SUEZ MAIL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1220, 18 June 1872, Page 2

SUEZ MAIL NEWS.

THE TICHBORNE CASE. The Tichborne claimant still has his friends. In the House of Commons the other evening Mr G. Onslow presented a petition signed by 891' inhabitants of tfie" parish of Tichborne and the adjoining parishes in Hampshire, professing their belief in the identity of the claimant, and; humbly submitting that "if th'e'jmblic money were to be applied to the prosecution of the claimant, it should also be provide i in his defence, because, as the . petitioners were informed and believed, this was a case in which widely different opinions prevailed. The petitioners, therefore, earnestly entreated the House to refuse to apply the public money to the prosecution of the claimant.'' Mr A.,, Guest also presented a petition from 623 inhabitants of the town ofPoole and its : neighborhood, wherein the petitioners stated that "immediately adjacent was the estate of Upton, formerly the property of Sir E. Doughty, and now claimed by Sir R. CD. Tichborne, recently consigned a prisoner to Newgate ; that ,the prisoner had been recognised by numerous persons who formerly knew him. at Poole, - some of whom had sworn, while 'others were prepared to testify to bis identity ; • and they prayed that the House would take due and proper precaution, that no advantage would be afforded to the prosecution in this case which w9s not in like manner afforded to- the-pri-; sonerin order that no public suspicion might exist that the said' prisoner was' likely to be crushed by public means. at the instance of inveterate enemies, and of relatives seeking to possess themselves of his inheritance." On the other hand, eleven officers of the Carbineers have signed a document asserting " their firm and undoubted conviction that their old brother - officer, Roger Tichborne, has never been Been in England since : ho, left t this country in 1353. " But then it is said that six officers have written, saying that ; they had no recollection of Roger ' being ' tatooed! The claimant himself, unable to procure bail, addressed a letter from--Newgate to the newspapers-— no "doubt the production of his present solicitor— ap- ; pealing to the British public foriunds, and _ their love of justice and fair play tp^ife. defend "the weak against the strong"— * "That I am Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne I solemnly declare, and which , fact I have already proved by 86 wit- % nesses, and will prove again by more than 200, if necessary ; and that 1 atn not Arthur Orton I will prove beyond tfie"' shadow of a doubt, by witnesses who knew both Orton and myself. As to the tattoo marks, at least 24 disinterested witnesses will prove that I, Roger Tich- . borne, was never tattooed, but that i Arthur Orton was there' will be conclusive evidence forthcoming." There was bat, faint response to this letter, though iMr. Jenkins, the author of Ginx's Baby, sent his L 5, protesting against the partiality of Government, . which had declined to prosecute in other cases, as he alleges, against the interest of wealthy : families/ but had undertaken this trial in the samespirit of class favoritism. The Attorney-[V General has on several occasibris^ shoWii so strong a feeling on the question, that ' many who do not sympathise with the claimant have objected to his appearing in the management of this prosecution. Five counsel have been engaged to assist him, and it is paid that they will have an amount of detail to master that will tax all their powers. At the Old Bailey the grand juryreturned a true bill against* " Thomas Castro alias Arthur Qrtoh alias Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne." There were Beyeral counts of indictment — „ one charged him with perjury in the affi- : davit filed in the Court of Chancery ; : .. another with perjury upon the recent trial, to the same effect, but containing the addition that he had falsely sworn he was not Arthur Orton; a third, referring to the Tichborne bonds, charged him with forging a deed with intent to defraud. I " need not go into the details of these hv dictments, of which your readers have . "^> already heard enough. The claimant v * pleaded " not guilty,' . .. » i r /, , a , . A writ of certiorari was immediately granted removing the trial to the Court Queen's Bench, where a special jury, can be empannelled, the effect of which is^to.^ postpone ' further proceedings till Junei * The public are well pleased that the Go- ■ vernment have taken positive ground, and propose to, prove who tile claimant ig % — 4hat, by clear evidence, he is none 1 other than Arthur . Orton. Several in 7i effectual attempts were made to secure 5 the claimant's release ,pn bail j but only this week has Serjeant Ballantine, on ap* plication in the Court of Queen's Benoh, obtained a rule nisi in his favor. It was intimated that the trial might possibly be postponed another year, seeing" that the deposition of witnesses in Chili and Australia, though available in a civil 1 casfy % could not be used in a criminal one, aridthat the witnesses themselves must be called. It was also pointed 'out that in a criminal case the jury would have to be ' locked up every night till the trial was. finished !