. + +The case remained in the House of Lords for nearly six years. On the +30th of May 1808 it was brought on for hearing before the Committee +for Privileges, when Sir Samuel Romilly, Mr. Gaselee, and Mr. Hargrave, +appeared for the petitioner, and the Crown was represented by the +Attorney-General and a junior counsel. A great mass of documentary and +genealogical evidence was produced; but after a most painstaking +investigation, Lords Erskine, Ellenborough, Eldon, and Redesdale came +to the conclusion that Nicholas Vaux, the petitioner, had _not_ made +out his claim to the Earldom of Banbury, and the House of Lords, on +the 11th of March 1813, endorsed their decision. + + + + +JAMES PERCY--THE SO-CALLED EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND. + + +In 1670 Jocelyn Percy, the eleventh Earl of Northumberland, died +without male issue. Up to his time, throughout the six hundred years, +the noble family of Percy had never been without a male +representative, and the successive earls had almost invariably been +soldiers, and had added to the lustre of their descent by their own +valiant deeds. But when Earl Jocelyn died, in 1670, he left behind him +a solitary daughter--whose life was in itself eventful enough, and who +became the wife of Charles Somerset, the proud Duke of Somerset--but +who could not wear the title, although she inherited much of the +wealth of the Percys. + +Jocelyn Percy was, however, scarcely cold in his grave when a claimant +appeared, who sought the family honours and the entailed lands which +their possession implied. This was James Percy, a poor Dublin +trunkmaker, who came over to England and at once assumed the title. +His pretensions aroused the ire of the dowager-countess, the mother of +Earl Jocelyn, who, on the 18th of February 1672, presented a petition +to the House of Lords on behalf of herself and Lady Elizabeth Percy, +her grand-daughter, setting forth that "one who called himself James +Percy (by profession a trunkmaker in Dublin) assumes to himself the +titles of Earl of Northumberland and Lord Percy, to the dishonour of +that family." This petition was referred, in the usual course, to the +Committee for Privileges. This was immediately followed by a petition +from the claimant, which was read, considered, and dismissed. However, +both parties appeared before the House of Lords on the 28th of +November, James Percy claiming the honours, and the countess declaring +him an impostor. Percy craved an extension of time; but, as he was +unable to show any probability that he would ultimately succeed, his +demand was refused, and his petition was dismissed--Arthur Annesley, +earl of Anglesea, alone protesting against the decision. + +Percy, however, displaying the same valour and obstinacy in the courts +which his ancestors had so often shown on the battle-fields, was not +daunted, although he was discomfited. He appealed to the common-law +tribunals, and brought actions for scandal and ejectment against +various parties, and no fewer than five of these suits were tried +between 1674 and 1681. The first adversary whom he challenged was +James Clark, whom he sued for scandal, and in whose case he was +content to accept a non-suit; alleging, however, that this untoward +result was not so much brought about by the weakness of his cause as +by the faithlessness of his attorney. In a printed document which he +published with reference to the trial, he distinctly states that the +Lord Chief-Justice, Sir Matthew Hale, was so much dissatisfied with +the decision, that in the open court he plainly asserted "that the +claimant had proved himself a true Percy, by father, mother, +grandfather, and grandmother, and of the blood and family of the +Percys of Northumberland; and that he did verily believe that the +claimant was cousin and next heir-male to Jocelyn, late Earl of +Northumberland, only he was afraid he had taken the descent too high." +It is further reported that Sir Matthew, on entering his carriage, +remarked to Lord Shaftesbury, who was standing by, "I verily believe +he hath as much right to the earldom of Northumberland as I have to +this coach and horses, which I have bought and paid for." + +His next action was against a gentleman named Wright, who had taken +upon himself to pronounce him illegitimate, and in this instance he +was more successful. The case was heard before Sir Richard Rainsford, +Sir Matthew Hale's successor, and resulted in a verdict for the +plaintiff, with L300 damages. Flushed by this victory, he took +proceedings against Edward Craister, the sheriff of Northumberland, +against whom he filed a bill for the recovery of the sum of L20 +a-year, granted by the patent of creation out of the revenues of the +county. Before this, however, in 1680, he had again petitioned the +House of Lords, and his petition was again rejected--Lord Annesley, as +before, protesting against the rejection. The litigation with Craister +in the Court of Exchequer being very protracted, the Duchess of +Somerset (who was the daughter and heiress of Earl Jocelyn) brought +the matter once more before the Lords in 1685, and her petition was +referred to the Committee of Privileges. In reply to her petition +Percy presented one of complaint, which was also sent to the +Committee. No decision, however, seems to have been arrived at, and +the reign of King James came to a close without further action. In the +first year of the reign of William and Mary (1689), Percy returned to +the charge with a fresh petition and a fresh demand for recognition +and justice. These documents are still extant, and some of them are +very entertaining. In one he candidly admits that he has been, up to +the time when he writes, in error as to his pedigree, and, abandoning +his old position, takes up fresh ground. In another, "The claimant +desireth your lordships to consider the justice and equity of his +cause, hoping your lordships will take such care therein that your own +descendants may not be put to the like trouble for the future in +maintaining their and your petitioner's undoubted right;" and lest the +_argumentum ad homines_ should fail, he asks, "Whether or no three +streams issuing from one fountain, why the third stream (though +little, the first two great streams being spent) may not justly claim +the right of the original fountain?" In addition, he appends a sort of +solemn declaration, in which he represents himself as trusting in God, +and waiting patiently upon the king's sacred Majesty for his royal +writ of summons to call him to appear and take his place and seat +according to his birthright and title, "for true men ought not to be +blamed for standing up for justice, property, and right, which is the +chief diadem in the Crown, and the laurel of the kingdom." That +summons never was destined to be issued. When the Committee for +Privileges gave in their report, it declared Percy's conduct to be +insolent in persisting to designate himself Earl of Northumberland +after the previous decisions of the House; and the Lords ordered that +counsel should be heard at the bar of the House on the part of the +Duke of Somerset against the said James Percy. + +This was accordingly done; and the Lords not only finally came to the +decision "that the pretensions of the said James Percy to the earldom +of Northumberland are groundless, false, and scandalous," and ordered +that his petition be dismissed, but added to their judgment this +sentence, "That the said James Percy shall be brought before the four +Courts in Westminster Hall, wearing a paper upon his breast on which +these words shall be written: 'THE FALSE AND IMPUDENT PRETENDER TO THE +EARLDOM OF NORTHUMBERLAND.'" The judgment was at once carried into +execution, and from that time forward the unfortunate trunkmaker +disappears from the public view. He does not seem to have reverted to +his old trade; or, at least, if he did so, he made it profitable, for +we find his son, Sir Anthony Percy, figuring as Lord Mayor of Dublin +in 1699. There can be no doubt that, although he was treated with +undue harshness, his claims had no real foundation. At first he +alleged that his grandfather, Henry Percy, was a son of Sir Richard +Percy, a younger brother of Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland--an +allegation which would have made Sir Richard a grandfather at thirteen +years of age. It was further proved that Sir Richard, so far from +having any claim to such unusual honours, died without issue. In his +second story he traced his descent to Sir Ingelram Percy, stating that +his grandfather Henry was the eldest of the four children of Sir +Ingelram, and that these children were sent from the north in hampers +to Dame Vaux of Harrowden, in Northamptonshire. He advanced no proof, +however, of the correctness of this story, while the other side showed +conclusively that Sir Ingelram had never been married, and at his +death had only left an illegitimate daughter. At any rate, whether +James Percy was honest or dishonest, "the game was worth the +candle"--the Percy honours and estates were worth trying for. + + + + +THE DOUGLAS PEERAGE CASE. + + +Rather more than a hundred years ago the whole kingdom was disturbed +by the judicial proceedings which were taken with reference to the +succession to the ancient honours of the great Scotch house of +Douglas. Boswell, who was but little indisposed to exaggeration, and +who is reported by Sir Walter Scott to have been such an ardent +partizan that he headed a mob which smashed the windows of the judges +of the Court of Session, says that "the Douglas cause shook the +security of birthright in Scotland to its foundation, and was a cause +which, had it happened before the Union, when there was no appeal to a +British House of Lords, would have left the fortress of honours and of +property in ruins." His zeal even led him to oppose his idol Dr. +Johnson, who took the opposite side, and to tell him that he knew +nothing of the cause, which, he adds, he does most seriously believe +was the case. But however this may be, the popular interest and +excitement were extreme; the decision of the Court of Session in 1767 +led to serious disturbances, and the reversal of its judgment two +years later was received with the most extravagant demonstrations of +joy. + +In the beginning of the eighteenth century, Archibald, Duke of +Douglas, wore the honours of Sholto, "the Douglas." His father, James, +the second Marquis of Douglas, had been twice married, and had issue +by his first wife in the person of James, earl of Angus, who was +killed at the battle of Steinkirk; and by his second of a son and +daughter. The son was the Archibald just mentioned, who became his +heir and successor, and the daughter was named Lady Jane. Her +ladyship, like most of the women of the Douglas family, was celebrated +for her beauty; but unhappily became afterwards as famous for her evil +fortune. In her first womanhood she entered into a nuptial agreement +with the Earl of Dalkeith, who subsequently became Duke of Buccleuch, +but the marriage was unexpectedly broken off, and for very many years +she persistently refused all the offers which were made for her hand. +At length, in 1746, when she was forty-eight years old, she was +secretly married to Mr. Stewart, of Grantully. This gentleman was a +penniless scion of a good family, and the sole resources of the +newly-wedded couple consisted of an allowance of L300 per annum, which +had been granted by the duke to his sister, with whom he was on no +friendly terms. Even this paltry means of support was precarious, and +it was resolved to keep the marriage secret. The more effectually to +conceal it, Mr. Stewart and his nobly-born wife repaired to France, and +remained on the Continent for three years. At the end of that time +they returned to England, bringing with them two children, of whom +they alleged the Lady Jane had been delivered in Paris, at a +twin-birth, in July 1748. Six months previously to their arrival in +London their marriage had been made public, and the duke had stopped +the allowance which he had previously granted. They were, therefore, +in the direst distress; and, to add to their other misfortunes, Mr. +Stewart being deeply involved in debt, his creditors threw him into +prison. + +Lady Jane bore up against her accumulated sorrows with more than +womanly heroism, and when she found all her efforts to excite the +sympathy of her brother unavailing, addressed the following letter to +Mr. Pelham, then Secretary of State:-- + + "SIR,--If I meant to importune you I should ill deserve the + generous compassion which I was informed some months ago you + expressed upon being acquainted with my distress. I take + this as the least troublesome way of thanking you, and + desiring you to lay my application before the king in such + a light as your own humanity will suggest. I cannot tell my + story without seeming to complain of one of whom I never + will complain. I am persuaded my brother wishes me well, + but, from a mistaken resentment, upon a creditor of mine + demanding from him a trifling sum, he has stopped the + annuity which he had always paid me--my father having left + me, his only younger child, in a manner unprovided for. Till + the Duke of Douglas is set right--which I am confident he + will be--I am destitute. Presumptive heiress of a great + estate and family, with two children, I want bread. Your own + nobleness of mind will make you feel how much it costs me to + beg, though from the king. My birth, and the attachment of + my family, I flatter myself his Majesty is not unacquainted + with. Should he think me an object of his royal bounty, my + heart won't suffer any bounds to be set to my gratitude; + and, give me leave to say, my spirit won't suffer me to be + burdensome to his Majesty longer than my cruel necessity + compels me. + + "I little thought of ever being reduced to petition in this + way; your goodness will therefore excuse me if I have + mistaken the manner, or said anything improper. Though + personally unknown to you, I rely upon your intercession. + The consciousness of your own mind in having done so good + and charitable a deed will be a better return than the + thanks of + JANE DOUGLAS STEWART." + +The result was that the king granted the distressed lady a pension of +L300 a-year; but Lady Jane seems to have been little relieved thereby. +The Douglas' notions of economy were perhaps eccentric, but, at all +events, not only did Mr. Stewart still remain in prison, but his wife +was frequently compelled to sell the contents of her wardrobe to +supply him with suitable food during his prolonged residence in the +custody of the officers of the Court of King's Bench. During the +course of his incarceration Lady Jane resided in Chelsea, and the +letters which passed between the severed pair, letters which were +afterwards produced in court--proved that their children were rarely +absent from their thoughts, and that on all occasions they treated +them with the warmest parental affection. + +In 1752, Lady Jane visited Scotland, accompanied by her children, for +the purpose, if possible, of effecting a reconciliation with her +brother; but the duke flatly refused even to accord her an interview. +She therefore returned to London, leaving the children in the care of +a nurse at Edinburgh. This woman, who had originally accompanied +herself and her husband to the continent, treated them in the kindest +possible manner; but, notwithstanding her care, Sholto Thomas Stewart, +the younger of the twins, sickened and died on the 11th of May 1753. +The disconsolate mother at once hurried back to the Scottish capital, +and again endeavoured to move her brother to have compassion upon her +in her distress. Her efforts were fruitless, and, worn out by +starvation, hardship, and fatigue, she, too, sank and died in the +following November, disowned by her friends, and, as she said to +Pelham, "wanting bread." + +Better days soon dawned upon Archibald, the surviving twin. Lady Shaw, +deeply stirred by the misfortunes and lamentable end of his mother, +took him under her own charge, and educated and supported him as +befitted his condition. When she died a nobleman took him up; and his +father, having unexpectedly succeeded to the baronetcy and estates of +Grantully, on acquiring his inheritance, immediately executed a bond +of provision in his favour for upwards of L2500, and therein +acknowledged him as his son by Lady Jane Douglas. + +The rancour of the duke, however, had not died away, and he stubbornly +refused to recognise the child as his nephew. And, more than this, +after having spent the greater portion of his life in seclusion, he +unexpectedly entered into a marriage, in 1758, with the eldest +daughter of Mr. James Douglas, of Mains. This lady, far from sharing in +the opinions of her noble lord, espoused the cause of the lad whom he +so firmly repudiated, and became a partisan so earnest that a quarrel +resulted, which gave rise to a separation. But peace was easily +restored, and quietness once more reigned in the ducal household. + +In the middle of 1761, the Duke of Douglas was unexpectedly taken ill, +and his physicians pronounced his malady to be mortal. Nature, in her +strange and unexplained way, told the ill-tempered peer the same tale, +and, when death was actually before his eyes, he repented of his +conduct towards his unfortunate sister. To herself he was unable to +make any reparation, but her boy remained; and, on the 11th of July +1761, he executed an entail of his entire estates in favour of the +heirs of his father, James, Marquis of Douglas, with remainder to Lord +Douglas Hamilton, the brother of the Duke of Hamilton, and +supplemented it by another deed which set forth that, as in the event +of his death without heirs of his body, Archibald Douglas, _alias_ +Stewart, a minor, and son of the deceased Lady Jane Douglas, his +sister, would succeed him, he appointed the Duchess of Douglas, the +Duke of Queensberry, and certain other persons whom he named, to be +the lad's tutors and guardians. Thus, from being a rejected waif, the +boy became the acknowledged heir to a peerage, and a long rent-roll. + +There were still, however, many difficulties to be surmounted. The +guardians of the young Hamilton had no intention of losing the +splendid prize which was almost within their grasp, and repudiated the +boy's pretensions. On the other hand, the guardians of the youthful +Stewart-Douglas were determined to procure the official recognition of +his claims. Accordingly, immediately after the duke's decease, they +hastened to put him in possession of the Douglas estate, and set on +foot legal proceedings to justify their conduct. The Hamilton faction +thereupon despatched one of their number to Paris, and on his return +their emissary rejoiced their hearts and elevated their hopes by +informing them that he was convinced, on safe grounds, that Lady Jane +Douglas had never given birth to the twins, as suggested, and that the +whole story was a fabrication. They, therefore, asserted before the +courts that the claimant to the Douglas honours was not a Douglas at +all. + +They denied that Lady Jane Douglas was delivered on July 10, 1748, in +the house of a Madame La Brune, as stated; and brought forward various +circumstances to show that Madame La Brune herself never existed. They +asserted that it was impossible that the birth could have taken place +at that time, because on the specified date, and for several days +precedent and subsequent to the 10th of July, Lady Jane Douglas with +her husband and a Mrs. Hewit were staying at the Hotel de Chalons--an +inn kept by a Mons. Godefroi, who, with his wife, was ready to prove +their residence there. And they not only maintained that dark work had +been carried on in Paris by the parties concerned in the affair, but +alleged that Sir John Stewart, Lady Jane Douglas, and Mrs. Hewit, had +stolen from French parents the children which they afterwards foisted +upon the public as real Douglases. + +The claimant, and those representing him, on their part, brought +forward the depositions of several witnesses that Lady Jane Douglas +appeared to them to be with child while at Aix-la-Chapelle and other +places, and put in evidence the sworn testimony of Mrs. Hewit, who +accompanied the newly-wedded pair to the continent, as to the actual +delivery of her ladyship at Paris upon the 10th of July 1748. They +also submitted the depositions of independent witnesses as to the +recognition of the claimant by Sir John (then Mr.) Stewart and his +wife, and produced a variety of letters which had passed between Sir +John Stewart, Lady Jane Douglas, Mrs. Hewit, and others as to the +birth. They also added to their case four letters, which purported to +emanate from Pierre la Marre, whom they represented to have been the +accoucheur at the delivery of Lady Jane. + +Sir John Stewart, Lady Jane's husband, and the reputed father of the +claimant, died in June 1764; but, before his decease, his depositions +were taken in the presence of two ministers and of a justice of the +peace. He asserted, "as one slipping into eternity, that the defendant +(Archibald Stewart) and his deceased twin-brother were both born of +the body of Lady Jane Douglas, his lawful spouse, in the year 1748." + +The case came before the Court of Session on the 17th of July 1767, +when no fewer than fifteen judges took their seats to decide it. +During its continuance Mrs. Hewit, who was charged with abetting the +fraud, died; but before her death she also, like Sir John Stewart, +formally and firmly asserted, with her dying breath, that her evidence +in the matter was unprejudiced and true. After a patient hearing seven +of the judges voted to "sustain the reasons of reduction," and the +other seven to "assoilzie the defender." In other words, the bench was +divided in opinion, and the Lord President, who has no vote except as +an umpire in such a dilemma, voted for the Hamilton or illegitimacy +side, and thus deprived Archibald Douglas, or Stewart, of both the +title and the estates. + +But a matter of such importance could not, naturally, be allowed to +remain in such an unsatisfactory condition. An appeal was made to the +House of Lords, and the judgment of the Scottish Court of Session was +reversed in 1769. Archibald Douglas was, therefore, declared to be the +son of Lady Jane, and the heir to the dukedom of Douglas. + + + + +ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS--THE PRETENDED EARL OF STIRLING. + + +The idea of colonizing Nova Scotia found great favour in the eyes both +of James VI. and Charles I., and the former monarch rewarded Sir +William Alexander of Menstrie, who actively supported the project, +with a charter, dated 12th September 1621, in which he granted to him +"All and Whole the territory adjacent to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +thenceforward to be called Nova Scotia;" and constituted him, his +heirs and assignees, hereditary Lords-Lieutenant. The powers which +were given to these Lords-Lieutenant were little short of regal; but +before the charter could be ratified by the Scotch Parliament his +Majesty died. In 1625, however, the grant was renewed in the form of +a Charter of Novodamus, which was even more liberal than the original +document. These deeds were drawn out in the usual form of Scottish +conveyances, and were ratified by the Scotch Parliament in 1633. + +In accordance with their terms Sir William despatched one of his sons +to Canada, where, acting in his father's name, he built forts at the +mouth of the St. Lawrence, and acted as a petty king during his stay. +Still the project did not flourish: colonists were scarce and shy, +and, in order to make colonization more rapid, King James hit upon the +expedient of creating Nova-Scotian baronets, and of conferring this +distinction upon the leading members of those families who most +actively engaged in the work of populating the land. His successor +Charles I., who had an equal desire and necessity for money, converted +the new order into a source of revenue by granting 16,000 acres of +Canadian soil to those who could pay well, by erecting the district +thus sold into a barony, and by attaching the honours of a baronet of +Nova Scotia thereto. The order was afterwards extended to natives of +England and Ireland, provided they became naturalized Scotchmen. + +Sir William Alexander, by unfortunate speculations, was reduced to +want; his affairs became involved, and he ultimately sold his entire +Canadian possessions to a Frenchman named de la Tour. The original +Scotch colony depended upon the crown of Scotland: it was ceded to +France by the Treaty of St. Germains, dated the 29th of March 1632; was +reconquered by Cromwell; was again surrendered in the reign of Charles +II.; and in 1713 once more became a British colony--no consideration +being paid at the last transfer to the real or imaginary claims of Sir +William Alexander. + +The worthy baronet, however, notwithstanding his misfortunes and his +impecuniosity, continued a great friend of the first Charles, who, by +royal letters patent, elevated him, on the 14th of June 1633, to a +peerage under the title of the Earl of Stirling. The earldom became +dormant in 1739. + +After a lapse of more than twenty years a claimant for these honours +appeared in the person of William Alexander; but his appeal to the +House of Peers was rejected on the 10th of March 1762, and the +Stirling Peerage was commonly supposed to have shared the common +earthly fate, and to have died a natural death. But a new aspirant +unexpectedly appeared. This gentleman, named Humphreys, laid claim not +only to the earldom of Stirling, but also to the whole territory of +Canada, in addition to the Scottish estates appertaining thereto; and, +in order to substantiate his pretensions, put forward an assumed +pedigree. In this document he declared himself to be the lineal +descendant and nearest lawful heir of Sir William Alexander, who he +said was his great-great-great-grandfather. From this remote fountain +he pretended to have come, following the acknowledged stream until he +reached Benjamin, the last heir-male of the body of the first earl, +and, diverting the current to heirs-female in the person of Hannah, +Earl William's youngest daughter, who was married at Birmingham, and +whom he represented as his own ancestress. + +In 1824, having obtained formal license to assume the surname of +Alexander, he procured himself to be served "lawful and nearest +heir-male in general of the body of the said Hannah Alexander," before +the bailies of Canongate, 1826. Then he assumed the title of Earl of +Stirling and Dovan, and, in 1830, formally registered himself as +"lawful and nearest heir in general to the deceased William, the first +Earl of Stirling." + +According to the patent of 1633, which was confined to heirs-male, +Humphreys had no claim either to the title or estates; but he based +his pretensions upon a document which, he said, had been granted by +Charles I., in 1639, to the Earl of Stirling, and which conferred upon +him, without limitation as to issue, the whole estates in Scotland and +America, as well as the honours conveyed by the original patent. This +he attempted to prove in an action in the Court of Session, which was +dismissed in 1830, as was also a similar action for a like purpose in +1833. + +But, although not officially recognised, he assumed all the imaginary +privileges of his position, granting to his friends vast districts of +Canadian soil, creating Nova-Scotian baronets at his own discretion, +and acting, if not like a king, at least like a feudal magnate of the +first degree. He caused notice after notice to be issued proclaiming +his rights, and the records of the time are filled with strange +proclamations and announcements, to which his name is attached. As a +rule, these productions are far too lengthy to be copied, and far too +involved to be readily summarized. They have all a lamentably +commercial tone, and invariably exhibit an unworthy disposition to +sacrifice great prospective or assumed advantages for a very little +ready money. Take, for instance, his address to the public authorities +of Nova Scotia, issued in 1831. In it, after informing his readers of +the steps which he had taken to assert his rights, and the prospects +which existed of their recognition, he hastens to observe that +"persons desirous of settling on any of the waste lands, either by +purchase or lease, will find me ready to treat with them on the most +liberal terms and conditions;" and throws out a gentle hint that in +any official appointment he might have to make, he would prefer that +"the persons to fill them should rather be Nova Scotians or Canadians, +than the strangers of England." At the same time he issued numerous +advertisements in the journals, reminding all whom it might concern of +his hereditary rights, and warning the world in general against +infringing his exclusive privileges. At length, having succeeded in +gaining notoriety for himself, he aroused the Scotch nobility. On the +19th of March 1832, the Earl of Rosebery proposed and obtained a +select committee of the House of Lords, with a view of impeding "the +facility with which persons can assume a title without authority, and +thus lessen the character and respectability of the peerage in the +eyes of the public;" and the Marchioness of Downshire, the female +representative of the house of Stirling, forwarded a petition to the +Lords, complaining of the undue assumption of the title by Mr. +Humphreys. + +It is somewhat remarkable that the extraordinary proceedings of this +person should have been tolerated for so long a time by the +law-officers of the Crown; but his growing audacity at last led to +their interference, and what is termed an action of reduction was +brought against him and his agent. Lord Cockburn, who heard the case, +decided, without hesitation, that his claim was not established, +declared the previous legal proceedings invalid, and demolished the +pretensions of the claimant. Under these circumstances it was +necessary to do something to strengthen those weak points in his +title, which had been pointed out by the presiding judge, and +Humphreys or his friends were equal to the emergency. A variety of +documents were discovered in the most unexpected manner, which exactly +supplied the missing links in the evidence, and the claim was +accordingly renewed. The law-officers of the Crown denied the validity +of these documents, which emanated from the most suspicious +sources--some being forwarded by a noted Parisian fortune-teller, +called Madlle le Normand; and after Mr. Humphreys had been judicially +examined with regard to them, he was served with an indictment to +stand his trial for forgery before the High Court of Justiciary, at +Edinburgh, on the 3d of April 1839. The trial lasted for five days, +and created intense excitement throughout Scotland. During the trial +it was elicited that the father of Mr. Humphreys had been a respectable +merchant in Birmingham, who had amassed considerable wealth, had gone +abroad, accompanied by his son, in 1802, and had taken up his +temporary residence in France. As he did not return at the declaration +of war which followed the brief peace, he was detained by Napoleon, +and died at Verdun in 1807. His son, the pretended earl, remained a +prisoner in France until 1815, and afterwards established himself as a +schoolmaster at Worcester. There he met with little success, but bore +an excellent character, and gained a certain number of influential +friends, whose probity and truthfulness were beyond doubt; some of +whom supported him through all his career, one officer of distinction +even sitting in the dock with him. The public sympathy was also +strongly displayed on his side. But the evidence which was led on +behalf of the Crown was conclusive, and a verdict was returned +declaring the documents to be forgeries; but finding it "Not Proven" +that the prisoner knew that they were fictitious, or uttered them with +any malicious intention. He was therefore set at liberty, and retired +into private life. Whether he was an impostor, or was merely the +victim of a hallucination, it is very difficult to say. In any case he +failed to prove himself the Earl of Stirling. + + + + +THE SO-CALLED HEIRS OF THE STUARTS. + + +After the disastrous battle of Culloden, Charles Edward Stuart, or +"The Young Pretender," as he was commonly styled by his opponents, +fled from the field, and after many hair-breadth escapes succeeded in +reaching the Highlands, where he wandered to and fro for many weary +months. A reward of L30,000 was set upon his head, his enemies dogged +his footsteps like bloodhounds, and often he was so hard pressed by +the troops that he had to take refuge in caves and barns, and +sometimes was compelled to avoid all shelter but that afforded him by +the forests and brackens on the bleak hillsides. But the people +remained faithful to his cause, and, even when danger seemed most +imminent, succeeded in baffling his pursuers, and ultimately in +effecting his escape. Accompanied by Cameron of Lochiel, and a few of +his most faithful adherents, he managed to smuggle himself on board a +little French privateer, and was at last landed in safety at a place +called Roseau, near Morlaix, in France. He was treated with great +respect at the French court, until the King of France, by the Treaty +of Aix-la-Chapelle, disowned all rivals of the House of Hanover. The +prince protested against this treaty, and braved the French court. He +was accordingly ordered, in no very ceremonious terms, to leave the +country, and betook himself to Italy, where he gave himself up to +drunkenness, debauchery, and excesses of the lowest kind. In 1772 he +married the Princess Louisa Maximilian de Stolberg, by whom he had no +children, and with whom he lived very unhappily. He died from the +effects of his own self-indulgence, and without male issue, in 1788. +His father, the Chevalier de St. George, had pre-deceased him in 1766, +and his younger brother the Cardinal York, having been debarred from +marriage, it was supposed that at the death of the cardinal the royal +House of Stuart had passed away. + +But, in 1847, a book appeared, entitled "Tales of the Century; or, +Sketches of the Romance of History between the Years 1746 and 1846, by +John Sobieski and Charles Edward Stuart," and it immediately created a +considerable stir in literary circles. It was at once evident that the +three stories which the work contained were not intended to be read as +fictions, but as a contribution to the history of the period; or, in +other words, the authors meant the public to understand that Prince +Charles Edward Stuart left a legitimate son by his wife Louisa de +Stolberg, and that they themselves were his descendants and +representatives. + +The first of these "Tales of the Century" is called "The Picture," and +introduces the reader to a young Highland gentleman, named Macdonnell, +of Glendulochan, who is paying a first visit, in 1831, to an aged +Jacobite doctor, then resident in Westminster. This old adherent of +the cause feels the near approach of death, and is oppressed by the +possession of a secret which he feels must not die with him. He had +promised only to reveal it "in the service of his king;" and believing +it for his service that it should live, he confides it to the young +chief. "I will reveal it to you," he says, "that the last of the Gael +may live to keep that mysterious hope--_They have yet a king._" + +He then narrates how, in the course of a tour which he had made in +Italy, in 1773, a lingering fascination compelled him to remain for +some days in the vicinity of St. Rosalie, on the road from Parma to +Florence; how he had often walked for hours in the deep quiet shades +of the convent, ruminating on his distant country, on past events, +and on coming fortunes yet unknown; and how, while thus engaged one +evening, his reverie was disturbed by the rapid approach of a carriage +with scarlet outriders. He gained a momentary glimpse, of its +occupants--a lady and gentleman--and recognised the prince at once, +"for though changed with years and care, he was still himself; and +though no longer the 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' of our faithful +_beau-ideal_, still the same eagle-featured royal bird which I had +seen on his own mountains, when he spread his wings towards the south; +and once more I felt the thrilling talismanic influence of his +appearance, the sight so dear, so deeply-rooted in the hearts of the +Highlanders--_Charlie, King of the Gael_." + +On the same evening, while the doctor was pacing the aisles of St. +Rosalie, he was disturbed from his meditation by a heavy military +tread and the jingling of spurs, and a man of superior appearance, but +equivocal demeanour, strode towards him, and demanded to know if he +were Dr. Beaton, the Scotch physician. On receiving an affirmative +answer, he was requested to render assistance to some one in need of +immediate attendance, and all hesitation and inquiry was attempted to +be cut short by the announcement--"The relief of the malady, and not +the circumstances, of the patient is the province of the physician, +and for the present occasion you will best learn by an inspection of +the individual." + +A carriage was in waiting, but, in true romantic style, it was +necessary that the doctor should consent to be blindfolded; an +indignity to which he refused to submit, until the stranger, with +effusive expressions of respect for his doubts, said the secret would +be embarrassing to its possessor, as it concerned the interest and +safety of the most illustrious of the Scottish Jacobites. The doctor's +reluctance now changed into eagerness; he readily agreed to follow his +guide, and was conveyed, partly by land and partly by water, to a +mansion, which they entered through a garden. After passing through a +long range of apartments, his mask was removed, and he looked round +upon a splendid saloon, hung with crimson velvet, and blazing with +mirrors which reached from floor to ceiling, while the dim perspective +of a long conservatory was revealed at the farther end. His conductor +rang a silver bell, which was immediately answered by a little page, +richly dressed in scarlet. This boy entered into conversation in +German with the cavalier, and gave very pleasing information to him, +which he, in turn, communicated to the doctor. "Signor Dottore," said +he, "the most important part of your occasion is past. The lady whom +you have been unhappily called to attend met with an alarming accident +in her carriage not half an hour before I found you in the church, and +the unlucky absence of her physician leaves her entirely in your +charge. Her accouchement is over, apparently without more than +exhaustion; but of that you will be the judge." + +The mention of the carriage and the accident recalled to Dr. Beaton his +hasty vision of the prince, but, before he could collect his confused +thoughts, he was led through a splendid suite of apartments to a small +ante-room, decorated with several portraits, among which he instantly +recognised one of the Duke of Perth and another of King James VIII. +Thence he was conducted into a magnificent bed-chamber, where the +light of a single taper shed a dim glimmer through the apartment. A +lady who addressed him in English led him towards the bed. The +curtains were almost closed, and by the bed stood a female attendant +holding an infant enveloped in a mantle. As she retired, the lady drew +aside the curtains, and by the faint light which fell within the bed, +the doctor imperfectly distinguished the pale features of a delicate +face, which lay wan and languid, almost enveloped in the down pillow. +The patient uttered a few words in German, but was extremely weak, and +almost pulseless. The case was urgent, and the Scotch doctor, +suppressing all indication of the danger of which he was sensible, +offered at once to write a prescription. + +For this purpose he was taken to a writing-cabinet which stood near; +and there, while momentarily reflecting upon the ingredients which +were to form his prescription, he glanced at a toilet beside him. The +light of the taper shone full upon a number of jewels, which lay +loosely intermixed among the scent bottles, as if put off in haste and +confusion; and his surprise was great to recognise an exquisite +miniature of his noble exiled prince, Charles Edward, representing him +in the very dress in which he had seen him at Culloden. The lady +suddenly approached, as if looking for some ornaments, and placed +herself between him and the table. It was but an instant, and she +retired; but when the doctor, anxious for another glimpse, again +turned his eyes to the table, the face of the miniature was turned. + +His duty done, he was led from the house in the same mysterious manner +in which he was admitted to it; but not until he had taken an oath on +the crucifix "never to speak of what he had seen, heard, or thought on +that night, unless it should be in the service of his king--King +Charles." Moreover, he was required to leave Tuscany the same night, +and, in implicit obedience to his instructions, departed to a seaport. +Here he resumed his rambles and meditation, having still deeper food +for thought than when he was at St. Rosalie. + +On the third night after his arrival, while strolling along the beach, +his attention was attracted by an English frigate, and in answer to +his inquiries he was told that her name was the "Albina," and that she +was commanded by Commodore O'Haleran. The doctor lingered on the shore +in the bright moonlight, and was just about to retire when he was +detained by the approach of a horseman, who was followed by a small +close carriage. In the horseman he recognised his mysterious guide of +St. Rosalie, and waited to see the next move in the game. The carriage +stopped full in the moonlight, near the margin of the water. A signal +was given by the cavalier, and in response the long black shadow of a +man-of-war's galley shot from behind a creek of rocks, and pulled +straight for the spot where the carriage stood. Her stern was backed +towards the shore. A lady alighted from the carriage, and as she +descended the doctor observed that she bore in her arms some object +which she held with great solicitation. An officer at the same time +leaped from the boat and hastened towards the travellers. The doctor +did not discern his face, but, from the glimmer of the moonlight upon +his shoulders, saw that he wore double epaulettes. It may therefore be +conjectured that this was Commodore O'Haleran himself. He made a brief +but profound salute to the lady, and led her towards the galley. Then, +says the doctor,-- + +"As they approached the lady unfolded her mantle, and I heard the +faint cry of an infant, and distinguished for a moment the glisten of +a little white mantle and cap, as she laid her charge in the arms of +her companion. The officer immediately lifted her into the boat, and +as soon as she was seated the cavalier delivered to her the child; +and, folding it carefully in her cloak, I heard her half-suppressed +voice lulling the infant from its disturbance. A brief word and a +momentary grasp of the hand passed between the lady and the cavalier; +and, the officer lifting his hat, the boat pushed off, the oars fell +in the water, and the galley glided down the creek with a velocity +that soon rendered her but a shadow in the grey tide. In a few minutes +I lost sight of her altogether; but I still distinguished the faint +measured plash of the oars, and the feeble wail of the infant's voice +float along the still water. + +"For some moments I thought I had seen the last of the little bark, +which seemed to venture, like an enchanted skiff, into that world of +black waters. But suddenly I caught a glimpse of the narrow boat, and +the dark figures of the men, gliding across the bright stream of +moonlight upon the tide; an instant after a faint gleam blinked on the +white mantle of the lady and the sparkle of the oars, but it died away +by degrees, and neither sound nor sight returned again. + +"For more than a quarter of an hour the tall black figure of the +cavalier continued fixed upon the same spot and in the same attitude; +but suddenly the broad gigantic shadow of the frigate swung round in +the moonshine, her sails filled to the breeze, and, dimly brightening +in the light, she bore off slow and still and stately towards the +west." + +So much for the birth. Doctor Beaton, at least, says that Louisa de +Stolberg, the lawful wife of the young pretender, gave birth to a +child at St. Rosalie in 1773, and that it was carried away three days +afterwards in the British frigate "Albina," by Commodore O'Haleran. + +In the next story, called "The Red Eagle," another stage is reached. +The Highland chief who went to visit Dr. Beaton in Westminster has +passed his youth, and, in middle age, is astounded by some neighbourly +gossip concerning a mysterious personage who has taken up his quarters +in an adjacent mansion. This unknown individual is described as +wearing the red tartan, and as having that peculiar look of the eye +"which was never in the head of man nor bird but the eagle and Prince +Charlie." His name also is given as Captain O'Haleran, so that there +can be no difficulty in tracing his history back to the time when the +commodore and the mysterious infant sailed from the Mediterranean port +toward the west. Moreover, it seems that he is the reputed son of an +admiral who lays claim to a Scottish peerage, who had married a +southern heiress against the wishes of his relatives, and had assumed +her name; and that his French valet is in the habit of paying him +great deference, and occasionally styles him "Monseigneur" and +"Altesse Royal." As if this hint were not sufficient, it is +incidentally mentioned that a very aged Highland chief, who is almost +in his dotage, no sooner set eyes upon the "Red Eagle" than he +addressed him as Prince Charlie, and told his royal highness that the +last time he saw him was on the morning of Culloden. + +In the third and last of the tales--"The Wolf's Den"--the "Red Eagle" +reappears, and is married to an English lady named Catherine Bruce. +His pretensions to royalty are even more plainly acknowledged than +before; and in the course of the story the Chevalier Graeme, +chamberlain to the Countess d'Albanie, addresses him as "My Prince." +The inference is obvious. The Highland hero with the wonderful eyes +was the child of the pretender; he espoused an English lady, and the +names on the title-page of the book which tells this marvellous +history lead us to believe that the marriage was fruitful, and that +"John Sobieski Stuart" and "Charles Edward Stuart" were the offspring +of the union, and as such inherited whatever family pretensions might +exist to the sovereignty of the British empire. + +This very pretty story might have passed with the public as a mere +romance, and, possibly, the two names on the title-page might have +been regarded as mere _noms de plume_, if vague reports had not +previously been circulated which made it apparent that the motive of +the so-called Stuarts was to deceive the public rather than to amuse +them. + +There seemed, indeed, to be little ground for believing this romantic +story to be true, and when it was made public it was immediately rent +to pieces. One shrewd critic, in particular, tore the veil aside, and +in the pages of the _Quarterly Review_ revealed the truth. He plainly +showed the imposture, both by direct and collateral evidence, and +traced the sham Stuarts through all the turnings of their tortuous +lives. By him Commodore O'Haleran, who is said to have carried off the +child, is shown to be Admiral Allen, who died in 1800, and who +pretended to have certain claims to the earldom of Errol and the +estates of the Hay family. This gentleman, it seems, had two sons, +Captain John Allen and Lieutenant Thomas Allen, both of whom were +officers in the navy. The younger of these, Thomas, was married on the +2d of October 1792 to Catherine Manning, the daughter of the Vicar of +Godalming. In this gentleman, Lieutenant Thomas Allen, the reviewer +declares the prototype of the mysterious "Red Eagle" may clearly be +recognised; and he works his case out in this way:--The "Red Eagle" +calls himself captain, and is seen in the story in connection with a +man-of-war, and displaying remarkable powers of seamanship during a +storm among the Hebrides; Thomas Allen was a lieutenant in the navy. +The "Red Eagle" passed for the son of Admiral O'Haleran; Thomas Allen +for the son of Admiral Carter Allen. The "Red Eagle" married Catherine +Bruce, sometime after the summer of 1790; Thomas Allen married +Catherine Manning in 1792. In the last of the three "Tales of the +Century," Admiral O'Haleran and the mysterious guide of Dr. Beaton are +represented as endeavouring to prevent the "Red Eagle" from injuring +the prospects of his house by such a _mesalliance_ as they considered +his marriage with Catherine Bruce would be; and there is a scene in +which the royal birth of the "Red Eagle" is spoken of without +concealment, and in which the admiral begs his "foster son" not to +destroy, by such a marriage, the last hope that was withering on his +_father's_ foreign tomb. In his will Admiral Allen bequeathed his +whole fortune to his eldest son, and only left a legacy of L100 to +Thomas; so that it may reasonably be inferred that his displeasure had +been excited against his youngest born by some such event as an +imprudent marriage. This Thomas Allen had two sons, of whom the elder +published a volume of poems in 1822, to which he put his name as John +Hay Allen, Esq.; while the marriage of the other is noted in +_Blackwood's Magazine_ for the same year, when he figures as "Charles +Stuart, youngest son of Thomas Hay Allen, Esq." These are the +gentlemen who, more than twenty years later, placed their names to the +"Tales of the Century," and styled themselves John Sobieski Stuart and +Charles Edward Stuart, thus seeking to persuade the world that they +were the direct heirs of Prince Charlie. + +There can be no doubt as to their motive; but is it probable, or even +possible, that the occurrences which they describe with so much +minuteness could ever have taken place? The imaginary Dr. Beaton's +story as to the birth is altogether uncorroborated. What became of the +attendants on the Princess Louisa, of the lady who was in the +bed-chamber, of the nurse who held the child in her arms, and of the +little page who announced the advent of the royal heir to the +mysterious guide? They knew the nature of the important event which is +said to have taken place, yet they all died with sealed lips, nor, +even "in the service of the king," revealed the fact that an heir had +been born. The officers and crew of the frigate, also, must have +gossiped about the commodore's midnight adventure, and the strange +shipment of a lady and child off the Italian coast on a moonlight +night; but not one of them ever gave a sign or betrayed the fact. Such +secrecy is, to say the least, very unusual. Then, returning to Prince +Charlie himself, it is indisputable that when his wife left him in +disgust in 1780, he had no recourse to his imaginary son to cheer his +old age, but turned instinctively to Charlotte Stuart, his +illegitimate child, for sympathy. In July 1784 he executed a deed, +with all the necessary forms, legitimating this person, and bestowing +upon her the title of Albany, by which he had himself been known for +fourteen years, with the rank of duchess. To legitimate his natural +daughter, and give her the reversion of his own title, was very unlike +the action of a _pseudo_-king who had a lawful son alive. In 1784, +also, when the pretender executed his will, he left this same Duchess +of Albany, of his own constitution, all that he possessed, with the +exception of a small bequest to his brother the cardinal, and a few +trifling legacies to his attendants. To the duchess he bequeathed his +palace at Florence, with all its rich furniture, all his plate and +jewels, including those brought into the family by his mother, the +Princess Clementina Sobieski, and also such of the crown jewels of +England as had been conveyed to the continent by James II. If the +claimant to the British throne had had a son, would he have alienated +from him not only his Italian residence and the Polish jewels which he +inherited from his mother, but also the crown jewels of England, which +had come into his possession as the descendant of a king, and which +were, by the same right, the inalienable property of his legitimate +son? + +The Duchess of Albany very evidently knew nothing of the existence of +her supposed half-brother. She survived her father Prince Charles +Edward for two years. Before her decease she sent to the cardinal the +whole of the crown jewels, and at her death she left him all her +property, with the exception of an annuity to her mother, Miss +Walkinshaw, who survived her for some time, and who was known in +Jacobite circles as the Countess of Alberstroff. + +The conduct of the Princess Louisa, the reputed mother of the child, +was equally strange. When she left her old debauched husband, she +found consolation in the friendship and intimacy of the poet Alfieri, +who at his death left her his whole property. Cardinal York settled a +handsome income upon her, and her second lover--a Frenchman, named +Fabre--added to her store. She survived till 1824, when her alleged +son must have been in his fifty-first year; yet at her death all her +property, including the seal and the portrait of Prince Charles +Edward, were left to her French admirer, and were by him bequeathed to +an Italian sculptor. + +Cardinal York, also, betrayed no knowledge that his brother ever had +had a son. When Prince Charles Edward died the cardinal adopted all +the form and etiquette usual in the residence of a monarch, and +insisted upon its observance by his visitors, as well as by his own +attendants. He published protests asserting his right to the British +crown, and caused medals to be struck bearing his effigy, and an +inscription wherein he is styled Henry the Ninth, King of Great +Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., &c. This he neither +could nor would have done had he been aware of the existence of his +brother's son, who had a prior claim to his own. Moreover, when the +Princess Louisa left her husband, he exerted himself to the utmost of +his ability to serve her; carried her to Rome; and succeeded in +procuring for her a suitable establishment from his brother. Surely, +in return for his great services, she would have informed him of the +existence of her son, if any such son had ever been born! When the +pretender's health began to give way Cardinal York was among the first +to hasten to his assistance, and, discarding all previous +disagreements, renewed his friendship with him, and persuaded him to +make his home in Rome for the last two years of his life. Yet Prince +Charles in his old age, and with death before his eyes, never revealed +the secret of St. Rosalie to his brother, but permitted him to assume a +title to which he had not the shadow of a claim. In his will also, +Cardinal York betrays his ignorance of any heir of his brother, and +bequeaths his possessions to the missionary funds of the Romish +Church. Dr. Beaton alone seems to have been worthy of trust. + +As far as Admiral Allen is concerned, it is not only unproven that he +was a Tory or a Jacobite, but it is almost certainly shown that he was +a Whig, and would have been a very unlikely person to be entrusted +either with the secrets, or the heir, of Prince Charlie. Had Charles +Edward been in a situation to confide so delicate a trust to any one, +it is impossible to conceive that he would have selected any other +than one of his staunchest adherents; yet John and Charles Hay Allen +ask the public to believe that the charge was entrusted to one whose +political relations seem to have been with the opposite party. They +declare that the "Red Eagle" was aware of his real parentage prior to +1790; yet in the notice of Thomas Allen's marriage, which occurred two +years later, he is expressly described as the son of Admiral Allen, +and in the admiral's will he is distinctly mentioned as his son. As +the reviewer, who has been quoted so freely, remarks: "What +conceivable motive could induce the officer entrusted by Charles +Edward with the care of the only hope of the House of Stuart to leave +in his will, and that will, too, executed in the year of his death, a +flat denial of the royal birth of his illustrious ward? The fact is +utterly irreconcilable with the existence of such a secret, and +appears absolutely conclusive. There was no occasion for the admiral +stating in his will whose son Thomas Allen was. He might have left him +L100 without any allusion to his parentage; but when he deliberately, +and, as lawyers say, _in intuitu mortis_, assures us that this +gentleman, the father of those who assume names so directly indicative +of royal pretensions, was his own son, we are inclined to give him +credit for a clearer knowledge of the truth than any now alive can +possess." + +Such is the story, and such is its refutation. It has had many +believers and many critics. That it was advanced in earnest there can +be no doubt, and the pretenders were well known in London circles. +The elder of them, "John Sobieski Stuart," died in February 1872; but +before his decease solemnly appointed his successor, and passed his +supposed royal birthright to a younger member of the same family--a +birthright which is worthless and vain. + + + + +JOHN HATFIELD--THE SHAM HONOURABLE ALEXANDER HOPE. + + +In the latter half of last century a farmer in one of the northern +counties had in his house a very pretty girl, who passed as his +daughter, and who supposed that he was her father. The damsel was +industrious and virtuous as well as beautiful, and as she grew to +maturity had many applicants for her hand. At last, as it became +apparent that she would not long remain disengaged or single, her +reputed father explained to her that she was not his daughter, but was +an illegitimate child of Lord Robert Manners, who had all along paid +for her support, and who was disposed to grant her a wedding portion +of L1000, provided she married with his sanction. The news soon +spread, and the rustic beauty became a greater toast than ever when it +was known that she was also an heiress. Among others who heard of her +sudden accession to fortune was a young fellow called John Hatfield, +then employed as a traveller by a neighbouring linen-draper. He lost +no time in paying his respects at the farm-house, or in enrolling +himself in the number of her suitors, and succeeded so well that he +not only gained the affections of the girl, but also the goodwill of +the farmer, who wrote to Lord Robert Manners, informing him that +Hatfield held a good position and had considerable expectations, and +that he was anxious to marry his daughter, but would only do so on +condition that her relatives approved of the union. Thereupon his +lordship sent for the lover, and, believing his representations to be +true, gave his consent at the first interview, and on the day after +the marriage presented the bridegroom with L1500. + +The fellow was in reality a great scamp. A short time after he got the +money he set out for London, purchased a carriage, frequented the most +famous coffee-houses, and represented himself to be a near relation of +the Rutland family, and the possessor of large estates in Yorkshire. +The marriage portion was soon exhausted, and when he had borrowed from +every person who would lend him money he disappeared from the +fashionable world as abruptly as he had entered it. Little was heard +of his movements for several years, when he suddenly turned up again +as boastful, if not as resplendent, as ever. By this time his wife had +borne three daughters to him; but he regarded both her and them as +hateful encumbrances, and deserted them, leaving them to be supported +by the precarious charity of her relations. The poor woman did not +long survive his ill-usage and neglect, and died in 1782. Hatfield +himself found great difficulty in raising money, and was, at last, +thrown into the King's Bench prison for a debt of L160. Here he was +very miserable, and was in such absolute destitution that he excited +the pity of some of his former associates and victims who had retained +sufficient to pay their jail expenses, and they often invited him to +dinner and supplied him with food. He never lost his assurance; and, +although he was perfectly well aware that his real character was +known, still continued to boast of his kennels, of his Yorkshire park, +and of his estate in Rutlandshire, which he asserted was settled upon +his wife; and usually wound up his complaint by observing how annoying +it was that a gentleman who at that very time had thirty men engaged +in beautifying his Yorkshire property should be locked up in a filthy +jail, by a miserable tradesman, for a paltry debt. + +Among others to whom he told this cock-and-bull story was a clergyman +who came to the prison to visit Valentine Morris, the ex-governor of +St. Vincent, who was then one of the inmates; and he succeeded in +persuading the unsuspecting divine to visit the Duke of Rutland, and +lay his case before him as that of a near relative. Of course the +duke repudiated all connection with him, and all recollection of him; +but a day or two later, when he remembered that he was the man who had +married the natural daughter of Lord Robert Manners, he sent L200 and +had him released. + +Such a benefactor was not to be lost sight of. The duke was appointed +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1784, and had scarcely landed in Dublin +when Hatfield followed him to that city. On his arrival he engaged a +splendid suite of apartments in a first-rate hotel, fared sumptuously, +and represented himself as nearly allied to the viceroy; but said that +he could not appear at the castle until his horses, carriages, and +servants arrived from England. The Yorkshire park, the Rutlandshire +estate, and the thirty industrious labourers were all impressed into +his service once more, and the landlord allowed him to have what he +liked. When the suspicions of Boniface were aroused by the non-arrival +of the equipages and attendants he presented his bill. Hatfield +assured him that his money was perfectly safe, and that luckily his +agent, who collected the rents of his estate in the north of England, +was then in Ireland, and would give him all needful information. The +landlord called upon this gentleman, whose name had been given to him, +and presented his account, but of course without success; and Hatfield +was thrown in the Marshalsea jail by the indignant landlord. By this +time he was thoroughly familiar with the mysteries of prison life as +it then existed, and had scarcely seated himself in his new lodging +when he visited the jailer's wife and informed her of the relationship +in which he stood to the lord-lieutenant. The woman believed him, gave +him the best accommodation she could, and allowed him to sit at her +table for three weeks. During this time he sent another petition to +the new viceroy, who, fearing lest his own reputation should suffer, +released him, and was only too glad to ship him off to Holyhead. + +He next showed himself at Scarborough in 1792, and succeeded in +introducing himself to some of the local gentry, to whom he hinted +that at the next general election he would be made one of the +representatives of the town through the influence of the Duke of +Rutland. His inability to pay his hotel bill, however, led to his +exposure, and he was obliged to flee to London, where he was again +arrested for debt. This time the wheel of Fortune turned but slowly in +his favour. He lingered in jail for eight years and a-half, when a +Miss Nation, of Devonshire, to whom he had become known, paid his +debts, took him from prison, and married him. + +Abandoning his Rutlandshire pretensions, he now devoted himself to +business, and persuaded a Devonshire firm, who knew nothing of his +antecedents, to take him into partnership, and also ingratiated +himself with a clergyman, who accepted his drafts for a large amount. +Thus supplied with ready money he returned to London, where he lived +in splendid style, and even went so far as to aspire to a seat in the +House of Commons. For a time all appeared to go well; but suspicions +gradually arose with regard to his character and his resources, and he +was declared a bankrupt. Deserting his wife and her two children, he +fled from his creditors. For some time nothing was heard of him, but +in July 1802 he arrived in Keswick, in a carriage, but without any +servant, and assumed the name of the Honourable Alexander Augustus +Hope, brother of the Earl of Hopetoun, and member of Parliament for +Linlithgow. + +In his wanderings he became acquainted with an old couple called +Robinson, who kept a little hostelry on the shore of the Lake of +Buttermere, and who had one daughter who was locally known as "The +Beauty of Buttermere." The handsome colonel at once began to lay siege +to this girl's heart, and was the less loth to do so because it was +rumoured that old Robinson had saved a considerable sum during a long +lifetime. But with his usual prudence, he thought it well to have two +strings to his bow, and finding that there was an Irish officer in +Keswick who had a ward of good family and fortune, and of great +personal attractions, he procured an introduction as the Honourable +Colonel Hope of the 14th regiment of foot. He failed with the ward, +but he was more successful with the Irishman's daughter. Her consent +was given, the trousseau was ordered, and the wedding-day was fixed. +But the lady would not agree to a secret ceremony, and insisted that +he should announce his intended nuptials both to her own and his +friends. This he agreed to do, and pretended to write letters +apprising his brother, and even proposed a visit to Lord Hopetoun's +seat. The bride's suspicions were, however, roused by the strange air +of concealment and mystery which surrounded her intended husband; the +desired answers to his letters came not, and she refused to resign +either herself or her fortune into his keeping. + +Thus baffled, he devoted all his attention to pretty Mary Robinson, +and found her less reluctant to unite her lot with that of such a +distinguished individual as Colonel Hope. The inquiries this time were +all on the gallant officer's side, and it was only when he found that +the reports as to old Robinson's wealth were well founded that he led +her to the altar of Lorton church, on the 2d of October 1802. + +On the day before the wedding the _soi-disant_ Colonel Hope wrote to a +gentleman of his acquaintance, informing him that he was under the +necessity of being absent for ten days on a journey into Scotland, and +enclosing a draft for thirty pounds, drawn on a Mr. Crumpt of +Liverpool, which he desired him to cash and pay some small debts in +Keswick with it, and send him over the balance, as he was afraid he +might be short of money on the road. This was done; and the gentleman +sent him at the same time an additional ten pounds, lest unexpected +demands should be made upon his purse in his absence. + +The Keswick folks were naturally astonished when they learned two days +later that the colonel, who had been paying his addresses to the +daughter of the Irish officer, had married "The Beauty of Buttermere," +and the confiding friend who had sent him the money at once despatched +the draft to Liverpool. Mr. Crumpt immediately accepted it, believing +that it came from the real Colonel Hope, whom he knew very well. +Meantime, instead of paying his proposed journey to Scotland Hatfield +stopped at Longtown, where he received two letters, by which he +seemed much disturbed, and returned after three days' absence to +Buttermere. Some friends of the real colonel, chancing to hear of his +marriage, paused on their way through Cumberland, at Keswick, and +wrote to their supposed acquaintance, asking him to come and visit +them. Hatfield went in a carriage and four, and had an interview with +the gentlemen, but flatly denied that he had ever assumed Colonel +Hope's name. He said his name was Hope, but that he was not the member +for Linlithgow. It was notorious, however, that he had been in the +habit of franking his letters with Colonel Hope's name, and he was +handed over to a constable. He contrived to escape, and fled first to +Chester and subsequently to Swansea, where he was recaptured. + +He was brought to trial at the Cumberland assizes on the 15th of +August 1803, charged with personation and forgery, and was found +guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed at Carlisle on the 3d +of September 1803. + + + + +HERVAGAULT--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +There is no darker page in the history of France than that whereon is +inscribed the record of the Revolution; and in its darkness there is +nothing blacker than the narration of the horrible treatment of the +young dauphin by the revolutionists. The misfortunes of his father +King Louis XVI., and of Marie-Antoinette, are sufficiently well known +throughout Europe to render the repetition of them tedious; but the +evil fate of the son has been less voluminously recorded by +historians, and it is, therefore, necessary to repeat the story at +some length to render the following narratives of claims to royalty +thoroughly intelligible. + +Louis-Charles was the second son of Louis XVI. and his consort +Marie-Antoinette, and was born at the Chateau of Versailles, on the +27th of March, at five minutes before seven in the evening. An hour +and a half later he was baptised with much ceremony by the Cardinal de +Rohan and the Vicar of Versailles, and received the title of Duke of +Normandy. Then the king, followed by all the court, went to the chapel +of the chateau, where _Te Deum_ was sung in honour of the event, and +subsequently the infant prince was consecrated a knight of the order +of the Holy Ghost. Fireworks were displayed on the Place d'Armes at +Versailles; and when the news reached Paris it is said "joy spread +itself from one end of the great city to the other; the cannon of the +Bastille responded to the cannon of the Invalides; and everywhere +spontaneous illuminations, the ringing of bells, and the acclamations +of the people, manifested the love of France for a king who, in the +flower of his youth, found his happiness in the happiness of the +people." Such was the introduction into the world of the young prince. + +Fate seemed to have the brightest gifts in store for him. On the 4th +of June 1789, the dauphin, his elder brother, died at Meudon, and the +young Louis-Charles succeeded to his honours. At this time he was +rather more than four years old, and is described as having a graceful +and well-knit frame, his forehead broad and open, his eyebrows arched; +his large blue eyes fringed with long chestnut lashes of angelic +beauty; his complexion dazzlingly fair and blooming; his hair, of a +dark chestnut, curled naturally, and fell in thick ringlets on his +shoulders; and he had the vermilion mouth of his mother, and like her +a small dimple on the chin. In disposition he was exceedingly amiable, +and was a great favourite both with his father and mother, who +affectionately styled him their "little Norman." + +His happiness was destined to be very short-lived, for the murmurs of +the Revolution could already be heard. On the 20th of July, 1791, King +Louis XVI., his family and court, fled from the disloyal French +capital in the night, their intention being to travel in disguise to +Montmedy, and there to join the Marquis de Bouille, who was at the +head of a large army. When they awoke the little dauphin, and began +to dress him as a girl, his sister asked him what he thought of the +proceeding. His answer was, "I think we are going to play a comedy;" +but never had comedy more tragic ending. The royal party were +discovered at Varennes, and brought back to the Tuileries amid the +hootings and jeers of the mob. "The journey," says Lamartine, "was a +Calvary of sixty leagues, every step of which was a torture." On the +way the little girl whispered to her brother, "Charles, this is not a +comedy." "I have found that out long since," said the boy. But he was +brave, tender to his mother, and gravely courteous to the commissioner +of the Assembly who had been deputed to bring them back. "Sir," he +said, from his mother's knee, "you ask if I am not very sorry to +return to Paris. I am glad to be anywhere, so that it is with mamma +and papa, and my aunt and sister, and Madame de Tourzel, my +governess." + +There soon came the wild scene in the Tuileries, and the sad +appearance of the dethroned king in the Assembly, with its still more +lamentable ending. Louis XVI. was carried to the prison of the Temple. +This building had originally been a fortress of the Knights Templars. +In 1792, the year in which it received the captive monarch, it +consisted of a large square tower, flanked at its angles by four round +towers, and having on the north side another separate tower of less +dimensions than the first, surmounted by turrets, and generally called +the little tower. It was in this little tower that the royal family of +France were located by the commune of Paris. Here the king spent his +time in the education of his son, while the best historian of the boy +says he devoted himself to comforting his parents: "Here he was happy +to live, and he was only turned to grief by the tears which sometimes +stole down his mother's cheeks. He never spoke of his games and walks +of former days; he never uttered the name of Versailles or the +Tuileries; he seemed to regret nothing." + +On the morning of the 21st January, 1793, Louis XVI. was carried to +the scaffold, and suffered death. On the previous day, at a final +interview which was allowed, he had taken the dauphin, "his dear +little Norman," on his knee, and had said to him, "My son, you have +heard what I have just said"--he had been causing them all to promise +never to think of avenging his death--"but, as oaths are something +more sacred still than words, swear, with your hands held up to +Heaven, that you will obey your father's dying injunction;" and, adds +his sister, who tells the story, "My brother, bursting into tears, +obeyed; and this most affecting goodness doubled our own grief." And +thus father and son parted, but not for long. + +On the 1st of July the Committee of Public Safety passed a decree, +"That the son of Capet be separated from his mother, and committed to +the charge of a tutor, to be chosen by the Council General of the +Commune." The Convention sanctioned it, and it was carried into effect +two days later. About ten o'clock at night, when the young dauphin was +sleeping soundly in his bed, and the ex-queen and her sister were busy +mending clothes, while the princess read to them, six municipal guards +marched into the room and tore the child from his agonized mother. +They conveyed him to that part of the Tower which had formerly been +occupied by his father, where the "tutor" of the commune was in +waiting to receive him. This was no other than a fellow called Simon, +a shoemaker, who had never lost an opportunity of publicly insulting +the king, and who, through the influence of Marat and Robespierre, had +been appointed the instructor of his son at a salary of 500 francs a +month, on condition that he was never to leave his prisoner or quit +the Tower, on any pretence whatever. + +On the first night, Simon found his new pupil disposed to be +unmanageable. The dauphin sat silently on the floor in a corner, and +not all his new master's threats could induce him to answer the +questions which were put to him. Madame Simon, although a terrible +virago, was likewise unsuccessful; and for two days the prince mourned +for his mother, and refused to taste food, only demanding to see the +law which separated him from her and kept them in prison. At the end +of the second day he found that he could not persist in exercising his +own will, and went to bed. In the morning his new master cried in his +elation, "Ha, ha! little Capet, I shall have to teach you to sing the +'Carmagole,' and to cry '_Vive la Republique!_' Ah! you are dumb, are +you?" and so from hour to hour he sneered at the miserable child. + +On one occasion, in the early days of his rule, Simon made his pupil +the present of a Jew's harp, at the same time saying, "Your she-wolf +of a mother plays on the piano, and you must learn to accompany her on +the Jew's harp!" The dauphin steadily refused to touch the instrument; +whereupon the new tutor, in a passion, flew upon him and beat him +severely. Still he was not cowed, although the blows were the first +which he had ever received, but bravely answered, "You may punish me +if I don't obey you; but you ought not to beat me--you are stronger +than I." "I am here to command you, animal! my duty is just what I +please to do; and '_vive la Liberte, l'Egalite_.'" By-and-by personal +suffering and violence had become only too common occurrences of his +daily life. + +About a week after the dauphin was transferred from the little tower, +a rumour spread through Paris that the son of Louis XVI. had been +carried off from the Temple Tower, and crowds of the sovereign people +flocked to the spot to satisfy themselves of its truth. The guard, who +had not seen the boy since he had been taken from his mother's care, +replied that he was no longer in the Tower; "_and from that time the +popular falsehood gained ground and strength continually_." In order +to quiet the public apprehension, a deputation from the Committee of +Public Safety visited Simon, and ordered him to bring down "the +tyrant's son," so that the incoming guard might see him for +themselves. They then proceeded to cross-question Simon as to the +manner in which he discharged his duties. When that worthy had +satisfied them as to his past treatment, he demanded decisive +instructions for his future guidance. + +"Citizens, what do you decide about the wolf-cub? He has been taught +to be insolent, but I shall know how to tame him. So much the worse if +he sinks under it! I don't answer for that. After all, what do you +want done with him? Do you want him transported?" + +"No." + +"Killed?" + +"No." + +"Poisoned?" + +"No." + +"But what then?" + +"We want to get rid of him!" + +The guard saw him and questioned him, and some of them even +sympathized with him and tried to comfort him; but Simon came and +dragged him away with a rough "Come, come, Capet, or I'll show the +citizens how I _work_ you when you deserve it!" + +When the commissaries returned to the Convention they were able to +announce that the report which had stirred up the populace was false, +and that they had seen Capet's son. From this time forward Simon +redoubled his harshness; beat the boy daily; removed his books and +converted them into pipe-lights; cut off his hair, and made him wear +the red Jacobin cap; dressed him in a scarlet livery, and compelled +him to clean his own and his wife's shoes, and to give them the most +abject obedience. At last the boy's spirit was thoroughly broken, and +Simon not only did as he had said, and forced his victim to sing the +"Carmagnole," and shout "_Vive la Republique!_" but made him drunk +upon bad wine, and when his mind was confused forced him to sing lewd +and regicide songs, and even to subscribe his name to foul slanders +against his mother. + +It might be supposed that the Convention was thoroughly satisfied with +its worthy subordinate who had done his peculiar work so effectively, +but he was considered too costly, and was ousted from his post. It was +resolved that the expenses of the children of Louis Capet should be +reduced to what was necessary for the food and maintenance of two +persons, and four members of the Council-General of the Commune agreed +to superintend the prisoners of the Temple. A new arrangement was +made, and a novel system of torture was inaugurated by Hebert and +Chaumette, two of the most infamous wretches whom the Revolution +raised into temporary notoriety. The wretched boy was confined in a +back-room which had no window or connection with the outside except +through another apartment. His historian describes it vividly--"The +door of communication between the ante-room and this room was cut down +so as to leave it breast high, fastened with nails and screws, and +grated from top to bottom with bars of iron. Half way up was placed a +shelf on which the bars opened, forming a sort of wicket, closed by +other moveable bars, and fastened by an enormous padlock. By this +wicket his coarse food was passed in to little Capet, and it was on +this ledge that he had to put whatever he wanted to send away. +Although small, his compartment was yet large enough for a tomb. What +had he to complain of? He had a room to walk in, a bed to lie upon; he +had bread and water, and linen and clothes! But he had neither fire +nor candle. His room was warmed only by a stove-pipe, and lighted only +by the gleam of a lamp suspended opposite the grating." Into this +horrible place he was pushed on the anniversary of his father's death. +The victim did not even see the parsimonious hand which passed his +food to him, nor the careless hand that sometimes left him without a +fire in very cold weather, and sometimes, by plying the stove with too +much fuel, converted his prison into a furnace. + +This horrible place he was expected to keep clean, but his strength +was unequal to the task, and he was glad to crawl to his bed when +ordered by his guards, who refused to give him a light. Even there he +was not allowed to rest in peace, and often the commissaries appointed +to relieve those on duty would often noisily arouse him from his +pleasant dreams by rattling at his wicket, crying, "Capet, Capet, are +you asleep? Where are you? Young viper, get up!" And the little +startled form would creep from the bed and crawl to the wicket; while +the faint gentle voice would answer, "I am here, citizens, what do you +want with me?" "To see you," would be the surly reply of the watch for +the night. "All right. Get to bed. In!--Down!" And this performance +would be repeated several times before morning. It would have killed a +strong man in a short time. How long could a child stand it? + +Days and weeks and months did pass, and as they passed brought +increasing langour, and weakness, and illness. The want of fresh air, +the abandonment and the solitude, had all had their effect, and the +unfortunate dauphin could scarcely lift the heavy earthenware platter +which contained his food, or the heavier jar in which his water was +brought. He soon left off sweeping his room, and never tried to move +the palliasse off his bed. He could not change his filthy sheets, and +his blanket was worn into tatters. He wore his ragged jacket and +trousers--Simon's legacy--both day and night, and although he felt all +this misery he could not cry. Loathsome creatures crawled in his den +and over his person until even the little scullion who attended him +shuddered with horror as he glanced into the place and muttered, +"Everything is _alive_ in that room." "Yes," says Beauchesne, +"everything was alive except the boy they were killing by inches, and +murdering in detail. This beautiful child, so admired at Versailles +and at the Tuileries, would not recognise himself, his form is +scarcely human--it is something that vegetates--a moving mass of bones +and skin. Never could any state of misery have been conceived more +desolate, more lonely, more threatening than this!... And all that I +here relate is true! These troubles, insults, and torments were heaped +on the head of a child. I show them to you, like indeed to what they +were, but far short of the reality. Cowardly and cruel men, why did +you stop in your frenzy of murder? It would have been better to drink +that last drop of royal blood, than to mingle it with gall and venom +and poison; it would have been better to smother the child, as was +done by the emissaries of Richard III. in the Tower of London, than to +degrade and sully his intellect by that slow method of assassination +which killed the mind before it slew the body. He should have been +struck a year or two before; his little feet should have been aided to +mount the rude steps of the guillotine! Ah, if she could have known +the fate you were reserving for him, the daughter of Maria-Theresa +would have asked to take her child in her arms: she would have shared +her very last victory with him; and the angels would have prepared at +once the crown of the martyred and that of the innocent victim! Alas, +history is fain to regret for Louis XVII. the scaffold of his mother!" + +But the end of the torture was very near. Robespierre fell, and Simon, +the Barbarous, accompanied him in the same tumbril to the guillotine, +and shared his fate. Barras, the new dictator, made it almost his +first care to visit the Temple; and, from what his colleagues and +himself saw there, they came to the conclusion that some more +judicious control was needed than that of the rough guards who had +charge of the royal children--that a permanent agent must be appointed +to watch the watchers. Accordingly, without consulting him, they +delegated the citizen Laurent to take charge of the dauphin and his +sister. Laurent was a humane man, and accepted the appointment +willingly. Indeed he dared not have refused it; but, in common with +the rest of the public, he had heard that the boy was miserably ill +and was totally uncared for, and seems to have had a notion that he +could better his condition. + +He arrived at the Temple in the evening; but, having no idea of the +real state of the child, he did not visit his little prisoner until +the guard was changed at two o'clock in the morning. When he arrived +at the entrance-door, the foul smell emanating therefrom almost drove +him back. But he was forced to overcome his repugnance; for when the +municipals battered at the little wicket, and shouted for Capet, no +Capet responded. At last, after having been frequently called, a +feeble voice answered "Yes;" but there was no motion on the part of +the speaker. No amount of threatening could induce the occupant of the +bed to leave it, and Laurent was compelled to accept his new charge in +this way, knowing that he was safe somewhere in that dark and +abominable hole. Early next morning he was at the wicket again, and +saw a sight which caused him to send an immediate request to his +superiors to come and visit their captive. Two days later several +members of the Committee of General Safety repaired to the Temple, the +barrier and the wicket were torn down, and "in a dark room, from which +exhaled an odour of corruption and death, on a dirty unmade bed, +barely covered with a filthy cloth and a ragged pair of trousers, a +child of nine years old was lying motionless, his back bent, his face +wan and wasted with misery, and his features exhibiting an expression +of mournful apathy and rigid unintelligence. His head and neck were +fretted by purulent sores, his legs and arms were lengthened +disproportionately, his knees and wrists were covered with blue and +yellow swellings, his feet and hands unlike in appearance to human +flesh, and armed with nails of an immense length; his beautiful fair +hair was stuck to his head by an inveterate scurvy like pitch; and his +body, and the rags which covered him, were alive with vermin." +Mentally he was almost an imbecile; and in answer to all the questions +which were put to him, he only said once, "I wish to die." And this +was the son of Louis XVI., and the nearest heir to the throne of +France! + +The commissaries having given some trifling directions, went their way +to concoct a report, leaving Laurent with very indefinite +instructions. But all the human feelings of the man were roused. He +sent at once for another bed, and bathed the child's wounds. He got an +old woman to cut his hair, and comb it out, and wash him, and +persuaded one of the municipals, who had been a kind of doctor, to +prescribe for the sores, and managed to persuade his superiors to send +a tailor, who made a suit of good clothes for the dauphin. At first +the boy had some difficulty in understanding the change, but as it +dawned upon him he was very grateful. Nor did Laurent's good work stop +here. Although the Revolution was less bloody than before, it was +still very jealous; and the keeper of the Temple was not permitted to +see his prisoner, except at meal times and rare intervals. Still he +contrived to obtain permission to carry him to the top of the Tower, +on the plea that fresh air was essential to his health, and tended him +so assiduously, that while the prisoner was partially restored, and +could walk about, the strength of his custodier broke down. + +Under these circumstances he applied for an assistant, and citizen +Gomin was appointed to the duty. Citizen Gomin, the son of a +well-to-do upholsterer, had no desire to leave his father's shop to +become an under-jailer at the Temple; but his remonstrances were +silenced by the emissaries of the committee, and he was carried off at +once from his bench and his counter in a carriage which was waiting. +He was a kindly fellow, but prudent withal, and was so horrified when +he saw the condition of his charge, that he would have resigned if he +had not been afraid that by so doing he would become a suspect. As it +was he did his best to help Laurent, and by a happy thought, and with +the connivance of a good-hearted municipal, brought into the invalid's +room four little pots of flowers in full bloom. The sight of the +flowers and the undisguised mark of sympathy and affection did what +all previous kindness had failed to do--unlocked the fountains of a +long-sealed heart--and the child burst into tears. From that moment he +recognised Gomin as his friend, but days elapsed before he spoke to +him. When he did, his first remark was--"It was you who gave me some +flowers: I have not forgotten it." + +Gomin and Laurent by-and-by came to be great favourites; but the +latter was compelled to resign his post through the urgency of his +private affairs, and he was replaced by a house-painter called Lasne, +who, like Gomin, was forced to abandon his own business at a moment's +notice. He proved equally good-natured with the other two, and like +them succeeded in gaining the friendship of the dauphin. As far as he +could, he lightened his captivity and tended him with the utmost care. +But no amount of kindliness could bring back strength to the wasted +frame, or even restore hope to the careful attendants. They sang to +him, talked with him, and gave him toys; but it was all in vain. In +the month of May, 1705, they became really alarmed, and informed the +government that the little Capet was dangerously ill. No attention +was paid to their report, and they wrote again, expressing a fear that +he would not live. After a delay of three days a physician came. He +considered him as attacked with the same scrofulous disorder of which +his brother had died at Meudon, and proposed his immediate removal to +the country. This idea was, of course, regarded as preposterous. He +was, however, transferred to a more airy room; but the change had no +permanent effect. Lasne and Gomin did all they could for him, carrying +him about in their arms, and nursing him day and night; but he +continued gradually to sink. + +On the morning of the 8th of June a bulletin was issued announcing +that the life of the captive was in danger. Poor patient Gomin was by +his bedside, on the watch in more senses than one, and expressed his +profound sorrow to see him suffer so much. "Take comfort," said the +child, "I shall not always suffer so much." Then, says Beauchesne, +"Gomin knelt down that he might be nearer to him. The child took his +hand and pressed it to his lips. The pious heart of Gomin prompted an +ardent prayer--one of those prayers that misery wrings from man and +love sends up to God. The child did not let go the faithful hand that +still remained to him, and raised his eyes to Heaven while Gomin +prayed for him." A few hours later, when Lasne had relieved his +subordinate, and was sitting beside the bed, the prince said that he +heard music, and added, "Do you think my sister could have heard the +music? How much good it would have done her!" Lasne could not speak. +All at once the child's eye brightened, and he exclaimed, "I have +something to tell you!" Lasne took his hand, and bent over the bed to +listen. The little head fell on his bosom; but the last words had been +spoken, and the descendant and heir of sixty-five kings was dead. The +date was the 8th of June, 1795; and the little prisoner, who had +escaped at last, was just ten years, two months, and twelve days old. + +Lasne at once acquainted Gomin and Damont, the commissary on duty, +with the event, and they instantly repaired to the room. The poor +little royal corpse was carried from the apartment where he died into +that where he had suffered so long, the remains were laid out on the +bed, and the doors were thrown open. Gomin then repaired to the +offices of the Committee of Safety, and announced the decease of his +charge. He saw one of the members, who told him that the sitting was +ended, and advised the concealment of the fact till the following +morning. This was done. The same evening supper was prepared at eight +o'clock for "the little Capet," and Gomin pretended to take it to his +room. He left it outside, and entered the chamber of death. Many years +afterwards he described his feelings to M. Beauchesne--"I timidly +raised the covering and gazed upon him. The lines which pain had drawn +on his forehead and on his cheeks had disappeared.... His eyes, which +suffering had half-closed, were open now, and shone as pure as the +blue heaven. His beautiful fair hair, which had not been cut for two +months, fell like a frame round his face, which I had never seen so +calm." + +At eight o'clock next morning four members of the committee came to +the Tower to assure themselves that the prince really was dead. They +were satisfied and withdrew. As they went out some of the officers of +the Temple guard asked to see "the little Capet" whom they had known +at the Tuileries, and were admitted. They recognised the body at once, +and twenty of them signed an attestation to that effect. Four surgeons +arrived while the soldiers were in the room, and had to wait until it +could be cleared before they could begin the autopsy which they had +been sent to perform. By this time also everyone outside the Temple +had learned the event, except his sister, who was confined in another +part of the Tower; and the good-hearted Gomin could not muster up +courage to tell her. + +On the evening of the 10th of June the coffin which contained the body +was carried out at the great gate, escorted by a small detachment of +troops, and the crowd which had collected was kept back by gens +d'armes. Lasne was among the mourners, and witnessed the interment, +which took place in the cemetery of Sainte-Marguerite. As the +soldier-guarded coffin passed along, the people asked whose body it +contained, and were answered 'little Capet;' and the more popular +title of dauphin spread from lip to lip with expressions of pity and +compassion, and a few children of the common people, in rags, took off +their caps, in token of respect and sympathy, before this coffin that +contained a child who had died poorer than they themselves were to +live. + +The procession entered by the old gate of the cemetery, and the +interment took place in the corner on the left, at a distance of eight +or nine feet from the enclosure wall, and at an equal distance from a +small house. The grave was filled up--no mound was raised, but the +ground was carefully levelled, so that no trace of the interment +should remain. All was over. + +This is the story of M. Beauchesne, and there seems to be little +reason to doubt its truth in any essential particular. He writes with +much feeling, but he does not permit his sentiments to overcome his +reason, and has verified the truthfulness of his statements before +giving them to the public. His book is the result of twenty years' +labour and research, and he freely reproduces his authorities for the +inspection and judgment of his readers. He was personally acquainted +with Lasne and Gomin, the two last keepers of the Tower, and the +government aided him if it did not patronise him in his work. +Certificates, reports, and proclamations are all proved, and +lithographs of them are given. The book is a monument of patient +research as well as of love, and the mass of readers will find no +difficulty in believing that it embodies the truth, or that Louis +XVII. really died in the Temple on the 8th of June 1795. + + * * * * * + +But in a land such as France, it is not remarkable that the utmost +should have been made of the mystery which surrounded the fate of the +youthful dauphin, or that pretenders should have endeavoured to +personate the son of Louis XVI. The first of these was a lad called +Jean Marie Hervagault, a young scamp, who was a native of St. Lo, a +little village in the department of La Manche, and who resided there +during his early youth with his father, who was a tailor. This +precocious youth, who was gifted with good looks, and who undoubtedly +bore some resemblance to the deceased prince, ran away from home in +1796, and, by his plausible manners and innocent expression, succeeded +in ingratiating himself with several royalist families of distinction, +who believed his story that he was the son of a proscribed nobleman. +His good luck was so great that he was induced to visit Cherbourg, and +tempt his fortune among the concealed adherents of the monarchy who +were resident there; but he was quickly detected, and was thrown into +prison. + +His father, learning his whereabouts, repaired to the jail, and +implored his prodigal son to return to the needle and the shop-board +at St. Lo, but his entreaties were unavailing, and the would-be +aristocrat plainly announced his intention of wearing fine clothes +instead of making them. Accordingly, when he was released, he assumed +feminine attire, had recourse to prominent royalists to supply his +wants, and explained his disguise by mysterious allusions to political +motives, and to his own relationship to the Bourbons. The officers of +the law again laid hands on him, and threw him into prison at Bayeux, +and his father had once more to free him from custody. Still his soul +revolted at honest industry; and, although he condescended to return +to St. Lo, the shears and the goose remained unknown to him, and he +made his stay under the paternal roof as brief as possible. + +One morning in October, 1797, the honest old tailor awoke to find that +his ambitious son was missing for the third time, and heard no more of +him until he learnt that he was in prison at Chalons. He had contrived +to reach that town in his usual fashion, and when he found himself in +his customary quarters, and his further progress impeded, he informed +some of his fellow-prisoners, in confidence, that he was the dauphin +of the Temple, and the brother of the princess. They, of course, +whispered the wondrous secret to the warders, who in turn conveyed it +to their friends, and the news spread like wildfire. The whole town +"was moved, and the first impulse was to communicate to Madame Royale" +the joyful intelligence that her brother still lived. Crowds flocked +to see the interesting prisoner and to do him homage, and the +turnkeys, anxious to err on the safe side, relaxed their rules, and +permitted him to receive the congratulations of enthusiastic crowds, +who were anxious to kiss his hand and to avow their attachment to +himself and his cause. + +The authorities were less easily moved, and sentenced the sham dauphin +to a month's imprisonment as a rogue and vagabond, and, moreover, took +good care that he suffered the penalty. On his release he was loaded +with gifts by his still faithful friends, and went on his way +rejoicing, until at Vere he had the misfortune to be captured by the +police, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for swindling. +The royalists of Chalons, however, remained true to him, and when his +captivity was ended he was carried to the house of a Madame Seignes, +where he held a mimic court, and graciously received those who flocked +to do him honour. But the attentions of the police having become +pressing, he was compelled to move secretly from place to place, until +he found a temporary home in the house of a M. de Rambercourt, at +Vetry. Here he first told the full story of his adventures to a +wondering but believing audience. He glibly narrated the events which +took place in the Temple up to the removal of the miscreant Simon from +his post; but this part of the tale possessed little attraction, for +the cruelties of the shoemaker-tutor were well known; but the sequel +was of absorbing interest. + +He said that after the fall of Robespierre and his myrmidons, he +received much more lenient treatment, and was permitted to see his +sister daily, to play with her, and to take his meals in her company. +Still his health did not improve, and the compassion of his nurse +having been excited, she informed his friends without of his +condition, and it was resolved to effect his release. An arrangement +was made, and the real dauphin was placed in the midst of a bundle of +foul linen, and was then carried past the unsuspecting guards, while +a child who had been purchased for the occasion from his unnatural +parents was substituted in his place. The laundress' cart containing +the prince was driven to Passy, and there three individuals received +him, and were so certain of his identity that they at once fell on +their knees and did him homage. From their care he was transferred to +Belleville, the head-quarters of the Vendean army, where with strange +inconsistency he was compelled to observe an incognito! Here he passed +two months disguised as a lady; and, although known to the chiefs, +concealed from the loyal army. + +Meantime the poor child who had been foisted upon the republicans was +drugged and died, and Dessault, his medical attendant, died also--the +suspicion being that both were poisoned. This miserable child, who had +thus paid the death penalty for his king was none other, the pretender +said, than the son of a rascally tailor, named Hervagault, who lived +at St. Lo! + +He further stated that, while the royalist cause was wavering, +instructions arrived from some mysterious source to send him to +England to secure his safety, and that thither he was despatched. The +Count d'Artois, he admitted, refused to acknowledge him as his nephew; +but simple George III. was more easily imposed upon, and received the +_pseudo_-dauphin with much kindness, and after encouraging him to be +of good cheer, despatched him in an English man-of-war to Ostia. At +Rome he had an interview with the Pope, and presented to him a +confidential letter which had been given to him by the English +monarch. Moreover, the pontiff prophesied the future greatness of his +illustrious visitor; and, in order to confirm his identity, stamped +two stigmata on his limbs with a red-hot iron--one on the right leg, +representing the royal shield of France, with the initial letter of +his name; and the other, on his left arm, with the inscription of +"_Vive le roi_!" + +Embarking at Leghorn, he landed in Spain, and without staying to pay +his respects to the king at Madrid hurried on to Portugal, where he +fell in love with the Princess Benedectine. This damsel, who was fair +as a _houri_, had, he declared, returned his affection, and the Queen +of Portugal had favoured his addresses; but as his friends were about +to get up a revolution (that of the 18th Fructidor) on his behalf, he +was compelled to leave his betrothed and hurry back to France. The +pro-royalist movement having failed, he was forced to conceal himself, +and to save himself by a second flight to England. But robbers, as +well as soldiers, barred his way, and, after being stripped by a troop +of bandits, he at last succeeded in reaching Chalons and his most +attentive audience. + +As it was known to those present that he had been imprisoned in +Chalons as a rogue, and had condescended subsequently to accept the +hospitality of the tailor of St. Lo, it was necessary to give some +slight explanation of circumstances which were so untoward. But his +ingenuity was not at fault, and the audacity of his story even helped +to satisfy his dupes. He admitted that when he was examined before the +authorities he had acknowledged Hervagault as his father; but he +declared that he had done so simply to escape from the rage of his +enemies, who were anxious to destroy him; and he considered that the +tailor, who had accepted royalist gold in exchange for a son, was both +bound to protect and recognise him. + +There was no doubting. Those who listened were convinced. The king had +come to take his own again; and Louis XVII. was the hero of the hour. +Royalist vied with royalist in doing him service, and the ladies, who +loved him for his beauty, pitied him for his misfortunes, and admired +him for his devotion to the Princess Benedectine, were the foremost in +endeavouring to restore him to his rights. Like devout Frenchwomen +their first thought was to procure for him the recognition of the +church, and they persuaded the cure of Somepuis to invite their +protege to dinner. The village priest gladly did so, inasmuch as the +banquet was paid for by other folks than himself; but, being a jovial +ecclesiastic, he failed to perceive the true dignity of this +descendant of St. Louis, and even went so far as to jest with the royal +participant of his hospitality, somewhat rudely remarking that "the +prince had but a poor appetite, considering that he belonged to a +house whose members were celebrated as _bons vivants_!" The dauphin +was insulted, the ladies were vexed, and the cure was so intensely +amused that he burst into an explosive fit of laughter. The dinner +came to an untimely conclusion, and the branded of the Pope retired +wrathfully. + +But Fouche heard of these occurrences! The great minister of police +was little likely to allow an adventurer to wander about the provinces +without a passport, declaring himself the son of Louis XVI. By his +instructions the pretender was arrested, but even when in the hands of +the police lost none of his audacity. He assumed the airs of royalty, +and assured his disconsolate friends that the time would speedily come +when his wrongs would be righted, his enemies discomfited, and his +adherents rewarded as they deserved. The martyr was even more greatly +feted in jail than he had been when at liberty. The prison regulations +were relaxed to the utmost in his favour by dubious officials, who +feared to incur the vengeance of the coming king; banquets were held +in the apartments of the illustrious captive; valuable presents were +laid at his feet; and a petty court was established within the walls +of the prison. + +But again the dread Fouche interposed; and although Bonaparte, then +consul, would not allow the sham dauphin to be treated as a political +offender, the chief of police had him put upon trial as a common +impostor. Madame Seignes was at the same time indicted as an +accomplice, she having been the first who publicly acknowledged her +conviction that Hervagault was the dauphin of the Temple. The trial +came on before the Tribunal of Justice on the 17th of February, 1802. +After a patient hearing Hervagault was sentenced to four years' +imprisonment, while his deluded admirer was acquitted. + +There was some hope in the bosoms of Hervagault's partizans that the +influence of his supposed sister, the Duchess d'Angouleme, would be +sufficient to free him from the meshes of the law, and she was +communicated with, but utterly repudiated the impostor. Meantime +appeals were lodged against the sentence on both sides--by the +prosecuting counsel, because of the acquittal of Madame Seignes, and +by the friends of the prisoner against his conviction. A new trial was +therefore appointed to take place at Rheims. + +In the interval a new and powerful friend arose for the captive in +Charles Lafond de Savines, the ex-bishop of Viviers. This ecclesiastic +had been one of the earliest advocates of the revolution; but, on +discovering its utter godlessness, had withdrawn from it in disgust, +and had retired into private life. In his seclusion the news reached +him that the dauphin was still alive, and was resolved to re-establish +a monarchy similar to that in England, and in which the church, +although formally connected with the state, would be allowed freedom +of thought and freedom of action within its own borders. His zeal was +excited, and he resolved to aid the unfortunate prince in so laudable +an undertaking. He was little disposed to question the identity of the +pretender, for the surgeons who had performed the autopsy at the +Temple Tower had told him that, although they had indeed opened the +body of a child, they had not recognised it, and could not undertake +to say that it was that of the dauphin. To his mind, therefore, there +appeared nothing extraordinary in the story of Hervagault, and he +resolved to aid him to the best of his ability. + +Recognising the deficiencies of the presumed heir to the throne of +France, he determined to educate him as befitted his lofty rank, and +declared himself willing, if he could not obtain the liberty of the +prince, to share his captivity, and to teach him, in a dungeon, his +duty towards God and man. He also entered into a lengthy +correspondence with illustrious royalists to secure their co-operation +in his plans, and even projected a matrimonial alliance for his +illustrious protege. Nor did he offer only one lady to the choice of +his future king. There were three young sisters of considerable beauty +at the time resident in the province of Dauphine, and he left +Hervagault liberty to select one of the three. He assured his prince +that they were the daughters of a marquis, who was the natural son of +Louis XV., and as the grand-daughters of a king of France were in +every respect worthy of sitting by his side on his future throne. But +the prisoner's deep affection for the Princess Benedictine for a time +threatened to spoil this part of the plan, until, sacrificing his own +feelings, he consented to yield to considerations of state, and placed +himself unreservedly in the hands of his reverend adviser, who at once +set out for Dauphine, and made formal proposals on behalf of +Hervagault on the 25th of August, 1802, the anniversary of the +festival of St. Louis. + +But justice would not wait for Hymen; and while the fortunate young +ladies were still undecided as to which of them should reign as Queen +of France, the trial came on at Rheims. Crowds flocked to the town, +prepared to give their prince an ovation on his acquittal; but the law +was very stern and uncompromising. The conviction of Hervagault was +affirmed; and, moreover, the acquittal of Madame Seignes was quashed, +and she was sentenced to six months' imprisonment as the accomplice of +a man who had been found guilty of using names which did not belong to +him, and of extorting money under false pretences. + +But all the evidence which was led failed to convince his dupes, and +they subscribed liberally to supply him with comforts during his +confinement. The authorities at Paris had ordered him to be kept in +strict seclusion; but his jailers were not proof against the splendid +bribes which were offered to them, and the august captive held daily +court and fared sumptuously, until the government, finding that the +belief in his pretensions was spreading rapidly, ordered his removal +to Soissons, and gave imperative injunctions that he should be kept in +solitary confinement. + +The infatuated ex-bishop in the meantime was wandering about the +country, endeavouring by every possible means to procure his release; +and when he heard that the _pseudo_-prince was to be transferred from +one prison to another, spent night after night wandering on the high +road, or sitting at the foot of some village cross, hoping to +intercept the prisoner on his way, and perhaps rescue him from the +gens d'armes who had him in custody. Of course, he did not succeed in +his quixotic undertaking; and when he subsequently demanded admission +to see the prince in Soissons jail, he was himself arrested and +detained until the government had decided whether to treat him as a +conspirator or a lunatic. + +At Soissons, as at Vitry, Chalons, and Rheims, crowds flocked to pay +homage to the pretender, until at last Bonaparte, disgusted with the +attention which was given to this impudent impostor, caused him to be +removed to the Bicetre, then a prison for vagabonds and suspects. The +place was thronged with the offscourings of Paris, and Hervagault +found himself in congenial quarters. Certain enjoyments were permitted +to those of the inmates who could afford to pay for them; and, as the +so-called prince had plenty of money, and spent it liberally, his +claims were as unhesitatingly recognised by his fellow-prisoners as +they had been by the royalists of the provinces. Gradually his +partizans found means to approach his person, and to procure for him +extraordinary indulgences, which were at first denied to him; but when +intelligence of this new demonstration in his favour reached the ears +of the First Consul, he at once gave orders that he should be placed +in solitary confinement, and that the ex-bishop of Viviers, who was at +large under the surveillance of the police, should be arrested and +shut up in Charenton as hopelessly mad. His instructions were fully +carried out, and the unfortunate bishop shortly afterwards ended his +days in the madhouse. + +The last commands of Bonaparte had been so precise that no one dared +to disobey them, and the sham dauphin for a time disappeared from +public view. When the period of his imprisonment was at an end, he was +turned out of the Bicetre, with an order forbidding him to remain more +than one day in Paris--a miserable vagabond dressed in the prison +garb! During his incarceration he had gained the friendship of a Jew +named Emanuel, who had given him a letter to his wife, in which he +entreated her to treat his comrade hospitably for the solitary night +which he was permitted to spend in the capital. When Hervagault +arrived at the Rue des Ecrivains, where the Jewess lodged, she was not +at home; but a pastry-cook and his wife, who had a shop close by, +invited the dejected caller to rest in their parlour until his friend +returned. The couple were simple; Hervagault's plausibility was as +great as ever, and, little by little, he told the story of his +persecution, and passed himself off as a distressed royalist. The +sympathies of the honest pastry-cook were stirred, and he not only +invited the rogue to make his house his home, but clothed him, filled +his purse, and took him to various places of public entertainment. + +In return for this generous treatment, Hervagault in confidence +informed his new protector that he was none other than the prisoner of +the Temple; and that, when his throne was set up, the kindness he had +received would be remembered and recompensed a thousandfold. One +favour he did ask--money sufficient to carry him to Normandy. The +needful francs were forthcoming, and the deluded pastry-cook bade his +future sovereign a respectful adieu at the door of the diligence, +never again to behold him, or his money, or his reward. + +Hervagault's next appearance was in an entirely new character. He +entered on board a man-of-war at Brest, under the name of +Louis-Charles, and distinguished himself both for good conduct and +courage. But he could not remain content with the praises which he +acquired by his bravery, and once more confided the wonderful story of +his birth and misfortunes to his shipmates, many of whom listened and +believed. But the monotony of life at sea was too great for his +sensitive nerves, and he deserted, and again took to a wandering life, +trying his fortunes, on this occasion, among the royalists of Lower +Brittany. Intelligence of his whereabouts soon reached the government, +and he was arrested and again conveyed to the Bicetre, with the +intimation that his captivity would only terminate with his life. + +By this time it was well known in France that Bonaparte's word, once +passed, would not be broken; and Hervagault, losing all hope, +abandoned himself to drunkenness and the wildest excesses. His +constitution gave way, and in a very short time he lay at the gates of +death. A priest was summoned to administer the last consolations of +religion to the dying pretender, and urged him to think on God and +confess the truth. He gazed steadily into the eyes of the confessor, +and said--"I shall not appear as a vile impostor in the eyes of the +Great Judge of the universe. Before His tribunal I shall stand, +revealed and acknowledged, the son of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette +of Austria. A Bourbon, descendant of a line of kings, my portion will +be among the blessed. There I shall meet with my august and +unfortunate family, and with them I shall partake of the common +eternal rest." Two days afterwards he died, as he had lived, with a +lie on his lips. + + + + +MATURIN BRUNEAU--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +Maturin Bruneau, the next pretender to the honours of the deceased son +of Louis XVI., was quite as great a rascal as Hervagault, but he +lacked his cleverness. Bruneau was the son of a maker of wooden shoes, +who resided at the little village of Vezin, in the department of the +Maine and Loire. He was born in 1784, and having been early left an +orphan, was adopted by a married sister, who kept him until she +discovered that he was incorrigibly vicious, and was compelled to turn +him into the streets to earn his livelihood in the best way he could. +Although Maturin was only eleven years old at the time, he found no +difficulty in providing for himself. He strayed a little distance from +home, into regions where he was personally unknown, and there accosted +a farmer whom he met, asking him for alms, and stating at the same +time that he was a little "De Vezin." The farmer's curiosity was +excited, for the Baron de Vezin was a well-known nobleman, who had +suffered sorely in the civil war of 1795, whose chateau had been +burnt, and whose estates had been devastated by the republican +soldiery; and that his son should be compelled to beg was more than +the honest agriculturist could bear. So he took the little waif home +with him, and kept him until the Viscountess de Turpin de Crisse heard +of his whereabouts, and carried him off to her own chateau at Angrie. + +In her mansion Maturin Bruneau was treated as an adopted son, and +lived in great splendour until, in 1796, a letter arrived from Charles +de Vezin, the brother of the baron, who had just returned to France, +and who informed the viscountess that she had been imposed upon, for +the only nephew he ever possessed was at that time an emigrant refugee +in England. The result was that Bruneau was thrust out of doors, and, +sent back to his native village and the manufacture of wooden shoes. +The jibes of his fellow-villagers, however, rendered his life so +miserable that the viscountess consented to receive him as a servant, +and he remained with her for a year; but his conduct was so unbearable +that she was at last compelled to dismiss him. + +After a brief sojourn with his relatives he announced his intention of +making the tour of France, and left his home for that purpose at the +age of fifteen. He seems, in the course of his wanderings, to have +fought in the Chouan insurrection in 1799 and 1800, and having been +press-ganged, deserted from his ship in an American port, and roamed +up and down in the United States for some years. When the news of +Napoleon's downfall reached that country in 1815, he returned to +France, arriving with a passport which bore the name of Charles de +Navarre. He reached the village of Vallebasseir in great destitution, +and there, having been mistaken for a young soldier named Phillipeaux, +who was supposed to have perished in the war in Spain, he picked up +all available intelligence respecting the family, and forthwith +presented himself at the house of the Widow Phillipeaux as her son. He +was received with every demonstration of affection, and made the worst +possible use of his advantages. After spending all the ready money +which the poor woman had, he proceeded to Vezin, where he was +recognised by his family, although he pretended to be a stranger. +Thence he repaired to Pont de Ce, where lived a certain Sieur Leclerc, +an innkeeper, who had formerly been a cook in the household of Louis +XVI. To this man he paid a visit, and demanded if he recognised him. +The innkeeper said he did not, whereupon he remarked on the +strangeness of being forgotten, seeing, said he, "that I am Louis +XVII., and that you have often pulled my ears in the kitchen of +Versailles." + +Leclerc, whose recollections of the dauphin were of quite a different +character, ordered him out of his house as an impostor. But it does +not fall to everybody to be familiar with the ways of a court, or even +of a royal kitchen, and a few persons were found at St. Malo who +credited his assertion that he was the Prince of France. The +government, already warned by the temporary success of Hervagault's +imposture, immediately pounced upon him, and submitted him to +examination. His story was found to be a confused tissue of +falsehoods; and after being repeatedly interrogated, and attempting to +escape, and to forward letters surreptitiously to his "uncle," Louis +XVIII., he was removed to the prison of Rouen as the son of the Widow +Phillipeaux, calling himself Charles de Navarre. When he entered the +jail he was the possessor of a solitary five franc piece, which he +spent in wine and tobacco, and he then took to the manufacture of +wooden shoes for the other prisoners in order to obtain more. As he +worked he told his story, and his fellow jail-birds were never tired +of listening to his romance. Visitors also heard his tale, and yielded +credence to it, and it was not long before everybody in Rouen knew +that there was a captive in the town who claimed to be the son of the +murdered king. + +Among other persons of education and respectability who listened and +believed was a Madame Dumont, the wife of a wealthy merchant. This +lady became an ardent partizan of the pretender, and not only visited +him, but spent her husband's gold lavishly to solace him in his +captivity. She supplied him with the richest food and the rarest +wines that money could buy. A Madame Jacquieres, who resided at Gros +Caillon, near Paris, who was greatly devoted to the Bourbon family, +also came under the influence of Bruneau's agents, and finally fell a +victim to his rascality. This good lady was an ardent Catholic, and +having some lingering doubt as to the honesty of the prisoner of +Rouen, in order to its perfect solution she visited many shrines, said +many prayers, and personally repaired to the old city in which he was +confined, where she caused a nine days' course of prayer to be said to +discover if the captive were really the person he pretended to be. +This last expedient answered admirably. The Abbe Matouillet, who +celebrated the required number of masses before the shrine of the +Virgin, was himself a firm believer in Bruneau, and he had no +hesitation in assuring the petitioner that loyalty and liberality +towards the prince would be no bad investment either in this world or +the next. The Abbe then led his credulous victim into the august +presence of the clogmaker, and the poor dupe prostrated herself before +him in semi-adoration. Nor would she leave the presence until his +Majesty condescended to accept a humble gift of a valuable gold watch +and two costly rings. His Majesty was graciously pleased to accede to +the request of his loyal subject. + +Bruneau could neither read nor write, and perhaps it was as well for +himself that his education had been thus neglected, for if he had been +left to his own devices his imposture would have been very +short-lived. But he contrived to attach two clever rascals to himself, +who helped to prolong the fraud and to victimise the public. They were +both convicts, but convicts of a high intellectual type. One was +Larcher, a revolutionary priest, and a man of detestable life; while +the other was a forger named Tourly. These worthies acted as his +secretaries. On the 3d of March 1816, the priest wrote a letter to +"Madame de France" in these terms:-- + +"MY SISTER,--You are doubtless not ignorant of my being held in the +saddest captivity, and reduced to a condition of appalling misery. So +may I beg of you, if you should think me worthy of your especial +consideration, to visit me here in my imprisonment. Even should you +for an instant suspect me of being an impostor, still may I claim +consideration for the sake of your brother. The scandal and judgment +of which our family is daily the object throughout the entire kingdom +may well make you shudder. I am myself sunk in despair at the thought +of being so near the capital without being permitted to publicly +appear in it. If you determine upon coming down here you would do well +to preserve an incognito. In the meantime receive the embraces of your +unfortunate brother, THE KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE." + +This precious epistle Madame Jacquieres undertook not only to forward +to the Duchess d'Angouleme, but also promised to procure the honour of +a private interview for the bearer of the missive. + +Larcher and Tourly must have been kept very busy, for the pretended +dauphin was never tired of sending appeals for assistance to the +foreign powers, of addressing proclamations to the people, and even +went so far as formally to petition the parliament that he might be +taken to Paris, in order there to establish his identity as the son of +Louis XVI. The whole of the papers issued from the prison, and they +were enormous in quantity, were signed by his secretaries with his +name. + +About the same time considerable interest was excited by a trashy +novel, called the "Cemetery of the Madeleine," which pretended to give +a circumstantial account of the life of the dauphin in the Temple. Out +of this book the secretaries and their employer proceeded to construct +"The Historical Memoirs of Charles of Navarre;" but after they had +finished their work, they found that it was so ridiculously absurd +that there was no probability that it would deceive the public for a +moment. They accordingly handed the manuscript over to a more skilful +rogue with whom they were acquainted, and this man, who was called +Branzon, transformed their clumsy narrative into a well-written and +plausible history. He did more, and "coached" the pretender in all +the petty circumstances which he could find out respecting the Bourbon +family. Manuscript copies of the "Memoirs" were assiduously +distributed in influential quarters in Rouen, and particularly among +the officers of the third regiment of the royal guard, then quartered +in the town. A copy fell into the hands of a Vendean officer named De +la Pomeliere, who recollected the story of the pretended son of Baron +de Vezins, and half-suspected a similar imposture in this instance. +With some difficulty he procured admission to the royal presence, and +induced the sham dauphin to speak of La Vendee. During the +conversation he remarked, that when the chateau of Angrie, the +residence of the Viscountess de Turpin, was mentioned, the pretender +slightly changed colour and became embarrassed. The acknowledgment +that he was acquainted with the mansion, and the accurate description +which he gave of it, gave the first clue whereby proof was obtained of +his identity with Maturin Bruneau. + +But although M. de la Pomeliere, from his previous knowledge, had a +hazy idea of the truth, the uninformed public continued devoted to the +cause of the pretender; and the convict secretaries, if they failed to +stir up the educated classes, at least succeeded in entrapping the +ignorant. The prison cell of Bruneau was converted into a scene of +uninterrupted revelling. Persons of all classes sent their gifts--the +ladies supplying unlimited creature comforts for their king, while +their husbands strove to compensate for their incapacity to +manufacture dainties by filling the purse of the pretender. Nothing +was forgotten: fine clothes and fine furniture were supplied in +abundance; and the adoring public were so anxious to consider the +comfort of the illustrious prisoner, that they even subscribed to +purchase a breakfast service of Sevres, so that the heir to the throne +might drink his chocolate out of a porcelain cup. + +Meantime Madame Jacquieres had not been idle, and was ready to fulfil +her promise to send a messenger to the Duchess d'Angouleme. Her chosen +emissary was a Norman gentleman named Jacques Charles de Foulques, an +ardent Bourbonist and a lieutenant-colonel in the army. This officer +was both brave and suave, and seemed in every respect a fitting person +to act as an ambassador to the Tuileries. He was deeply religious, +very conscientious, and extremely simple. His mental capacity had been +accurately gauged by Bruneau and his associates, and care was taken to +excite his religious enthusiasm. The Abbe Matouillet plainly told him +that Heaven smiled upon the cause, and introduced him to the prince, +who administered the oath of allegiance, which the credulous Norman is +said to have signed with the seal of his lips on a volume that looked +like a book of _gaillard_ songs, but which the simple soldier mistook +for the Gospels. After several audiences, his mission was pointed out, +and Colonel de Foulques, without hesitation, agreed to proceed to +Paris, and there to place in the hands of the daughter of Louis XVI. a +copy of the "Memoirs of Charles of Navarre," and a letter from her +reputed brother. + +The latter document was produced in the court at Rouen when Bruneau +was afterwards placed at the bar, and is a very curious production. In +it the maker of clogs thus addresses "Madame Royale:"-- + +"I am aware, my dear sister, a secret presentiment has long possessed +you that the finger of God was about to point out to you your brother, +that innocent partaker of your sorrows, the one alone worthy to repair +them, as he was fated to share them. + +"I know, also, that you were surrounded by snares, and that they who +extend them for you are men of wicked ways. They believe they have +destroyed the germs of some virtues, as they succeeded in arresting +the progress of my education; but there remain to me uprightness of +principle, courage, a tendency to good, and the desire of preserving +the glory of my nation. Louis XIV. could boast of no more. + +"I know that I have been pictured to you as one who has forgotten his +dignity, and who is the slave of a love for wine. Alas! that beverage +that was forced upon me in my tenderest youth, by the ferocious +Simon, has served to fortify my constitution in the course of a most +painful life, even as it did that of the great Henry IV.; and, if I +have been addicted to the use of it in this place, it was for my +health's sake, to preserve which a more refined method would not have +so well suited me. + +"The use of tobacco was recommended to me in 1797, at Baltimore, also +on account of my health. I have profited by it. It has occasionally +served to dissipate my sense of weariness, and the thin vapour has +often caused me to forget that life might be breathed away from my +lips almost as readily. + +"I have wished, my dear sister, to speak to you as a brother. Whatever +may be the force of a custom preserved during nineteen years, I shall +know how, in sharing the fatigues of my troops, to deprive myself of +what is a pastime to them. Other occupations will but too easily +absorb me entirely. Cease to see by any other vision than your own. +Trust to the evidence of your own senses, and no other. I have +learned, through a long series of misfortunes, how to be a man, and to +be upon my guard against my fellowmen. Truth is not apt to penetrate +under golden fringes. It is, however, my divinity; and henceforward, +my sister, it will dwell with us. I grant the right of having it told +to me. It will never offend a monarch who, having contracted the habit +of bearing it, will have the courage to heed it for the benefit of his +people. + +"I dispersed the last calumny which perversity has aimed at me, when +it declared that your brother was still in the United States. No; I +had long left it when my evil destiny conducted me from Brazil (as you +will see in my "Memoirs") to France, which is anything for me but the +promised land. Heaven, to whom my eyes and hopes were ever raised, +will not fail to have in its keeping certain witnesses to my +existence. There is one to whom I presented, in 1801, at Philadelphia, +three gold doubloons, a note of twenty dollars, three shirts, a coat, +a _levite_, and two pairs of old boots. This witness, whom chance has +again brought me acquainted with here, is a certain Chaufford, son of +a baker of Rouen, well known to the keeper of the prison, and who was +on board the French fleet which sailed from Brest. This witness (of +whom I have spoken in my "Memoirs") deserted from the fleet. My +servant Francois meeting him in Marc Street, brought him to me. I was +then suffering in consequence of a fall from my horse, and was obliged +to go about on crutches; and it was from me that he received every +species of assistance, and it is by me that he has been reminded of it +within the walls of this odious prison, where he least of all expected +again to meet with his illustrious benefactor. + +"I conclude, my dear sister, certifying to you, by my ambassador, the +nature of my ulterior projects. He will hear of your final resolution, +and will at once return to me, after assuring you that the superior +rank to which destiny calls me is only coveted by me for the sake of +my people, and in order to share with you the grateful attachment, +which will always be for me the sweetest reward. It is the heart of +your king and brother that has never ceased to hold you dear. _He_ +presses you to that heart which the most cruel misery has not been +able to render cold towards you." + +Armed with this extraordinary document, Lieutenant-Colonel de Foulques +set out for Paris, honoured by his mission, and convinced that he had +only to present himself at the Tuileries to obtain easy access to the +duchess, and only to gain her ear to insure her co-operation in the +sacred task of placing her long-lost and ill-treated brother on the +throne of France. Of course, there were certain forms which must be +complied with, but the result was, to his mind, certain. He first +opened negotiations with M. de Mortmaur, and delivered the despatches +to his care. To his surprise they were treated with the utmost +indifference, not to say rudeness; and the Norman was still more +disgusted when told that no audience would be granted. From M. de +Mortmaur he repaired to the Duchess of Serent, and, in a letter, +craved her influence to procure for him the desired interview with +"Madame Royale." The reply was prompt and unmistakable: If he did not +leave the capital within eight days, he would be thrown into jail. + +The colonel did not wait for a week; but in an angry mood returned at +once to those who sent him, cursing the government in his heart, +stigmatizing "Madame Royale" as an unnatural sister, and considering +the king no better than other royal uncles who had occupied thrones +which belonged to their imprisoned nephews. The news of his +discomfiture did not disconcert or dishearten the plotters, and, +although their first attempt to approach the daughter of Louis XVI. +had resulted in failure, they resolved to make another attempt. Madame +de Jacquieres, in particular, was very hopeful, and, with a wisdom and +modesty which did her credit, discovered that there would have been +great indelicacy in the Duchess of Angouleme granting a private +interview to a man. A female messenger ought to have been sent; and +she soon found one to repair the first blunder. + +Madame Morin, who superseded De Foulkes, was a lady of great +accomplishments and considerable intelligence. The documents which the +unsuccessful ambassador had carried with him were entrusted to the new +emissary; and, in addition, she carried with her a portrait of Charles +of Navarre, who was represented in the brilliant uniform of a general +officer of dragoons. But Madame Morin was as ill-fated as her +predecessor had been, and all her efforts to force her way into the +presence of the duchess were fruitless. The police also frightened her +as they had terrified De Foulkes, and paid a visit to her residence. +They did not make a thorough search, but gave her to understand that +if any further attempts were made to annoy the duchess they would +institute a strict perquisition--a threat which had so great an effect +upon the ambassadress that she immediately burnt her copy of the +"Memoirs," her credentials, and even the portrait of her illustrious +master and prince, and returned to the power from which she was +accredited, shamefacedly to confess that she had been equally +unfortunate with the gallant Norman colonel. + +It was evident that the hard heart of the duchess could not easily be +moved, and it was necessary to have recourse to other tactics. At this +time misery and famine were prevalent in the land, and many persons +were discontented with the rule of Louis XVIII., who was in extremely +ill health. The Abbe Matouillet saw his opportunity, and taking +advantage of the prevalent disaffection, issued a proclamation +intimating that if the people of France would place their captive king +upon the throne now occupied by a dying usurper, the liberated and +grateful sovereign would, in return, immediately fix the price of +bread at three sous per pound. Meantime, the generous offerer was +regaling himself on the fat of the land, and holding his petty court +within the walls of Rouen jail. But this last move led to energetic +action on the part of the authorities. The attempted rising was +crushed, the careless jailers were dismissed, the prisoner was placed +in solitary and comfortless confinement, and the keeper of the seals +commenced serious proceedings in order to bring him to trial. + +The chief object to be accomplished was to prove his birth, for there +were many who jumped to the conclusion that he must be the son of +Louis XVI., since he was not the son of the Widow Phillipeaux. Seeing +that his time had come, and that the government was determined to +punish him with severity, Bruneau became alarmed, and offered his new +jailers ten thousand francs to set him at liberty. The offer was +refused and reported, the prisoner was more narrowly guarded, and his +preliminary examinations were hastened. The stories which he told were +so absurd and so wildly contradictory, as to leave no doubt of the +hollowness of his pretensions; but still the difficulty remained of +proving who he really was. + +When affairs were in this stage the Viscountess Turpin, Bruneau's +first benefactress, arrived in Rouen. M. de Pomeliere, the officer of +the king's guard who had suspected him from the first, had +communicated his suspicions to the viscountess, and she had come to +see him, and, if she could, to expose him. When Bruneau was confronted +with his former patroness, he at once admitted that he had enjoyed +the lady's hospitality, but declared that that fact did not render him +the less the Dauphin of France. The viscountess reproached him, and +endeavoured to ashame him; but the impudent and ungrateful scamp +turned to her with an air of mock majesty and exclaimed, "Madame, I +accept counsel from no one. I give it as I do commands. I am a +sovereign!" The members of his family were next brought from Vezin to +identify him, and had no hesitation in doing so. He denied ever having +seen them before, but frequently betrayed himself by addressing them +by their pet household names, and by contradicting them with regard to +trivial occurrences. The imposture was plain; and Bruneau, his +forger-secretary Tourly, Branzon the author of the "Memoirs," the Abbe +Matouillet, and Madame Dumont, were committed for trial as swindlers, +as the government did not deem them of sufficient importance to charge +them with high treason. + +The Abbe contrived to effect his escape from the jail, but the others +were placed in the dock, Bruneau was received with some faint cries of +"Vive Louis XVII.!" but the scamp knew that his game was played out, +and did not care to conceal his knowledge of the fact. He had made no +effort to make himself presentable; but appeared in court ill-dressed, +unshaven, and wearing a cotton night-cap on his head. It was with +difficulty that he could be compelled to respect the forms of the +court, or to preserve ordinary decency. He interrupted the opening +speech of the government prosecutor by noisy ejaculations, oaths, +filthy expletives, and immodest and insulting gestures, and when +rebuked by the judges showered down upon them all the abusive and +abominable epithets of his extensive vocabulary. + +The trial lasted for ten days, and the career of Bruneau was clearly +traced from his very childhood. As revelation after revelation was +made, and the history of crime after crime was disclosed, his +interruptions became more and more frequent and violent, until his +very accomplices shrank from him in horror, protesting that it he had +presented himself to them in the same guise when he first proclaimed +his pretensions, they would not have been seduced by him. Their +advocates pleaded on their behalf that they were dupes and not +confederates, and the plea served to exculpate the Abbe, Madame +Dumont, and Tourly. The impostor himself was condemned to five years' +imprisonment, three thousand francs fine, and a further imprisonment +of two years for his offences against the dignity of justice and the +public morality committed in open court. He was further condemned to +remain at the after-disposal of the government, and to pay +three-fourths of the expenses of the trial. Branzon, his literary +friend, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and to pay a fourth +of the expenses. When that part of the sentence was pronounced, which +referred to the cost of the proceedings, Bruneau burst into an +insulting laugh, and informed the judges that he would take care to +defray the heavy responsibility laid upon him as soon as he was able. +But, as the saying is, he laughed without his host. The subscriptions +of his dupes were lying at the Bank of France, were confiscated by the +state, and, amply served to pay the pecuniary penalty. After his +imprisonment had expired Bruneau disappeared from public view. + + + + +NAUeNDORFF--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +One evening, while Napoleon I. was still reigning at the Tuileries and +guiding the destinies of France, a stranger appeared in the +market-place of Brandenburg, in Prussia. He had travelled far, was very +tired, and sat him down to rest. But the Prussian police had then, and +have still, a deep dislike to weary tramps; and the poor wayfarer had +not been long seated when he was accosted, by the guardians of the +peace, who demanded his papers. The stranger told them he had none, +that he was very weary, that he liked the town, and that he had +resolved to take up his abode in it. The police were astounded by his +coolness, and continued to ply him with questions. They asked what his +station in life was, when he seemed a little confused; but ultimately +said he was a watchmaker. They demanded his name, and he said it was +Nauendorff, but whence he had come he refused to tell; and his sole +worldly possession was a seal, which, he said, had belonged to Louis +XVI. of France. The police kept the seal, and, finding that they could +elicit no further information from the mysterious being who had thrust +himself so unceremoniously into their dull town, permitted him to +settle down quietly in Brandenburg. + +Without tools, without money, without friends, he found life hard +enough at first; but an old soldier and his sister took pity upon him, +and took him into their house. To them he first declared himself to be +Louis XVII., and narrated the manner of his escape from the Temple. He +told them all about Simon and his cruelty, and described the dungeon +in which he was confined, the iron wicket, and the loathsomeness of +the place. He said he recollected some persons attending him who, he +thought, were doctors; but he was afraid of them, and would not answer +their questions. As the result of their visit, however, he was +cleaned, his room was put in order, and the wicket was torn down. + +About this time, he said, his friends determined to rescue him; but +they found the guard at the Temple too numerous and too vigilant to +allow them to carry out their plans, or to remove him from the place. +Accordingly they hit upon a strange device, and resolved to conceal +him in the building. They determined to take him from the second floor +which he occupied, and hide him in the fourth storey of the Temple. +Sometime in June, 1795, an opiate was administered to him, and he fell +into a drowsy condition. In this state he saw a child, which they had +substituted for him in his bed, and was himself laid in a basket in +which this child had been concealed under the bed. He perceived as in +a dream that the effigy was only a wooden doll, the face of which had +been carved and painted to imitate his own. The change was effected +while the guard was relieved, and the new guard who came on duty was +content to perceive an apparently sleeping figure beneath the +bedclothes, without investigating too closely whether it were the +dauphin or not. Meantime the opiate did its work, and not even his +curiosity could prevent him from dropping off into insensibility. + +When he recovered consciousness he found himself shut up in a large +room which was quite strange to him. This room was crowded with old +furniture, amongst which a space had been prepared for him, and a +passage was left to a closet in one of the turrets, in which his food +had been placed. All other approach was barricaded. Before the +transfer had taken place, one of his friends had told him that, in +order to save his life, he must submit to hardship and suffering, for +a single imprudent step would bring destruction, not only on himself, +but on his benefactors. It was, therefore, agreed that he should +pretend to be deaf and dumb. On awaking he remembered the injunctions +of his friends, resolved that no indiscretion on his part should +endanger their safety, and waited with patience and in silence in his +dreary abode, being supplied at intervals with food, which was brought +to him during the night by one of his protectors. + +His escape was discovered on the same night on which it took place; +but the government thought fit to conceal it, and caused the wooden +figure to be replaced by a deaf and dumb boy. At the same time the +guard was doubled, to give the public the idea that the dauphin was +still in safe-keeping. This extra precaution prevented his friends +from smuggling him out of the Tower, as they had intended; but, in +order to deceive the authorities, they despatched a boy under his +name, in the direction, he believed, of Strasburg. At this time he was +about nine years and a half old, and his long imprisonment had +rendered him accustomed to suffering. Throughout the long winter he +endured the cold without a murmur; and no one guessed his +hiding-place, for the room was disused and was never opened, and if +any one had by chance entered it, he could not have been seen, as even +the friend who visited him could only reach him by crawling on +all-fours, and when he did not come the captive remained patiently in +his concealment. Frequently he waited for several days for his food; +but no murmur escaped his lips, and he was only too glad to endure +present suffering in the hope of future safety. + +While he was thus stowed away in the upper storey of the Temple Tower, +a rumour spread abroad that the dauphin had escaped, and the +government took the alarm. It was decided that the deaf and dumb boy, +who had been substituted for the doll which had taken his place, +should die, and to kill him poison was mixed with his food in small +quantities. The captive became excessively ill, and Desault, the +surgeon, was called in, not to save his life, but to counterfeit +humanity. Desault at once saw that poison had been administered, and +ordered an antidote to be prepared by a friend of his own, an +apothecary called Choppart, telling him at the same time that the +official prisoner was not the son of Louis XVI. Choppart was +indiscreet, and betrayed the confidence which had been reposed in him; +and the floating rumour reached the authorities. In alarm lest the +fraud should be detected, they removed the deaf and dumb child, and +substituted for him a rickety boy from one of the Parisian hospitals. +To make assurance doubly sure, according to Nauendorff's version, they +poisoned both Desault and Choppart, and the substituted rickety boy +was attended by physicians, who, never having seen either the real +dauphin, or the deaf and dumb prisoner, naturally believed it was the +dauphin they were attending. + +After recounting further and equally remarkable adventures, Nauendorff +declared that he was conveyed out of France, and was placed under the +care of a German lady, with whom he remained until he was about twelve +years of age. He could not recollect either the name or place of +residence of this lady, and only remembered that she was kind to him, +and that he used to call her "_bonne maman!_" From her custody he was +transferred to that of two gentlemen, who carried him across the sea; +but whether they took him to Italy or America he could not tell. One +of these gentlemen taught him watchmaking, a craft which he afterwards +used to very good purpose. He had a distinct recollection of an +attempt which was made to poison him, but the draught was taken by +somebody else, who died in consequence. In 1804, while in the +neighbourhood of the French frontier, near Strasburg, he was arrested, +and was cast into prison, where he remained under the strictest +guard and in the greatest misery till the spring of 1809, when he +was liberated by a friend named Montmorin, through the aid of +the Empress Josephine. Montmorin and himself then set out for +Frankfort-on-the-Maine, and during the journey the former "sewed some +papers in the collar of his greatcoat, which would form undeniable +proofs of his identity to all the sovereigns of Europe." In 1809, +according to his own showing, he was at Stralsund fighting under Major +de Schill of the Brunswick dragoons, and, when that redoubtable +officer was killed, received a blow on the head which fractured his +skull and rendered him unconscious for a long time. In 1810 he was in +Italy, where he was recognised by several old officers of Louis XVI., +who received him with every mark of loyal respect. Napoleon, he +asserted, was aware of his existence, and threatened him with death if +he disturbed the public peace; and when, on the downfall of the +usurper, he wrote to the European powers urging his claims, his +application was coldly passed over in silence, and Louis XVIII. was +raised to the throne in his stead. + +The credulous soldier and his equally simple sister believed this +wonderful tale, and pressed their royal visitor to continue to receive +their humble hospitality. Between them a letter was addressed to the +Duchess of Angouleme, announcing the existence of a brother, who would +be found to be the real man, and no counterfeit. A similar letter was +sent to the king, and another to the Duchess de Berri; but all the +three missives were careful to state that the Duke of Normandy had no +desire to sit upon the throne or to disturb the tranquillity of +France, but would be content to accept a reasonable pension and hold +his tongue--to surrender all his claims, and retire into obscurity +for ever, if he were well paid. His letters remained unanswered, but +he returned to the attack, and indulged the Duchess of Angouleme with +a multitude of letters, in which he implored her good offices for a +brother who needed only to be seen to be recognised. But the duchess +remained silent. At length he announced to the French royal family his +intention of marrying a young girl only fifteen years of age, the +daughter of a Prussian corporal. He could not, of course, expect that +such a step would be agreeable to the other members of the House of +Bourbon, but he valued his love more than his pride, and if his royal +uncle would only grant such an allowance as would enable himself and +his wife to live in a position of independence, he would trouble him +no more, and the world need never know that the son of Louis XVI. was +alive, and had perpetrated a _mesalliance_. But Louis XVIII. was +obdurate, and would not listen even to the seductive voice of Hymen. +The young couple were allowed to wed, but they had to look for their +means of livelihood elsewhere. + +For a time Nauendorff was equal to the occasion, and supported the +corporal's daughter and his rising brood by cleaning the watches and +clocks of the Brandenburgers. But trouble came upon him. The house of +his next door neighbour took fire, and the watchmaker was suspected of +being the incendiary. He was arrested and thrown into prison; his wife +and children were turned into the street; and, although his innocence +was unequivocally proved, his trade was ruined, and he had to flee +from the midst of the distrustful and suspicious folks among whom he +had laboured and loved and wedded. + +By the exertions of one of the few friends who remained to him +Nauendorff was appointed foreman in a watchmaking factory at Crossen, +and thither he removed, carrying with him his wife and the half-dozen +children who had blessed his union. But the distance was long, the +roads were bad, and the man was poor. When Nauendorff reached Crossen +on foot with his weary and half-famished band he found that the post +which he had come to obtain had been given to another, and abandoned +himself to despair. Then the plebeian energy of the corporal's +daughter rose superior to the weakness of her royal husband. She +obtained a temporary shelter, procured needlework, and, by her unaided +efforts, managed to keep the wolf from the door. After a little delay +work was obtained for Nauendorff also; and as his spirits revived his +hopes and pretensions revived also. Little by little he told his story +to his fellow-workmen, who paid no heed to it at first, but nicknamed +him in derision "the French prince." But the tale was improving as it +got older, and by-and-by he could number among his followers the +syndic of the town, one of the preachers, a magistrate, and a teacher +of languages. The syndic, in particular, was an enthusiastic partizan, +and himself addressed a letter to the Duchess of Angouleme and to the +principal courts of Europe. He also took a journey to Berlin to claim +from the authorities the seal which Nauendorff said had been taken from +him by the Brandenburg police--the same seal which Louis XVI., as he +was passing to execution, had handed to Clery with his dying +injunction to deliver it to his son. The government very sharply +ordered their subordinate back to his post, telling him that they knew +nothing of Nauendorff, but that they were well aware that Clery had +handed the jewel which he mentioned to Louis XVIII., who had rewarded +him with the riband of St. Louis. The syndic left Berlin in haste, and +arrived at home full of chagrin. He concealed himself from public +view, and shortly afterwards sickened and died. Nauendorff declared he +had been poisoned. + +The discomfited impostor, finding that he was not likely to be able to +move the world from his retirement at Crossen, quietly disappeared +from that humble town, and was lost to the public gaze for a +considerable period. His movements about this time were very +mysterious; but it is proved with tolerable certainty that he repaired +to Paris, and his visit to the French capital may have had something +to do with the visions of Martin of Gallardon. This man was an +ignorant peasant, and, being a sort of _clairvoyant_, pretended that, +as the result of a vision, he knew that the son of Louis XVI. was +still alive. He said that, in the year 1818, while he was at mass in +the village church at Gallardon, an angel interrupted his devotions by +whispering in his ear that the dauphin of the Temple was alive, and +that he (Martin) was celestially appointed on a mission to Louis +XVIII. to inform him of the fact, and to announce to him that if he +ever dared to be formally crowned the roof of the cathedral would fall +in and make a very speedy ending of him and his court. The king was +prevailed upon to grant an interview to this impostor, and made no +secret of his message. Therefore, when year after year passed without +a formal coronation, the superstitious whispered that Louis knew +better than tempt the Divine vengeance, and, although he sat upon the +throne, was well aware that he had stolen another man's birthright, +and that the dauphin of the Temple was still alive. + +But people were beginning to forget the existence of the watchmaker of +Crossen, when one evening, in the autumn of 1831, a traveller entered +one of the best frequented inns at Berne, in Switzerland. Attached to +this inn was a parlour, in which some of the most jovial of the local +notables were accustomed to pass their evenings, gossiping over the +occurrences of the day, and whiling away an hour or so with a quiet +game at dominoes. The stranger was a pleasant-looking man, of from +forty to forty-five years of age, and preferred the good company of +the familiar parlour to the dulness of his private sitting-room, or +the staid society of the public _salon_. He said his name was +Nauendorff, and by his affability soon made himself such a general +favourite that one of the leading _habitues_ of the place invited him +to his house and introduced him to his family. In private life he +shone even more brilliantly than in the mixed company of the hotel. +There was a certain dignity about his appearance which seemed to +proclaim him a greater personage than he at first claimed to be, and +his host was not greatly astonished when, after the lapse of a +fortnight, he confided to him the secret that Nauendorff was merely an +assumed name, and that he was in reality the Duke of Normandy, the +disinherited heir to the French throne. The whole family rose in a +flutter of excitement at the presence of this distinguished guest in +their midst. They had no doubt of the truth of his story, and one +daughter of the house urged him to take prompt and decisive measures +to recover his crown. As far as her feeble help could go it was freely +at his service. The mouse has e'er now helped the lion; and this +enthusiastic girl was not without hope that she might render some +assistance in restoring to France her legitimate king. She became +amanuensis and secretary to Nauendorff, compiled a statement from his +words and documents, laid it before the lawyers, and they pronounced +favourably, and advised the claimant to proceed without delay to Paris +and prosecute his cause vigorously. He went. + +On a May morning in 1833, the watchman of the great Parisian cemetery +at Pere la Chaise discovered a dust-stained traveller sleeping among +the tombs, and shaking him up demanded his name, and his reason for +choosing such a strange resting-place. His name he said was Nauendorff; +but as he only spoke German the curiosity of the guardian of the place +was not further satisfied. In a short time the same individual met a +gentleman who could speak German, who took pity upon his apparent +weakness and ignorance of the gay capital, and who, when he heard that +he had arrived on foot the night before, and was utterly destitute, +advised him to apply to the old Countess de Richemont, as one who was +proverbially kind to foreigners, and had formerly been one of the +attendants on the dauphin who died in the Temple. The stranger was +profuse in his thanks, muttered that the dauphin was not dead yet, and +set out for the Rue Richer, where the countess lived. + +He obtained easy access to the presence of the lady, and announced +himself as the Duke of Normandy. The countess acted in orthodox +fashion, and straightway fainted, but not before she had hurriedly +exclaimed that he was the very picture of his mother Marie Antoinette. +The first joyful recognition over, and all parties being sufficiently +calm to be practical, the countess produced the numerous relics which +she possessed of the happy time when Louis XVI. reigned in Versailles. +The duke recognised them all down to the little garments which he had +worn in his babyhood. She mentioned scars which were on the body of +the youthful prince, and her visitor assured her that he had similar +marks which he could show in private. The countess was wild with +delight, ordered him to be placed in the best bed the mansion could +afford, sent for a tailor, and had him clothed as befitted his rank, +and invited her royalist friends to come and pay their homage to their +recovered king. They came in crowds, and to all and sundry, the +pretender told the story of his escape from the Tower. They were +disposed to be credulous, and the majority yielding readily to the +prevalent enthusiasm, proclaimed their belief in his truth, and +promised their assistance to restore him to his own again. A few were +dubious, and one lukewarm Bourbonist remarked, "You were an extremely +clever child, and spoke French like an angel. How is it you have so +completely forgotten it?" The duke replied that thirty-seven years of +absence was surely a sufficient explanation of his ignorance; but a +few held a different opinion and retired, and by their withdrawal +somewhat damped the general enthusiasm. + +But there was a safe and certain method of arriving at the truth. The +duke was taken in haste to be confronted with the seer, Martin, who +was then living in the odour of sanctity at St. Arnould, near Dourdin. +That fanatic no sooner beheld the stranger than he hailed him as king, +and told his delighted auditory that he was the exact counterpart of +the lost prince, who had been revealed to him in a vision. The +question of identity was considered solved, the whole party proceeded +to the church to return thanks for the revelation which had been made, +and the village bells were rung to celebrate the auspicious event. The +noble ladies who were attached to the pretender influenced the +priests, the priests influenced the peasantry, and Martin, the +clairvoyant and quack, exerted a powerful influence over all. Money +was wanted, and contributions flowed in abundantly, until the +so-called Duke of Normandy found his coffers filling at the rate of +fifty thousand pounds a-year. + +Thus suddenly enriched, he set up a magnificent establishment in +Paris. His horses and carriages were among the most splendid in the +Champs Elysees, his banquets were equal to those of Lucullus, his name +was in every mouth, and people wondered why the government did not +interpose. They were afraid, said some, to touch the sacred person of +the man they knew to be king; they did not care to meddle with an +obvious impostor, whose crest was a _broken_ crown, said others; but +his partizans maintained that their silence was more dangerous than +their open enmity, and that the crafty Louis Philippe had given orders +that his rival should be assassinated. They declared that this was no +mere supposition, for late on one November evening, when the duke was +returning to his quarters in the Faubourg St. Germain, across the Place +du Carrousel, a dastardly assassin sprang upon him and stabbed him +with a dagger. Fortunately for the illustrious victim he wore a +medallion of his sainted mother, Marie-Antoinette, and the metal disc +caught the point of the weapon, and received the full force of the +blow; but nevertheless a slight wound was inflicted, and the duke +staggered home wounded and bleeding. He was too confused to report the +circumstance at any of the guard-houses which he passed, but in his +own mansion he showed the dint of the cowardly blade, and the cut on +his flesh. It was disgraceful, cried his adherents; it was ridiculous, +said his opponents; and they did not hesitate to add, that if blow +there had been it was self-inflicted. + +But if the calumny was intended to destroy the faith of Nauendorff's +partizans, it failed in its effect. Their zeal waxed hotter than ever; +their contributions flowed even more freely than before into his +treasury; and they conceived the idea of solacing his misfortunes by +providing him with a wife. Unfortunately, there remained the +long-forgotten daughter of the corporal and her progeny who were alive +and well, although somewhat impoverished, at Crossen. Their existence +had to be declared, and as it was not seemly that they should be +longer separated from their illustrious lord and master, they were +sent for, and a governess was provided for the youthful princes and +princesses. It was now the turn of the lion to help the mouse. The +lady who was selected for the post was the enthusiast of Berne--the +same damsel who had acted as scribe to the wandering heir--the +daughter of the gentleman who had been the first to penetrate the thin +disguise of the illustrious stranger in the cosy parlour of the inn. + +The new governess was a real acquisition to the household, and devoted +herself more to politics than tuition. Once more the duke resumed his +habit of letter-writing, and epistles both supplicatory and minatory +were showered upon the Duchess of Angouleme and the Duchess de Berri. +To the former, however, the pretender generally wrote as to a beloved +sister, whose coldness and reluctance to receive him caused him the +keenest pain. He offered to satisfy her as to his identity by +incontrovertible proofs, and recalled one circumstance which ought to +dissipate her last lingering doubts as to his truth. He reminded her +that when the royal family were confined together in the Temple, his +aunt the Princess Elizabeth, and his mother Marie-Antoinette, had +written some lines on a paper; which paper was subsequently cut in two +and given one half to "Madame Royale," and the other half to the +dauphin. "When we meet," said the pretender, "I will produce the +corresponding half to that which you possess. It has never been out of +my possession since our fatal separation." Even this appeal failed to +move the duchess, and failed simply because she had never heard of the +existence of any such divided document. + +But the claims even of righteous claimants are apt to become wearisome +to the public, and the interest in them dies away unless it is now and +again fanned into a flame. The Duke of Normandy found it so, and +devised a new means of attracting attention. Although he had gone with +his followers to return his grateful thanks to God at the shrine of St. +Arnould, he was not a member of the Roman Catholic Church, but he +discovered the error of his past ways, and was desirous to embrace the +orthodox faith. Accordingly, he was openly received as a disciple and +proselyte in the church of St. Roche. His conversion was followed by +that of his wife and children; but it cost him a very good friend. It +was hoped that the governess would have consented to change her creed +with the others. But the Swiss girl was a good and conscientious +Protestant, and this wholesale conversion aroused her suspicions as to +the cause in which she was engaged; she reviewed the pretensions of +the duke a little more judiciously than she had ever done before, and +as the result of her investigations, threw up her post and returned to +her father, convinced that she had been ignorantly aiding an +imposture. + +But if he lost a very efficient assistant, he gained many partizans +who had only refrained from acknowledging him previously by a fear +lest the throne should be snatched from the Catholic party. These late +adherents came to pay their homage bringing gifts, and their accession +to his ranks and their contributions to his purse stimulated the duke +to still more ostentatious displays of regal magnificence. His court +grew to an alarming size, and at last a hint was sent from the +prefecture of police, that if he did not moderate his pretensions, and +behave with greater circumspection, it would be necessary for him to +have an interview with the judges of the Assize Court. The threat was +quite sufficient. Nauendorff withdrew to a quiet abode in the Rue +Guillaume, and granted his interviews in a more secret manner. Indeed, +from open clamour he turned to underhand plotting, and so mysterious +was his conduct that his landlord requested him to betake himself +elsewhere. He found a yet more retired asylum, and still more +suspicious-looking friends, until the police began to suspect that a +conspiracy was on foot, and favoured him with a domiciliary visit. +They seized his papers and read them; but they treated him with no +great severity. They hired three places in the diligence which, in +1838, travelled between Paris and Calais. The duke occupied one of +these seats, and two police agents the others, and when they reached +the famous little port, his attendants placed him on board the English +packet, and watched her speeding towards Dover with the prisoner of +the Temple as a present to the English nation. + +The duke established himself at Camberwell Green, and made it his +earliest care to write to the Duchess of Angouleme, soliciting her +good offices on behalf of her unfortunate brother, who had been so +vilely treated by the government of Louis Philippe, and had been cast +out from the country over which he should have ruled. In England he +devoted himself to the manufacture of fireworks and explosive shells; +and while he obtained the commendation of the authorities at Woolwich +for his ingeniously-contrived obuses, aroused the ire of the +inhabitants of Camberwell, who could not sleep because of the +continuous explosion of concussion-shells on his premises. They +summoned him before the magistrates as a nuisance, and he transferred +his establishment to Chelsea. Here the emissaries, or supposed +emissaries, of the French king, pursued him. An attempt was made to +shoot him, and he made it a pretext for leaving a country where his +life was not safe, and retired to Delft, in Holland, where he died in +very humble circumstances, on the 10th of August, 1844. + + + + +AUGUSTUS MEVES--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +Bloomsbury has been equally honoured with Camberwell and Chelsea in +providing a home for a pretended dauphin of France, and for a dauphin +whose pretensions are not allowed to lapse, although he has himself +sunk into the grave, but are persistently presented before the public +at recurring intervals by his sons. The story which he told, and which +they continue to tell, is a curious jumble of the inventions which +preceded it--a sort of literary patchwork, without design or pattern, +and a flimsy covering either for self-conceit or imposture. + +In this case the tale is, that, about September, 1793, Tom Paine, who +was then a member of the National Convention, wrote to England to a +Mrs. Carpenter to bring to Paris a deaf and dumb boy for a certain +purpose. Deaf and dumb boys are not easily procurable, and ladies, +when entrusted with mysterious missions, have an inveterate habit of +communicating them to their personal friends. Mrs. Carpenter knew a Mrs. +Meves, a music teacher, and hastened to inform her of the strange +instructions which she had received from France, and the pair set out +to find a child to suit the requirements of Paine. They failed, and +Mrs. Meves in her chagrin told her husband of their failure. That +worthy, who was then resident in Bloomsbury Square, had a son, +supposed to be illegitimate, living in his house. The lad had been +born in 1785, was about the age required, was in delicate health, and +a burden to his father, and there was no apparent reason why he should +not occupy the precarious position intended for the deaf and dumb boy, +at least until a mute could be found to take his place. Mr. Meves, +therefore, actuated by these ideas, proceeded to France, and, as those +who now bear his name assert, succeeded in procuring an interview with +Marie-Antoinette in her dungeon in the Conciergerie, where he made the +illustrious sufferer a vow of secrecy respecting her son, which he +kept to the latest hour of his existence. And, lest there should be +any doubt about this interview, it is added that many loyalists, both +before and after, penetrated into the gloom of her prison-cell, and +all but one contrived to evade being detected. + +At the interview it was agreed that he should introduce the lad, whom +he had brought, into the Temple, and should place him under the care +of Simon, the shoemaker, till a good opportunity occurred to extricate +Louis XVII. The arrangement was no sooner made than it was carried +out. Madame Simon, who was a party to the plot, found the "good +opportunity." The dauphin was removed in the convenient basket of a +laundress--perhaps the same basket which had held Nauendorff, and the +unfortunate bastard of Mr. Meves was left in his stead. On reaching +the hotel at which Mr. Meves was staying the rescued prince was +respectably attired, and, having been placed in a carriage by his new +guardian, was escorted by the Marquis of Bonneval as far as the coast +of Normandy. It is not said whether, during the long ride, Mr. Meves +felt a twinge of remorse for his heartless conduct towards the +harmless and delicate child whom he had left in the clutches of Simon; +but, at all events, he is represented as reaching England in safety +with his new charge. The liberated king took up his abode in +Bloomsbury Square, and was adopted as the son of Mr. Meves, who had +better reasons for abiding by the laws of adoption than those of +parentage. At this time he was only eight years and seven months old. + +But Mrs. Meves was not so thoroughly satisfied with the result of her +husband's mission as that astute individual was himself disposed to +be; and having learnt that the boy who had passed as her son was a +prisoner in the Temple Tower, hurried off to her friend Mrs. Carpenter +to tell her doleful tale, and to concoct measures for his release. A +renewed search was instituted for a deaf and dumb boy, and one was +found--"the son of a poor woman"--and in the month of January, 1794, +Mrs. Meves procured passports, and proceeded with this boy and a German +gentleman to Holland to the Abbe Morlet. From Holland the Abbe, the +boy, and Mrs. Meves went to Paris, "and the deaf and dumb boy was +placed in certain hands to accomplish her son's liberation at the most +convenient time, but at what precise date such was carried into effect +remains to be ascertained." + +It is, however, more than suggested that the worn-out child seen by +Lasne and Gomin, who was so abnormally reticent, was the deaf and dumb +boy; and there is a wild attempt to prove either that he never spoke +at all, or that, if the captive under their care did speak, it must +have been a fourth child who had been substituted for the mute. The +whole tale is unintelligible and incoherent; assertions are freely +made without an iota of proof from its beginning to its end. If we are +to credit the sons of the pretender, the dauphin was educated by Mr. +Meves as a musician, and knew nothing of his origin till the year +1818, when Mrs. Meves declared it to him. In the years 1830 and 1831 he +addressed letters (which were not answered) to the Duchess of +Angouleme, stating the circumstances in which he had been conveyed to +England, but making an egregious blunder as to the date, which his +sons vainly endeavour to conceal or explain. They say, also, that a +very large section of the French nobility had no hesitation in +admitting the royal descent of their father. Thus the Count Fontaine +de Moreau expressed himself convinced that the man before him was the +missing dauphin, after examining with singular interest some blood +spots on his breast, resembling "a constellation of the heavens." The +Count de Jauffroy not only called and wrote down his address--21 +Alsopp's Terrace, New Road--but declared his opinion that the British +government was perfectly aware that "at 8 Bath Place, lives the true +Louis XVII." "But, sir," the count went on to say, "the danger lies in +acknowledging you, as from the energy of your character you might put +the whole of Europe into a state of fermentation, as you are not only +King of France in right of your birth, but you are also heir to Maria +Theresa, empress of Germany." His sons add that "Louis Napoleon is +aware, and has been for many years, that the person called 'Augustus +Meves' was the veritable Louis XVII." At the time these words were +penned the Emperor of the French was alive in this country, and a +_Times'_ reviewer not unreasonably said, "If, indeed, the illustrious +exile of Chiselhurst be aware of so remarkable a fact, he will surely +soon proclaim it, together with his reasons for being aware of it. +Aspirants to the throne of France cannot touch him further; and the +triumphant proof of Augustus Meves' heirship to Louis XVI. would not +only confound the councils of Frohsdorff, but it would turn the +grandest legitimist of Europe into little better than a usurper, if, +as was said by the Count de Jauffroy, Augustus Meves must of necessity +not only be the eldest son of St. Louis, but the eldest son of Rudolf +of Hapsburg to boot." + +Napoleon passed away, and made no sign; but the sons of Augustus +Meves (who himself died in 1859) show no disposition to under-rate his +pretensions. The elder, who styles himself Auguste de Bourbon, and +upon whom the royal mantle is supposed to have fallen, is not +indifferent to the political changes of the time, and has again and +again endeavoured to thrust his claims to the French throne before the +public. In a letter dated June 17, 1871, he says--"Several articles +have recently appeared respecting the chances of the Comte de Chambord +succeeding to power, in virtue of his right of birth as the eldest +representative of legitimate monarchy. This supposition by many is +admitted; nevertheless, it is a palpable hallucination, for the +representative of legitimate hereditary monarchy by actual descent is +directly vested in the eldest son of Louis XVII. Periodically, the +Comte de Chambord issues a manifesto, basing his right for doing such +as representing, by the right of hereditary succession, the head of +the House of Bourbon. Whenever such appears, duty demands that I +should protest against his pretensions. Great the relief would indeed +be to me could the Comte de Chambord, or any historian, produce +rational argument, or rather documents, to support the supposition +that the son of Louis XVI. and Marie-Antoinette died in the Tower of +the Temple, in June, 1795. Those who believe this with such proof as +is now extant to the general public are under a hallucination. Should, +however, the Comte de Chambord or the fused party base the right of +succeeding to power on the principle of inheriting it by the law of +legitimate succession, I, the son of Louis XVII., should demand a +hearing from France, and in France's name now protest against any +political combinations that have the object in view of acknowledging +the Comte de Chambord as the legitimate heir to the throne of +France.... I owe my origin to the French revolution of 1789; for had +not Louis XVII. been delivered from his captivity in the Temple, I +should have had no existence. Being, then, the offspring of the French +revolution, it is compatible with reason that by restoring the heir of +Louis XVII. as a constitutional king, such would be acceptable alike +to revolutionists and monarchists, and so end that state of alternate +violence and repression which, ever since the revolution of 1789, has +characterised unhappy France." In a still later document, he +says:--"The Comte de Chambord I can recognise as a nobleman, and as +representing a principle acknowledged; but the House of Orleans can +only be looked upon and recognised as disloyal and renegade royalty, +deserving the obliquy of fallen honour, having forfeited its right to +all regal honours." From his lofty perch this strange mongrel king +still awaits the call of France! + + + + +RICHEMONT--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +On the 30th of October, 1834, a mysterious personage was placed at the +bar of the Assize Court of the Seine, on a charge of conspiring to +overthrow the government of Louis Philippe, and of assuming titles +which did not belong to him, for the purpose of perpetrating fraud. +This individual, who is described as a little man, of aristocratic +appearance, was another of the many pretenders who have from time to +time assumed the character of Louis XVII., and his story was so +evidently false that it would scarcely be worth mention were it not +for the fate which befell him. For several years he had been prowling +throughout France in various disguises, and under a multitude of +names, swindling the credulous public; and from being an assumed +baron, he suddenly developed himself into the dauphin of the Temple, +and laid claim to the throne. Like the other impostors, he made his +assumption profitable, and found a peculiarly easy victim in the +Marquise de Grigny, a lady aged eighty-two years, who not only gave +him all her ready-money, but would have assigned her estates to him if +the law had not interposed. So successful was he in victimizing the +public, that he could afford to keep a private printing-press at work, +and disburse large sums to stir up disturbances in various parts of +the country; and so hopeful, that he bought a plumed hat, a sword, and +a gorgeous uniform, to appear before his subjects in fitting guise on +the day of his restoration. + +The clothes-basket of the laundress was brought into requisition for +his benefit also, and in it he lay ensconced while devoted friends +were carrying him away from the Temple, and from the rascally Simon, +who was still in authority. Like Meves, he asserted that Madame Simon +aided the plot, and in the course of his trial placed a certain M. +Remusat in the witness-box, who stated that while he was in the +hospital at Parma a woman called Semas complained bitterly of the +treatment to which she was subjected, and declared loudly that if her +children knew it they would soon come to her relief. Remusat thereupon +asked her if she had any children, when she responded, "My children, +sir, are the children of France! I was their _gouvernante_!" There was +no mistaking the allusion, and her astonished hearer replied, "But the +dauphin is dead." "Not so," was the answer; "he lives; and, if I +mistake not, was removed from the Temple in a basket of linen." +"Then," added the witness, "I asked the woman who she was, and she +told me that she was the wife of a man called Simon, the former +guardian-keeper. Then I understood her assertion, 'I was their +_gouvernante_!'" + +This extraordinary piece of evidence was entirely uncorroborated, and +in reality the accused had no case. But if he was deficient in proof +of his assertions, he had abundance of audacity. At first he declined +to answer the interrogatories of the judge, and permitted that +functionary to lay bare his past life, without any attempt to dispute +his assertions; but when the witnesses were brought against him, he +broke his silence, and finally became irrepressibly talkative. The +authorities had traced his career with some care, and showed that his +real name was d'Hebert, and that he always used that name in legal +documents, such as transfers of property to himself, being shrewd +enough to know that a conveyance would be invalid if executed in a +false name. In his proclamations, however, he invariably appeared as +"Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Normandy." In private life his favourite +title was Baron Richemont, although sometimes he condescended to be +addressed as Colonel Gustave; and when imperative occasion demanded, +passed under the vulgar cognomen of Bernard. + +The agents of police tracked him under all these disguises with the +greatest facility, by means of a clue which he himself provided. +Having been a man of method, he was in the habit of keeping a +memorandum-book or diary, in which he recorded, in cypher, all his +proceedings. This interesting volume fell into the hands of the +detectives, who soon discovered the key to it, and thus enabled the +judge of the Assize Court to present the sham dauphin with a very +vivid portrait of himself drawn by his own hand. Among other +occurrences which were recorded in this diary, was a visit which had +been paid by the pretender to a certain Madame de Malabre, at Caen; +and it was specially noted that he had granted this lady permission to +erect a monument to himself in her garden, and to dedicate it to the +Duke of Normandy; and, what was a very much graver matter, that he had +visited Lyons with the express purpose of stirring up a revolution +there. In some of his letters, also, he mentioned this attempted +up-rising in the great city which rests on the twin rivers, and +asserted that the denouement approached, and that his triumph was +certain. "I am at Lyons," he added, "where I have seen the +representatives of sixty-five departments. We shall march to Paris, +and I have in the capital forces ten times greater than are necessary +to oust the rascal!" + +To follow all the evidence which was led against the prisoner would be +very tedious, and worse than useless; but one witness appeared whose +testimony is worthy of record. He was an old man, aged seventy-six, +who was very deaf, and whose voice was almost gone. It was Lasne, the +faithful keeper of the Temple. He said-- + +"Two people came to my house and asked me if the dauphin were really +dead, and if he had not been carried out of the Temple; and I told +them that the poor child died in my arms, and that though a thousand +years were to pass his Majesty Louis XVII. would never re-appear." + +Then the interrogatory proceeded:-- + +"Was he long ill?" + +"He was ill for nine months after the establishment of the commune. Dr. +Dessault prescribed several drops of a mixture which he was to take +every morning, and three consecutive times the child vomited the +medicine, and asked if it were not injurious. In order to reassure +him, Dr. Dessault took the cup and drank some of it before him, when he +said, 'Very good. You have said that I ought to take this liquid, and +I will take it;' and he swallowed it. Dr. Dessault attended him for +eight days, and every morning drank some of the medicine to reassure +the Child. When Dessault died suddenly from an apoplectic stroke, M. +Pellatan took his place and continued the same treatment. At the end +of three months the poor child died resting on my left arm." + +"Was it easy to approach the child?" + +"No, sir; it was necessary to pass through the courts of the Temple. +The applicant then knocked at a wicket. I answered the summons; and if +I recognised the person I opened the wicket. Then the visitor was +taken to the third floor, where the prince was." + +"Did he show much intelligence?" + +"Yes, sir, he was very intelligent. Every day I walked with him on the +top of the Tower, holding him under the arm. He had a tumour at his +knee, which gave him a great deal of pain." + +"But it is said that another child was substituted for him, and that +the real dauphin was smuggled out of the Tower?" + +"That is a false idea. I used to be a captain of the French Gardes in +the old days, and in that capacity I often saw the young dauphin. I +have attended him in the Jardin des Feuillants, and I am convinced +that the child who was under my care was the same. I was condemned to +death; but the events of the 9th Thermidor saved my life. I was +condemned, at the instigation of Saint-Just, who caused me to be +arrested by eight gens d'armes. I solemnly declare that the child who +died in my arms was in reality Louis XVII." + +"That he was undoubtedly the same child?" + +"Undoubtedly the same child, with the same features and the same +figure." + +More than one impostor has tripped, stumbled, and fallen over that +declaration. + +But notwithstanding Lasne's evidence, on the second morning of the +trial a printed sheet was circulated among the audience, which is a +curiosity in its way. This document, which was addressed to the jury, +was signed "Charles-Louis, Duke of Normandy," and was a sort of +protest in favour of Louis XVII., who pretended to have nothing in +common with the sham Baron Richemont. It asserted that "the secret +mover of the puppet Richemont could not be unaware the real son of the +unfortunate Louis XVI. was furnished with the requisite proofs of his +origin, and that he could prove by indisputable evidence his own +identity with the dauphin of the Temple. It was perfectly well known +that every time the royal orphan sought to make himself known to his +family, a sham Louis XVII. was immediately brought forward--an +impostor like the person the jury was called upon to judge--and by +this manoeuvre public opinion was changed, and the voice of the real +son of Louis XVI. was silenced." At the opening of the court an +advocate appeared on behalf of this second pretender; but after a +short discussion was refused a hearing. + +As far as Richemont was concerned, all his audacity could not save +him; from the beginning the evidence was dead against him; there was +no difficulty in tracing his infamous career, the public prosecutor +was merciless in his denunciation, and in his demand that a severe +sentence should be passed upon this new disturber of the state, and +Richemont's own eloquence availed him nothing. The prisoner was, +however, bold enough, and in addressing the jury, said--"The public +prosecutor has told you that I cannot be the son of Louis XVI. Has he +told you who I am? He has been formally asked, and has kept silence. +Gentlemen, you will appreciate that silence, and will also appreciate +the reasons which prevent us from producing our titles. This is +neither the place nor the moment. The competent tribunals will be +called upon to give their decision in this matter. He tells you also +that inquiries have been made everywhere; but he has not let you know +the result of these inquiries. He cannot do it!... I repeat to you +that if I am mistaken, I am thoroughly honest in my mistake. It has +lasted for fifty years, and I fear I shall carry it with me to my +tomb." + +The jury were perfectly indifferent to his appeal, and found him +guilty of a plot to upset the government of the king, of exciting the +people to civil war, of attempting to change the order of succession +to the throne, and of three minor offences in addition. The +Advocate-General pressed for the heaviest penalty which the law +allowed, and the judge condemned "Henri-Hebert-Ethelbert-Louis-Hector," +calling himself Baron de Richemont, to twelve years' imprisonment. + +Richemont listened to his sentence unmoved, and as the officers were +about to take him away, said in a low voice to those near him, "The +man who does not know how to suffer is unworthy of persecution!" + + + + +THE REV. ELEAZAR WILLIAMS--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE. + + +America also has had her sham dauphin, in the person of an Indian +missionary, whose claims have been repeatedly presented to the public +both in magazine articles and in book form. His adventures, as +recorded by his biographers, are quite as singular as those of his +competitors for royal honours. We are told that in the year 1795, a +French family, calling themselves De Jardin, or De Jourdan, arrived in +Albany, direct from France. At that time French refugees were +thronging to America; and in the influx of strangers this party might +have escaped notice, but peculiar circumstances directed attention to +them. The family consisted of a lady, a gentleman, and two children; +and although the two former bore the same name, they did not seem to +be man and wife, Madame de Jourdan dressed expensively and elegantly, +while Monsieur de Jourdan was very plainly attired, and appeared to be +the lady's servant rather than her husband. Great mystery was observed +with respect to their children, who were carefully concealed from the +public gaze. The eldest was a girl, and was called Louise; while the +youngest, a boy of nine or ten years of age, was invariably addressed +as Monsieur Louis. He was very rarely seen, even by the few ladies and +children who were admitted into a sort of semi-friendship by the +new-comers, and when he did appear seemed to be dull, and paid no +attention to the persons present or the conversation. Madame de +Jardin, who had in her possession many relics of Louis XVI. and +Marie-Antoinette, made no secret that she had been a maid of honour to +the queen, and was separated from her on the terrace of the Tuileries, +prior to her imprisonment in the Temple. She had not yet recovered +from the dreadful events of the revolution, and had a theatrical habit +of relieving her highly-strung feelings by rushing to the harpsichord, +wildly playing the Marseillaise, and then bursting into tears. Those +who had free admittance into the family of the De Jourdans had no +difficulty in tracing a resemblance between the children and the +portraits of the royal family of France; but delicacy forbade +questions, and even the most confident could only surmise that this +retired maid of honour had escaped from her native land in charge of +the children of the Temple. After remaining for a short time in +Albany, without any apparent purpose, the De Jardins sold most of +their effects, and disappeared as mysteriously as they had come. + +Later in the same year (1795) two Frenchmen, one of them having the +appearance of a Romish priest, arrived at the Indian settlement of +Ticonderoga, in the vicinity of Lake George, bringing with them a +sickly boy, in a state of mental imbecility, whom they left with the +Indians. The child is said to have been adopted by an Iroquis chief, +called Thomas Williams, _alias_ Tehorakwaneken, whose wife was +Konwatewenteta, and although no proof is offered that he was the boy +called Monsieur Louis by Madame de Jardin, and still less that he was +the dauphin of France, it is said by those who support his +pretensions, that whoever considers the coincidences of circumstance, +time and place, age, mental condition and bodily resemblance, must +admit, apart from all other testimony, that it is highly probable that +he was both the sham De Jardin and the real dauphin. + +Thomas Williams, the Iroquis chief, who had some English blood in his +veins, lived in a small log-house on the shores of Lake George. His +unpretending dwelling was about twenty feet square, perhaps a little +larger, roofed with bark, leaving an opening in the centre to give +egress to the smoke from the fire which blazed beneath it on the +floor, in the middle of the ample apartment. Around this fire were +ranged the beds of the family, composed of hemlock boughs, covered +with the skins of animals slaughtered in the chase. The fare of the +family was as simple as their dwelling-place. From cross-sticks over +the fire hung a huge kettle, in which the squaw made soup of pounded +corn flavoured with venison. They purchased their salt and spirits at +Fort-Edward; and the stream supplied them with fish, the woods and +mountains with game. Such was the early upbringing of the missionary +king. + +The boy was known as Lazar or Eleazar Williams; his reputed father, +the chief, invariably acknowledged him and addressed him as his own +son; and the lad himself could tell but little of his earlier years. +He had hazy recollections of soldiers and a gorgeous palace, and a +beautiful lady on whose lap he used to recline; but when he tried to +think closely and recall the past, his mind became confused, and +painted chiefs, shady wigwams, and the homely face of the chieftain's +squaw, obtruded themselves, and blurred the glorious scenes amid which +he faintly remembered to have lived. + +But circumstances sometimes occurred which made a deep impression even +on his weak mind. Thus, when the youthful Eleazar was one day sporting +on the lake near Fort-William, in a little wooden canoe, with several +other boys, two strange gentlemen came up to the encampment of Thomas +Williams, and took their seats with him upon a log at a little +distance from the wigwam. With natural curiosity at a circumstance +which broke in upon the usual monotony of Indian life, the boys +paddled their canoe ashore, and strolled up to the encampment to +ascertain who the strangers were, when Thomas Williams called out, +"Lazar, this friend of yours wishes to speak to you." As he approached +one of the gentlemen rose and went off to another Indian encampment. +The one who remained with the chief had every indication in dress, +manners, and language of being a Frenchman. When Eleazar came near, +this gentleman advanced several steps to meet him, embraced him most +tenderly, and when he sat down again on the log made him stand between +his legs. In the meantime he shed abundance of tears, said "Pauvre +garcon!" and continued to embrace him. The chief was soon afterwards +called to a neighbouring wigwam, and Eleazar and the Frenchman were +left alone. The latter continued to kiss him and weep, and spoke a +good deal, seeming anxious that he should understand him, which he was +unable to do. When Thomas Williams returned to them he asked Eleazar +whether he knew what the gentleman had said to him, and he replied, +"No." They both left him, and walked off in the direction in which the +other gentleman had gone. The two gentlemen came again the next day, +and the Frenchman remained several hours. The chief took him out in a +canoe on the lake; and the last which Eleazar remembered was them all +sitting together on a log, when the Frenchman took hold of his bare +feet and dusty legs, and examined his knees and ankles closely. Again +the Frenchman shed tears, but young Eleazar was quite indifferent, not +knowing what to make of it. Before the gentleman left he gave him a +piece of gold. + +A few evenings later, when the younger members of the household were +in bed, and were supposed to be asleep, Eleazar, who was lying broad +awake, overheard a conversation between the Indian chief and his squaw +which interested him mightily. The chief was urging compliance with a +request which had been made to them to allow two of their children to +go away for education; but his wife objected on religious grounds. +When he persisted in his demand she said, "If you will do it you may +send away this strange boy. Means have been put into your hands for +his education; but John I cannot part with." Her willingness to +sacrifice him, and the whole tone of the conversation, excited +suspicions in the mind of the listener as to his parentage, but they +soon passed away. Mrs. Williams at last agreed that John, one of her +own children, and Lazar, according to this story, her adopted child, +should be sent to Long Meadow, a village in Massachusetts, to be +brought up under the care of a deacon called Nathaniel Ely. It is said +that when the supposed brothers entered the village, dressed in their +Indian costume, the entire dissimilarity in their appearance at once +excited attention, and they became the subjects of general +conversation among the villagers. At Long Meadow the lads remained for +several years, and are represented as having made "remarkably good +proficiency in school learning," as exhibiting strong proofs of +virtuous and pious dispositions, and as "likely to make useful +missionaries among the heathen." This encomium seems, however, to have +been much more applicable to Eleazar than his companion; for, after +the most persistent attempts, it was found impossible to cultivate the +mind of John, whose passion for savage life was irrepressible, and who +returned home to live and die among the Indians. With Eleazar it was +different, and his biographer proudly records that he was called +familiarly "the plausible boy." + +He was as versatile as he was plausible, and in the course of his long +life played many parts besides that of Louis XVII. When he had +forgotten the early lessons of the wigwam, and had acquired the +learning and religious enthusiasm of the New Englanders, he became a +sort of wandering gospel-preacher among the Indians; but the work was +little suited to him, and he found far more congenial employment when +the war broke out between England and America, as superintendent-general +of the Northern Indian Department on the United States side. +In this office "he had under his command the whole secret corps +of rangers and scouts of the army, who spread themselves +everywhere, and freely entered in and out of the enemy's camp." In +other words, he was a sort of chief spy; and if he had been caught in +the British lines would have had a very short shrift, notwithstanding +his sanctimonious utterances, and the peculiarly sensitive conscience +of which he made a perpetual boast. About the same time he was +declared a chief of the Iroquis nation, under the name of +Onwarenhiiaki, or the tree cutter--a compliment little likely to have +been paid to an unknown man, but which would not unreasonably be +bestowed upon the son of a famous chief. Having received a severe +wound he was nursed back into life by his reputed father, and on his +complete recovery expressed his contrition for his backsliding, and +his horror of the bloodthirsty trade of war, and returned to the +peaceful work of attempting to teach and convert his dusky Indian +brethren. He deserted the Congregationalists with whom he had +previously been connected, and joined the Protestant Episcopal Church, +by which he was ordained, and to which he remained faithful during the +later years of his life. + +By this time he was convinced that he was no Indian, and believed that +he was the son of some noble Frenchman, but he scarcely ventured to +think that he was a pure Bourbon; although dim suspicions of his royal +descent sometimes haunted him, although friends assured him that his +likeness to the French king was so strong that his origin was beyond +question, and although he had certain marks on his body which +corresponded with those said to exist on the person of the dauphin. +But as he got older, the evidence in favour of his illustrious +parentage seemed to grow stronger; if he was questioned on the +subject he was too truthful to deny what he thought, and the knowledge +of his name and the number of those who believed in him rapidly +increased. At last, according to his own story, an event occurred +which placed the matter beyond all doubt. + +The Prince de Joinville was travelling in America in 1841, and what +happened in the course of his travels to the Rev. Eleazar Williams +that gentleman may be left to tell. He says--"In October 1841, I was +on my way from Buffalo to Green Bay, and took a steamer from the +former place bound to Chicago, which touched at Mackinac, and left me +there to await the arrival of the steamer from Buffalo to Green Bay. +Vessels which had recently come in announced the speedy arrival of the +Prince de Joinville; public expectation was on tiptoe, and crowds were +on the wharves. The steamer at length came in sight, salutes were +fired and answered, the colours run up, and she came into port in fine +style. Immediately she touched the Prince and his retinue came on +shore, and went out some little distance from the town to visit some +natural curiosities in the neighbourhood. The steamer awaited their +return. During their absence I was standing on the wharf among the +crowd, when Captain John Shook came up to me and asked whether I was +going on to Green Bay, adding that the Prince de Joinville had made +inquiries of him concerning a Rev. Mr. Williams, and that he had told +the prince he knew such a person, referring to me, whom he supposed +was the man he meant, though he could not imagine what the prince +could want with or know of me. I replied to the captain in a laughing +way, without having any idea what a deep meaning attached to my +words--'Oh, I am a great man, and great men will of course seek me +out.' + +"Soon after, the prince and his suite arrived and went on board. I did +the same, and the steamer put to sea. When we were fairly out on the +water, the captain came to me and said, 'The prince, Mr. Williams, +requests me to say to you that he desires to have an interview with +you, and will be happy either to have you come to him, or allow me to +introduce him to you.' 'Present my compliments to the prince,' I +said, 'and say I put myself entirely at his disposal, and will be +proud to accede to whatever may be his wishes in the matter.' The +captain again retired, and soon returned, bringing the Prince de +Joinville, with him. I was sitting at the time on a barrel. The prince +not only started with evident and involuntary surprise when he saw me, +but there was great agitation in his face and manner--a slight +paleness and a quivering of the lip--which I could not help remarking +at the time, but which struck me more forcibly afterwards in +connection with the whole train of circumstances, and by contrast with +his usual self-possessed manner. He then shook me earnestly and +respectfully by the hand, and drew me immediately into conversation. +The attention he paid me seemed not only to astonish myself and the +passengers, but also the prince's retinue. + +"At dinner-time there was a separate table laid for the prince and his +companions, and he invited me to sit with them, and offered me the +seat of honour by his side. But I was a little abashed by the +attentions of the prince, so I thought I would keep out of the circle, +and begged the prince to excuse me, and permit me to dine at the +ordinary table with the passengers, which I accordingly did. After +dinner the conversation turned between us on the first French +settlement in America, the valour and enterprise of the early +adventurers, and the loss of Canada to France, at which the prince +expressed deep regret. He was very copious and fluent in speech, and I +was surprised at the good English he spoke; a little broken, indeed, +like mine, but very intelligible. We continued talking late into the +night, reclining in the cabin on the cushions in the stern of the +boat. When we retired to rest, the prince lay on the locker, and I in +the first berth next to it. + +"The next day the steamer did not arrive at Green Bay until about +three o'clock, and during most of the time we were in conversation. On +our arrival the prince said I would oblige him by accompanying him to +his hotel, and taking up my quarters at the Astor House. I begged to +be excused, as I wished to go to the house of my father-in-law. He +replied he had some matters of great importance to speak to me about; +and as he could not stay long at Green Bay, but would take his +departure the next day, or the day after, he wished I would comply +with his request. As there was some excitement consequent on the +prince's arrival, and a great number of persons were at the Astor +House wishing to see him, I thought I would take advantage of the +confusion to go to my father-in-law's, and promised to return in the +evening when he would be more private. I did so, and on my return +found the prince alone, with the exception of one attendant, whom he +dismissed. He opened the conversation by saying he had a communication +to make to me of a very serious nature as concerned himself, and of +the last importance to me; that it was one in which no others were +interested, and therefore, before proceeding farther, he wished to +obtain some pledge of secrecy, some promise that I would not reveal to +any one what he was going to say. I demurred to any such conditions +being imposed previous to my being acquainted with the nature of the +subject, as there might be something in it, after all, prejudicial and +injurious to others; and it was at length, after some altercation, +agreed that I should pledge my honour not to reveal what the prince +was going to say, provided there was nothing in it prejudicial to any +one, and I signed a promise to this effect on a sheet of paper. It was +vague and general, for I would not tie myself down to absolute +secrecy, but left the matter conditional. When this was done the +prince spoke to this effect-- + +"'You have been accustomed, sir, to consider yourself a native of this +country, but you are not. You are of foreign descent; you were born in +Europe, sir; and however incredible it may at first sight seem to you, +you are the son of a king. There ought to be much consolation to you +to know this fact. You have suffered a great deal, and have been +brought very low; but you have not suffered more or been more degraded +than my father, who was long in exile and in poverty in this country; +but there is this difference between him and you, that he was all +along aware of his high birth, whereas you have been spared the +knowledge of your origin.' + +"When the prince said this I was much overcome, and thrown into a +state of mind which you can easily imagine. In fact, I hardly knew +what to do or say; and my feelings were so much excited that I was +like one in a dream. However, I remember I told him his communication +was so startling and unexpected that he must forgive me for being +incredulous, and that I was really between two." + +"'What do you mean,' he said, 'by being between two?' + +"I replied that, on the one hand, it scarcely seemed to me he could +believe what he said; and, on the other, I feared he might be under +some mistake as to the person. He assured me, however, he would not +trifle with my feelings on such a subject, and had ample means in his +possession to satisfy me that there was no mistake whatever. I +requested him to proceed with the disclosure partly made, and to +inform me in full of the secret of my birth. He replied that, in doing +so, it was necessary that a certain process should be gone through in +order to guard the interest of all parties concerned. I inquired what +kind of process he meant. Upon this the prince rose and went to his +trunk, which was in the room, and took from it a parchment which he +laid on the table and set before me, that I might read and give him my +determination in regard to it. There were also on the table pen and +ink and wax, and he placed there a governmental seal of France--the +one, if I mistake not, used under the old monarchy. The document which +the prince placed before me was very handsomely written in double +parallel columns of French and English. I continued intently reading +and considering it for a space of four or five hours. During this time +the prince left me undisturbed, remaining for the most part in the +room, but he went out three or four times. + +"The purport of the document which I read repeatedly word by word, +comparing the French with the English, was this: It was a solemn +abdication of the crown of France in favour of Louis Philippe by +Charles Louis, the son of Louis XVI., who was styled Louis XVII., +King of France and Navarre, with all accompanying names and titles of +honour, according to the custom of the old French monarchy, together +with a minute specification in legal phraseology of the conditions and +considerations and provisos upon which the abdication was made. These +conditions were, in brief, that a princely establishment should be +secured to me either in America or in France, at my option, and that +Louis Philippe would pledge himself on his part to secure the +restoration, or an equivalent for it, of all the private property of +the royal family rightfully belonging to me, which had been +confiscated in France during the revolution, or in any way got into +other hands." + +After excusing himself for not taking a copy of this precious document +when he had the chance, and mentioning, among other reasons, "the +sense of personal dignity which had been excited by these +disclosures," the Rev. Eleazar proceeds with his narrative:-- + +"At length I made my decision, and rose and told the prince that I had +considered the matter fully in all its aspects, and was prepared to +give him my definite answer upon the subject; and then went on to say, +that whatever might be the personal consequences to myself, I felt I +could not be the instrument of bartering away with my own hand the +rights pertaining to me by my birth, and sacrificing the interests of +my family, and that I could only give to him the answer which De +Provence gave to the ambassador of Napoleon at Warsaw--'Though I am in +poverty and exile, I will not sacrifice my honour.' + +"The prince upon this assumed a loud tone, and accused me of +ingratitude in trampling upon the overtures of the king, his father, +who, he said, was actuated in making the proposition more by feelings +of kindness and pity towards me than by any other consideration, since +his claim to the French throne rested on an entirely different basis +to mine--viz., not that of hereditary descent, but of popular +election. When he spoke in this strain, I spoke loud also, and said +that as he, by his disclosure, had put me in the position of a +superior, I must assume that position, and frankly say that my +indignation was stirred by the memory that one of the family of +Orleans had imbrued his hands in my father's blood, and that another +now wished to obtain from me an abdication of the throne. When I spoke +of superiority, the prince immediately assumed a respectful attitude, +and remained silent for several minutes. It had now grown very late, +and we parted, with a request from him that I would reconsider the +proposal of his father, and not be too hasty in my decision. I +returned to my father-in-law's, and the next day saw the prince again, +and on his renewal of the subject gave him a similar answer. Before he +went away he said, 'Though we part, I hope we part friends.'" + +And this tale is not intended for burlesque or comedy, but as a sober +account of transactions which really took place. It was published in a +respectable magazine, it has been re-produced in a book which sets +forth the claims of "The Lost Prince," and it was brought so +prominently before the Prince de Joinville that he was compelled +either to corroborate it or deny it. His answer is very plain. He had +a perfect recollection of being on board the steamer at the time and +place mentioned, and of meeting on board the steamboat "a passenger +whose face he thinks he recognises in the portrait given in the +_Monthly Magazine_, but whose name had entirely escaped his memory. +This passenger seemed well informed respecting the history of America +during the last century. He related many anecdotes and interesting +particulars concerning the French, who took part and distinguished +themselves in these events. His mother, he said, was an Indian woman +of the great tribe of Iroquis, and his father was French. These +details could not fail to vividly interest the prince, whose voyage to +the district had for its object to retrace the glorious path of the +French, who had first opened to civilisation these fine countries. All +which treats of the revelation which the prince made to Mr. Williams of +the mystery of his birth, all which concerns the pretended personage +of Louis XVII., is from one end to the other a work of the +imagination--a fable woven wholesale--a speculation upon the public +credulity." + + * * * * * + +These are but a few of the numerous sham dauphins who have at various +times appeared. One author, who has written a history of the elder +branch of the House of Bourbon, estimates the total number of +pretenders at a dozen and a half, while M. Beauchesne increases the +list to thirty. But few, besides those whose history has been given, +succeeded in gaining notoriety, and all failed to rouse the French +authorities to punish or even to notice their transparent impostures. + + * * * * * + + + + +THOMAS PROVIS--CALLING HIMSELF SIR RICHARD HUGH SMYTH. + + +Great excitement prevailed throughout England towards the close of the +year 1853, in consequence of the result of a trial which took place at +the autumn assizes at Gloucester. A person calling himself Sir Richard +Hugh Smyth laid claim to an extinct baronetcy, and brought an action +of ejectment to recover possession of vast estates, situated in the +neighbourhood of Bristol, and valued at nearly L30,000 a-year. The +baronetcy in question had become, or was supposed to have become, +extinct on the death of Sir John Smyth, in 1849, and at his decease +the estates had passed to his sister Florence; and when she died, in +1852, had devolved upon her son, who was then a minor, and who was +really the defendant in the cause. Mr. Justice Coleridge presided at +the trial, Mr. (afterwards Lord-Justice) Bovill appeared for the +claimant, and Sir Frederick Thesiger represented the defendant. + +According to the opening address of the counsel for the plaintiff, his +client had been generally supposed to be the son of a carpenter of +Warminster named Provis, and had been brought up in this man's house +as one of his family. When the lad arrived at an age to comprehend +such matters, he perceived that he was differently treated from the +other members of the household, and, from circumstances which came to +his knowledge, was led to suspect that Provis was not really his +father, but that he was the son of Sir Hugh Smyth of Ashton Hall, near +Bristol, and the heir to a very extensive property. It seemed that +this baronet had married a Miss Wilson, daughter of the Bishop of +Bristol, in 1797, that she had died childless some years later, and +that he had, in 1822, united himself to a Miss Elizabeth. The second +union proved as fruitless as the first, and when Sir Hugh himself +died, in 1824, his brother John succeeded to the title and the greater +portion of the property. By-and-by, however, certain facts came to the +ears of the plaintiff, which left no doubt on his mind that he was the +legitimate son of Sir Hugh Smyth, by a first and hitherto concealed +marriage with Jane, daughter of Count Vandenbergh, to whom he had been +secretly married in Ireland, in 1796. But, although the plaintiff was +thus convinced himself, he knew that, while he possessed documents +which placed his origin beyond a doubt, it would be extremely +difficult for a person in his humble circumstances to substantiate his +claim, or secure the services of a lawyer bold enough to take his case +in hand, and refrained from demanding his rights until 1849; in which +year, rendered desperate by delay, he went personally to Ashton Hall, +obtained an interview with Sir John Smyth, and communicated to him his +relationship and his claims. The meeting was much more satisfactory +than might have been expected. As Sir John had been party to certain +documents which were executed by his brother in his lifetime (which +were among those which had been discovered), and in which the +circumstances of the concealed marriage and the birth of the claimant +were acknowledged, it was useless for him to deny the justice of the +demand, and he recognised his nephew without demur. But the excitement +of the interview was too great for his failing strength, and he was +found dead in bed next morning. Thus all the hopes of the real heir +were dashed to the ground, for it was not to be expected that the +next-of-kin, who knew nothing of the supposed Provis, or of Sir Hugh's +marriage, would yield up the estates to an utter stranger, without a +severe struggle and a desperate litigation. He, therefore, refrained +from putting forth his pretensions, and travelled the country with his +wife and children, obtaining a precarious living by delivering +lectures; and he took no steps to enforce his rights until 1851, when, +after negotiations with several legal firms, he at length found the +means of pursuing his claims before the tribunals of his country. + +In support of the plaintiff's case a number of documents, family +relics, portraits, rings, seals, &c, were put in evidence. At the time +when the marriage was said to have taken place there was no public +registration in Ireland, but a Family Bible was produced which bore on +a fly-leaf a certification by the Vicar of Lismore that a marriage had +been solemnized on the 19th of May, 1796, "between Hugh Smyth of +Stapleton, in the county of Gloucester, England, and Jane, daughter of +Count John Samuel Vandenbergh, by Jane, the daughter of Major Gookin +and Hesther, his wife, of Court Macsherry, county of Cork, Ireland." +In the same Bible was an entry of the plaintiffs baptism, signed by +the officiating clergyman. A brooch was produced with the name of Jane +Gookin upon it, and a portrait of the claimant's mother, as well as a +letter addressed by Sir Hugh Smyth to his wife on the eve of her +delivery, in which he introduced a nurse to her. Besides these, there +were two formal documents which purported to be signed by Sir Hugh +Smyth, in which he solemnly declared the plaintiff to be his son. The +first of these declarations was written when the baronet was in +extreme ill-health, in 1822, and was witnessed by his brother John and +three other persons. It was discovered in the possession of a member +of the family of Lydia Reed, the plaintiff's nurse. The second paper, +which was almost the same in its terms, was discovered in the keeping +of an attorney's clerk, who had formerly lived in Bristol. The +following is a copy of it:-- + +"I, Sir Hugh Smyth, of Ashton Park, in the county of Somerset, and of +Rockley House, in the county of Wilts, do declare that, in the year +1796, I was married in the county of Cork, in Ireland, by the Rev. +Verney Lovett, to Jane, the daughter of Count Vandenbergh, by Jane, +the daughter of Major Gookin, of Court Macsherry, near Bandon. +Witnesses thereto--The Countess of Bandon and Consena Lovett. In the +following year, Jane Smyth, my wife, came to England, and, immediately +after giving birth to a son, she died on the 2d day of February, 1797, +and she lies buried in a brick vault in Warminster churchyard. My son +was consigned to the care of my own nurse, Lydia Reed, who can at any +time identify him by marks upon his right hand, but more especially by +the turning up of both the thumbs, an indelible mark of identity in +our family. My son was afterwards baptized by the Rev. James Symes of +Midsomer Norton, by the names of Richard Hugh Smyth; the sponsors +being the Marchioness of Bath and the Countess of Bandon, who named +him Richard, after her deceased brother, Richard Boyle. Through the +rascality of my butler, Grace, my son left England for the continent, +and was reported to me as having died there; but, at the death of +Grace, the truth came out that my son was alive, and that he would +soon return to claim his rights. Now, under the impression of my son's +death, I executed a will in 1814. That will I do, by this document, +declare null and void, and, to all intents and purposes, sett +asside(_sic_) in all its arrangements; the payment of my just debts, +the provision for John, the son, of the late Elizabeth Howell, and to +the fulfilment of all matters not interfering with the rights of my +heir-at-law. Now, to give every assistance to my son, should he ever +return, I do declare him my legitimate son and heir to all the estates +of my ancestors, and which he will find amply secured to him and his +heirs for ever by the will of his grandfather, the late Thomas Smyth +of Stapleton, Esq.; and further, by the will of my uncle, the late Sir +John Hugh Smyth, baronet. Both those wills so fully arrange for the +security of the property in possession or reversion that I have now +only to appoint and constitute my beloved brother John Smyth, Esq., +my only executor for his life; and I do by this deed place the utmost +confidence in my brother that he will at any future time do my son +justice. And I also entreat my son to cause the remains of his mother +to be removed to Ashton, and buried in the family vault close to my +side, and to raise a monument to her memory. + +"Now, in furtherance of the object of this deed, I do seal with my +seal, and sign it with my name, and in the presence of witnesses, this +10th day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1823. HUGH SMYTH (L.S.). +William Edwards. +William Dobbson. +James Abbott." + +After some proof had been given as to the genuineness of the +signatures to this and the other documents, the plaintiff was put into +the witness-box. He said that his recollections extended back to the +time when he was three years and a half old, when he lived with Mr. +Provis, a carpenter in Warminster. There was at that time an elderly +woman and a young girl living there, the former being Mrs. Reed, the +wet-nurse, and the latter Mary Provis, who acted as nursemaid. He +stayed at the house of Provis until Grace, Sir Hugh's butler, took him +away, and placed him at the school of Mr. Hill at Brislington, where he +remained for a couple of years, occasionally visiting Colonel Gore and +the family of the Earl of Bandon at Bath. From Brislington he was +transferred by the Marchioness of Bath to Warminster Grammar School, +and thence to Winchester College, where he resided as a commoner until +1810. He stated that he left Winchester because his bills had not been +paid for the last eighteen months; and, by the advice of Dr. Goddard, +then headmaster of the school, proceeded to London, and told the +Marchioness of Bath what had occurred. The marchioness kept him for a +few days in her house in Grosvenor Square, but "being a woman of high +tone, and thinking that possibly he was too old for her protection," +she advised him to go to Ashton Court to his father, telling him at +the same time that Sir Hugh Smyth was his father. She also gave him +some L1400 or L1500 which had been left to him by his mother, but +declined to tell him anything respecting her, and referred him for +further information to the Bandon family. The marchioness, however, +informed him that her steward, Mr. Davis, at Warminster, was in +possession of the deceased Lady Smyth's Bible, pictures, jewellery, +and trinkets. But the lad, finding himself thus unexpectedly enriched, +sought neither his living father nor the relics of his dead mother, +but had recourse to an _innamorata_ of his own, and passed three or +four months in her delicious company. He afterwards went abroad, and +returned to England with exhausted resources in 1826. He then made +inquiries respecting Sir Hugh Smyth, his supposed father, and +discovered that he had been dead for some time, and that the title and +estates had passed to Sir John. Under these circumstances he believed +it to be useless to advance his claim, and supported himself for the +eleven years which followed by lecturing on education at schools and +institutions throughout England and Ireland. + +Up to this time he had never made any inquiry for the things which the +Marchioness of Bath had informed him were under the care of Mr. Davis; +but, in 1839, he visited Frome in order to procure them, and then +found that Davis was dead. Old Mr. Provis, who had brought him up, was +the only person whom he met, and with him he had some words for +obstinately refusing to give him any information respecting his +mother. The interview was a very stormy one; but old Provis, who was +so angry with him at first that he struck him with his stick, quickly +relented, and gave him the Bible, the jewellery, and the heir-looms +which he possessed. Moreover, he showed him a portrait of Sir Hugh +which hung in his own parlour, and gave him a bundle of sealed papers +with instructions to take them to Mr. Phelps, an eminent solicitor at +Warminster. The jewellery consisted of four gold rings and two +brooches. One ring was marked with the initials "J.B.," supposed to be +those of "James Bernard;" and on one of the brooches were the words +"Jane Gookin" at length. + +The claimant further stated that, on the 19th of May, 1849, he +procured an interview with Sir John Smyth at Ashton Court. He said +that the baronet seemed to recognise him from the first, and was +excessively agitated when he told him who he was. To calm him, the +so-called Sir Richard said that he had not come to take possession of +his title or property, but only wanted a suitable provision for his +family. It was, therefore, arranged that Sir John's newly-found nephew +should proceed to Chester and fetch his family, and that they should +stay at Ashton Court, while he would live at Heath House. + +But the fates seemed to fight against the rightful heir. When he +returned from Chester twelve days later, accompanied by his spouse and +her progeny, the first news he heard was that Sir John had been found +dead in his bed on the morning after his previous visit. All his hopes +were destroyed, and he reverted calmly to his old trade of stump +orator, which he pursued with equanimity from 1839 till 1851. During +this time he vainly endeavoured to secure the services of a sanguine +lawyer to take up his case on speculation, and it was not until the +latter year that he succeeded; but when the hopeful solicitor once +took the affair in hand, evidence flowed in profusely, and he was at +last enabled to lay his claims before her Majesty's judges at +Gloucester assizes. Such, at least, was his own story. + +In cross-examination he stated that although Provis had two sons, +named John and Thomas, he only knew the younger, and had but little +intercourse with John, who was the elder. He described his youthful +life in the carpenter's house, and represented himself "as the +gentleman of the place," adding that he wore red morocco shoes, was +never allowed to be without his nurse, and "did some little mischief +in the town, according to his station in life, for which mischief +nobody was allowed to check him." After a lengthy cross-examination as +to his relationship with the Marchioness of Bath and his alleged +interview with Sir John Smyth, he admitted that as a lecturer he had +passed under the name of Dr. Smyth. He denied that he had ever used the +name of Thomas Provis, or stated that John Provis, the Warminster +carpenter, was his father, or visited the members of the Provis family +on a footing of relationship with them. As far as the picture, which +he said the carpenter pointed out to him in his parlour as the +portrait of his father, was concerned, and which, when produced, bore +the inscription, "Hugh Smyth, Esq., son of Thomas Smyth, Esq., of +Stapleton, county of Gloucester, 1796," he indignantly repudiated the +idea that it was a likeness of John Provis the younger, although he +reluctantly admitted that the old carpenter sometimes entertained the +delusion that the painting represented his son John, and that the +inscription had not been perceivable until he washed it with tartaric +acid, which, he declared, was excellent for restoring faded writings. +He was then asked about some seals which he had ordered to be engraved +by Mr. Moring, a seal engraver in Holborn, and admitted giving an order +for a card-plate and cards; but denied that at the same time he had +ordered a steel seal to be made according to a pattern which he +produced, which bore the crest, garter, and motto of the Smyths of +Long Ashton. However, he acknowledged giving a subsequent order for +two such seals. On one of these seals the family motto, "_Qui capit +capitur_" had been transformed, through an error of the engraver, into +"_Qui capit capitor_," but he said he did not receive it until the 7th +of June, and that consequently he could not have placed it on the deed +in which Sir Hugh Smyth so distinctly acknowledged the existence of a +son by a first marriage--a deed which he declared he had never seen +till the 17th of March. A letter was then put into court, dated the +13th of March, which he admitted was in his handwriting, and which +bore the impress of the mis-spelled seal. Thus confronted with this +damning testimony, the plaintiff turned pale, and requested permission +to leave the court to recover from a sudden indisposition which had +overtaken him, when, just at this juncture, the cross-examining +counsel received a telegram from London, in consequence of which he +asked, "Did you, in January last, apply to a person at 361 Oxford +Street, to engrave for you the Bandon crest upon the rings produced, +and also to engrave 'Gookin' on the brooch?" The answer, very +hesitatingly given, was, "Yes, I did." The whole conspiracy was +exposed; the plot was at an end. The plaintiff's counsel threw up +their briefs, a verdict for the defendants was returned, and the +plaintiff himself was committed by the judge on a charge of perjury, +to which a charge of forgery was subsequently added. + +The second trial took place at the following spring assizes at +Gloucester. The evidence for the crown showed the utter hollowness of +the plaintiff's claim. The attorney's clerk, from whom the impostor +had stated he received the formal declaration of Sir Hugh Smyth, was +called, and declared that he had written the letter which was said to +have accompanied the deed, from the prisoner's dictation; the deed was +produced at the time, and the witness took a memorandum of the name of +the attesting witnesses on the back of a copy of his letter. This +copy, with the endorsement, was produced in court. The brown paper +which the prisoner had sworn formed the wrapper of the deed when he +received it, was proved to be the same in which Mr. Moring, the +engraver, had wrapped up a seal which he had sent to the prisoner--the +very seal in which the engraver had made the unlucky blunder. It was +also clearly proved that the parchment on which the forgery had been +written was prepared by a process which had only been discovered about +ten years, and chemical experts were decidedly of opinion that the ink +had received its antique appearance by artificial means, and that the +wax was undoubtedly modern. Various startling errors and discrepancies +were pointed out in the document itself, the most noteworthy being a +reference made to Sir Hugh's wife, as "the late Elizabeth Howell," +whereas that lady was alive and in good health at the time the deed +was supposed to have been drawn up, and having been previously married +to Sir Hugh, was known as Lady Smyth up to her death in 1841, she +having survived her husband seventeen years. + +The picture, which had been produced on the first trial as a portrait +of Sir Hugh, was proved beyond all doubt to be that of John Provis, +the eldest son of the carpenter; and the prisoner's sister, a married +woman named Mary Heath, on being placed in the witness-box, recognised +him at once as her youngest brother, Thomas Provis; and said she had +never heard of his being any other, although she knew that upon taking +up the trade of lecturing he had assumed the name of "Dr. Smyth." +Several persons, who were familiarly acquainted with the carpenter's +family, also recognised him as Tom Provis; and evidence was led to +identify him as a person who had kept a school at Ladymede, Bath, and +had been compelled to abscond for disgraceful conduct towards his +pupils. They, however, failed to do so very clearly; "whereon," says +the reporter, "the prisoner, with an air of great triumph, produced an +enormous pig-tail, which up to this moment had been kept concealed +under his coat, and turning round ostentatiously, displayed this +appendage to the court and jury, appealing to it as an irrefragable +proof of his aristocratic birth, and declaiming with solemn emphasis +that he was born with it. He added also that his son was born with one +six inches long." Cocks, the engraver, proved that he was employed by +the prisoner, in January, 1853, to engrave the inscriptions on the +rings, which the prisoner had selected on the supposition that they +were antique rings; but, in fact, they were modern antiques. Mr. Moring +also gave evidence as to the engraving of the fatal seal. On this +evidence Provis was found guilty, and was sentenced to twenty years' +transportation. He retained his composure to the last, and before his +trial assigned all his right, title, and interest in the Smyth estates +to his eldest son, lest they should become forfeited to the crown by +his conviction for felony. + +His history was well known to the authorities, who were prepared to +prove, had it been necessary, that he had been convicted of +horse-stealing in 1811, and had been sentenced to death--a sentence +which was commuted; that he had married one of the servants of Sir +John Smyth, and had deserted her, and that he had fled from Bath to +escape the punishment of the vilest offences perpetrated during his +residence in the City of Springs. But it was needless to produce more +damning testimony than was brought forward. For twenty years the world +has heard nothing more of the sham Sir Richard Hugh Smyth. + + + + +LAVINIA JANNETTA HORTON RYVES--THE PRETENDED PRINCESS OF CUMBERLAND. + + +In 1866, Mrs. Lavinia Jannetta Horton Ryves, and her son, William Henry +Ryves, appeared before the English courts in support of one of the +most extraordinary petitions on record. Taking advantage of the +Legitimacy Declaration Act, they alleged that Mrs. Ryves was the +legitimate daughter of John Thomas Serres and Olive his wife, and that +the mother of Mrs. Ryves was the legitimate daughter of Henry Frederick +Duke of Cumberland and Olive Wilmot, his wife, who were married by Dr. +Wilmot, at the Grosvenor Square mansion of Lord Archer, on the 4th of +March, 1767. They also asserted that Mrs. Ryves had been lawfully +married to her husband, and that her son was legitimate; and asked the +judges to pronounce that the original marriage between the Duke of +Cumberland and Olive Wilmot was legal; that their child Olive, who +afterwards became Mrs. Serres, was legitimate; that their grandchild +Mrs. Ryves had been lawfully married to her husband; and that +consequently the younger petitioner was their legitimate son and heir. +The Attorney-General (Sir Roundell Palmer) filed an answer denying the +legality of the Cumberland marriage, or that Mrs. Serres was the +legitimate daughter of the duke. There was no dispute as to the fact +that the younger petitioner, W.H. Ryves, was the legitimate son of his +father and mother. The case was heard before Lord Chief-Justice +Cockburn, Lord Chief-Baron Pollock, Sir James Wilde, and a special +jury. + +The opening speech of the counsel for the claimant revealed a story +which was very marvellous, but which, without the strongest +corroborative testimony, was scarcely likely to be admitted to be +true. According to his showing Olive Wilmot was the daughter of Dr. +James Wilmot, a country clergyman, and fellow of a college at Oxford. +During his college _curriculum_ this divine had made the acquaintance +of Count Poniatowski, who afterwards became King of Poland, and had +been introduced by him to his sister. The enamoured and beautiful +Polish princess fell in love with Wilmot and married him, and the +result of their union was a daughter, who grew up to rival her +mother's beauty. The fact of the marriage and the existence of the +daughter were, however, carefully kept from the outer world, and +especially from Oxford, where Dr. Wilmot retained his fellowship. The +girl grew to the age of sweet seventeen, and, in 1767, met the Duke of +Cumberland, the younger brother of George III., at the house of Lord +Archer, in Grosvenor Square. After a short courtship, the duke was +said to have married her--the marriage having been celebrated by her +father on the 4th of March, 1767, at nine o'clock in the evening. Two +formal certificates of the marriage were drawn up and signed by Dr. +Wilmot and by Lord Brooke (afterwards Lord Warwick) and J. Addey, who +were present at it; and these certificates were verified by the +signatures of Lord Chatham and Mr. Dunning (afterwards Lord Ashburton). +These documents were put in evidence. The Duke of Cumberland and Olive +Wilmot lived together for four years; and, in October, 1771, while she +was pregnant, her royal mate deserted her, and, as was alleged, +contracted a bigamous marriage with Lady Anne Horton, sister of the +well-known Colonel Luttrel. George III., having been aware of the +previous union with Olive Wilmot, was very indignant at this second +connection, and would not allow the Duke of Cumberland and his second +wife to come to Court. Indeed, it was mainly in consequence of this +marriage, and the secret marriage of the Duke of Gloucester, that the +Royal Marriage Act was forced through Parliament. + +Olive Wilmot, as the petitioner's counsel asserted, having been +deserted by her husband, gave birth to a Child Olive, who ought to +have borne the title of Princess of Cumberland. The baby was baptised +on the day of its birth by Dr. Wilmot, and three certificates to that +effect were produced, signed by Dr. Wilmot and his brother Robert. But, +although the king was irritated at the conduct of his brother, he was +at the same time anxious to shield him from the consequences of his +double marriage, and for that purpose gave directions to Lord Chatham, +Lord Warwick, and Dr. Wilmot that the real parentage of the child +should be concealed, and that it should be re-baptised as the daughter +of Robert Wilmot, whose wife had just been confined. The plastic +divine consented to rob the infant temporarily of its birthright but +at the same time required that all the proceedings should be certified +by the king and other persons as witnesses, in order that at a future +time she should be replaced in her proper position. Perhaps, in +ordinary circumstances, it would not have been possible for a country +priest thus to coerce George III.; but Dr. Wilmot was in possession of +a fatal secret. As is well known, King George was publicly married to +Princess Charlotte in 1762; but, according to the showing of the +petitioners, he had been previously married, in 1759, by this very Dr. +Wilmot, to a lady named Hannah Lightfoot. Thus he, as well as the Duke +of Cumberland, had committed bigamy, and the grave question was raised +as to whether George IV., and even her present Majesty, had any right +to the throne. Proof of this extraordinary statement was forthcoming, +for on the back of the certificates intended to prove the marriage of +the Duke of Cumberland and Olive Wilmot, the following certificates +were endorsed:-- + + "This is to solemnly certify that I married George, Prince + of Wales, to Princess Hannah, his first consort, April 15, + 1759; and that two princes and a princess were the issue of + such marriage. + J. WILMOT." + + "_London, April_ 2, 176--." + + "This is to certify to all it may concern that I lawfully + married George, Prince of Wales, to Hannah Lightfoot, April + 17, 1759; and that two sons and a daughter are their issue + by such marriage. + J. WILMOT. + CHATHAM. + J. DUNNING." + +The concealed Princess Olive was meanwhile brought up, until 1782, in +the family of Robert Wilmot, to whom it was said that an allowance of +L500 a year was paid for her support by Lord Chatham. On the 17th of +May, 1773, his Majesty created her Duchess of Lancaster by this +instrument,-- + + "GEORGE R. + + "We hereby are pleased to create Olive of Cumberland Duchess + of Lancaster, and to grant our royal authority for Olive, + our said niece, to bear and use the title and arms of + Lancaster, should she be in existence at the period of our + royal demise. + + "Given at our Palace of St. James's, May 17, 1773. + CHATHAM. + J. DUNNING." + +A little before this time (in 1772) Dr. Wilmot had been presented to +the living of Barton-on-the-Heath, in Warwickshire, and thither his +grand-daughter Olive went with him, passing as his niece, and was +educated by him. When she was seventeen or eighteen years old she was +sent back to London, and there became acquainted with Mr. de Serres, an +artist and a member of the Royal Academy, whom she married in 1791. +The union was not a happy one, and a separation took place; but, +before it occurred, Mrs. Ryves, the elder petitioner, was born at +Liverpool in 1797. After the separation Mrs. Serres and her daughter +lived together, and the former gained some celebrity both as an author +and an artist. They moved in good society, were visited by various +persons of distinction, and in 1805 were taken to Brighton and +introduced to the Prince of Wales, who afterwards became George IV. +Two years later (in 1807) Dr. Wilmot died at the mature age of +eighty-five, and the papers in his possession relating to the +marriage, as well as those which had been deposited with Lord Chatham, +who died in 1778, passed into the hands of Lord Warwick. Mrs. Serres +during all this time had no knowledge of the secret of her birth, +until, in 1815, Lord Warwick, being seriously ill, thought it right to +communicate her history to herself and to the Duke of Kent, and to +place the papers in her hands. + +Having brought his case thus far, the counsel for the petitioners was +about to read some documents, purporting to be signed by the Duke of +Kent, as declarations of the legitimacy of Mrs. Ryves, but it was +pointed out by the court that he was not entitled to do so, as, +according to his own contention, the Duke of Kent was not a legitimate +member of the royal family. Therefore, resigning this part of his +case, he went on to say that Mrs. Serres, up to the time of her death +in 1834, and the petitioners subsequently, had made every effort to +have the documents on which they founded their claim examined by some +competent tribunal. They now relied upon the documents, upon oral +evidence, and upon the extraordinary likeness of Olive Wilmot to the +royal family, to prove their allegations. + +As far as the portraits of Mrs. Serres were concerned, the court +intimated that they could not possibly be evidence of legitimacy, and +refused to allow them to be shown to the jury. The documents were +declared admissible, and an expert was called to pronounce upon their +authenticity. He expressed a very decided belief that they were +genuine, but, when cross-examined, stammered and ended by throwing +doubts on the signatures of "J. Dunning" and "Chatham," who frequently +appeared as attesting witnesses. The documents themselves were +exceedingly numerous, and contained forty-three so-called signatures +of Dr. Wilmot, sixteen of Lord Chatham, twelve of Mr. Dunning, twelve of +George III., thirty-two of Lord Warwick, and eighteen of the Duke of +Kent. + +The following are some of the most remarkable papers:-- + + "I solemnly certify that I privately was married to the + princess of Poland, the sister of the King of Poland. But an + unhappy family difference induced us to keep our union + secret. One dear child bless'd myself, who married the Duke + of Cumberland, March 4th, 1767, and died in the prime of + life of a broken heart, December 5th, 1774, in France. + J. WILMOT." + "_January_ 1, 1780." + +There were two other certificates to the same effect, and the fourth +was in the following terms:-- + + "I solemnly certify that I married the Princess of Poland, + and had legitimate issue Olive, my dear daughter, married + March 4th, 1767, to Henry F., Duke of Cumberland, brother of + His Majesty George the Third, who have issue Olive, my + supposed niece, born at Warwick, April 3d, 1772. + G.R. J. WILMOT. + ROBT. WILMOT. + CHATHAM." + + "_May_ 23, 1775. + + "As a testimony that my daughter was not at all unworthy of + Her Royal Consort the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Warwick + solemnly declares that he returned privately from the + continent to offer her marriage; but seeing how greatly she + was attached to the Duke of Cumberland, he witnessed her + union with His Royal Highness, March 4th, 1767. + Witness, J. WILMOT. + WARWICK ROBT. WILMOT." + + "We solemnly certify in this prayer-book that Olive, the + lawful daughter of Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland and + Olive his wife, bears a large mole on the right side, and + another crimson mark upon the back, near the neck; and that + such child was baptised as Olive Wilmot, at St. Nicholas + Church, Warwick, by command of the King (George the Third) + to save her royal father from the penalty of bigamy, &c. + J. WILMOT. + WARWICK. + ROBT. WILMOT." + + "I hereby certify that George, Prince of Wales, married + Hannah Wheeler, _alias_ Lightfoot, April 17th, 1759; but, + from finding the latter to be her right name, I solemnized + the union of the said parties a second time, May the 27th, + 1759, as the certificate affixed to this paper will confirm." + + Witness (torn). "J. WILMOT." + + "Not to be acted upon until the king's demise." + + "With other sacred papers to Lord Warwick's care for Olive, + my grand-daughter, when I am no more. J.W." + + "MY DEAR OLIVE,--As the undoubted heir of Augustus, King of + Poland, your rights will find aid of the Sovereigns that you + are allied to by blood, should the family of your father act + unjustly, but may the great Disposer of all things direct + otherwise. The Princess of Poland, your grandmother, I made + my lawful wife, and I do solemnly attest that you are the + last of that illustrious blood. May the Almighty guide you + to all your distinctions of birth. Mine has been a life of + trial, but not of crime! + J. WILMOT." + "_January_, 1791." + + "If this pacquet meets your eye let not ambition destroy the + honour nor integrity of your nature. Remember that others + will be dependent on your conduct, the injured children, + perhaps, of the good and excellent consort of your king--I + mean the fruit of his Majesties first marriage--who may have + been consigned to oblivion like yourself; but I hope that is + not exactly the case; but as I was innocently instrumental + to their being, by solemnizing the ill-destined union of + power and innocence, it is but an act of conscientious duty + to leave to your care the certificates that will befriend + them hereafter! The English nation will receive my last + legacy as a proof of my affection, and when corruption has + desolated the land, and famine and its attendant miseries + create civil commotion, I solemnly command you to make known + to the Parliament the first lawful marriage of the king, as + when you are in possession of the papers, Lord Warwick has been + sacredly and affectionately by myself entrusted with, their + constitutional import will save the country! Should the + necessity exist for their operation, consult able and + patriotic men, and they will instruct you. May Heaven bless + their and your efforts in every sense of the subject, and so + shall my rejoiced spirit with approving love (if so + permitted) feel an exultation inseparable from the + prosperity of England. + J. WILMOT." + + "GEORGE R. + + "We are hereby pleased to recommend Olive, our niece, to our + faithful Lords and Commons for protection and support, + should she be in existence at the period of our royal + demise; such being Olive Wilmot, the supposed daughter of + Robert Wilmot of Warwick. + J. DUNNING. + ROBT. WILMOT. _January 7th_, 1780." + +Mrs. Ryves, the petitioner, was the principal witness called. She gave +her evidence very clearly and firmly, and when offered a seat in the +witness-box declined it, saying that she was not tired, and could +stand for ever to protect the honour of her family. She said she +recollected coming from Liverpool to London with her father and mother +when she was only two years and a half old, and narrated how she lived +with them conjointly up to the date of the separation, and with her +mother afterwards. It was then proposed to ask her some questions as +to declarations made by Hannah Lightfoot, the reputed wife of George +III., but the Lord Chief-Justice interposed with the remark that there +was no evidence before the court as to the marriage of the king with +this woman. The petitioner's counsel referred to the two following +documents:-- + + "_April_ 17, 1759. + + "The marriage of these parties was this day duly + solemnized at Kew Chapel, according to the rites and + ceremonies of the Church of England, by myself, + J. WILMOT. + GEORGE P. + HANNAH." + + "Witness to this marriage, + W. PITT. + ANNE TAYLER." + + + "_May_ 27, 1759. + + "This is to certify that the marriage of these parties, + George, Prince of Wales, to Hannah Lightfoot, was duly + solemnized this day, according to the rites and ceremonies + of the Church of England, at their residence at Peckham, by + myself, + J. WILMOT. + GEORGE GUELPH. + HANNAH LIGHTFOOT." + + "Witness to the marriage of these parties, + WILLIAM PITT. + ANNE TAYLER." + +Upon this, the Lord Chief-Justice again interposed, saying, "The Court +is, as I understand, asked solemnly to declare, on the strength of two +certificates, coming I know not whence, written on two scraps of +paper, that the marriage--the only marriage of George III. which the +world believes to have taken place--between his Majesty and Queen +Charlotte, was an invalid marriage, and consequently that all the +sovereigns who have sat on the throne since his death, including her +present Majesty, were not entitled to sit on the throne. That is the +conclusion to which the court is asked to come upon these two rubbishy +pieces of paper--one signed 'George P,' and the other 'George Guelph.' +I believe them to be gross and rank forgeries. The court has no +difficulty in coming to the conclusion--even assuming that the +signatures had that character of genuineness which they have not--that +what is asserted in these documents has not the slightest foundation +in fact." + +Lord Chief-Baron Pollock expressed his entire concurrence in the +opinion of the Lord Chief-Justice. After explaining that it was the +province of the court to decide any question of fact, on the truth or +falsehood of which the admissibility of a piece of evidence was +dependent, he declared that these documents did not at all satisfy him +that George III. was ever married before his marriage to Queen +Charlotte; that the signatures were not proved to be even like the +king's handwriting; and that the addition of the word "Guelph" to one +of them was satisfactory proof that the king, at that date Prince of +Wales, did not write it--it being a matter of common information that +the princes of the royal family only use the Christian name. + +Sir James Wilde also assented, characterizing the certificates as +"very foolish forgeries," but adding that he was not sorry that the +occasion had arisen for bringing them into a court of justice, where +their authenticity could be inquired into by evidence, as the +existence of documents of this sort was calculated to set abroad a +number of idle stories for which there was probably not the slightest +foundation. + +The evidence as to Hannah Lightfoot being thus excluded, the +examination of Mrs. Ryves, the petitioner, was continued. She +remembered proceeding to Brighton, in 1805, where herself and her +mother were introduced to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. +The prince had subsequently many conversations with them, and had +bestowed many kindnesses on them. She knew the Duke of Kent from a +very early age--he being a constant visitor at their house from 1805 +till the time of his death. In the spring of 1815 Lord Warwick's +disclosure was made, and the Duke of Kent acknowledged the +relationship even before he saw the proofs which were at the time at +Warwick Castle. Thither the earl went to procure them, at the expense +of Mrs. Serres, he being at this time so poor that he had not the means +to go; indeed, Mrs. Ryves asserted that sometimes the earl was so +terribly impoverished that he had not even a sheet of note-paper to +write upon. + +His mission was successful; and on his return he produced three sets +of papers, one of which he said he had received from Dr. Wilmot, +another set from Lord Chatham, and the third set had been always in +his possession. One packet was marked "Not to be opened until after +the king's death," and accordingly the seal was not broken; but the +others were opened, and the papers they contained were read aloud in +the presence of the Duke of Kent, who expressed himself perfectly +satisfied that the signatures of George III. were in his father's +handwriting, and declared that, as the Earl of Warwick might die at +any moment, he would thenceforward take upon himself the guardianship +of Mrs. Serres and her daughter. The sealed packet was opened in the +latter part of 1819, and Mrs. Ryves, when questioned as to its +contents, pointed out documents for the most part relating to the +marriage of Dr. Wilmot and the Polish princess. Among other documents +was the following:-- + + "Olive, provided the royal family acknowledge you, keep + secret all the papers which are connected with the king's + first marriage; but should the family's desertion (be) + manifested (should you outlive the king) then, and only + then, make known all the state secrets which I have left in + the Earl of Warwick's keeping for your knowledge. Such + papers I bequeath to you for your sole and uncontrolled + property, to use and act upon as you deem fit, according to + expediency of things. Receive this as the sacred will of + JAMES WILMOT." + + "_June --st_, 1789. + Witness, WARWICK." + +Mrs. Ryves maintained that up to the moment of the opening of the +sealed packet her mother had believed herself to be the daughter of +Robert Wilmot and the niece of Dr. Wilmot, and she did not know of any +Olive Wilmot except her aunt, who was the wife of Mr. Payne. When the +first information as to her birth was given to her by Lord Warwick, +she supposed herself to be the daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by +the Olive Wilmot who was afterwards Mrs. Payne, and had no idea that +her mother was the daughter of Dr. Wilmot, and was another person +altogether. There was a great consultation as to opening the packet +before the king's death; but the Duke of Kent persisted in his desire +to know its contents, and the seals were broken. The Duke of Kent died +on the 26th of January, 1820, and George III. in the following week, +on the 30th of the same month. + +Mrs. Ryves then proved the identity of certain documents which bore the +signatures of the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Kent. They were +chiefly written on morsels of paper, and elicited the remark from the +Lord Chief-Justice, that "his royal highness seemed to have been as +poor as to paper as the earl." She said that these documents were +written in her own presence. Among them were these:-- + + "I solemnly promise to see my cousin Olive, Princess of + Cumberland, reinstated in her R----l rights at my father's + demise. + EDWARD." + + "_May_ 3, 1816." + + "I bind myself, by my heirs, executors, and assigns, to pay + to my dearest coz. Olive, Princess of Cumberland, four + hundred pounds yearly during her life. + EDWARD." + "_May_ 3, 1818." + + "I bequeath to Princess Olive of Cumberland ten thousand + pounds should I depart this life before my estate of + Castlehill is disposed of. + EDWARD." + + "_June_ 9, 1819." + + "I hereby promise to return from Devonshire early in the + spring to lay before the Regent the certificates of my + dearest cousin Olive's birth. + EDWARD." + + "_Novr_. 16, 1819." + + "_Jany._ (_illegible_). + + "If this paper meets my dear Alexandria's eye, my dear + cousin Olive will present it, whom my daughter will, for my + sake, I hope, love and serve should I depart this life. + EDWARD." + + "I sign this only to say that I am very ill, but should I + not get better, confide in the duchess, my wife, who will, + for my sake, assist you until you obtain your royal rights. + + "God Almighty bless you, my beloved cousin, prays + EDWARD." + + "To Olive my cousin, and blessing to Lavinia." + +Mrs. Ryves then went on to state that, after the death of the Duke of +Kent and his father, the Duke of Sussex paid a visit to herself and +her mother. On that occasion, and subsequently, he examined the +papers, and declared himself satisfied that they were genuine. + +In her cross-examination, and in answer to questions put by the court, +Mrs. Ryves stated that her mother, Mrs. Serres, was both a clever +painter and an authoress, and was appointed landscape painter to the +court. She had been in the habit of writing letters to members of the +royal family before 1815, when she had no idea of her relationship to +them. Her mother might have practised astrology as an amusement. A +letter which was produced, and described the appearance of the ghost +of Lord Warwick's father, was in her mother's handwriting--as was also +a manifesto calling upon "the Great Powers, Principalities, and +Potentates of the brave Polish nation to rally round their Princess +Olive, grand-daughter of Stanislaus," and informing them that her +legitimacy as Princess of Cumberland had been proved. Her mother had +written a "Life of Dr. Wilmot," and had ascribed the "Letters of +Junius" to him, after a careful comparison of his MS. with those in +the possession of Woodfall, Junius's publisher. She had also issued a +letter to the English nation in 1817, in which she spoke of Dr. Wilmot +as having died unmarried; and Mrs. Ryves could not account for that, as +her mother had heard of his marriage two years previously. + +A document was then produced in which the Duke of Kent acknowledged +the marriage of his father with Hannah Lightfoot, and the legitimacy +of Olive, praying the latter to maintain secrecy during the life of +the king, and constituting her the guardian of his daughter +Alexandrina, and directress of her education on account of her +relationship, and also because the Duchess of Kent was not familiar +with English modes of education. Mrs. Ryves explained that her mother +refrained from acting on that document out of respect for the Duchess +of Kent, who, she thought, had the best right to direct the education +of her own daughter (the present queen). She also stated that her +mother had received a present of a case of diamonds from the Duke of +Cumberland, but she did not know what became of them. + +The Attorney-General, on behalf of the crown, after explaining the +provisions of the Act, proceeded to tear the story of the petitioners +to pieces, pronouncing its folly and absurdity equal to its audacity. +The Polish princess and her charming daughter he pronounced pure +myths--as entirely creatures of the imagination as Shakspeare's +"Ferdinand and Miranda." As to the pretended marriage of George III. +and Hannah Lightfoot, the tale was even more astonishing and +incredible, for not only were wife and children denied by the king, +and a second bigamous contract entered into, but the lady held her +tongue, the children were content to live in obscurity, and Dr. Wilmot +faithfully kept the secret, and preached sermons before the king and +his second wife Queen Charlotte. Not that Dr. Wilmot did not feel these +grave state secrets pressing him down, but the mode of revenge which +he adopted was to write the "_Letters of Junius!_" + +Yet Dr. Wilmot died in 1807, apparently a common-place country parson. +Surely there never was a more wonderful example of the possibility of +keeping secrets. One would have imagined that the very walls would +have spoken of such events; but although at least seven men and one +woman (the wife of Robert Wilmot) must have been acquainted with them, +the secret was kept as close as the grave for forty-three years, and +was never even suspected before 1815, although all the actors in these +extraordinary scenes seemed to have been occupied day and night in +writing on little bits of paper, and telling the whole story. In 1815 +the facts first came to the knowledge of Mrs. Serres; but, even then, +they were not revealed, until the grave had closed over every +individual who could vouch as to the handwriting. + +As far as the petitioner, Mrs. Ryves, was concerned, the +Attorney-General said he could imagine that she had brooded on this +matter so long (she being then over 70 years of age), that she had +brought herself to believe things that had never happened. The mind +might bring itself to believe a lie, and she might have dwelt so long +upon documents produced and fabricated by others, that, with her +memory impaired by old age, the principle of veracity might have been +poisoned, and the offices of imagination and memory confounded to such +an extent that she really believed that things had been done and said +in her presence which were entirely imaginary. He contended that Mrs. +Serres, the mother of the petitioner, was not altogether responsible +for her actions, and proceeded to trace her history. Between 1807 and +1815, he said, she had the advantage of becoming personally known to +some members of the royal family, and being a person of ill-regulated +ambition and eccentric character, and also being in pecuniary +distress, her eccentricity took the turn of making advances to +different members of that family. She opened fire on the Prince of +Wales in 1809, by sending a letter to his private secretary, comparing +His Royal Highness to Julius Caesar, and talking in a mad way about the +politics of the illustrious personages of the day. In 1810 other +letters followed in the same style, and in one of them she asked, +"Why, sir, was I so humbly born?" + +Scattered about these letters were mysterious allusions to secrets of +state and symptoms of insane delusions. In one she imagined she had +been seriously injured by the Duke of York. In another, she fancied +that some one had poisoned her. In one letter she actually offered to +lend the Prince of Wales, L20,000 to induce him to grant the interview +of which she was so desirous, although in other letters she begged for +pecuniary assistance, and represented herself to be in great distress. +The letters were also full of astrology; she spoke of her "occult +studies;" and she further believed in ghosts. The manifesto to Poland +also pointed to the same conclusion as to her state of mind. A person +of such an erratic character, he said, was very likely to concoct such +a story, and the story would naturally take the turn of trying to +connect herself with the royal family. + +During the interval between the death of Lord Warwick in 1816 and +1821, when it was first made public, her story passed through no less +than three distinct and irreconcilable stages. At first she stated +that she was the daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by Mrs. Payne, the +sister of Dr. Wilmot; and in 1817 she still described herself as Dr. +Wilmot's niece. It was said that she did not come into possession of +the papers until after Lord Warwick's death, but this assertion was +contradicted by the evidence of Mrs. Ryves, as to events which were +within her own recollection, and which she represented to have passed +in her presence. + +The second stage of the story was contained in a letter to Mr. +Fielding, the Bow Street magistrate, in October, 1817. Having been +threatened with arrest, she wrote to him for protection, and in this +letter she represented herself as the natural daughter of the late +Duke of Cumberland by a sister of the late Dr. Wilmot, whom he had +seduced under promise of marriage, she being a lady of large fortune. +In connection with this stage of the story, he referred to another +letter which she wrote to the Prince-Regent in July, 1818, in which +she stated that Lord Warwick had told her the story of her birth in +his lifetime, but without showing her any documents; that he excused +himself for not having made the disclosure before by saying that he +was unable to repay a sum of L2000 which had been confided to him by +the Duke of Cumberland for her benefit; and then she actually went on +to say that when Lord Warwick died she thought all evidence was lost +until she opened a sealed packet which contained the documents. This +was quite inconsistent with the extraordinary story of Mrs. Ryves as to +the communication of the papers to her and her mother in 1815. + +The claim of legitimate royal birth was first brought forward at a +time of great excitement and agitation, when the case of Queen +Caroline was before the public; and it was brought forward in a tone +of intimidation--a revolution being threatened if the claim were not +recognised within a few hours. The documents were changed at times to +suit the changing story, and there was every reason to believe that +they were concocted by Mrs. Serres herself, who was a careful student +of the _Junius_ MSS., who was an artist and practised caligraphist, +and who had gone through such a course of study as well prepared her +for the fabrication of forged documents. The internal evidence of the +papers themselves proved that they were the most ridiculous, absurd, +preposterous series of forgeries that perverted ingenuity ever +invented. If every expert that ever lived in the world swore to the +genuineness of these documents, they could not possibly believe them +to be genuine. They were all written on little scraps and slips of +paper such as no human being ever would have used for the purpose of +recording transactions of this kind, and in everyone of these pieces +of paper the watermark of date was wanting. + +At this stage of his address the Attorney-General was interrupted by +the foreman of the jury, who stated that himself and his colleagues +were unanimously of opinion that the signatures to the documents were +not genuine. + +The Lord Chief-Justice, thereupon, immediately remarked that they +shared the opinion which his learned brethren and himself had +entertained for a long time--that everyone of the documents was +spurious. + +After some observations by the counsel for the petitioner, who +persisted that the papers produced were genuine, the Lord +Chief-Justice proceeded to sum up the facts of the case. He said it +was a question whether the internal evidence in the documents of +spuriousness and forgery was not quite as strong as the evidence +resulting from the examination of their handwriting. Two or three of +them appeared to be such outrages on all probability, that even if +there had been strong evidence of the genuineness of their +handwriting, no man of common sense could come to the conclusion that +they were genuine. Some of them were produced to prove that King +George III. had ordered the fraud to be committed of rebaptising an +infant child under a false name as the daughter of persons whose +daughter she was not; another showed that the king had divested the +crown of one of its noblest appendages--the Duchy of Lancaster--by a +document he was not competent by law to execute, written upon a loose +piece of paper, and countersigned by W. Pitt and Dunning; by another +document, also written upon a loose piece of paper, he expressed his +royal will to the Lords and Commons, that when he should be dead they +should recognise this lady as Duchess of Cumberland. These papers bore +the strongest internal evidence of their spuriousness. The evidence as +to the marriage of the Duke of Cumberland with Olive Wilmot could not +be separated from that part of the evidence which struck at the +legitimacy of the Royal Family, by purporting to establish the +marriage of George III. to a person named Hannah Lightfoot. Could any +one believe that the documents on which that marriage was attested by +W. Pitt and Dunning were genuine? But the petitioner could not help +putting forward the certificates of that marriage, because two of them +were written on the back of the certificate of the marriage of the +Duke of Cumberland with Olive Wilmot. Men of intelligence could not +fail to see the motive for writing the certificates of those two +marriages on the same piece of paper. The first claim to the +consideration of the royal family put forward by Mrs. Serres was, that +she was the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Cumberland by Mrs. +Payne--a married woman. Her next claim was, that she was his daughter +by an unmarried sister of Dr. Wilmot. She lastly put forward her +present claim, that she was the offspring of a lawful marriage between +the duke and Olive, the daughter of Dr. Wilmot. At the time when the +claim was put forward in its last shape, it was accompanied by an +attempt at intimidation, not only on the score of the injustice that +would be done if George IV. refused to recognise the claim, but also +on the score that she was in possession of documents showing that +George III., at the time he was married to Queen Charlotte, had a wife +living, and had issue by her; and consequently that George IV., who +had just then ascended the throne, was illegitimate, and was not the +lawful sovereign of the realm. And the documents having reference to +George III.'s first marriage were inseparably attached to the +documents by which the legitimacy of Mrs. Serres was supposed to be +established, with the view, no doubt, of impressing on the king's mind +the fact that she could not put forward her claims, as she intended to +do, without at the same time making public the fact that the marriage +between George III. and Queen Charlotte was invalid. Could any one +believe in the authenticity of certificates like these; or was it +possible to imagine that, even if Hannah Lightfoot had existed, and +asserted her claim, great officers of state like Chatham and Dunning +should have recognised her as "Hannah Regina," as they were said to +have done? + +In another document the Duke of Kent gave the guardianship of his +daughter to the Princess Olive. Remembering the way in which that lady +had been brought up, and the society in which she had moved, could the +Duke of Kent ever have dreamed of superseding his own wife, the mother +of the infant princess, and passing by all the other distinguished +members of his family, and conferring on Mrs. Serres, the landscape +painter, the sole guardianship of the future Queen of England? They +must also bear in mind the way in which the claim had been brought +forward. The irresistible inference from the different tales told was, +that the documents were from time to time prepared to meet the form +which her claims from time to time assumed. A great deal had been said +about different members of the royal family having countenanced and +supported this lady. He could quite understand, if an appeal was made +on her behalf as an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Cumberland, +that a generous-minded prince might say, "As you have our blood +flowing in your veins, you shall not be left in want;" and, very +likely, papers might have been shown to some members of the royal +family in support of that claim which they believed to be genuine. It +was just as easy to fabricate papers showing her illegitimacy as to +fabricate those produced; and probably such papers would not be very +rigorously scrutinized. But it was not possible to believe that the +documents now produced (including the Hannah Lightfoot certificates) +had been shown to members of the royal family, and pronounced by them +to be genuine. He could not understand why the secret was to be kept +after the Duke of Cumberland's death, when there was no longer any +danger that he would incur the risk of punishment for bigamy; and why +the death of George III. should be fixed upon as the time for +disclosing it. The death of George III. was the very time when it +would become important to keep the secret, for if it had been then +disclosed, it would have shown that neither George IV. nor the Duke of +Kent were entitled to succeed to the throne. Why then should the Duke +of Kent stipulate for the keeping of the secret until George III. +died? They must look at all the circumstances of the case, and say +whether they believed the documents produced by the petitioner to be +genuine. + +The jury at once found that they were _not_ satisfied that Olive +Serres, the mother of Mrs. Ryves, was the legitimate daughter of Henry +Frederick Duke of Cumberland, and Olive his wife; that they were _not_ +satisfied that Henry Frederick Duke of Cumberland was lawfully married +to Olive Wilmot on the 4th of March, 1767. On the other issues--that +Mrs. Ryves was the legitimate daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Serres, and that +the younger petitioner, W.H. Ryves, was the legitimate son of Mr. and +Mrs. Ryves--they found for the petitioner. + +On the motion of the Attorney-General, the judges ordered the +documents produced by the petitioners to be impounded. + +It may be noted, in conclusion, that if Mrs. Ryves had succeeded in +proving that her mother was a princess of the blood royal, she would +at the same time have established her own illegitimacy. The alleged +marriage of the Duke of Cumberland took place before the passing of +the Royal Marriage Act; and, therefore, if Mrs. Serres had been the +duke's daughter, she would have been a princess of the blood royal. +But that Act had been passed before the marriage of Mrs. Serres to her +husband, and would have rendered it invalid, and consequently her +issue would have been illegitimate. As it was, Mrs. Ryves obtained a +declaration of her legitimacy; but in so doing she sacrificed all her +pretensions to royal descent. + + + + +WILLIAM GEORGE HOWARD--THE PRETENDED EARL OF WICKLOW. + + +On the 22d of March, 1869, William, the fourth Earl of Wicklow, died, +without male issue. His next brother, the Hon. and Rev. Francis +Howard, had died during the late earl's lifetime, after being twice +married. By his first marriage he had had three sons, none of whom had +survived; but one son blessed his second nuptials, and he claimed the +peerage at his uncle's death. A rival, however, appeared to contest +his right in the person of William George Howard, an infant, who was +represented by his guardians as the issue of William George Howard, +the eldest son of the Hon. and Rev. Francis Howard by his first +marriage, and a certain Miss Ellen Richardson. As to the birth of the +former claimant there could be no doubt, and it was not denied that +his eldest half-brother had been married as stated; but the birth of +the infant was disputed, and the matter was left for the decision of +the House of Lords. + +The case for the infant was briefly as follows:--Mr. W.G. Howard, his +reputed father, was married to Miss Richardson, in February, 1863. +Four months after their marriage the couple went to lodge with Mr. +Bloor, an out-door officer in the customs, who resided at 27 Burton +Street, Eaton Square. Here they remained only three weeks, but during +that time appear to have contracted a sort of friendship with the +Bloor family, for, after being absent till the latter end of the +year, they returned to the house in Burton Street, and endeavoured to +procure apartments there. Mr. Bloor's rooms were full, and he was +unable to accommodate them; but, in order to be near his old friends, +Mr. Howard took apartments for his wife, at No. 32, in the same street. +Being a person of dissipated and peculiar habits, and being, moreover, +haunted by duns, he did not himself reside in the new lodgings, or +even visit there; but, by Mr. Bloor's kindness, was accustomed to meet +his wife occasionally in a room, which was placed at his service, in +No. 27. Still later, Mrs. Howard returned to lodge at Mr. Bloor's, and +occupied the whole upper portion of the house, while the lower half +was rented by one of her friends, named Baudenave. Mr. Howard, in the +meantime, remained in concealment in Ireland, and thither Mr. Bloor +proceeded in April or May 1864, and had an interview with him, at +which it was arranged that the Burton Street lodging-house keeper +should allow Mrs. Howard to be confined at his residence, and should +make every arrangement for her comfort. On the 16th of May, Mrs. +Howard, whose confinement was not then immediately expected, informed +the Bloors that she intended to leave London for a time, and set out +in a cab for the railway station. In a very short time she returned, +declaring that she felt extremely ill, and was immediately put to bed; +but there being few symptoms of urgency, she was allowed to remain +without medical attendance until Mr. Bloor returned from his work at +eight o'clock, when his wife despatched him for Dr. Wilkins, a medical +man whom Mrs. Howard specially requested might be summoned, although he +was not the family doctor, and lived at a considerable distance. At +half-past nine o'clock Mr. Bloor returned without the doctor; and was +told by his rejoicing spouse, that her lodger had been safely +delivered of a son under her own superintendence, and that the +services of the recognised accoucheur could be dispensed with. Proud +of the womanly skill of his wife, and glad to be spared the necessity +of another wearisome trudge through the streets, he gladly remained at +home, and Dr. Wilkins was not sent for several weeks, when he saw +and prescribed for the infant, who was suffering from some trifling +disorder. Unfortunately, this fact could not be proved, nor could the +doctor's evidence be obtained as to Mr. Bloor's visit, as he had died +before the case came on. But Mrs. Bloor, who attended Mrs. Howard during +her confinement; Miss Rosa Day, sister of Mrs. Bloor, who assisted her +in that attendance; Miss Jane Richardson, sister of Mrs. Howard; and Mr. +Baudenave, their fellow-lodger, were all alleged to have seen the +child repeatedly during the three following months, although it was +admitted that its existence was kept a profound secret from everybody +else. The three women above-mentioned were placed in the witness-box, +and gave their evidence clearly and firmly, and agreed with each other +in the story which they told; and, although Mrs. Bloor was rigorously +cross-examined, her testimony was not shaken. When Mr. Baudenave was +wanted he could not be found, and even the most urgent efforts of +detectives failed to secure his attendance before the court. + +On the other side it was contended that the story told on behalf of +the infant plaintiff was so shrouded in mystery as to be absolutely +incredible, and that it was concocted by the missing Baudenave, who +was said to have been living on terms of suspicious familiarity with +Mrs. Howard, and who had succeeded in inducing the witnesses to become +accomplices in the conspiracy from motives of self-interest. Evidence +was also produced to show that the birth had not taken place. A +dressmaker, who measured Mrs. Howard for a dress, a little time before +the date of her alleged confinement, swore that no traces of her +supposed condition were then visible. Dr. Baker Brown and another +medical man deposed that they had professionally attended a lady, whom +they swore to as Mrs. Howard, and had found circumstances negativing +the story of the confinement; and Louisa Jones, a servant, who lived +in the house in Burton Street shortly after the birth of the infant, +said she had never seen or heard of its existence. After the hearing +of this evidence the case was postponed. + +On its resumption Mrs. Howard produced witnesses to show that she was +at Longley, in Staffordshire, during the whole of that period of +August, 1864, to which the evidence of Dr. Baker Brown and the other +medical witness related. + +At the sitting of the court, on the 1st of March, 1870, Sir Roundell +Palmer (Lord Selborne), who represented Charles Francis Howard, the +other claimant, gave the whole case a new complexion by informing the +court that he was in a position to prove that, in the month of August, +1864, Mrs. Howard and another lady visited a workhouse in Liverpool, +and procured a newly-born child from its mother, Mary Best, a pauper, +then an occupant of one of the lying-in wards of the workhouse +hospital. In support of his assertion he was able to produce three +witnesses--Mrs. Higginson, the head-nurse, and Mrs. Stuart and Mrs. +O'Hara, two of the assistant-nurses, of whom two could swear +positively to Mrs. Howard's identity with the lady who came and took +away the child. The third nurse was in doubt. + +The Solicitor-General, who represented the infant-claimant, thereupon +requested an adjournment, in order to meet the new case thus +presented. Their lordships, however, refused to comply with his desire +until they had had an opportunity of examining Mrs. Howard; but when +that lady was called she did not appear, and it was discovered that +she had left the House of Lords secretly, and could not be found at +her lodgings or discovered elsewhere. The case was therefore +adjourned. At the next sitting, a week later, Mrs. Howard appeared +before the committee, but refused to be sworn, demanding that the +witnesses who were to be brought against her should be examined first. +As she persisted in her refusal, she was given into custody for +contempt of court, and the evidence of the Liverpool witnesses was +taken. As Sir Roundell Palmer had stated, while one of the nurses +remembered the transaction she could not be positive that Mrs. Howard +was the party concerned in it; but the two others, and Mary Best the +child's mother, had no hesitation in asserting that she was the person +who had taken away the infant from the hospital. Towards the close of +the sitting it was announced that a telegram had been received from +Boulogne, stating that the real purchasers of Mary Best's child had +been found, and that they would be produced at the next hearing of the +case to re-but the Liverpool evidence; but when the next sitting came +no Boulogne witnesses were forthcoming, and the Solicitor-General was +compelled to state that he had been on the wrong scent; but that he +would be able to refute the story which had been trumped up against +his client. Mary Best was placed in the witness-box, and, in the +course of a rigorous cross-examination, admitted that she had left the +workhouse with a baby which she had passed off as her own. She stated +that this child was given to her while she was in the workhouse, but +she could not tell either its mother's name or the name of the person +who gave it to her. She had never received any payment for it, but had +fed and clothed it at her own expense, had taken it with her to her +father's house in Yorkshire, had represented it as her own to her +family, and had paid the costs of its burial when it died. Her +relatives and friends were produced, and corroborated these facts. The +nurses, on the other hand, when recalled, denied all knowledge of this +second child, and affirmed that a child could not have been brought to +her without their knowledge. + +The court delivered judgment on the 31st of March, 1870, when the Lord +Chancellor announced that their lordships had come to the conclusion +that Charles Francis Arnold Howard had made out his claim, and was +entitled to vote at the election of representative peers for Ireland +as Earl of Wicklow; and that the infant claimant, the son of Mrs. +Howard, had failed in establishing his claim to that privilege. He +said the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Howard was undisputed, and the +real difficulty that surrounded the case was in proving the birth of +this child without the evidence usually forthcoming of such an +event--neither medical man nor nurse having been present at the birth, +or having attended either the mother or the child subsequently. The +fact that the existence of the child had been concealed from all the +world, and that it had neither been registered nor baptised, increased +the difficulties in the way of Mrs. Howard's case. It was a remarkable +fact that, up to that time, with the exception of three persons who +had undoubtedly sworn distinctly to certain circumstances, no human +being had been called who had noticed that Mrs. Howard had shown signs +of being in the family-way; and it was equally remarkable that those +who had had ample opportunity of noticing her condition at the time, +and who might have given distinct and positive evidence on the point, +had either not been called, or had refused to give evidence in the +case. Undoubtedly, as far as words could go, their lordships had had +the distinct evidence of two witnesses, who stated that they were +present when the alleged birth occurred, and of another who had stated +that he had gone to fetch the doctor, who was sent for, not because +the birth was expected to occur, but because Mrs. Howard was taken +suddenly ill. Of course, if credence could be given to the statement +of these witnesses, the case put forward by Mrs. Howard was established +beyond a doubt, and most painful it was for him to arrive at the +conclusion, as he felt bound to do, that those persons had been guilty +of the great crime of not only giving false evidence by deposing to +events that had never occurred, but of conspiring together to +endeavour to impose upon the Wicklow family a child who was not the +real heir to the title and estates attaching to the earldom. He was +bound to add that the demeanour of Mrs. Bloor and her sister Rosa Day +in the witness-box, was such that, if the case were not of such +prodigious importance, and if it had not been contradicted by all +surrounding circumstances, their statement, which they had given with +firmness and without hesitation, would have obtained credence. It was, +however, so utterly inconsistent with all the admitted facts, and with +the rest of the evidence, that he was compelled to arrive at the +painful conclusion that it was a mere fabrication, intended to defeat +the ends of justice. The evidence of Dr. Baker Brown, who had +identified Mrs. Howard as the person whom he had examined, on the 8th +of July, 1864, and who had stated to him that she had never had a +child, was very strong, and was only to be explained upon the +supposition that it was a case of mistaken identity; and that it was +her sister Jane Richardson, who was examined, and not Mrs. Howard. This +supposition, however, was entirely set aside by the Longney witnesses, +who stated that upon the occasion of the birth-day dinner party at +Longney, which had been brought forward to prove an _alibi_, both Mrs. +Howard and her sister Jane Richardson were present. It was evident, +therefore, either that the story could not be true, or that the +witnesses were mistaken as to the day on which that event had +occurred, and under these circumstances the whole evidence in support +of the _alibi_ broke down altogether. Having arrived at this +conclusion with respect to the original case set up by Mrs. Howard, it +was scarcely necessary to allude to the Liverpool story, which was +certainly an extraordinary and a singular one, and had a tendency to +damage the case of those who had set it up, although he did not see +how they could possibly have withheld it from the knowledge of their +lordships. Looking at the fact that Mary Best was proved to have been +delivered of a fair child, and that the child she took out of the +workhouse with her was a dark child, he confessed that much might be +said both in favour of and against the truth of her statement; but it +was, perhaps, as well that it might be entirely disregarded in the +present case; and, at all events, in his opinion, there was nothing in +its being brought forward which was calculated to shake their +lordships' confidence in the character of those who were conducting +the case on behalf of the original claimant. + +Lord Chelmsford next delivered a long judgment, agreeing with that of +the Lord Chancellor, and in the course of it remarked that it was +impossible to disbelieve the story of the alleged birth, as he did, +without coming to the conclusion that certain of the witnesses had +been guilty of the grave crimes of conspiracy and perjury. With +reference to the Liverpool story, he said he was satisfied that the +child brought into the workhouse by Mary Best, and taken by her to +Yorkshire, was not that of which she had been confined, although he +did not believe her statement of the way in which she had become +possessed of the child which she had subsequently passed off as her +own. + +Lords Colonsay and Redesdale concurred; and the Earl of Winchelsea, as +a lay lord, and one of the public, gave it as his opinion that the +story told by Mrs. Howard was utterly incredible, being only worthy to +form the plot of a sensational novel. He regretted that Mr. Baudenave, +the principal mover in this conspiracy, would escape unscathed. + +Their lordships, therefore, resolved that Mrs. Howard's child had no +claim to the earldom; but that Charles Francis Arnold Howard, the son +of the Hon. Rev. Francis Howard, by his second marriage, had made out +his right to vote at the election of representative peers for Ireland +as Earl of Wicklow. + + + + +AMELIA RADCLIFFE--THE SO-CALLED COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER. + + +The unhappy fate of James, the last Earl of Derwentwater, has been so +often recounted, both in prose and verse, that it is almost +unnecessary to repeat the story; but lest any difficulty should be +found in understanding the grounds on which the so-called countess now +bases her pretensions, the following short summary may be found +useful:-- + +James Radcliffe, the third and last Earl of Derwentwater, suffered +death on Tower Hill, in the prime of his youth, for his devotion to +the cause of the pretender. He is described as having been brave, +chivalrous, and generous; his name has been handed down from +generation to generation as that of a martyr; and his memory even yet +remains green among the descendants of those amongst whom he used to +dwell, and to whom he was at once patron and friend. + +When he was twenty-three years of age he espoused Anna Maria, eldest +daughter of Sir John Webb of Cauford, in the county of Dorset, and had +by her an only son, the Hon. John Radcliffe, and a daughter, who +afterwards married the eighth Lord Petre. By the articles at this time +entered into, the baronet agreed to give his daughter L12,000 as her +portion; while the earl, on his part, promised L1000 jointure rent +charge to the lady, to which L100 a-year was added on the death of +either of her parents, and an allowance of L300 a-year was also +granted as pin-money. The earl's estates were to be charged with +L12,000 for the portions of daughter or daughters, or with L20,000 in +the event of there being no male issue; while by the same settlement +his lordship took an estate for life in the family property, which was +thereby entailed upon his first and other sons, with remainder, and +after the determination of his or their estate to his brother, Charles +Radcliffe, for life; on his first or other sons the estates were in +like manner entailed. + +If the Earl of Derwentwater had been poor his Jacobite proclivities +might have been overlooked, but he was very rich, and his head fell. +Moreover, after his decapitation on Tower Hill the whole of his +immense property was confiscated, and given by the crown to the +Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital. The commissioners of to-day +assert that the property became the property of the representatives of +the hospital absolutely. On the other hand, it is contended that, by +the Act of Attainder, the property of forfeiting persons was vested in +the crown only, according to their estate, rights, and interest, and +that the earl, having only an estate for life in his property, could +forfeit no greater interest. + +His only son, although he lost his title of nobility by the attainder +of his father, was, by solemn adjudication of law, admitted tenant in +tail of all the settled estates, and the fortune of the earl's +daughter was, moreover, raised and paid thereout. The earl's son was +in possession of the estates during sixteen years; and, had he lived +to attain twenty-one, he might have effectually dealt with them, so +that they could not at any future time have been affected by the +attainder of his father, or of his uncle Charles Radcliffe. At least +so say the supporters of the self-styled countess. + +Upon the death of the martyr-earl's son, in 1791, and presumably +without issue, the life estate of Charles Radcliffe commenced, but it +vested in the crown by reason of the attainder. Not so, however, the +estate in tail of the eldest son, James Bartholomew. This boy was born +at Vincennes, on the 23d of August, 1725; but by a statute passed in +the reign of Queen Anne, he had all the rights of a subject born in +the United Kingdom; and, among others, of course, had the right to +succeed to any property to which he might be legally entitled. But the +government perceived the fix in which they were placed, and +immediately, on the death of the son of the earl, and when James +Bartholomew was an infant of the age of five years, they hurried an +Act through Parliament which declared that nothing contained in the +dictatory law of Queen Anne gave the privilege of a natural born +subject to any child, born or to be born abroad, whose father at the +time of his or her birth either stood attainted of high treason, or +was in the actual service of a foreign state in enmity to the crown of +Great Britain. This excluded the boy, and the government began to +grant leases of the estates which would otherwise have fallen to him. + +And now we begin to plunge into mystery. It is asserted that the +reported death of John Radcliffe, son of the last earl, was merely a +scheme on the part of his friends to protect him against his +Hanoverian enemies who sought his life. Some say that he died at the +age of nineteen, at the house of his maternal grandfather, Sir John +Webb, in Great Marlborough Street, on the 31st of December, 1731. +Others maintain that he was thrown from his horse, and killed, during +his residence in France. But the most recent statement is that his +interment was a sham, and was part of a well-devised plan for +facilitating his escape from France to Germany during the prevalence +of rumoured attempts to restore the Stuarts, and that, after marrying +the Countess of Waldsteine-Waters, he lived, bearing her name, to the +age of eighty-six. + +By this reputed marriage it is said that he had a son, who was called +John James Anthony Radcliffe, and who, in his turn, espoused a +descendant of John Sobieski of Poland. To them a daughter was born, +and was named Amelia. Her first appearance at the home of her supposed +ancestors was very peculiar; and the report of her proceedings, which +appeared in the _Hexham Courant_, of the 29th of September, 1868, was +immediately transferred into the London daily papers, and was quoted +from them by almost the entire provincial press. The following is the +account of the local journal, which excited considerable amusement, +but roused very little faith when it was first made public:-- + + "This morning great excitement was occasioned in the + neighbourhood of Dilston by the appearance of Amelia, + Countess of Derwentwater, with a retinue of servants, at the + old baronial castle of her ancestors--Dilston Old + Castle--and at once taking possession of the old ruin. Her + ladyship, who is a fine-looking elderly lady, was dressed in + an Austrian military uniform, and wore a sword by her side + in the most approved fashion. She was accompanied, as we + have said, by several retainers, who were not long in + unloading the waggon-load of furniture which they had + brought with them, and quickly deposited the various goods + and chattels in the old castle, the rooms of which, as most + of our readers are aware, are without roofs; but a plentiful + supply of stout tarpaulings, which are provided for the + purpose, will soon make the apartments habitable, if not + quite so comfortable as those which the countess has just + left. In the course of the morning her ladyship was visited + by Mr. C.J. Grey, the receiver to the Greenwich Hospital + estates, who informed her she was trespassing upon the + property of the commissioners, and that he would be obliged + to report the circumstance to their lordships. Her ladyship + received Mr. Grey with great courtesy, and informed that + gentleman she was acting under the advice of her legal + advisers, and that she was quite prepared to defend the + legality of her proceedings. The sides of the principal + room have already been hung with the Derwentwater family + pictures, to some of which the countess bears a marked + resemblance, and the old baronial flag of the unfortunate + family already floats proudly from the summit of the fine, + though old and dilapidated tower." + +This is a bald newspaper account; but the lady herself is an +experienced correspondent, and in one of her letters, which she has +published in a gorgeously emblazoned volume, thus gives her version of +the affair in her own vigorous way:-- + + "DEVILSTONE CASTLE, 29_th September_, 1868. + + "Here I am, my dear friend, at my own house, my roofless + home; and my first scrawl from here is to the vicarage. You + will be sorry to hear that the Lords of Her Majesty's + Council have defied all equitable terms in my eleven years' + suffering case. My counsel and myself have only received + impertinent replies from under officials. Had my lords met + my case like gentlemen and statesmen, I should not have been + driven to the course I intend to pursue. + + "I left the Terrace very early this morning, and at + half-past seven o'clock I arrived at the carriage-road of + Dilstone Castle. I stood, and before me lay stretched the + ruins of my grandfather's baronial castle; my heart beat + more quickly as I approached. I am attended by my two + faithful retainers, Michael and Andrew. Mr. Samuel Aiston + conveyed a few needful things; the gentle and docile pony + trotted on until I reached the level top of the + carriage-road, and then we stopped. I dismounted and opened + the gate and bid my squires to follow, and, in front of the + old flag tower, I cut with a spade three square feet of + green sod into a barrier for my feet, in the once happy + nursery--the mother's joyful upstairs parlour--the only room + now standing, and quite roofless. I found not a voice to + cheer me, nothing but naked plasterless walls; a hearth with + no frame of iron; the little chapel which contains the + sacred tombs of the silent dead, and the dishonoured ashes + of my grandsires. + + "All here is in a death-like repose, no living thing save a + few innocent pigeons, half wild; but there has been a + tremendous confusion, a wild and wilful uproar of rending, + and a crash of headlong havoc, every angle is surrounded + with desolation, and the whole is a monument of state + vengeance and destruction. But here is the land--the home of + my fathers--which I have been robbed of; this is a piece of + the castle, and the room in which they lived, and talked, + and walked, and smiled, and were cradled and watched with + tender affection. You never saw this old tower nearer than + from the road; the walls of it are three feet or more in + some parts thick, and of rough stone inside. The floor of + this room where I am writing this scrawl is verdure, and + damp with the moisture from heaven. It has not even beams + left for a ceiling, and the stairs up to it are scarcely + passible; but I am truly thankful that all the little + articles I brought are now up in this room, and no accident + to my men. + + "Radcliffe's flag is once more raised! and the portraits of + my grandfather and great-grandfather are _here_, back again + to Devilstone Castle (_alias_ Dilstone), and hung on each + side of this roofless room, where both their voices once + sounded. Oh! as I gaze calmly on these mute warders on the + walls, I cannot paint you my feelings of the sense of + injustice and wrong, a refining, a resenting sorrow--my + heart bleeds at the thought of the cruel axe, and I am + punished for its laws that no longer exist. I pray not to be + horror-stricken at the thoughts of the past ambition and + power of princes who cast destruction over our house, and + made us spectacles of barbarity. But, nevertheless, many + great and Christian men the Lord hath raised out of the + house of Radcliffe, who have passed away; and now, oh! + Father of Heaven! how wonderfully hast Thou spared the + remnant of my house, a defenceless orphan, to whom no way is + open but to Thy Fatherly heart. Now Thou hast brought me + here, what still awaits me? 'Leave Thou me not; let me never + forget Thee. Thou hast girded me with strength into the + battle. I will not therefore fear what man can do unto me.' + + "These are my thoughts and resolutions. But I am struggling + with the associations of this lone, lone hearth--with no + fire, no father, no mother, sister or brother left--the + whole is heartrending. I quit you now, my kind friends; I am + blind with tears, but this is womanly weakness. + + "Twelve o'clock the same day. My tears of excitement have + yielded to counter-excitement. I have just had an intrusive + visitor, who came to inquire if it is my intention to remain + here. I replied in the affirmative, adding earnestly, 'I + have come to my roofless home,' and asked 'Who are you?' He + answered 'I am Mr. Grey, the agent for her Majesty, and I + shall have to communicate your intention.' I answered, + 'Quite right, Mr. Grey. Then what _title_ have you to show + that her Majesty has a right here to my freehold estates?' + He replied, 'I have no _title_.' I then took out a parchment + with the titles and the barony and manors, and the names of + my forty-two rich estates, and held it before him and said, + 'I am the Countess of Derwentwater, and my title and claim + are acknowledged and substantiated by the Crown of England, + morally, legally, and officially; therefore my title is the + title to these forty-two estates.' He has absented himself + quietly, and I do hope my lords will not leave my case now + to under officials.--Yours truly, + AMELIA, COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER." + +Their lordships left the case to very minor officials, indeed; namely +to a person whom the countess describes as "a dusky little man" and +his underlings, and they without hesitation ejected her from Dilstone +Hall. The lady was very indignant, but was very far from being beaten, +and she and her adherents immediately formed a roadside encampment, +under a hedge, in gipsy fashion, and resolved to re-enter if possible. +From her letters it appears that she was very cold and very miserable, +and, moreover, very hungry at first. But the neighbouring peasantry +were kind, and brought her so much food eventually, that she tells one +of her friends that cases of tinned meats from Paris would be of no +use to her. The worst of the encampment seems to have been that it +interfered with her usual pastime of sketching, which could not be +carried on in the evenings under a tarpaulin, by the light of a +lantern. + +But her enemies had no idea that she should be permitted to remain +under the hedge any more than in the hall itself. On the 21st of +October, at the quarter sessions for the county of Northumberland, the +chief constable was questioned by the magistrates about the strange +state of affairs in the district, and reported that the encampment was +a little way from the highway, and that, therefore, the lady could not +be apprehended under the Vagrant Act! A summons, however, had been +taken out by the local surveyor, and would be followed by a warrant. +On that summons the so-called countess was convicted; but appealed to +the Court of Queen's Bench. + +During the winter the encampment could not be maintained, and the +weather, more powerful than the Greenwich commissioners, drove the +countess from the roadside. But in the bright days of May she +reappeared to resume the fight, and this time took possession of a +cottage at Dilston, whence, says a newspaper report of the period, "it +is expected she will be ejected; but she may do as she did before, and +pitch her tent on the high-road." On the 30th of the same month, the +conviction by the Northumberland magistrates "for erecting a hut on +the roadside," was affirmed by the Court of Queen's Bench. + +On the 17th November, 1869, while Mr. Grey was collecting the +Derwentwater rents, the countess marched into the apartment, at the +head of her attendants, to forbid the proceedings. She was richly +apparelled, but her semi-military guise did not save herself, or those +who came with her, from being somewhat rudely ejected. Her sole +consolation was that the mob cheered her lustily as she drove off in +her carriage. + +On the 5th of January, in the following year, a great demonstration in +her favour took place at Consett, in the county of Durham. A few days +previously a large quantity of live stock had been seized at the +instance of the countess, for rent alleged to be due to her, and an +interdict had been obtained against her, prohibiting her from +disposing of it. However, she defied the law, and in the midst of +something very like a riot, the cattle were sold, flags were waved, +speeches were made, and the moment was perhaps the proudest which the +heiress of the Derwentwaters is likely to see in this country. + +Such conduct could not be tolerated. The Lords of the Admiralty were +roused, and formally announced that the claims of the so-called +countess were frivolous. They also warned their tenants against paying +their rents to her, and took out summonses against those who had +assisted at the sale. On the 16th of January, the ringleaders in the +disgraceful affair were committed for trial. + +Notwithstanding this untoward _contretemps_, the countess made a +further attempt, in February, to collect the rents of the forty-two +freehold estates, which she said belonged to her. But the bailiffs +were in force and resisted her successfully, being aided in their work +by a severe snowstorm, which completely cowed her followers, although +it did not cool her own courage. On the 11th of February, 1870, the +Lords of the Admiralty applied for an injunction to prevent the +so-called countess from entering on the Greenwich estates, and their +application was immediately granted. Shortly afterwards the bailiff +acting on behalf of the countess, and the ringleaders in the Consett +affair, were sentenced to short terms of imprisonment. Thus those in +possession of the property could boast a decided victory. + +But the law courts are free to all, and the countess determined to +take the initiative. She had jewels, and pictures, and documents which +would at once prove her identity and the justice of her claim. +Unfortunately they were all in Germany, and the lady was penniless. By +the generosity of certain confiding gentlemen, about L2000 was +advanced, on loan, to bring them to this country. They came, but their +appearance was not satisfactory even to the creditors, who became +clamorous for their money. There was only one way left to satisfy +them, and Amelia, of Derwentwater, took it. The jewels and pictures +were brought to the hammer in an auction-room in Hexham--the countess +disappeared from public ken, and the newspapers ceased to chronicle +her extraordinary movements. + + + + +ARTHUR ORTON--WHO CLAIMED TO BE SIR ROGER CHARLES DOUGHTY TICHBORNE, +BART. + + +The case of Arthur Orton is too recent to need many words of +introduction. We have hardly yet cooled down to a sober realization of +the facts which, as they stand, mark the latest and most bulky of the +claimants, as not only the greatest impostor of modern or perhaps of +any days, the base calumniator who endeavoured to rob a woman of her +fair fame to gratify his own selfish ends, but as a living proof of +the height to which the blind credulity of the public will now and +again elevate itself. Arthur Orton is in prison undergoing what all +thinking men must admit to be a very lenient sentence--a sentence +which in no way meets the justice of the case; for the advent of this +huge carcase lumbering the earth with lies was nothing less than a +misfortune to the people of England. And the word misfortune, if used +even in its highest and widest sense, will in no way imply that which +has happened to a peaceful family, who have been associated with their +lands and titles as long as our history goes back, and who have had +their privacy violated, and the sanctity of their homes invaded; who +have been pilloried before a ruthless and unsympathising mob, who have +had their women's names banded from one coarse mouth to another, and +who--least misfortune of all--have had to expend large sums of money, +and great amounts of time and trouble, to free themselves from a +persecution as unparalleled as it was vicious and cruel. Those who, +having neither fame nor fortune to lose, speak lightly and think not +at all of the sorrows which were launched avalanche-like upon the +devoted heads of the Tichbornes and their connections, would do well +to ponder over what such personation as that of Arthur Orton means to +its immediate victims. It means a sudden derangement of all the ties +and sympathies by which life is made dear, a sudden shock which never +in life will be recovered. There is no member of the community, no +matter how well and how carefully he has chosen his path in life, who +would not fear to have his every action published and criticised, his +every motive analysed unfairly, and the most mischievous construction +placed upon each deed or thought found capable of perversion. How much +more terrible would it be, then, for any man to know that his wife or +mother was to be subjected to such ordeal; that for no fault +committed, for nothing but the delectation of an unscrupulous +scoundrel and his admirers, a tender and sensitive lady was to be put +to torture far worse than any physical punishment could ever have +been, even in ages and countries whose only refinement was that of +cruelty? + +Arthur Orton is in prison, but there are still many who loudly assert +their belief in his identity with the lost Sir Roger; there are others +who are quite as strong in their avowals of doubt as to the name found +for the huge mystery being the correct one; and there are again others +who, caring little who or what the man may be, affect to credit many +of his most villanous utterances. But do these people in their blind +impetuosity ever give the merits of the case one thought? do they +remember that Orton was detected in his every lie, and found as +heinously guilty as man can be detected and found guilty, when the +evidence against him admits of but circumstantial proof? They do not; +and like the man who constantly avers that the earth is flat, and his +congeners who deny the existence of a Being who is apparent in every +one of His marvellous works, the believers in Orton must be placed in +the catalogue of those who, either of malice prepense, or from mental +affliction, take the wrong view of a subject as naturally as sparks +fly upwards. If the man now in prison is Sir Roger Tichborne, then +trial by jury, the selection of our judges, and the whole basis of our +legal system--indeed, of almost every system by which calm and +peaceful government is maintained, and the right of the subject duly +regarded--must be radically wrong, and right is wrong also. If he is +not Arthur Orton, then there never was an Arthur Orton, and Wapping is +a place which has no existence out of the annals of the Tichborne +trial. + +The baronetcy of Tichborne, now Doughty-Tichborne, is not only old of +itself, and connected with vast estates, but is held by a family well +known in the history of this country, even as far as that history +goes. No _parvenu_, whose rank is the result of success in +cheesemongering or kindred pursuit, is the holder of the title, for, +as Debrett tells us, the family of Tichborne was of great importance +in Hampshire before the Conquest, and derives its name from the river +Itchen, at the head of which it had estates; "hence it was called De +Itchenbourne, since corrupted into Tichborne. Sir John de Tichborne, +knight, sheriff of Southampton, on hearing of the death of Queen +Elizabeth, immediately repaired to Winchester, and there proclaimed +King James VI. (of Scotland) as King of England. In 1621, he was +created a baronet, the honour of knighthood having been previously +conferred upon three of his sons, while his fourth son Henry was +subsequently knighted. Sir Henry, the third baronet, hazarded his life +in defence of Charles I. in several enterprises, and his estates were +sequestrated by the Parliamentarians. After the restoration he was +successively Lieutenant of the New Forest, and Lieutenant of +Ordnance." Other Tichbornes have been sufficiently prominent in their +times to leave marks on the history of the country; and altogether +riches and honours seemed, until comparatively recently, to be the +unshadowed lot of the head of the family. That, however, large estates +and long descent do not always secure perfect happiness, has been very +well shown in the great trial just past, in many ways perfectly +independent of the actual result, or of any question as to whether or +not the claimant was he whom he professed to be. + +Family differences and unpleasantnesses seem to have been the actual, +even if remote, cause of the great imposition of Arthur Orton. Had +matters been conducted as one might have anticipated they would among +people blessed with the means of gratifying every whim and caprice, +Roger Tichborne would have lived and died like other men, and his name +would never have been known except as a quiet country gentleman of +English origin and French tastes, which led him into more or less +eccentricities, and caused him to be more or less popular among his +neighbours and dependants. But this was not to be. All great families +have their secret unpleasantnesses, and in these the Tichbornes were +by no means behindhand. The Tichbornes generally had a knack of +disagreeing, and this feeling was shown in excelsis by James, the +father of Roger, and his wife, who lived abroad for many years, she +being French in every sentiment, while the husband was but +naturalized, and now and again exhibited a desire to return to his +native land. When Roger was born there was but little chance of his +ever becoming the owner of either titles or estates, and so his +education was entirely foreign, his tutors being M. Chatillon, and a +priest named Lefevre. As time wore on, it became evident that Mr. James +Tichborne would in due course become Sir James, and he felt it his +duty to secure to his son an English education. This the mother +opposed most strenuously, and it was only by artifice that the boy was +brought to England. Sir Henry Joseph Tichborne, who had succeeded to +the baronetcy in 1821, had no son, and though time after time a child +was born to him, Providence blessed him with no male heir. Again and +again a child would be born at Tichborne, but it was always a girl. +Sir Henry had seven children, of whom six lived, all celebrated for +their good looks, and their tall and handsome proportions; but all +were daughters. Still there was Sir Henry's brother, Edward +Tichborne, who had taken large estates under the will of a Miss +Doughty--which led to the present junction of the Doughty and +Tichborne properties, and to the double surname--and with them had +assumed the name of that lady, and he was after Sir Henry the next +heir. Edward had a son and daughter. But one day there came the news +to James and his wife in France, that Sir Edward's little boy had +died, and then it was that the father perceived more clearly the error +that he had made in permitting Roger to grow up ignorant of English +habits and the English tongue. Edward Doughty was an old man. His +brother James Tichborne himself was growing in years. The prospect of +Roger one day becoming the head of the old house of Tichborne, which +had once been so remote, had now become almost a certainty. It would +not do for the Lord of Tichborne to be a Frenchman; sooner or later he +must learn English, and receive an education fitting him to take the +position which now appeared in store for him. All this was clear +enough to Mr. James, but not so clear to his weak-headed and prejudiced +wife. The father did, indeed, obtain her consent to take the boy over +to England, and let him see his uncle and aunt, the Doughtys, at +Upton, in Dorsetshire, and his uncle, Sir Henry, at the ancestral home +down in Hampshire. But Roger was then but a child, and as he grew +older Mrs. Tichborne became more than ever resolute in her +determination that, come what might, her darling should be a +Frenchman. What cared she for the old Hampshire traditions? France was +to her the only land worth living in; a Frenchman's life was the only +life worthy of the name. Her dear Roger might succeed to the title and +estates, but she could not bear the thought of his going to England. +It was in her imagination a land of cold bleak rains and unwholesome +fogs. But it was worse; it was the country of a people who had been +false to their ancient faith. Even the Tichbornes, though still +Catholics, had not always been true to their religion. And so Mrs. +Tichborne planned out for the future heir of Tichborne a life of +perpetual absenteeism. He should marry into some distinguished family +in France or Italy, and little short of a Princess should share his +fortunes. If he went into the army it should be in some foreign +service. But in no case should he go to Tichborne, or set foot in +England again, if she could help it. + +James Tichborne was like many other weak men who have self-willed +wives. He put off the inevitable day as long as he could, but finally +achieved his purpose by strategy. Roger was in his seventeenth year +when the news arrived that Sir Henry had died. It was right that James +Tichborne should be present at his brother's funeral, and reasonable +that he should take with him the heir, as everyone regarded him to +be. Accordingly Roger took leave of his mother under solemn +injunctions to return quickly. But there was no intention of allowing +him to return. The boy attended the funeral of his uncle at the old +chapel at Tichborne, went to his grandfather's place at Knoyle, and +thence, by the advice of relations and friends, and with the consent +of the boy himself, he was taken down to the Jesuit College at +Stonyhurst, and there placed in the seminary with the class of +students known as "philosophers." When Mrs. Tichborne learnt that this +step had been completed her fury knew no bounds. Roger wrote her kind +and filial letters in French--ill-spelt it is true, but admirably +worded, and testifying an amount of good sense which promised well for +his manhood. But Mrs. Tichborne gave no reply, and for twelve months +the son, though longing ardently for a letter, got no token of +affection. Yet Mrs. Tichborne was not the person to see her son removed +from her control without an effort. She upbraided her husband +violently, and there was a renewal of the old scenes in the Tichborne +household; but Roger was now far away, and the danger of Mr. +Tichborne's yielding in a momentary fit of weakness was at an end. +Meanwhile the mother wrote violent letters to the heads of the +college, exposing family troubles in a way which called forth a +remonstrance from even the lad himself. What was the precise nature of +his studies at Stonyhurst, and what progress he made in them, are +questions that have been much debated, but it is certain that he +applied himself resolutely to the study of English, and made such +progress that, although he could never speak it with so much purity +and command of words as when conversing in his mother tongue, he +learnt to write it with only occasional errors in spelling and +construction. In Latin he made some little progress, and in +mathematics more. He attended voluntary classes on chemistry, and his +letters evidence an inclination for the study both of science and +polite literature. At Stonyhurst Roger may be said to have passed the +three happiest years of his life. + +During the period just mentioned, the then last of the Tichbornes made +many friends, and if he did not become what we understand as +accomplished, he was refined and sensitive. During the vacations he +used to visit his English relatives in turn; but there was one place +above all others to which he preferred to go. This was the house at +Tichborne, then in possession of his father's brother Sir Edward +Doughty. There was a certain amount of delicacy in his position +towards his uncle and his aunt Lady Doughty, which cannot but be +intelligible to any one who has the least knowledge of human failings. +It is not in the nature of things that either Lady Doughty or her +husband could have been greatly predisposed towards the youthful +stranger, and Roger was shy and reserved and over-sensitive. He had +the misfortune to stand in the place which they must once have +ardently hoped that their dead child would have lived to inherit. Sir +Edward was in failing health, and his brother James was an old man. +The time could not therefore be far distant when this youth, with his +foreign habits and his strong French accent, would take possession of +Tichborne Park with all the ancient lands. More than that, he would +come into absolute possession of the new Doughty property, including +the beautiful residence of Upton, near Poole, in Dorsetshire, for +which Sir Edward and his family had so strong an affection. It was +through Sir Edward alone that this property had been acquired, but the +lady who had bequeathed it to him had no notion of founding a second +family; in time all the lands and houses in various countries +bequeathed by her, as well as those which were purchased by trustees +under her will, were to go to swell the Tichborne estate, and to +increase the grandeur and renown of the old house. Upton was the +favourite home of the Doughtys. Sir Edward, who had been in the West +Indies, had returned thence with his black servant named Andrew Bogle, +then a boy, and had married--he and his wife doubtless for a long time +looking on Upton as their home for life. It cost them a pang to remove +even to the house at Tichborne. It was at Upton that their only +surviving child Kate had spent her early years, and to return there +and enjoy the fresh sea breezes in the summer holidays was always a +fresh source of delight. It was hard to think that even Upton must +pass from them, and that the day was probably not far distant when +there would be nothing left for them but to yield up their home and +estates to the new comer, and retire even upon a widow's handsome +jointure and the fortune of Miss Kate. But if such feelings ever +passed through the minds of the family at Tichborne, they could have +been only transient. The shy, pale-faced boy with the long dark locks, +came always to Tichborne in his holidays, making his way steadily in +the favour of that household, and this not from interested motives on +the part of Lady Doughty, as has been falsely alleged, and +triumphantly disproved, but clearly from something in the nature of +the youth which disarmed ill-feeling. Roger, despite his early +training abroad, soon showed good sound English tastes. He took +delight in country life; and though he did not bring down the +partridges in the woods, or throw the fly upon the surface of the +Itchen, with a degree of skill that would command much respect in the +county of Hants, he did his best, and really liked the out-door life. +In hunting he took delight from the time when he donned his first +scarlet coat, and he rarely missed an opportunity of appearing at "the +meet" in that neighbourhood. The time soon came when Roger had to +think of a profession, and James Tichborne again gave mortal offence +to his wife by determining that the young man should go into the +army. Among the daughters of Sir Henry, was one who had married +Colonel William Greenwood of the Grenadier Guards. Their house at +Brookwood was but half an hour's ride from Tichborne, and Roger was +fond of visiting there. Colonel Greenwood's brother George was also in +the army, and he took kindly to Roger, and determined to do his best +to get him on. So he took him one morning to the Horse Guards, and +introduced him to the commander-in-chief, who promised him a +commission. There was a little delay in keeping this promise, and the +young man did not go troubling uncles again, but took the self-reliant +course of writing direct to the Horse Guards, to remind the +Commander-in-chief of what he had said; and before long Mr. Roger +Charles Tichborne was gazetted a cornet in the 6th Dragoons, better +known as the Carabineers. He passed his examination at Sandhurst +satisfactorily, and went straight over to Dublin to join his regiment. +From Dublin he went to the south of Ireland, and twice he came over to +England on short visits. He went through the painful ordeal of +practical joking which awaited every young officer in those days, and +came out of it, not without annoyance and an occasional display of +resentment, yet in a way which conciliated his brother officers; and +few men were more liked in the regiment than Roger Tichborne, +affectionately nicknamed among them "Teesh." In 1852 the Carabineers +came over to England, and were quartered at Canterbury. They expected +then to be sent to India, but the order was countermanded, and Roger +saw himself doomed apparently to a life of inaction. There is a letter +of Roger's among the mass of correspondence which he kept up at this +period of his life, in which he notices the fact that his mother still +dwelt upon her old idea of providing him with a wife in the shape of +one of those Italian princesses of which he had heard so much, and +with whom he had always been threatened. But Roger was by this time in +love with his cousin, and his love was by no means happy. Roger had +been for years visiting at Tichborne before he had ever seen his +cousin Kate there. He had met her long before when he came over as a +child from Paris on a visit, but Miss Doughty was too young at that +time to have retained much impression of the little dark-haired French +boy, who could hardly have said "Good morning, cousin," in her native +tongue. When Roger was twenty years of age, they met for a few days at +Bath, where both had come on the melancholy duty of taking leave of Mr. +Seymour, then lying dangerously ill and near his death. Then they +parted again; Roger went to Tichborne for a long stay, but Miss +Doughty returned to school at the convent at Taunton. In the Midsummer +holidays, however, they once more met at the house in Hampshire, and +for six weeks the young cousins saw each other daily. Then Miss +Doughty went away to Scotland with her parents; and the youth took +upon himself the pleasant duty of going to see the party take their +departure from St. Katherine's Wharf. October found the party again +assembled at Tichborne Park; and there Roger took farewell of uncle, +aunt, and cousin, to go to Ireland and join his regiment; and Miss +Doughty, whose schooldays were not yet ended, went down to a convent +at Newhall, in Essex. When Roger got a short leave of absence, his +first thought was to visit his uncle and aunt, who had so affectionate +a regard for him. There was a summer visit to Upton, in Dorsetshire, +for a week, when Miss Doughty happened to be there; and there was a +visit to Tichborne in January 1850, when there were great festivities, +for Roger then attained his majority; again the cousins took farewell, +and met no more for eighteen months. No wonder Roger loved Tichborne, +with all its associations. In that well-ordered and affectionate +household he found a tranquillity and happiness to which he had been a +stranger in his own home. In his correspondence with his father and +mother at this time there were no lack of tokens of a loving son; but +no one was more sensible than Roger of the miseries of that life which +he had led up to the day when he came away to pursue his studies at +the Jesuit College, and to learn to be an Englishman. But there was +another association, long unsuspected, yet growing steadily, until it +absorbed all his thoughts, and gave to that neighbourhood a glory and +a light invisible to other eyes. Roger had spent many happy hours with +his cousin; she had grown in those few years from a girl almost into a +woman, and he had come to love her deeply. To her he said not a word, +to Sir Edward he dared not speak, but one day Roger took an +opportunity of confiding to Lady Doughty the new secret of his life. +His aunt did not discourage the idea; but Miss Doughty was still but a +girl of fifteen; and there was the grave objection that the twain were +first cousins. And besides, though Roger was of a kind and considerate +disposition, truthful, honourable, and scrupulous in points of duty, +he had certain habits which assumed serious proportions in the mind of +a lady so strict in notions of propriety. He had in Paris acquired a +habit of smoking immoderately. In the regiment he had been compelled, +by evil customs then prevailing, to go through a noviciate in the +matter of imbibing "military port;" and his habits had followed him to +Tichborne, and the young officer had been seen at least on one +occasion in a state of semi-intoxication--no less a word will describe +his condition. He was also accustomed to bring in his portmanteau +French novels, which were decidedly objectionable, though few young +men would probably regard it as much sin to read them. So little did +the young man appreciate her objections to this exciting kind of +literature that he had actually recommended to his aunt some stories +which no amount of humour and cleverness could prevent that pious lady +regarding as debasing and absolutely immoral. How Lady Doughty felt +under all the circumstances of Roger's love, as compared with his +general conduct, will be best shown by the following letter:-- + + "1850. Tichborne Park, _begun_ 29 _Jan., finished 31st._ + + "MY DEAREST ROGER,--After three weeks being between life and + death it has pleased God to restore me so far that I have + this day for the first time been in the wheel chair to the + drawing-room, and I hasten to begin my thanks to you for + your letters, especially that private one, though it may yet + be some days before I finish all I wish to say to you, for I + am yet very weak, and my eyes scarcely allow of reading or + writing.... Remember, dear Roger, that by that conversation + in town you gave me every right to be deeply interested in + your fate, and therefore doubly do I feel grieved when I see + you abusing that noblest of God's gifts to man, reason, by + diminishing its power.... I cannot recall to my mind the + subject you say I was beginning in the drawing-room when + interrupted; probably it might have had reference to the + confidence which you say you do not repent having placed in + me. No, dear Roger, never repent it; be fully assured that I + never shall betray that confidence. You are young, and + intercourse with life and the society you must mix with + might very possibly change your feelings towards one now + dear to you, or rather settle them into the affection of a + brother towards a sister; but whatever may be the case + hereafter, my line of duty is marked out, and ought steadily + to be followed; that is, not to encourage anything that + could fetter the future choice of either party before they + had fully seen others and mixed with the world, and with all + the fond care of a mother endeavour, while she is yet so + young, to prevent her heart and mind from being occupied by + ideas not suited to what should be her present occupations, + and hereafter, with the blessing of God, guard her against + the dangers she may be liable to be ensnared into by the + position in which she is placed.... You have been, I rejoice + to hear, raised in the opinion of all with whom you have + lately had to transact business by your firmness and + decision. You are in an honourable profession, which gives + you occupation.... Resist drink, or a rash throwing away + life, or wasting in any way the energies of a naturally + strong, sensible mind, and really attached heart. Now write + to me soon; tell me truly if I have tried your patience by + this long letter which I venture to send, for it is when + returning to life as I now feel that renewed love for all + dear to one seems to take possession of our hearts, so you + must forgive it if you find it long. Your uncle and cousin + send their kindest love.--Adieu, dearest Roger, ever be + assured of the sincere affection and real attachment of your + aunt. + KATHERINE DOUGHTY." + +Roger protested that his failings had been exaggerated, and by his +letters it is noticeable there is a trace of vexation that Lady +Doughty should have lent an ear to coloured reports of his manner of +life; but there is no abatement in the affectionate terms on which he +stood with his aunt at Tichborne. Matters, however, could not long go +on in this fashion. As yet Roger Tichborne had never spoken of his +love to Miss Doughty, though it cannot be doubted that some tokens had +revealed that secret. But love must find expression in something more +than hints and tokens, and at last came the inevitable time. It was on +Christmas eve, 1851, that Roger joyfully set foot in Tichborne Park +once more. That was a happy meeting in all but the fact that Sir +Edward Doughty was in weak health. Now comes the _denoument_. Miss +Doughty had given Roger a keepsake volume of Father Faber's Hymns, and +there was an exchange of gifts. Suddenly the truth flashed across the +mind of the father, and he was vexed and angry. On a Sunday morning, +when the two cousins had been walking in the garden enjoying the +bright winter day, and they were sitting together at breakfast, a +message came that Sir Edward desired to see his nephew in the library. +The girl waited, but Roger did not come back to the breakfast table. +The eyes of the cousins met sorrowfully in the chapel, and in the +afternoon, with Lady Doughty's permission, they saw each other in the +drawing-room to take farewell. For Sir Edward's fiat had gone forth. +Marriage between first cousins was forbidden by the Church, and there +were other reasons why he was resolute that this engagement should be +broken off before it grew more serious. So it was arranged that on the +very next morning the young man should leave the house for ever. Thus +the great hope of Roger's life was suddenly extinguished, and there +was nothing left for him but to sail with his regiment for India, and +endeavour, if he could, to forget the past. Some days after that, at +his cousin's request, he wrote out for her a narrative of his sorrows +at this time, in which he said:-- + +"What I felt when I left my uncle it is difficult for me to explain. I +was like thunderstruck. I came back to my room, and tried to pack up +my things, but was obliged to give up the attempt, as my mind was +quite absent. I sank on a chair, and remained there, my head buried +between my two knees for more than half an hour. What was the nature +of my thoughts, my dearest K., you may easily imagine. To think that I +was obliged to leave you the next day, not to see you again--not, +perhaps, for years, if ever I came back from India. The idea was +breaking my heart. It passed on, giving me no relief, until about two +o'clock, when my aunt told me that you wished to see me. That news +gave me more pleasure than I could express; so much so that I never +could have expected it. The evening that I saw you, my dear K., about +five o'clock, you cannot conceive what pleasure it gave me. I saw you +felt my going away, so I determined to tell you everything I felt +towards you. What I told you it is not necessary to repeat, as I +suppose you remember it. When I came away from the drawing-room my +mind was so much oppressed that it was impossible to think of going to +bed. I stopped up until two o'clock in the morning. I do not think it +necessary, my dearest K., to tire you with all the details of what I +have felt for you during these two days; suffice it to say, that I +never felt more acute pain, especially during the night when I could +not sleep. I promise to my own dearest Kate, on my word and honour, +that I will be back in England, if she is not married or engaged, +towards the end of the autumn of 1854, or the month of January 1855. +If she is so engaged I shall remain in India for ten or fifteen years, +and shall wish for her happiness, which I shall be too happy to +promote." + +Neither Roger nor Kate had, however, given up hope of some change. +Lady Doughty, despite a secret dread of her nephew's habits, had a +strong regard for him, and would be certain to plead his cause. And +in a very few days circumstances unexpectedly favoured his suit. Sir +Edward's malady grew worse, the physicians despaired, and he believed +himself near his end. Roger was sent for hurriedly to take farewell of +his uncle. As he approached the sick bed his uncle said, "I know, my +dear Roger, the mutual attachment which exists between you and your +cousin. If you were not so near related I should not object at all to +a marriage between you two: but, however, wait, three years; then, if +the attachment still exists between you, and you can get your father's +consent, and also leave from the Church, it will be the will of God, +and I will not object to it any longer." + +To which Roger replied--"Ever since I have had the pleasure of knowing +you and my cousin, I have always tried to act towards you two in the +most honourable way I possibly could. The Church, as you know, grants +dispensations on these occasions. Of course, if you approve of it, I +will get my father's consent, and also leave from the Church, and do +it in an honourable way in the eyes of God and of the world." These +two speeches seem rather stilted and unnatural, yet this is how they +have been given in evidence. Days passed, and Roger sat up night after +night with his uncle. It was during those tedious watchings that he +again wrote at Miss Doughty's request a narrative of his feelings, +which ran thus:-- + + "TICHBORNE PARK, _Feb_. 4, 1852 (1.30 A.M.) + + "I shall go on," he said, "with my confessions, only asking + for some indulgence if you find them too long and too + tedious. You are, my dearest K., the only one for whom I + have formed so strong and sincere an attachment. I never + could have believed, a few years ago, I was able to get so + attached to another. You are the only young person who has + shown me some kindness, for which I feel very thankful. It + is in some respects rather a painful subject for me to have + to acknowledge my faults; but, as I have undertaken the + task, I must write all I have done, and what have been my + thoughts, for the last five weeks. I had a very wrong idea + when I left Ireland. It was this: I thought that you had + entirely forgotten me. I was, nevertheless, very anxious to + come to Tichborne for a short time to take a last farewell + of you, my uncle, and my aunt. My mind and heart were then + so much oppressed by these thoughts, that it was my + intention not to come back from India for ten or fifteen + years. I loved you, my dearest K., as dearly as ever. I + would have done anything in this world to oblige you, and + give you more of that happiness which I hoped I might see + you enjoy. I would have given my life for your happiness' + sake. To have seen all these things, I repeat again, with a + dry eye and an unbroken heart, or for a person who has a + strong feeling of attachment towards another to behold it, + is almost beyond human power. These feelings will arise when + I shall be thousands of miles from you, but I have taken my + pains and sorrows and your happiness in this world, and said + a prayer that you might bear the pains and sorrows of this + world with courage and resignation, and by these means be + happy in the next. When I came here I found I had been + mistaken in the opinion I had formed, and I reproached + myself bitterly for ever having such an idea. It is not + necessary for me to mention that I got rid of these bad + thoughts in a few minutes. Things went on happily until + Sunday, January 11, 1852, when I was sent for by my uncle at + breakfast. What took place between us I think it unnecessary + to repeat, as you know already. I was obliged to leave the + next morning by the first train for London. I never felt + before so deeply in my life what it was to part with the + only person I ever loved. How deeply I felt I cannot + express, but I shall try to explain as much of it as I can + in the next chapter. + + "What I have suffered last night I cannot easily explain. + You do not know, my own dearest K., what are my feelings + towards you. You cannot conceive how much I loved you. It + breaks my heart, my own dearest K., to think how long I + shall be without seeing you. I do feel that more than I can + tell you. You have the comfort of a home, and, moreover, at + some time or other, some person to whom you can speak, and + who will comfort you. I have none. I am thrown on the world + quite alone, without a friend--nothing; but, however, I + shall try and take courage, and I hope that when you will + see me in three years you will find a change for the better. + I shall employ these three years to reform my conduct, and + become all that you wish to see me. I shall never, my own, + my dearest K., forget the few moments I have spent with you; + but, on the contrary, I shall only consider them as the + happiest of my life. You cannot imagine how much pleasure + your letter has given me. It proved to me, far beyond any + possible doubt, what are your feelings towards me. I did + not, it is true, require that proof to know how you felt for + me. It is for that reason that I thank you most sincerely + for that proof of confidence, by expressing yourself so + kindly and openly to me. You may rest assured, my own + dearest K., that nothing in this world will prevent me, + except death in actual service, from coming back from India + at the time I have named to you--the latter part of the + autumn of 1854, or the beginning of 1855. It will be a great + comfort for me, my own dearest K., when I shall be in India, + to think of you. It will be, I may say, the only pleasure I + shall have to think of the first person I ever loved. You + may rest assured that nothing in the world will make me + change. Moreover, if you wish me to come back sooner, only + write to me, and I shall not remain five minutes in the army + more than I can help. I shall always be happy to comply with + your wishes, and come back as soon as possible. Again rest + assured, my dearest K., that if in any situation of life I + can be of help or service to you, I shall only be too happy, + my dearest K., to serve and oblige you.--Your very + affectionate cousin, + R.C. TICHBORNE." + +Roger went back to his regiment in Ireland soon after the date given +in the foregoing extract; but the Carabineers were finally removed to +Canterbury, and in the summer he again got leave of absence, which he +spent with his aunt and cousin in London, and at Tichborne; and it +was on the 22d of June 1852, that the young people walked together for +the last time in the garden of Tichborne house. They talked of the +future hopefully; and for her comfort he told her a secret. Some +months before that time he had made a vow, and written out and signed +it solemnly. It was in these words:--"I make on this day a promiss, +that if I marry my Cousin Kate Doughty, this year, or before three +years are over, at the latest, to build a church or chapel at +Tichborne to the Holy Virgin, in thanksgiving for the protection which +she has showed us in praying God that our wishes might be fulfilled." +Roger went back to his regiment and indulged his habitual melancholy. +To his great regret, the order for the Carabineers to go to India had +been countermanded; but he had no intention of leading the dull round +of barrack life in Canterbury. He had determined to go abroad for a +year and a half or two years; by that time the allotted period of +trial would be near an end. He had determined to leave a profession +which offered no outlet for his energies. The tame round of the cities +and picture-galleries of Europe had no charms for him. Among the many +books which he had read at this time were the Indian romances of +Chateaubriand, "Rene," "Attila," and "Le Dernier Abencerage." How +deeply these stories had impressed his mind is apparent in his letters +to Lady Doughty. "Happy," he says, "was the life of Rene. He knew how +to take his troubles with courage, and keep them to himself,--retired +from all his friends to be more at liberty to think about his sorrows +and misfortunes, and bury them in himself. I admire that man for his +courage; that is, the courage to carry those sorrows to the grave +which drove him into solitude." Among his intimate friends and +schoolfellows at Stonyhurst, was Mr. Edward Waterton, whose father, the +celebrated naturalist, had given to the college a collection of +stuffed foreign birds and other preserved animals; and there can be no +doubt that the famous narratives of adventure in South America of that +distinguished traveller were among the books which Roger and other +college friends read at that period. How deeply the splendours of the +natural history collection of Stonyhurst had impressed the mind of the +boy is evidenced in the fact that Roger took delight at school in +practising the art of preserving birds and other animals; while long +afterwards, in humble emulation of the great naturalist's achievement, +he gathered and sent home, when on his travels, many a specimen of +birds of splendid plumage. South America, in short, had long been the +subject of his dreams; and now in travelling in that vast continent, +he would try to find occupation for the mind, and get through the long +time of waiting which he had undertaken to bear patiently. His scheme +was to spend a twelvemonth in Chili, Guayaquil, and Peru, seeing not +only wild scenes but famous cities; thence to visit Mexico, and so by +way of the United States find his way back to England. Having taken +this resolution, he set about putting his affairs in order, for Roger +was a man of business-like habits, and by no means prone to neglect +his worldly interests. He made his will,--saying, however, as he +remarked in one of his letters, "nothing about the church or chapel at +Tichborne," which he said he would only build under the conditions +mentioned in a paper which he had left in the hands of his dearest and +most trusted friend, Mr. Gosford, the steward of the family estates. In +truth, months before the day when he gave Miss Doughty a copy of "The +Vow" in the garden at Tichborne, he had solemnly signed and sealed up +a compact with his own conscience, and deposited it with other +precious mementoes of that time in his friend's safe keeping. Parting +with friends in England cost him, perhaps, but little sorrow, for his +mind was full of projects to be carried into effect on his return. He +aspired to the character of a traveller, and to be qualified for +membership at the Travellers' Club, where, in one of his letters while +abroad, he requests that his name may be inscribed as a candidate. He +had an old habit of keeping diaries, and he promised to send extracts, +and, after all, the time would not be long. There was one house in +which Roger naturally shrank from saying farewell. He had made a +solemn resolution that he would go to Tichborne no more while matters +remained thus, and his pride was wounded by what appeared to him to +be a want of confidence on the part of Lady Doughty. In a worldly +point of view it is difficult to conceive any union more desirable +than that of the two cousins. But it is clear that the mother trembled +for the future of her child. Hence she still gave ready ear to tales +of the wild life of the regiment, and hinted them in her letters to +her nephew in a way that made him angry, but not vindictive. He was +asked to go and see his uncle, Sir Edward, before starting; but his +will was inflexible, and he went away, as he had all along said that +he would, resolved to bury his sorrows within himself. Roger went away +in February, and spent nearly three weeks in Paris with his parents +and some old friends of his early days. His mother was much averse to +his plan of travelling; and she opposed it both by her own +upbraidings, and by the persuasion of spiritual advisers who had +influence over her son. But it was of no avail. Roger had chosen to +sail in a French vessel from Havre--"La Pauline"--and sail he would. +His voyage to Valparaiso was to last four months, and thence he was +going on in the same vessel to Peru. It was doubtless because of the +strong hold which the French language and many French manners still +had on him, that, though he took an English servant with him, he +preferred a French ship with a French captain and French seamen. On +the 1st of March, 1853, he sailed away from Europe, and, as we are +bound to believe, never returned. The "Pauline" started with bad +weather, which detained her in the Channel, and compelled her to put +in at Falmouth, but after that she made a good voyage round Cape Horn +to Valparaiso, where she arrived on the 19th of June. As the vessel +was to remain there a month, Roger, after spending a week in +Valparaiso, started with his servant John Moore to see Santiago, the +capital of Chili, about ninety miles inland. Thence he returned and +sailed for Peru, where he embarked for places in the north. At +Santiago his servant had been taken ill, and, though recovering, was +unfitted to travel. His master thereupon furnished him with funds to +set up a store, and took another servant, with whom he underwent many +adventures. At Lima he visited the celebrated churches, and purchased +souvenirs for his friends and relatives. Having stored a little yacht +with provisions, he started with his servant on a voyage of about +three hundred miles up the river Guayaquil, and was for some days +under the Line; he made similar journeys in a canoe with his servant +and two Indians, still bent on collecting and preserving rare birds of +gorgeous plumage. He also visited and explored silver and copper +mines. During all this travelling he continued his home correspondence +with great regularity. But the first news he received was bad. +Scarcely had the "Pauline" left sight of our shores, when Sir Edward +Doughty died, and Roger's father and mother were now Sir James and +Lady Tichborne. By and by the wanderer began to retrace his steps, +came back to Valparaiso, and with his last new servant, Jules Berraut, +rode thence in one night ninety miles to Santiago again. Again he +started with muleteers and servants on the difficult and perilous +journey over the Cordilleras, and thence across the Pampas to Buenos +Ayres, Monte Video, and Rio de Janeiro. In April 1854, there was in +the harbour of Rio a vessel which hailed from Liverpool, and was +called the "Bella." She was about to sail for Kingston, Jamaica, and +it was to Kingston that Roger had directed his letters and remittances +to be forwarded, that being a convenient resting place on his journey +to Mexico, where he intended to spend a few months. The "Bella" was a +full-rigged ship of nearly 500 tons burden, clipper-built, and almost +new. Aboard this ship, then taking in her cargo of coffee and logwood, +came one April morning a young English gentleman who introduced +himself as Mr. Tichborne. He was dressed in a half tourist, half +nautical costume, and wanted a passage to Kingston. Travelling with +servants, hiring yachts and canoes, buying paintings, curiosities, and +natural history specimens, had proved more expensive than he expected. +His funds were exhausted; nor could his purse be replenished until he +got to Kingston, where letters of credit were expected to be waiting +for him. It was some little time before the captain believed the +young man's story, but when he did, he not only undertook to convey +him and his people to Kingston; he determined to help him in a matter +of some delicacy and not a little danger; for when the vessel was near +sailing, Roger was found to be without that indispensable requisite, a +passport. Great excitement then prevailed in Brazil on the subject of +runaway slaves. Black slaves had escaped by making themselves +stowaways; "half-caste" people, relying on their comparative fairness +of skin, had openly taken passage as seamen or even passengers, and +thus got away from a hateful life of bondage. Hence the peremptory +regulation that no captain should sail with a stranger aboard without +an official license. Under these circumstances a plan was devised by +the captain. When the Government officers came aboard, no Tichborne or +other stranger was visible. As the vessel, loosened from her moorings, +was slowly drifting down the harbour in the morning, the officers sat +at a little table on deck, smoked and drank with the captain. At +length the moment came to call their boat and take farewell, wishing +the good ship "Bella" and her valuable freight a pleasant voyage. +Scarcely had they departed, when the table was removed; and just +beneath where they had been sitting a circular plug closing the +entrance to what is known as the "lazarette" was lifted, and out came +Roger laughing at the success of their harmless device. Before noon +the "Bella" had passed from the harbour of Rio into the open ocean, +and was soon on her voyage northward. That was on the 20th of April +1854, and that is the last ever known in good sooth of the "Bella," +except as a foundered vessel. Six days after she had left the port of +Rio, a ship, traversing her path, found tokens of a wreck--straw +bedding such as men lay on deck in hot latitudes, a water-cask, a +chest of drawers, and among other things a long boat floating bottom +upwards, and bearing on her stern the ominous words "Bella, +Liverpool." These were brought into Rio, and forthwith the Brazilian +authorities caused steam vessels to go out and scour the seas in quest +of survivors; but none were seen. That the "Bella" had foundered +there was little room to doubt; though the articles found were chiefly +such as would have been on her deck. Even the items of cabin furniture +were known to have been placed on deck to make way for merchandise, +with which she was heavily laden. The night before these articles were +found had been gusty, but there had been nothing like a storm. When +time went by and brought no tidings, Captain Oates, a great friend of +the captain of the "Bella," who had been instrumental in getting Roger +on board, came with other practical seamen to the conclusion that she +had been caught in a squall; that her cargo of coffee had shifted; and +that hence, unable to right herself, the "Bella" had gone down in deep +water, giving but little warning to those on board. In a few months +this sorrowful news was brought to Tichborne, where there was of +course great mourning. One by one the heirs of the old house were +disappearing; and now it seemed that all the hopes of the family must +be centred in Alfred, then a boy of fifteen. So, at least, felt Sir +James Tichborne. He had inquiries made in America and elsewhere. For a +time there was a faint hope that some aboard the "Bella" had escaped, +and had, perhaps, been rescued. But months went by, and still there +was no sign. The letters of news that poor Roger had so anxiously +asked to be directed to him at the Post Office, Kingston, Jamaica, +remained there till the paper grew faded. The banker's bill, which was +wanted to pay the passage money, lay at the agents, but neither the +captain nor his passenger of the "Bella" came to claim it. Weeks and +months rolled on; the annual allowance of one thousand a year, which +was Roger's by right, was paid into Glyn & Co.'s bank, but no draft +upon it was ever more presented at their counters. The diligent +correspondent ceased to correspond. At Lloyd's the unfortunate vessel +was finally written down upon the "Loss Book"--the insurance was paid +to the owners, and in time the "Bella" faded away from the memories of +all but those who had lost friends or relatives in her. Lady Tichborne +was always full of hope that her son had been saved, and could never +be brought to regard him as drowned; but we have now seen the last of +the real Roger Tichborne, and our next business will be with the +counterfeit. + +At last, in the neighbourhood in which Sir James and his wife lived, +it became notorious that the mother was prepared to receive any one +kindly who professed to have news of her son, and naturally when the +story once got wind there were many who tried to profit by her +credulity. Among other adventurers, a tramp in the dress of a sailor +found his way to Tichborne, and, having poured into the willing ears +of the poor mother a wild story about some of the survivors of the +"Bella" being picked up off the coast of Brazil, and carried to +Melbourne, was forthwith regaled and rewarded. There is a freemasonry +among beggars which sufficiently explains the fact, that very soon the +appearance of ragged sailors in Tichborne Park became common. Sailors +with one leg, and sailors with one arm, loud-voiced, blustering +seamen, and seamen whose troubles had subdued their tones to a +plaintive key, all found their way to the back door of the great +house. Every one of them had heard something about the "Bella's" crew +being picked up; and could tell more on that subject than all the +owners, or underwriters, or shipping registers in the world. And poor +Lady Tichborne believed, as is evidenced by a letter of hers written +in 1857, only three years after the shipwreck, to a gentleman in +Melbourne, imploring him to make inquiries for her son in that part of +the world. Sir James, however, though no less sorrowful, had no faith; +and he made short work of tramping sailors who came to impose on the +poor lady with their unsubstantial legends. But Sir James died in +1862. Shortly before this event his only surviving son Alfred had +married Theresa, a daughter of the eleventh Lord Arundel of Wardour. +This, however, did not prevent the mother, in one of her crazy moods, +taking a step calculated to induce some impostor to come forward and +claim to be the rightful heir--which was the insertion of an +advertisement in the _Times_, offering a reward for the discovery of +her eldest son, and giving a number of particulars with regard to his +birth, parentage, age, date and place of shipwreck, name of vessel, +and other matters. She also incorporated in her advertisement the +stories of the tramping sailors about his having been picked up and +carried to Melbourne; and this mischievous advertisement was published +in various languages, and doubtless copied in the South American and +Australian newspapers. This is the first step we find towards the +formation of the imposture. + +Time rolled on, and no Roger, true or false, made his appearance. One +day the Dowager happened to see in a newspaper a mention of the fact +that there was in Sydney a man named Cubitt, who kept what he called a +"Missing Friends' Office." To Cubitt accordingly she wrote a long +rambling letter, in which, among other tokens of her state of mind, +she gave a grossly incorrect account of her son's appearance, and even +of his age; but Cubitt was to insert her long advertisement in the +Australian papers, and he was promised a handsome reward. Cubitt, in +reply, amused the poor lady with vague reports of her son being found +in the capacity of a private soldier in New Zealand; and as there was +war there at that time the poor lady wrote back in an agony of terror +to entreat that he might be bought out of the regiment. Mr. Cubitt soon +perceived the singular person he had to deal with; and his letters +from that time were largely occupied with requests for money for +services which had no existence out of the letters. At last came more +definite information. A Mr. Gibbes, an attorney at the little town of +Wagga-Wagga, two hundred miles inland from Sydney, had, he said, found +the real Roger living "in a humble station of life," and under an +assumed name. Again money was wanted. Then Gibbes, apparently +determined to steal a march on Cubitt, wrote directly to the credulous +lady, and there was much correspondence between them. At first there +were some little difficulties. The man who, after a certain amount of +coyness, had pleaded guilty to being the long-lost heir, still held +aloof in a strange way, concealed his present name and occupation, and +instead of going home at once, preferred to bargain for his return +through the medium of an attorney and the keeper of a missing-friends' +office. All this, however, did not shake the faith of Lady Tichborne. +Then he gave accounts of himself which did not in the least tally with +the facts of Roger's life. He said he was born in Dorsetshire, whereas +Roger was born in Paris; he accounted for being an illiterate man by +saying that he had suffered greatly in childhood from St. Vitus's +dance, which had interfered with his studies. "My son," says Lady +Tichborne, in reply, "never had St. Vitus's dance." When asked if he +had not been in the army, he replied, "Yes," but that he did not know +much about it, because he had merely enlisted as a private soldier "in +the Sixty-sixth Blues," and had been "bought off" by his father after +only thirteen days' service. What ship did you leave Europe in? +inquired Mr. Gibbes, with a view of sending further tokens of identity +to the Dowager. To this inquiry, Roger Tichborne might have been +expected to answer in "La Pauline," but, as was shown in the trial, +this mysterious person replied, in "The Jessie Miller." "And when did +she sail?" "On the 28th of November, 1852," was the reply; whereas +Roger sailed on the 1st of March, 1853. Asked as to where he was +educated, the long-lost heir replied, "At a school in Southampton," +where Roger never was at school. But it happened that Lady Tichborne +in a letter to Mr. Gibbes had said that her son was for three years at +the Jesuit College of Stonyhurst, in Lancashire; Mr. Gibbes accordingly +suggested to the client "in a humble station of life," that his memory +was at fault on that point, but the client maintained his ground. "Did +she say he had been at Stonyhurst College? If so, it was false;" and, +he added, with an oath, "I have a good mind never to go near her again +for telling such a story." Yet this strange person was able to confirm +the entire story of the tramping sailors. He _had_ embarked in the +"Bella," he _had_ been picked up at sea with other survivors in a boat +off the coast of Brazil, and it was quite true that he was landed with +them in Melbourne. In short, he corroborated the Dowager's long +advertisement in every particular; but beyond that he had nothing of +the slightest importance to tell which was not absurdly incorrect. His +replies, however, were forwarded to the Lady Tichborne, with pressing +requests to send L200, then L250, and finally L400, to enable the lost +heir to pay his debts--an indispensable condition of his leaving the +colony. It is evident that the statements thus reported puzzled the +poor lady a little, and she seems to have been unable to account for +the lost heir sending his kind remembrance to his "grandpa," because +Roger's' paternal grandfather died before he was born; and his +grandfather by the mother's side had also died several years before +Roger left England, as the young man knew well enough. She was clearly +a little surprised to hear that the resuscitated Roger did not +understand a word of French, for "my son," she says, "was born in +Paris, and spoke French better than English." But yet, with the +strange pertinacity which causes people to cling to that which they +know to be wrong, and try to force themselves into belief of its +truth, she believed in the _bona-fides_ of the claimant for maternal +solicitude and the paternal acres. "I fancied," she said in one letter +to Gibbes, "that the photographies you sent me are like him, but of +course after thirteen years' absence there must have been some +difference in the shape, as Roger was very slim; but," she added, "I +suppose all those large clothes would make him appear bigger than he +is." Again, alluding to the "photographies," she remarks that at least +the hand in the portrait is small, and adds, "that peculiar thing has +done a good deal with me to make me recognise him. A year and a half +was consumed in these tedious hagglings with brokers and agents for +the restoration of a lost heir, and during great part of that time the +lost heir himself made no sign, but contented himself with begging +trifling loans of Gibbes on the strength of his pretensions. Sometimes +a pound was the modest request; sometimes more. He had married, and a +child was born, and on that occasion he implored for "three pound," +plaintively declaring that he was "more like a mannick than a B. of +B.K. (supposed to mean a Baronet of British Kingdom) to have a child +born in such a hovel." Still the new man wrapped himself in +impenetrable secrecy. The Dowager Lady Tichborne complained that while +pressed to send everybody money, she was not even allowed to know the +whereabouts nor present name of her lost Roger; and she entreated +piteously to be allowed to communicate more directly. It was nothing +to her that the accounts the pretender had given of Roger's life were +wrong in every particular, except where her own advertisement had +furnished information. I think she said on this point, "My poor dear +Roger confuses everything in his head just as in a dream, and I +believe him to be my son, though his statements differ from mine." In +the midst of this curious correspondence trouble once more entered the +old home at Tichborne. Sir Alfred, the younger brother of Roger, was +dead, and the poor half-crazed mother in a solitary lodging in her +loved Paris was left more than ever desolate. Widowed and childless, +she had nothing now but to brood over her sorrows, and cling to the +old dream of the miraculous saving of her eldest born, who, since the +terrible hour of shipwreck--now twelve years past--had given no real +token of existence. The position of affairs at Tichborne was +remarkable, for though there were hopes of an heir to Tichborne, Sir +Alfred had left no child. Should the child--unborn, but already +fatherless--prove to be a girl, or other mischance befall, there was +an end of the old race of Tichborne. The property would then go to +collaterals, and the baronetcy must become extinct. It was under the +weight of these new sorrows that the Dowager Lady Tichborne wrote +pitiable letters to Gibbes, promising money and asking for more +particulars; while enclosing at the same time to the man who thus so +unaccountably kept himself aloof a letter beginning, "My dear and +beloved Roger, I hope you will not refuse to come back to your poor +afflicted mother. I have had the great misfortune to lose your poor +dear father, and lately I have lost my beloved son Alfred. I am now +alone in this world of sorrow, and I hope you will take that into +consideration, and come back." It is hardly surprising that during +this time Mr. Gibbes was constantly urging his mysterious client to +relinquish his disguise. Why not write to the mother and mention some +facts known only to those two which would at once convince her? True, +he had already mentioned "facts," which turned out to be fictions, and +yet the Dowager's faith was unabated. Mr. Gibbes's client was therefore +justified in his answer, that he "did not think it needful." But +Gibbes was pressing, for it happened that the Dowager had in one of +her letters said, "I shall expect an answer from him. As I know his +handwriting, I shall know at once whether it is him." Accordingly we +find the Claimant, under the direction of Mr. Gibbes, penning this:-- + + "WAGGA-WAGGA, _Jan_. 17 66. + MY DEAR MOTHER,--The delay which has taken place since my + last Letter Dated 22d April 54 Makes it very difficult to + Commence this Letter. I deeply regret the truble and + anxoiety I must have cause you by not writing before. But + they are known to my Attorney And the more private details I + will keep for your own Ear. Of one thing rest Assured that + although I have been in A humble conditoin of Life I have + never let any act disgrace you or my Family. I have been A + poor Man and nothing worse Mr. Gilbes suggest to me as + essential. That I should recall to your Memory things which + can only be known to you and me to convince you of my + Idenitity I dont thing it needful my dear Mother, although I + sind them Mamely the Brown Mark on my side. And the Card + Case at Brighton. I can assure you My Dear Mother I have + keep your promice ever since. In writing to me please + enclose your letter to Mr. Gilbes to prevent unnesersery + enquiry as I do not wish any person to know me in this + Country. When I take my proper prosition and title. Having + therefore mad up my mind to return and face the Sea once + more I must request to send me the Means of doing so and + paying a fue outstranding debts. I would return by the + overland Mail. The passage Money and other expences would be + over two Hundred pound, for I propose Sailing from Victoria + not this colonly And to Sail from Melbourne in my own Name. + Now to annable me to do this my dear Mother you must send + me"-- + +The half-sheet is torn off at this point, but it has been stated by +Lady Tichborne's solicitor, who saw it when complete, that the ending +originally contained the words "How's Grandma?" This must have again +puzzled the Dowager, for Roger had no "Grandma" living when he went +away. The date "22d April 54" was also incorrect, for the "Bella" +sailed on April 20th. But there were other difficulties; Lady +Tichborne had never seen, and, what is more, had never heard of any +brown mark on her son Roger; she could say nothing about the "card +case at Brighton" (which referred, according to Mr. Gibbes, to the +Claimant's assertion that he had left England in consequence of having +been swindled out of L1500 by Johnny and Harry Broome, prize-fighters, +and others at Brighton races); and lastly, the anxious mother could +not recognise the handwriting. The Australian correspondent was +somewhat disappointed that the mother did not at once acknowledge him +as her son. But the Dowager soon declared her unabated faith; sent +small sums and then larger, and finally made up her mind to forward +the four hundred pounds. Meanwhile she sent to him, as well as to her +other Australian correspondents, much family information. Among other +things she told him that there was a man named Guilfoyle at Sydney, +who had been gardener for many years at Upton and Tichborne, and +another man in the same town named Andrew Bogle, a black man, who had +been in the service of Sir Edward. Mr. Gibbes's client lost no time in +finding out both these persons, and soon became pretty well primed. It +was shortly after this period that it became known in Victoria and New +South Wales that there was a man named Thomas Castro, living in +Wagga-Wagga as a journeyman slaughter-man and butcher, who was going to +England to lay claim to the baronetcy and estates of Tichborne. From +the letters and other facts it is manifest that it was originally +intended to keep all this secret even from the Dowager. "He wishes," +says his attorney, Mr. Gibbes, "that his present identity should be +totally disconnected from his future." It happened that one Cator, a +Wagga-Wagga friend of the Claimant, whose letters show him to have +been a coarse-minded and illiterate man, was leaving for England +shortly before the time that Castro had determined to embark. Whether +invited or not Cator was not unlikely to favour his friend with a +visit in the new and flourishing condition which appeared to await him +in that country. Perhaps to make a virtue of necessity, Castro gave to +Cator a sealed envelope, bearing outside the words, "To be open when +at sea," and inside a note which ran as follows:-- + + "WAGGA-WAGGA, _April 2nd_, 1866. + Mr. Cater,--At any time wen you are in England you should + feel enclined for a month pleasure Go to Tichborne, in + Hampshire, Enquire for Sir Roger Charles Tichborne, + Tichborne-hall, Tichborne, And you will find One that will + make you a welcome guest. But on no account Mension the Name + of Castro or Alude to me being a Married Man, or that I have + being has a Butcher. You will understand me, I have no + doubt. Yours truely, Thomas Castro. I Sail by the June + Mail." + +All this secrecy, however, was soon given up as impracticable for +articles in the Melbourne, Wagga-Wagga, and Sydney journals, quickly +brought the news to England, and finally Castro determined to take +with him his wife and family. One of his earliest steps was to take +into his service the old black man Bogle, and pay the passage-money +both of himself and his son to Europe with him. Certain relics of +Upton and of Tichborne which the Claimant forwarded to a banker at +Wagga-Wagga from whom he was trying to obtain advances, were described +by the Claimant himself as brought over by "my uncle Valet who is now +living with me." The bankers, however, were cautious; and "declined to +make loans." Nevertheless, the Claimant had the good fortune to +convince a Mr. Long, who was in Sydney, and had seen Roger "when a boy +of ten years old riding in Tichborne Park," and accordingly this +gentleman advanced him a considerable sum. Finally the Claimant +embarked aboard the "Rakaia," on his way to France _via_ Panama, and +accompanied by his family, and attended by old Bogle, his son, and a +youthful secretary, left Sydney on September 2d, 1866, and was +expected by the Dowager in Paris within two months from that date. But +nearly four months elapsed, and there were no tidings. Between +Christmas day and New Year's eve of 1866, there arrived in Alresford a +mysterious stranger, who put up at the Swan Hotel in that little town, +and said that his name was Taylor. He was a man of bulk and eccentric +attire. He wrapped himself in large greatcoats, muffled his neck and +chin in thick shawls, and wore a cap with a peak of unusual +dimensions, which, when it was pulled down, covered a considerable +portion of his features. The stranger, at first very reserved, soon +showed signs of coming out of his shell. He sent for Rous, the +landlord, and had a chat with him, in the course of which he asked +Rous to take him the next day for a drive round the neighbourhood of +Tichborne. Rous complied, and the innkeeper, chatting all the way on +local matters, showed his guest Tichborne village, Tichborne park and +house, the church, the mill, the village of Cheriton, and all else +that was worth seeing in that neighbourhood. In fact, Mr. Taylor became +very friendly with Rous, invited him to drink in his room, and then +confided to him an important secret--which, however, was by this time +no secret at all, for Mr. Rous had just observed upon his guest's +portmanteau the initials "R.C.T." Indeed it was already suspected in +the smoking-room of the Swan that the enormous stranger was the +long-expected heir. Suspicion became certainty when the stranger +telegraphed for Bogle, and that faithful black, once familiar in the +streets of Alresford, suddenly made his appearance there, began +reconnoitring the house at Tichborne, contrived to get inside the old +home, to learn that it had been let by the trustees of the infant +baronet to a gentleman named Lushington, and to examine carefully the +position of the old and new pictures hanging on the walls. This done, +the stranger and his black attendant disappeared as suddenly as they +had come. But the news spread abroad, and reached many persons who +were interested. Roger's numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins heard of +the sudden appearance of the long-expected Australian claimant. The +Dowager in Paris, the mother of the infant, then at Ryde, all heard +the news; and finally Mr. Gosford, Roger's dearest and most intimate +friend and confidant, then in North Wales, got intelligence, and +hastened to London to ascertain if the joyful news could be true. + +But the enormous individual had vanished again. The circumstance was +strange. Bogle had written letters from Australia declaring that this +was the identical gentleman he had known years before as Mr. Roger +Tichborne when a visitor at Sir Edward's; and the Dowager had declared +herself satisfied. But why did the long-lost Roger hold aloof? No one +could tell. There was no reason for such conduct, and so suspicion was +engendered. With infinite pains Mr. Gosford and a gentleman connected +with the Tichborne family ascertained that the person who had figured +as Mr. Taylor at the Swan had taken apartments for himself and his +family at a hotel near Manchester Square, and that he had even been +there since Christmas day. But once more the clue was lost. Sir Roger +Tichborne had gone away with his wife and children, and left no one +there but Bogle and his secretary. Then by chance Mr. Gosford +discovered that "Sir Roger" was staying at the Clarendon Hotel, +Gravesend. Forthwith Mr. Gosford, with the gentleman referred to, and +Mr. Cullington, the solicitor, went to the Clarendon Hotel at +Gravesend, where, after long waiting in the hall, they saw a stout +person muffled, and wearing a peaked cap over the eyes, who, having +glanced at the party suspiciously, rushed past them, hurried upstairs, +and locked himself in a room. In vain the party sent up cards, in vain +they followed and tapped at the door. The stout person would not open, +and the party descended to the coffee-room, where soon afterwards they +received a mysterious note, concluding:--"pardon me gentlemen but I +did not wish any-one to know where I was staying with my family. And +was much annoyed to see you all here." Lady Tichborne herself had +failed to recognise in the letters from Wagga-Wagga the handwriting +of her son, and Mr. Gosford was equally unsuccessful. The party +therefore left the house after warning the landlord that he had for a +guest an "impostor and a rogue." Still the idea that his old friend, +who had made him his executor and the depositary of his most secret +wishes, could have come back again alive, however changed, was too +pleasing to be abandoned by Mr. Gosford, even on such evidence. +Accordingly, by arrangement with an attorney named Holmes, he went +down again, and, more successful this time, had conversation with the +stranger who called himself Roger. But nothing about the features of +the man brought back to him any recollection, and subsequent +interviews but confirmed the first impression. + +Meanwhile, Lady Tichborne had learned that he whom she called Roger +had arrived in England; and she wrote letters imploring him to come to +her, to which the Claimant, who had not been in London more than a +fortnight, answered, that he was "prevented by circumstances!" and +added, "Oh! Do come over and see me at once." On the very day after +the date of this letter, however, he arrived in Paris, accompanied by +a man whose acquaintance he had made in a billiard room, and by Mr. +Holmes, the attorney to whom his casual acquaintance had introduced +him. The party put up at an hotel in the Rue St. Honore. They knew Lady +Tichborne's address in the Place de la Madeleine, scarcely five +minutes' walk from their hotel; but they had arrived somewhat late, +and "Sir Roger" paid no visit to his mother that day. Lady Tichborne +had in the meantime consulted her brother and others on the subject, +but though the opinions given by them were adverse to the claims of +the impostor, she only became more fixed in her ideas. Early the +morning after the Claimant's arrival, she sent her Irish servant, John +Coyne, to the hotel in the Rue St. Honore with a pressing message, but +was told that "Sir Roger" was not well; his mistress, dissatisfied +with that message, sent him again, whereupon "Sir Roger" came out of +his bedroom and walked past him "slowly and with his head down," +bidding him at the same time go and tell his mamma that he was not +able to come to her; and his mistress, still more dissatisfied, then +directed her servant "to take a cab immediately and fetch her son." +Coyne then went a third time and found "Sir Roger" with his attorney +and his casual acquaintance sitting at breakfast, but was again +unsuccessful. Lady Tichborne that afternoon went herself to the hotel, +and was then permitted to see her son in a darkened chamber, and in +the presence of his attorney and friend. "Sir Roger," said Coyne, who +tells the story, "was lying on the bed with his back turned to us and +his face to the wall," and he added that while he was in that +position, his mistress leaned over and kissed Sir Roger on the mouth, +observing at the same time that "he looked like his father, though his +ears were like his uncle's." Then "Sir Roger" having remarked that he +was "nearly stifled," Lady Tichborne directed Coyne to "take off her +son's coat and undo his braces;" which duties the faithful domestic +accomplished with some difficulty, while at the same time he "managed +to pull him over as well as he could." Upon this Mr. Holmes, solemnly +standing up, addressed John Coyne in the words: "You are a witness +that Lady Tichborne recognises her son," and John Coyne having +replied, "And so are you," the ceremony of recognition was complete. + +Soon after this it was rumoured in the neighbourhood of Alresford, +that the Dowager Lady Tichborne had acknowledged the stranger as her +lost son Roger; that she had determined to allow the repentant +wanderer L1000 a year; and that he was going to take a house at +Croydon pending his entering into the possession of the Tichborne +estates. There happened then to be living in Alresford a gentleman +named Hopkins. He had been solicitor to the Tichborne family, but they +had long ceased to employ him. He had also been a trustee of the +Doughty estates, but had been compelled to resign that position, at +which he had expressed much chagrin. Hopkins had an acquaintance named +Baignet at Winchester, an eccentric person of an inquisitive turn. +Both these began at this time to busy themselves greatly in the +matter of the Tichborne Claimant, who, on his next visit to Alresford, +was accordingly invited to stay at Mr. Hopkins's house. From that time +Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Baignet became active partisans of the Claimant's +cause. Hopkins had not been the solicitor of Roger Tichborne, but he +had seen him occasionally from fifteen to twenty years previously; and +he made an affidavit, that "though he could not recall the expression +of Roger Tichborne's features," he had no doubt, from the knowledge +which the Claimant had shown of the neighbourhood of Tichborne and of +family matters, that he was the same person. All Alresford may, in +fact, be said to have been converted; the bells were rung on the +Claimant's arrival there; and Colonel Lushington, the tenant of +Tichborne house, invited the Australian stranger and his wife to stay +with him there. Colonel Lushington had never seen Roger Tichborne, but +he has explained that he was impressed by his visitor's knowledge of +the old pictures on the walls, which, it will be remembered, Bogle had +been sent by "Mr. Taylor" to reconnoitre. When the news came that "Sir +Roger's wife," on a visit with her husband to Col. Lushington, had had +a child baptised in the chapel at Tichborne, while Mr. Anthony +Biddulph, another convert, and a remote connection of the Tichborne +family, had become godfather, the bells of Alresford rang louder; and +nobody seemed for a moment to doubt the right of the Claimant to the +estates and title. Still it was felt strange that "Sir Roger" went +near none of his old friends. He had left Paris without an effort to +see his former circle of acquaintances. Chatillon, his early tutor, +had been brought by the Dowager there to see him; but Chatillon had +said, "Madame, this is not your son!" Neither the Abbe Salis, nor +Roger's dear old instructor, Father Lefevre, nor Gossein, the faithful +valet, who had played with him from childhood, and had known him well +as a man, nor, indeed, any person in Paris who had been acquainted +with Roger Tichborne, received a visit. In England the facts were the +same. The stranger would go nowhere, and at last it began to be +believed that he was afraid of detection. + +Active measures were meanwhile in preparation for those legal +proceedings which have, within the past three years, occupied so large +a share of public attention. Mr. Holmes and many others were busy in +procuring information. The voluminous will of Roger Tichborne, setting +forth a mass of particulars about the family property, was examined at +Doctors' Commons. Then there were records of proceedings in the +Probate Court and in Chancery relating to the Tichborne estates, of +which copies were procured. The Horse Guards furnished the +indefatigable attorney with minute and precise statements of the +movements of the Carabineers during Roger Tichborne's service, and of +the dates of every leave of absence and return. Then the Dowager's +attorney procured from Stonyhurst lists of the professors and +officials during Roger's three years' study there; and finally, the +books of Lloyd's and the "Merchant Seamen's Register" were searched +for information about the movements of the "Pauline," the "Bella," and +other vessels. Coincident with these researches, there was a marked +improvement in the Claimant's knowledge of the circumstances of what +he alleged to be his own past life. There was no mention now of "the +Sixty-sixth Blues," or of having been a private soldier; no denial, +with or without an oath, of having been at Stonyhurst; no allusion to +any other of the numerous statements he had made to Mr. Gibbes on those +points. Then converts began to multiply, but not among the Tichborne +family, or in any other circle that had known Roger very intimately. +Affidavits, however, increased in number. People related wonderful +instances of things the Claimant reminded them of, and which had +happened in the past. On the one hand, these facts were regarded as +"genuine efforts of memory;" on the other, they were stigmatised as +the result of an organized system of extracting information from one +person, and playing it off upon another. + +At the end of July 1867, there was a public examination of the +Claimant in Chancery, at which, for the first time, he made generally +known that famous account of his alleged wreck and--escape in one of +the boats of the "Bella," with eight other persons, which, with some +variations, he has since maintained. It was then that, in answer to +questions, he stated that he was not certain of the name of the vessel +that picked him up, but was "under the impression that it was the +'Osprey.'" He also said that her captain's name was "Owen Lewis, or +Lewis Owen," but he was "not certain," though he said that three +months elapsed between the date of his being saved and his being +landed in Melbourne in July 1854. Besides these, the most remarkable +points in his examination were his statements that, on the very next +day after his arrival, he was engaged by a Mr. William Foster, of +Boisdale, an extensive farmer in Gippsland, to look after cattle; and +that he henceforward lived in obscurity in Australia under the name of +Thomas Castro. The name of Thomas Castro, he added, had occurred to +him because, during his travels in South America, he had known a +person so named at Melipilla, in Chili. + +Mr. Gosford was also examined on that occasion, with results which had +an important influence on the progress of the great _cause celebre_. +Some time before that gentleman had been induced to have one more +interview with the Claimant in the presence of two of his most +influential supporters, who thereupon requested Mr. Gosford to test +their _protege_ by asking him about some private matter between him +and his friend Roger in the past. Thus challenged Mr. Gosford naturally +bethought him of the sealed paper, in which Roger had recorded his +intention of building a chapel or church at Tichborne, and dedicating +it to the Virgin, in the event of his marrying his cousin within three +years; and he therefore requested the Claimant to declare, if he +could, what were the contents of a certain packet marked "private" +which Roger left in his hands when he went away. Having obtained no +definite answer, Mr. Gosford, for the sake of fairness, went a step +further, and said that it recorded an intention "to carry out an +arrangement at Tichborne in the event of his marrying a certain lady." +Still there was no answer; and thereupon Mr. Gosford, declaring that +the whole interview "was idle," left the place. That packet, +unfortunately, was no longer in existence. Some years after Roger +Tichborne's death appeared to be beyond all doubt, Mr. Gosford had +simply burnt it, regarding it as a document which it would be useless, +and which he had no right, to keep, and yet one which, on the other +hand, he should not be justified in giving up to any living person. +The fact of its being burnt he had for obvious reasons concealed, but +being now asked on the subject he was compelled to state the +circumstance. It is remarkable that, on the very morrow of that +disclosure, the Claimant for the first time made a statement to his +supporter, Mr. Bulpett, as to the packet. It may be supposed that Mr. +Bulpett and the Claimant's friends generally were inclined to draw +unfavourable inferences from his apparent ignorance of the contents of +the packet. He now, however, declared that not ignorance of its +contents, but delicacy and forbearance towards Mrs. Radcliffe, had +alone prevented his answering Mr. Gosford's test question. Mr. Gosford, +he said, was right. It did relate to "an arrangement to be carried out +at Tichborne," but an arrangement of a very painful kind. Then it was +that he wrote out the terrible charge against the lady whom Roger had +loved so well--confessing, it is true, his own diabolical wickedness, +but at the same time casting upon her the cruellest of imputations. +This, he said, was what he had sealed up and given to Mr. Gosford. Mr. +Bulpett, the banker, put his initials solemnly to the document, and +within a few months all Hampshire had whispered the wicked story. It +is to be observed that, during all this time, no word had been spoken +by the Claimant of his having confided to Mr. Gosford a vow to build a +church. Four years later, when under examination, he was asked whether +he had ever left any other private document with Mr. Gosford, and he +answered, "I think not." Then it was that counsel produced the copy of +the vow to build the church in Roger Tichborne's hand, which he had +fortunately given to his cousin on the sorrowful day of their last +parting; and finally there was found and read aloud the letter of +Roger Tichborne to Mr. Gosford, dated January 17th, 1852, in which +occur the precious words, "I have written out my will, and left it +with Mr. Slaughter; the only thing which I have left out is about the +church, which I will only build under the circumstances which I have +left with you in writing." Happily these facts render it unnecessary +to enter upon the question, Whether this story was not wholly +irreconcilable, both with itself and with the ascertained dates and +facts in Roger Tichborne's career? + +The estates of Tichborne were not likely to be left undefended either +by the trustees or by the family, who, with the exception of the +Dowager Lady Tichborne, had, with one accord, pronounced the Claimant +an impostor. Accordingly, very soon after his arrival in England, a +gentleman named Mackenzie was despatched to Australia to make +inquiries. Mr. Mackenzie visited Melbourne, Sydney, and Wagga-Wagga, +and up to a certain time was singularly successful in tracing +backwards the career of Thomas Castro. He discovered that, some months +before the Dowager's advertisement for her son had appeared, and Mr. +Gibbes' client had set up his claim, the slaughter-man of Wagga-Wagga +had married an Irish servant-girl named Bryant, who had signed the +marriage register with a cross. He also found that the marriage was +celebrated, not by a Roman Catholic priest, but by a Wesleyan +minister. Searching further he found out that immediately after the +date of the arrival of a letter from the Dowager, informing Mr. Gibbes +that her son was a Roman Catholic, Thomas Castro and Mary Anne Bryant +had again gone through the ceremony of marriage in those names, and on +this occasion the wedding was celebrated in a Roman Catholic chapel. +By applying to Mr. Gibbes, Mr. Mackenzie then discovered that the +Claimant, before leaving Australia, had given instructions for a will, +which was subsequently drawn up and executed by him, in which he +pretended to dispose of the Tichborne estates, and described +properties in various counties, all of which were purely fictitious. +The Tichborne family had not, and never had, any such estates as were +there elaborately set forth, nor did any such estates exist; and the +will contained no bequest, nor indeed any allusion to a solitary +member of Roger's family except his mother, whom it described as Lady +"Hannah Frances Tichborne," though her Christian names were, in fact, +"Henriette Felicite." Mr. Gibbes explained that it was the knowledge +which this document seemed to display of the Tichborne estates and +family which induced him to advance money, and that the Dowager Lady +Tichborne's letters being merely signed "H.F. Tichborne," he had +inserted the Christian names, "Hannah Frances," on the authority of +his client. Lastly, Mr. Mackenzie learnt that there had been a butcher +in Wagga-Wagga named Schottler, and that Higgins's slaughter-man, known +as Tom Castro, had once told some one that he had known Schottler's +family, and lived very near their house when he was a boy. Schottler +had disappeared, but he was believed to have originally come from +London. This information was slight, but it appeared to the shrewd Mr. +Mackenzie to be valuable. If the Schottlers were known to Tom Castro +as neighbours when he was a boy in London, it would seem to be only +necessary to find the Schottler family in order to discover who the +Claimant to the Tichborne estates really was. After much trouble, +though Schottler was not discovered, a clue was found. The solicitor +to the defendants in the Chancery suits obtained old directories of +London, and discovered that there was one Schottler, who had kept a +public-house, called The Ship and Punchbowl, in High Street, Wapping. +In that direction, therefore, inquiries were instituted. The +Schottlers had, it was found, gone and left no trace, but it was easy +to instruct a detective to inquire after old neighbours, to show them +a portrait of the Claimant, and to ask if any one in that locality +recognised the features. At last the man prosecuting inquiries found +himself in the Globe public-house in Wapping, the landlady of which +hostelry at once declared the carte de visite to be a portrait of a +mysterious individual of huge bulk who had visited her on the night of +the previous Christmas day, stayed an hour in her parlour, and made +numerous inquiries after old inhabitants of Wapping. His inquiries +included the Schottlers, and he had particularly wanted the address +of the family of the late Mr. George Orton, a butcher in the High +Street, who answered the description of an old "neighbour of the +Schottlers." The Christmas day referred to was the very day of the +Claimant's arrival in England, and the landlady of the Globe was +positive that the portrait represented her visitor, whoever he might +have been. Moreover, she informed the gentleman that, struck by his +inquiries after the Ortons, she had scanned her mysterious visitor's +features closely, and observed, "Why, you must be an Orton; you are +very like the old gentleman." Three daughters of old George Orton were +then applied to, but they declared that the portrait had no +resemblance to any brother of theirs. Neighbours, however, had +perceived that these persons, who had been extremely poor, had +suddenly shown signs of greatly improved circumstances. Further +inquiry led to the discovery that they had a brother named Charles, "a +humpbacked man," who had been a butcher in a small way, in partnership +with a Mr. Woodgate, in Hermitage Street, Wapping. He had recently +dissolved partnership rather suddenly, but he had previously confided +to Mr. Woodgate the curious information that he had a brother just come +home from Australia, who was entitled to great property, and who had +promised him an allowance of "L5 a month," and L2000 "when he got his +estates." When, after some trouble, Charles Orton was discovered, he +showed signs of being disposed to explain the mystery "if the +solicitors" would promptly "make it worth his while;" but in the very +midst of the inquiry he suddenly vanished from the neighbourhood, and +for a long while all trace of him was lost. Meanwhile, the Claimant +had, by some mysterious means, become aware that these inquiries were +in progress, for he wrote at this period to his confidential friend +Rous, the landlord of the Swan, as follows:--"We find the other side +very busy with another pair of sisters for me. They say I was born in +Wapping. I never remember having been there, but Mr. Holmes tell me it a +very respectiabel part of London." Shortly afterwards two out of the +three daughters of old Mr. Orton made affidavit that the Claimant was +not their brother, nor any relation of theirs; the other sister and +Charles Orton, however, made no affidavit. Four years later the +Claimant confessed that he was, after all, the mysterious visitor at +the Globe public-house on that Christmas eve; that he shortly +afterwards entered into secret correspondence and transactions with +the Orton family; that he gave the sisters money whenever they wrote +to say they were in want of any; and that after the period when +Charles Orton was solicited to give information to "the other side," +he allowed him L5 a month--Charles Orton, who was then in concealment, +being addressed in their correspondence by the assumed name of +"Brand." The Claimant's explanation of these relations with the Orton +family, which he at first denied, was, that their brother, Arthur +Orton, had been a great friend of his for many years, and in various +parts of Australia, and that hence he was desirous of assisting his +family. At one time he said that his object was to ascertain if his +friend, Arthur Orton, had arrived in England; at another he stated, on +oath, that when he sailed from Australia he left Arthur Orton there. +The solicitors for the defendants in the Chancery suit, however, did +not hesitate to declare their conviction that the pretended Roger +Tichborne was no other than Arthur Orton, youngest son of the late +George Orton, butcher, of High Street, Wapping; that his visit to +Wapping on the very night of his arrival was prompted by curiosity to +know the position of his family, of whom he had not heard for some +years; and that his stealthy transactions with the three sisters, and +with the brother of Arthur Orton, had no object but that of furnishing +them with an inducement to keep the dangerous secret of his true name +and origin. + +While all these discoveries were being made, the poor old lady went to +live for a time with her supposed son at Croydon; but even she could +not manage to stay in the extraordinary household, and after a time, +though still strong, despite the advice of her best friends, that the +huge impostor was her son, she left, and gradually becoming weaker and +weaker in body as well as mind, she was, on the 12th of March 1868, +found by a servant dead in a chair, and with no relative or friend at +hand, in a hotel near Portman Square, where she had sought and found a +shelter. + +Amidst much that was vague in the Claimant's account of his past life, +there were, at all events, two statements of a precise and definite +character. These were, first, that he had been at Melipilla, in Chili, +and had there known intimately a man named Thomas Castro, whose name +he had afterwards assumed; and, secondly, that in 1854, he had been +engaged as herdsman to Mr. William Foster, of Boisdale, in Gippsland, +Australia. If he were an impostor, these statements were undoubtedly +imprudent. But they served the purpose of establishing the identity of +his career with that of the man whom he claimed to be, for Roger +Tichborne had, undoubtedly, travelled in Chili; and, according at +least to the tramping sailors' story, embodied in the Dowager's +advertisement, he had been carried thence to Australia. The importance +attached by his supporters to these apparent tokens of identity +sufficiently explains the Claimant's explicitness on these points. +Melipilla is a long way off; and Boisdale is still further. It may +have been supposed that witnesses could not be brought from so far; +but vast interests were at stake, and the defendant in the Chancery +suit speedily applied for Commissions to go out to South America and +Australia to collect information regarding the Claimant's past +history. The proposition was strenuously opposed as vexatious, and +designed merely to create delay, but the Court granted the +application. Then the Claimant asked for an adjournment, on the ground +that he intended to go out and confront the Melipilla folks, including +his intimate friend Don Thomas Castro, before the Commission; and also +to accompany it to Australia. The postponement was granted, a large +sum was raised to defray his expenses, and he finally started with the +Commission, accompanied by counsel and solicitors, bound for +Valparaiso and Melipilla, and finally for Victoria and New South +Wales. When the vessel, however, arrived at Rio. the Claimant went +ashore, declaring that he preferred to go thence to Melipilla +overland. But he never presented himself at that place, and finally +the Commission proceeded to examine witnesses and to record their +testimony, which thus became part of the evidence in the suit. The +Claimant had, in fact, re-embarked at Rio for England, having +abandoned the whole project; for which strange conduct he made various +and conflicting excuses. Even before he had started, circumstances had +occurred which had induced some of his supporters to express doubts +whether he would ever go to Melipilla. When the Commission had become +inevitable, the Claimant had written a letter to his "esteemed friend, +Don Tomas Castro," reminding him of past acquaintance in 1853, sending +kind remembrances to a number of friends, and altogether mentioning at +least sixteen persons with Spanish names whom he had known there. The +purpose of the letter was to inform Don Tomas that he had returned to +England, was claiming "magnificent lands," and in brief to prepare his +old acquaintances to befriend him there. This letter was answered by +Castro through his son Pedro, with numerous good wishes and much +gossip about Melipilla, and what had become of the old circle. But to +the astonishment and dismay of the Claimant's attorney, Mr. Holmes, +Pedro Castro reminded his old correspondent, that when among them he +had gone by the name of Arthur Orton. A Melipilla lady named Ahumada +then sent a portion of a lock of hair which the Claimant acknowledged +as his own hair, and thanked her for. But this lady declared that she +had cut the lock from the head of an English lad named Arthur Orton; +and the Claimant thereupon said that he must have been mistaken in +thanking her, and acknowledging it as his. In the town of +Melipilla--sixty or seventy miles inland from Valparaiso--everyone of +the sixteen or seventeen persons mentioned by the Claimant as old +acquaintances--except those who were dead or gone away--came before +the Commission, and were examined. They proved to have substantially +but one tale to tell. They said they never knew any one of the name of +Tichborne. Melipilla is a remote little towns far off the great high +road, and the only English person, except an English doctor there +established, who had ever sojourned there, was a sailor lad who, not +in 1853, but in 1849, came to them destitute; was kindly treated; +picked up Spanish enough to converse in an illiterate way; said his +name was Arthur, and was always called Arthur by them; declared his +father was "a butcher named Orton, who served the queen;" and said he +had been sent to sea to cure St. Vitus's Dance, but had been ill-used +by the captain, and ran away from his ship at Valparaiso. This lad, +they stated, sojourned in Melipilla eighteen months, and finally went +back to Valparaiso and re-embarked for England. Don Tomas Castro, the +doctor's wife, and others, declared they recognised the features of +this lad in the portrait of the Claimant; and being shown two +daguerreotype portraits of Roger Tichborne, taken in Chili when he was +there, said that the features were not like those of any person they +had ever known. Searches were then made in the records of the consul's +office at Valparaiso, from which it resulted that a sailor named +Arthur Orton did desert from the English ship "Ocean" in that port at +the very date mentioned, and did re-embark, though under the name of +"Joseph M. Orton," about eighteen months later. + +To Boisdale, in Australia, the Commission then repaired, and though +this is many thousands of miles from South America, but here similar +discoveries were made. Mr. William Foster, the extensive cattle farmer, +was dead, but the widow still managed his large property. In reference +to the Claimant's statement that in July, 1854, the very day after he +was landed by the vessel which he believed was named the "Osprey," at +Melbourne, he was engaged by Mr. William Foster, and went with him at +once to Gippsland, under the assumed name of Thomas Castro, the lady +declared that her husband did not settle at Boisdale, or have anything +to do with that property till two years later than that date, and that +they never had any herdsman named Thomas Castro. The ledgers and other +account books of Mr. Foster were then examined, but no mention of any +Castro, either in 1854 or at any other time, could be found. On the +other hand, there were numerous entries, extending over the two years +1857 and 1858, of wages paid and rations served out to a herdsman +named Arthur Orton, whom the lady perfectly well remembered, and who +had come to them from Hobart Town. + +All these discoveries were confirmed by the registers of shipping, +which showed that Arthur Orton embarked for Valparaiso in 1848, +re-embarked for London in 1851, and sailed again for Hobart Town in +the following year. But there were other significant circumstances. +The ship in which Arthur Orton had returned from Valparaiso was called +the "Jessie Miller," which was the very name which the Claimant in his +solemn declaration, prepared by Mr. Gibbes, gave as the name of the +vessel in which he came out to Australia. In the same document he had +stated the date of his sailing from England as the "28th of November, +1852," and this was now discovered to be the very day, month, and year +on which Arthur Orton embarked in the vessel bound for Hobart Town. Mr. +Foster's widow had specimens of Arthur Orton's writing, and other +mementoes of his two years' service among them, and she unhesitatingly +identified a portrait of the Claimant as that of the same man. Among +other witnesses, a farmer named Hopwood deposed that he had known +Arthur Orton at Boisdale under that name, and again at Wagga-Wagga +under his assumed name of Thomas Castro. At Wagga-Wagga the will +executed by the Claimant, and already referred to, was produced, and +it was found that amidst all its fictitious names and imaginary +Tichborne estates, it appointed as trustees two gentlemen residing in +Dorsetshire, England, who have since been discovered to have been +intimate friends of old Mr. Orton, the butcher. The testimony on the +Claimant's behalf before the Commission threw but little light. It +consisted chiefly of vague stories of his having spoken when in +Australia of being entitled to large possessions, and of having been +an officer in the army, and stationed in Ireland. Such testimony +could, of course, have little weight against the statements of the +Claimant in writing, made just before embarking at Sydney, with a +view of satisfying capitalists of his identity, and betraying total +ignorance of Roger Tichborne's military life. + +While these exposures were being made abroad, matters at home began to +look very bad for the Claimant. Charles Orton, the brother of Arthur, +called upon the solicitors for "the other side," and volunteered to +give information. In the presence of Lord Arundel and other +witnesses, this man then stated that the Claimant of the Tichborne +estates was his brother Arthur, that he had been induced by him to +change his name to Brand, and to remain in concealment, that in return +the Claimant had allowed him L5 per month; but that, since his +departure for Chili, the allowance had ceased. Letters of Charles +Orton to the Claimant's wife, asking whether "Sir Roger Tichborne, +before he went away, left anything for a party of the name of Brand," +have been found and published; and this same Charles has, since the +conviction of the Claimant, put forth a statement of the whole matter, +so far as he was concerned. Under these circumstances, Mr. Holmes +withdrew from the case, and the county gentlemen who, relying in great +measure on Lady Tichborne's recognition, and the numerous affidavits +that had been made, had supported the Claimant, held a meeting at the +Swan, at Alresford, at which, among other documents, certain +mysterious letters to the Orton sisters were produced. These letters +were signed, "W.H. Stephens," and they contained inquiries after the +Orton family, and also after Miss Mary Anne Loader, who was an old +sweetheart of Arthur Orton's, long resident in Wapping. They enclosed +as portraits of Arthur Orton's wife and child, certain photographic +likenesses which were clearly portraits of the Claimant's wife and +child; and though they purported to be written by "W.H. Stephens," a +friend of Arthur Orton's just arrived from Australia, it was suspected +that the letters--which were evidently in a feigned hand--were really +written by the Claimant. They manifested that desire for information +about Wapping folks, and particularly the Ortons, which the Claimant +was known to have exhibited on more occasions than one; and they +indicated a wish to get this information by a ruse, and without +permitting the writer to be seen. But the correspondence showed that +the sisters of Orton had discovered, or at least believed that they +had discovered, that the writer was in truth their brother Arthur. The +Claimant, however, being called in and questioned, solemnly affirmed +that the letters were "forgeries," designed by his enemies to "ruin +his cause." Nor was it until he was pressed in cross-examination, +three years later, that he reluctantly confessed that his charges of +forgery were false; and that, in fact, he, and no one else, had +written the Stephens' letters. The Claimant's solemn assurances did +not convince all his supporters at the meeting at the Swan, but they +satisfied some; and funds were still found for prosecuting the +Chancery, and next the great Common Law suit which was technically an +action for the purpose of ejecting Col. Lushington from Tichborne +house, which had been let to him. Col. Lushington was then a supporter +of the Claimant, and had not the least objection to be ejected. But +the action at once raised the question whether the Claimant had a +right to eject him. Of course that depended on whether he was, or was +not, the young man who was so long believed to have perished in the +"Bella;" and accordingly this was the issue that the jury had to try +on Thursday, the 11th of May, 1871, that Sergeant Ballantine rose to +address the jury on behalf of the Claimant, and it was not until the +6th of March, 1872, that the trial was concluded--the proceedings +having extended to 103 days. On both sides a large number of witnesses +were examined, many being persons of respectability, while some were +of high station. The military witnesses for the Claimant were very +numerous; and among them were five of Roger Tichborne's old brother +officers, the rest being sergeants, corporals, and privates. There +were Australian witnesses, and medical witnesses, old servants, +tenants of the Tichborne family, and numerous other persons. With the +exception of two remote connexions, however, no members of the +numerous families of Tichborne and Seymour presented themselves to +support the plaintiffs claims; and even the two gentlemen referred to +admitted that their acquaintance with Roger was slight, and that it +was in his youth; and finally, that they had not recognised the +features of the Claimant, but had merely inferred his identity from +some circumstances he had been able to mention. The plaintiffs case +was almost entirely unsupported by documentary evidence, and rested +chiefly on the impressions or the memory of witnesses, or on their +conclusions drawn from circumstances, which often, when they were +inquired into in cross-examination, proved to be altogether +insufficient. + +But the cross-examination of the Claimant himself was really the +turning-point of the trial. It extended over twenty-seven days, and +embraced the whole history of Roger Tichborne's life, his alleged +rescue, the life in Australia, and all subsequent proceedings. Besides +this, matters connected with the Orton case were inquired into. Much +that was calculated to alarm supporters of the Claimant was elicited. +He was compelled to admit that he had no confirmation to offer of his +strange story of the rescue, and that he could produce no survivor of +the "Osprey," nor any one of the crew of the "Bella" alleged to have +been rescued with him. The mere existence of such a vessel was not +evidenced by any shipping register or gazette, or custom-house record. +It was moreover admitted that he had changed his story--had for a +whole year given up the "Osprey," and said the vessel was the +"Themis," and finally returned to the "Osprey" again. All the strange +circumstances of the Wagga-Wagga will, the Gibbes and Cubitt +correspondence, the furtive transactions with the Orton family, the +curious revelations of the commissions in South America and Australia, +were acknowledged, and either left unexplained or explained in a way +which was evasive, inconsistent, and contradictory. His accounts of +his relations with Arthur Orton were also vague, and his attempts to +support his assertion that Castro and Orton were not one and the same, +but different persons, were unsatisfactory, while by his own +confession his habitual associates in Australia had been highway +robbers and other persons of the vilest class. With regard to his +life in Paris he admitted that his mind was "a blank," and he +confessed that he could not read a line of Roger Tichborne's letters +in French. He gave answers which evidenced gross ignorance on all the +matters which Roger's letters and other evidence showed that he had +studied. He said he did not think Euclid was connected with +mathematics, though Roger had passed an examination in Euclid; and +that he believed that a copy of Virgil handed to him was "Greek," +which it doubtless was to him. He was compelled again and again to +admit that statements he had deliberately made were absolutely false. +When questioned with regard to that most impressive of all episodes in +Roger's life, his love for his cousin, now Lady Radcliffe, he showed +himself unacquainted not merely with precise dates, but with the broad +outline of the story and the order of events. His answers on these +matters were again confused, and wholly irreconcilable. Yet the +Solicitor-General persisting for good reasons in interrogating him on +the slanderous story of the sealed packet, he was compelled to repeat +in Court, though with considerable variations, what he had long ago +caused to be bruited abroad. Mrs. (she was not then Lady) Radcliffe, by +her own wish, sat in Court beside her husband, confronting the false +witness, and they had the satisfaction of hearing him convicted, out +of his own mouth, and by the damnatory evidence of documents of +undisputed authenticity, of a deliberate series of abominable +inventions. It was during the course of this trial that the +pocket-book left behind by the Claimant at Wagga-Wagga was brought to +England. It was found to contain what appeared to be early attempts at +Tichborne signatures, in the form "Rodger Charles Titchborne," besides +such entries as "R.C.T., Bart., Tichborne Hall, Surrey, England, +G.B.;" and among other curious memoranda in the Claimant's handwriting +was the name and address, in full, of Arthur Orton's old sweetheart, +at Wapping--the "respectiabel place" of which he had assured his +supporters in England that he had not the slightest knowledge. The +exposure of Mr. Baigent's unscrupulous partisanship by Mr. Hawkins, and +the address to the jury by Sir John Coleridge, followed in due course, +and then a few family witnesses, including Lady Radcliffe, were heard, +who deposed, among many other matters, to the famous tattoo marks on +Roger's arm; and, finally, the jury declared that they were satisfied. +Then the Claimant's advisers, to avoid the inevitable verdict for +their opponents, elected to be non-suit. But, notwithstanding these +tactics, Lord Chief-Justice Bovill, under his warrant, immediately +committed the Claimant to Newgate, on a charge of wilful and corrupt +perjury. + +Those who fondly hoped that the great Tichborne imposture had now for +ever broken down, and that the last in public had been seen of the +perjured villain, were mistaken, as, after a few weeks in Newgate, the +Claimant was released on bail in the sum of L10,000--his sureties +being Earl Rivers, Mr. Guildford Onslow, M.P., Mr. Whalley, M.P., and Mr. +Alban Attwood, a medical man residing at Bayswater. Now began that +systematic agitation on the Claimant's behalf, and those public +appeals for subscriptions, which were so remarkable a feature of the +thirteen months' interval between the civil and the criminal trial. +The Tichborne Romance, as it was called, had made the name of the +Claimant famous; and sightseers throughout the kingdom were anxious to +get a glimpse of "Sir Roger." It was true his case had entirely broken +down, but the multitude were struck by the fact that he could still +appear on platforms with exciteable members of Parliament to speak for +him, and could even find a lord to be his surety. It was not everyone +who, in reading the long cross-examination of the Claimant, had been +able to see the significance of the admissions which he was compelled +to make; and owing to the Claimant's counsel stopping the case on the +hint of the jury, the other side of the story had really not been +heard; and this fact was made an argument in the Claimant's favour. +Meanwhile, the propagandism continued until there was hardly a town in +the kingdom in which Sir Roger Charles Tichborne, Bart., had not +appeared on platforms, and addressed crowded meetings; while Mr. +Guildford Onslow and Mr. Whalley were generally present to deliver +foolish and inflammatory harangues. At theatres and music halls, at +pigeon matches and open-air _fetes_, the Claimant was perseveringly +exhibited; and while the other side preserved a decorous silence, the +public never ceased to hear the tale of his imaginary wrongs. _The +Tichborne Gazette_, the sole function of which was to excite the +public mind still further, appeared; and the newspapers contained long +lists of subscribers to the Tichborne defence fund. This unexampled +system of creating prejudice with regard to a great trial still +pending was permitted to continue long after the criminal trial had +commenced. There had been proceedings, it is true, for contempt +against the Claimant and his supporters, Mr. Onslow, Mr. Whalley, and Mr. +Skipworth, and fine and imprisonment were inflicted; but the agitation +continued, violent attacks were made upon witnesses, and even upon the +judges then engaged in trying the case, and at length the Court was +compelled peremptorily to forbid all appearances of the Claimant at +public meetings. + +The great "Trial at Bar," presided over by Sir Alexander Cockburn, +Lord Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench, Mr. Justice Mellor, and Mr. +Justice Lush, commenced on the 23d of April, 1873, and ended on the +28th of February 1874--a period of a little over ten months. On the +side of the prosecution 212 witnesses gave their testimony; but the +documentary evidence, including the enormous mass of Roger Tichborne's +letters, so valuable as exhibiting the character, the pursuits, the +thoughts, and feelings of the writer, were scarcely less important. +The entire Tichborne and Seymour families may be said to have given +their testimony against the defendant. Lady Doughty had passed away +from the troubled scene since the date of the last trial; but she had +been examined and cross-examined on her death bed, and had then +repeated the evidence which she gave on the previous occasion, and +declared that the Claimant was an impostor. Lady Radcliffe again +appeared in the witness-box, and told her simple story, confirmed as +it was in all important particulars by the correspondence and other +records. Old Paris friends and acquaintances were unanimous. Father +Lefevre and the venerable Abbe Salis, Chatillon the tutor and his +wife, and numerous others, declared this man was not Roger Tichborne, +and exposed his ignorance both of them and their past transactions. +When questioned, the defendant had sworn that his father never had a +servant named Gossein; but the letters of Sir James were shown to +contain numerous allusions to "my faithful Gossein," and Gossein +himself came into the witness-box and told how he had known Roger +Tichborne from the cradle to his boyhood, and from his boyhood to the +very hour of his going on his travels. On the Orton question, nearly +fifty witnesses declared their conviction that the defendant sitting +then before them was the butcher's son whom they had known in Wapping. +The witnesses from Australia and from South America unhesitatingly +identified the defendant with Orton; but it is more important to +observe, that their testimony was supported by records and documents +of various kinds, including the ledgers of Mr. Foster of Boisdale, +letters under the defendant's own hand, and writings which it could +not be denied were from the hand of Arthur Orton. + +On the other side, the witnesses were still more numerous. They +included a great number of persons from Wapping, who swore they did +not recognise in the defendant the lad whom they had known as Arthur +Orton. Many others swore they had known both Orton and the defendant +in Australia, and that they were different persons, but their stories +were irreconcilable with each other, and were moreover in direct +conflict with the statements of the Claimant on oath, while several of +these witnesses were persons of proved bad character, and unworthy of +belief. Great numbers of Carabineers declared that the defendant was +exactly like their old officer; but while ten officers of that +regiment appeared for the prosecution, and positively affirmed that +the defendant was not Roger Tichborne, only two officers gave +testimony on the other side; and even these admitted that they had +doubts. Eight years had elapsed since Mr. Gibbes fancied he had +discovered Sir Roger at Wagga-Wagga, but still no Arthur Orton was +forthcoming; nor did the sisters of Orton venture to come forward on +behalf of the man who had been compelled to admit having taken them +into his pay. Not only was the Claimant's story of his wreck and +rescue shown to be absurd and impossible, but it was unsupported by +any evidence, except vague recollections of witnesses having seen an +"Osprey" and some shipwrecked sailors at Melbourne in July, 1854; and +it was admitted that if their tale were true the phantom vessel and +the fact of its picking up nine precious lives must have escaped the +notice of Lloyd's agents, of custom-house officers, and of the +Australian newspapers. More, the Claimant's "Osprey" must have escaped +the notice of such authorities in every port which she had entered +from the day that she was launched. So, indeed, the matter stood until +the witness Luie, the "pretended steward of the 'Osprey'" swore to his +strange story, as well as to the defendant's recognition of him by +name as an old friend. The Luie episode, terminating in the +identification of that infamous witness as an habitual criminal and +convict named Lundgren, only recently released on a ticket-of-leave, +together with the complete disproof of his elaborate "Osprey" story, +is familiar to the public. It was a significant fact, that other +witnesses for the defence were admitted to be associates of this +rascal; while one of the most conspicuous of all--a man calling +himself "Captain" Brown--had pretended to corroborate portions of +Luie's evidence which are now proved to be false. + +Some allowance may perhaps be made in the defendant's favour for the +singularly unskilful and damaging character of his counsel Dr. +Kenealy's two addresses to the jury, which occupied no less than +forty-three entire days. This barrister not only made violent personal +attacks on every witness of importance for the prosecution, without, +as the judges observed, "any shadow of foundation," but he assailed +his own client with a vehemence and a persistence which are without +parallel in the case of an advocate defending a person against a +charge of perjury. He gave up statements of the defendant at almost +every period of his extraordinary story as "false;" declared them to +be "moonshine;" expressed his conviction that no sensible person could +for a moment believe them; acknowledged that to attempt to verify them +in the face of the evidence, or even to reconcile them with each +other, would be hopeless; set some down as "arrant nonsense," +denounced others as "Munchausenisms," and recommended the jury "not to +believe them" with a heartiness which would have been perfectly +natural in the mouth of Mr. Hawkins, but which, coming from counsel for +the defence, was, as one of the learned judges remarked, "strange +indeed." But the doctrine of the learned gentleman was, that the very +extent of the perjury should be his client's protection, because it +showed that he was not a man "to be tried by ordinary standards." +When, in addition to this, he laboured day after day to persuade the +jury that Roger Tichborne was a drunkard, a liar, a fool, an undutiful +son, an ungrateful friend, and an abandoned libertine--declared in +loud and impassioned tones that he would "strip this jay of his +borrowed plumes," and indignantly repudiated the notion that the man +his client claimed to be had one single good quality about him, the +humour of the situation may be said to have reached its climax. Yet Dr. +Kenealy at least proved his sincerity by not only insinuating charges +against the gentleman who disappeared with the "Bella," but by +actually calling witnesses to contradict point blank statements of his +own client which lay at the very foundation of the charges of perjury +against him. There were, it is true, many unthinking persons of the +kind that mistake sound for sense, who considered Dr. Kenealy a vastly +clever fellow. If he be so, then the world in general, and the +constitution of the English bar in particular, are wrong; but anyhow +one thing is certain, that the counsel damaged the case materially, +and showed himself eminently unfitted for the position of leader. Mr. +Hawkins' powerful address quickly disposed of Dr. Kenealy and his +crotchets. The inquiry was raised into a calmer height when the Lord +Chief-Justice commenced his memorable summing up, going minutely +through the vast mass of testimony--depicting the true character of +Roger Tichborne from the rich mine of materials before him, +contrasting it with that of the defendant as shown by the evidence, +and, while giving due weight to the testimony in his favour, exposing +hundreds of examples of the falsity of his statements made upon oath. +The verdict of Guilty had been anticipated by all who paid attention +to the evidence. The foreman publicly declared that there was no doubt +in the mind of any juryman that the man who has for eight years +assumed the name and title of the gentleman whose unhappy story is +recorded in these pages is an impostor who has added slander of the +wickedest kind to his many other crimes. But not only were they +satisfied of this; they were equally agreed as to his being Arthur +Orton. The sentence of fourteen years' penal servitude followed, and +was assuredly not too heavy a punishment for offences so enormous. Yet +there are others still at large, who, having aided the impostor with +advice and money, should not be allowed to escape, while the more +clumsy scoundrel suffers the award of detected infamy. + +Thus ended the great Tichborne impersonation case, the most remarkable +feature in which was, not that a rude ignorant butcher should proclaim +himself a baronet, but that thousands of persons sane in every other +respect should have gone crazy about him, and should, despite the +evidence given--sufficient many hundreds of times told, or for any +reasonable being--even now persist that Roger Tichborne still lives, +and is the victim of a gross conspiracy. What need is there to point +out the idiotcy of such ravings? What necessity ever to contradict +statements which contradict themselves? + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Celebrated Claimants from Perkin +Warbeck to Arthur Orton, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CELEBRATED CLAIMANTS FROM *** + +***** This file should be named 16486.txt or 16486.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/4/8/16486/ + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Sankar Viswanathan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** + diff --git a/16486.zip b/16486.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..44931dd --- /dev/null +++ b/16486.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e23744 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #16486 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16486) |
