The Tichborne Case.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 2, Issue 95, 5 September 1871, Page 7

The Tichborne Case.

—o— j Tilt! London e>rresp.>u.l,)nt of tin Arjtn \ writes:— The Tiehboruo triitl Is still proceeding, j ami likely to drag its slow* length yet for j many a day, uulyaa by sjmo canclmive] evident tho c iso is suddenly closed, i Great beta arc ijepoaJiag on the issue. | The case is wholly without pivvi.-douL ! and ao many startling incidents and p*.u I zting problems have arisen, in its cours.;, | that public opinion has been greatly di I vided. It has been theunivers.il subjects of free debate, and every day the frosh points of evidence are weighed and argued in every circle with as much z.jst as if all were rival claimants. It is impossible for me to give in this letter even an outline of the voluminous evidence, copies of which will reach you by this mail. Von will get the story in its entirety, and will scarcely be able to realise the interest of English readers as bit by bit, day by day, it has been slowly unravelled. When numerous witnesses were found, shrewd men of the world, and former associates, bearing testimony on minute points, all tending to identification, it seemed impassible that the claim could be an imposture. The newspapers have preserved throughout a discreet silence, and 1 will now attempt to trace the fluctuating probabilities, but since the claimant has come under crossexamination it is a matter of face that the "'Tichborne funds" have gone down greatly in public estimation. The Solicitor-General has conducted this part of the ease with very great severity, as if sincerely indignant, and has laid himself opan to some censure, though handling the subject with great ability. The exami-nation-in-chief, by Mr Gilfard. occupied more than thre.; days, and the cross-ox uni |nation, not yet finished, his—though with ! frequent interruptions, through the elaim- : ant's illness—run over eight days. There j was a painful sensation tvlien he was ques- ! tinned as to the contents of a sealed picket [left behind him by .Sir Roger, and swore - I after protesting against talcing the responsibility of such a public declaration—that it related to his cousin, a lady then in I court, whom he maintained he had seduced ; before he left England. The cros-i-exami- ; nation, which covered ths whole period of his life, revealed the most astounding ignci ranee and forge tfulnoss, supposing him to i be a man who had received a partial eiiuI cation. Of the years spent in Paris he • retains but the most meagre recollection, land shrinks from committing liims.df to a ! single fact. Of Ktoueyhurst he is almost I equally ignorant; did not know Creek from Latin—thought Cesar wrote in Greek, i and when shown a Virgil sail it w.w i written in Greek ; he had learnt mathe- ■ matics, but never heard of the l'om i Asiiiornni ; physiology, he said, related to i tin '• for.nation of the head." Lam Den \samp-ii', ho another day translated as "the j laws of God for ever." Of chemistry, he • remembered that " nitro muriatic acid will \ dissolve gold;" and when questional! : whether he learnt that at Stomyhurst or jat Dine) Diggings, answered promptly, ! •' At Stoneyhiti-st!' The c'aini int has shown great astutnicss in b.illliug the; : lawyers : once he ventured to challenge' I the impartiality of the judge. The cxpmses of the trial will sink a fortune; they have bom stated in court to be '• hundreds a day." The claimant is at present in the II tnkruptey Court, and a joint stock compiuy his boon funned to furnish funds for the prosecution. in the Australftsitii sippoars to think fie plaintiff in the Tidiborno cise is an impostor. He writes :—'"l talked today with an acquaintaiucc of Tom Castro, who cliams to be (Sir Roger Tichborne. This gentleman siys that ha never me', a more stolid, ignorant, and unromantic person than the claimant. ITe was in the neigh borhood when (Jastro was married, and in such straitened circumstances was the bridegroom, that the happy pa : r spent their honeymoon in. the open bush, with no statelier shelter than a sheet of bark. One of Henry Kiugsley's fictions contains many | points of resemblance, an I I think its publication preceded Mr Castro's first request : to be admitted into the bosom of the Tichi borne family, and £2OO flown. It is pre- ■ posterous to suppose that a man picked up ; from an open boat at sea could quite forjget the name of the ship that rescued him, , the name of the captain, or that the ship ! iug records of the port of Melbourne should | be entirely silent as to any ship arriving ' reporting such an occurrence.