AN EXTRAORDINARY IMPOSTURE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 214, 8 September 1881, Page 1

AN EXTRAORDINARY IMPOSTURE.

A case almost as rbmaniic- as, the) Tichbprne ] case, and bappil|- ; 'ttA deal shorter) has j ust coins to an Abrupt conclusion irilan. unusual: wayii! :Mißs" Mabel- Wilberforce, a yoaog-h<]y; J _c* cording to own. stor^ of 'sibmef six, and twenty Brimmer?, ■b^t tractors say she is fo_ty-f_?ep Draughts an actioji'fOrslaader agaiast a Ga'^tairi Ph'iip,' uri;de'r the 0 ; followirigf . , -o^^ stances c-rCapfcaia Philp's^ f^fcr.^s an old gentleman, of strong ;,pktoniCi afiectio__ ? and a few years agd> ' when travelling on the 'G()intip^'-^:' ; -_|Mr^ , ' penedto; meet in a casiial ; mftnnep f ,the young lady whoee so-caljeid " wirongs have just been ventilated. Charmed with " her grace, her more than beauty;' old Dr Philp treated ' Miss WilberV force, as an adopted daughter* Becky Sharp was not taken to the boaomi of, tbe Smedleys with a heartier welcome than Miss Mabel received from .her' new papa.. Her account of herself was ' circumstantial, detailed,_arid-.romantic. The daughter of an old officer of Indianapolis, who had fallen in the Mexican wars, she had come to Europe for the purpose of being educated, in companyr with her aunt and cousin. They, alas I had died while here, and at the time of the Ruß3o-Turkish; war poor Miss Mabel Wilberforce had ; found herself alone and friendless. The child of an old warrior, she cpold not see the evils of war around her; without trying to alleviate them, and just before the fali^'of-Pleyna she ! joined the Red Cross Society to nurse the sick arid wounded*; As Pesdenjona: loved OthellOy so did Dr Philp Miss Mabel Wilberforce. ; There was; Jn. deed, no: epnfirmAtionfof he^sfcory; but • thia the doctor diid . not a^ee^ .tc*think necessary; He took iherihodia ito; his house at Eierisington, treated; her 1 'as : a daughter, -altered hts will/ si). f as to; give her the portion of a rea); daughter; who was dead, and Miss Wiiberforce's . success was almost assured. The truth of the q\& story that there fe many, a slip between the cup.and tb^/liprwis to : A j receive, however; a new proof, ■. Phitp's son -' and son's wife 'recdived: their new visitor warmly enough at first, but tbeir affection spop cooled down to frigid . courtesyi : . Qap-' taid ; Pbiip ;r became Auspicious _s, to the authenticity of:: Mis s; Ma- ' jbel's romantic history/, and; hiade; jnquirieß concerning her of theCharity Organisation Society; ; There he found she was pig§ph-holed as - anfadventuressand swicdlcr,in connection with an attempt Bhe made tp collect money for the wounded in. tha , Russian 'war. She was treasurer, secretary, arid '■ general superintendent of the ' fund ; and the omcera of the Charity Orgtyci- , isation Society had d shrewd suspicion ithai; the mcineys a generous public subscribed found no better rise than admin- : istering to Miss Wilbe'rfprce*s ri\jrn little comfortsl The suspicions of /_4r- ; Philp were aroused., the old gentleman's will was altered, and Mabel requested to jseek another .home;: This, ' however, flatly refused io do, and for twentythree days she locked herself up in her rooni^t EaijhtefTace r ai?dr resieted the siege of t'agtfip-?- Philp, the cook and housetntfid.; "After the third week a trlice^^ai/qgreed to. The, hesjeged lady capitulated, and she left tbe house with a cheque Tor a goodly sum bearing Dr Philp's Dame at the bottom. Dr Philp'who -was upwards of eighty years oljf, had for some- time been, irivalided,: arieL in his illness at Earl Terrace Miss Wil- j berforce seems to have acted as head ' nurse arid attendant. Captaia Philp's general suspicions began, some few months before the siegei to take a : specific iurn, and he more than hinted : to tbe medical attendant that Mabel was hastening the end of her new-found father with the assistance of prussic acid. Cast out from her home Miss ; Wilberforce bethought herself of this i indiscretion of the captain's as a means \ of gratifying her revenge, and perhapa j extracting further plunder. Asoiieitor L I was seen, before whom the young lady < poaed as an injured martyr, and au action for slander was commenced against Captain Philp.-' The fear he had mentioned to the doctor was amplified and magnified until, according to the young lady's story, the captain had slandered and libelled her to about a dczen different persons. Meanwhile Dr Philp died, and wh^n the Oase came on for trial Mies Wilberforce appeared ip deep mourning, aad

. a]p^ai i^nil]^;ib/9fci.l j-dee{^-' sorroyr^ ■■ Her case, qondacted^ bjr Mr Miurrphy, & very.^eUSnoVu Writer pfi the English , Bar, and so plausible did the young- , JM^ /appear; that- Mr Justice -Field, : wb!p iriedl tKeJijaHe, invited her. to give - ironic th^ bencb,^ rind ja|lmosb hiatedithat th_i d^feßce^whicn,; 'Messrs Lewis and Lewis were .sitting tjjrlQf tHe'aefenßaii| \?& a ;:dißgracefuf T£ ! .croe^£ari)ins&o"^ r cjhange cWft; over the. aspQcfc pfitjie, scene. She was asked point bjanfc;:if i ._^ta^been.a cook jn a baronet's. ! W*_t w4yrJ3sM-$ ' aiid 'sbejwas Confronted" wifch.';pe>|o^ who, said "they s ; 'had o been; fellowi-servants" with her. Suggestions, were also made that a b| qy» w.h'om >h|e Called .her brother; was really her sop, and th^ she hjid 'also ;had a daughter while living under the protection of --gentleman whose name was mehtipnea^^ A carte de visite was shown her, in which she .'appeared with--twOchi ! ldreni!but.stiir she denied' the- odious- -calumnies, as she - called them, J whicli -were'- beirig heaped up against her. She had .to admit that there was no tittle, or corroboration of her story, and that' she had destroyed all letters she had received from her father, mother, and "brother"— some pf them the night before the trial— in' prder to preserve the sanctity of private communications. For two days she persevered in her' cross-examination until her looks changed front six-arid- / twenty to sixty. Illness then kept her away for a. day j but on the next she. re-appeared, ready, apparently, to r'enfew/ her denials. The denouement,, however was close at hand. - < She; had. £i ven the name of Mr Percy. Morton, of Indianapolis, as her trustee '; and.'a jetter, purporting to> he a copy of one received from him, was produced by her and read at the trial, in which she an imadyerted, very strongly on the in|iu,n^an7con(iuct of Captain* Philp. , This letter -was: dated ilBBo, arid therefore, if it was geriuiue,-Mr Morton obviously Was alive at that time. 1 Miss Wilber- ; force's solicitor -had been struck; by the ' fact rthat she had/nopther letter ; .from. Mr Morton biit^thisj and this only a jjopy ; arid, furthisry that despite- the ' frequent .applications Miss Wilberf6rce' said she made to him, no reply was rejjeived. The solicitor, therefore, wrote:? himself to Mr Morton, and the Ameri- r jean mail brought an 'answer to the; letter on the morning pf that "day that : Miss Wilberforce re-appeared at West-.; minster. . The letter,- however, was, not • jfrom Mr Perry Morton; but from his' Son, and announced two awkward facts.--i First, that no' previous letters had been,? received in the Wilber force matter ; ! and,, secondly, that Mr Perry Morton,. I ■died i in 1877— rtwo or three years be-' \ i jfore the date of the letter read in<j jevidence. Of course, after this^there ! iwas pnly one tliingto be done. Miss- I Wiiberforce's counsel -retired, from the \ oase as gracefully as he could; and the ; \ jury Unhesitatingly . returned a verdict • for 'the defendant^ The plainti^hadl ! not prepared her case witli the 'careful-; 1 ' j ness: for detail necessary; to make false- j hood appear like truth, and : as "a matter I ;of fact she wa,s; easily . exposed byT'M£, i Charles -.Russell,-.- who cross-exariiined 1 ; her. But, -for the audacity of her, im- j posture Miss Wilberforce has scarcely ever had-an .equal. She was within an ; ; ace of succeeding in getting Dr Phlip's 1 j money, and for her own sake one can, ; scarcely help wishing that ?he had been ; just one whit less dishonest.— Age's .. London correspondent. i * ' ' ~ ■■•""' '„'"... .... . .' , ■ '< New York car drivers are required i', to work 17 hours a-day. • ■•<"■".- ; The first concert in London of the jblind students Ifrorn Milan! wasian en> \ tire success. I The British-claim for damages during, '■'. the bombardment of Sfax jimounts to ! \ 60,000,000 francs, and the^ claims of other nations fo a similar sum.: i A writer in a Melbourne ' journal 7 States; tha,t a .firmjn Melbqul:He lately re- J from Sandhurst, as part of a rem lttancei" three Bank of England £!0 notes'bearing date May 31 and June; i 1,1 831. The notes are in good condition, .and do not beai" the appearance of miuch.circu- , lation. Their history and reading oi their lpng disappearance frqm.the public use would doubtless fee of interest if they could be traced and. told. The use. of the money represented by notes to the Bank of England counts up con-; i siderably, £30 at, 5 per cent compound! interest for fifty years amounts to mmiri thing over f 3^i *i <