TOPICS OF THE DAY. PRECIS,

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 360, 17 April 1889, Page 3

TOPICS OF THE DAY. PRECIS,

This T rai* Sib Charles Russell Laid fob Pioott— How Another Dabing Fobgeby was Discovered Through an Error in One Letter—The Debate on the address in the Commons— Dillon's Great Speech— matthe vvs grosslylnsttlted— the edlingham buuglary— acquittal of police— Confusion Wobsis Confounded— Another Ducal Bride Presented at Court— The Marchioness and the Duchess— A Touching Reconciliation— Thk Lucky ColonelWaterloo Laurels— Miss Glrndyne—Gosfohth Gold Cup.

Sir Charles Russell's Trap for Figott. The trap which Sir Charles Russell so cleverly laid for the w ily Pigofcfc with the word " hesitancy " depended on one letter only. Other smart forg©rie3 have, curiously enough, been found out very similarly through an equally email, yet all-imporbant and convincing, blunder. There was one famous case, I remember, about four years ago. An American turned up in London with a budget of letters alleged to be by Thackeray. They contained the novelists opinions on ail sorts of subjects, were written in his unmistakeablo spidery handm riling, and, if genuine, were undoubtedly very valuable. The novelist's daughter, howevet, at once pronounced them forgeries She could give no conclusive reasons for her belief save that the views expressed in the correspondence were not her father's. On the other hand, oxperts pronounced the writing to be the fame as that on known genuine documents, and it was shown that Thackeray was undoubtedly in London when the letters were supposed to have been written, and did correspond with the person to whom they were addressed. Mrs Richmond Ritchie (Miss Thackeray) had despaired of proving the forgery, when Mr Fawcett, then Postmaster-General heard the letters read and at once showed them up. " They are all headed," he said, " Kensington W. Yet, London was not d'tvulvrf into postal di&lricts till two years after the dates upon which these epistles pretend to ha\e been written." The forger's carelessly - inserted W. answered every purpose, and was conclusive, tor the simple reason of course that Kensington West did not exist at the tiim when the letters were supposed to have been despatched.

The Debate on the Address. The Pigobt sensation completely dwarfed the importance of the debate on the Address in the Commons this week. The Irish members (excusably perhaps) losd their heads on Tuesday evening, aod shouted "Pigotb" derisively whenever they {-a\r a Tory, much less heard one. Colonel Saunderson, after being interrupted once or twice in hi? speech with this cry, a^ked the meaning of it. He had not, he c-aid, the privilege of knowing Mr Pigott, buthe°hould think, from the proceedings of the la^t few days, he had fully qualified for a seat in the first Home Rule Parlia ment in Ireland. This sally greatly delighted the Tories, and when the gallant Colonel went on to accuse the Parnellifces of trying tr> make political capital out of Mr O'Biien's br eches, and to throw ridicule generally on that naked patriot's thoatrical antics, the cheering on the Government side was enthusiastic. Mr Dillon, however, followed with a sledge-hammer speech of convincing sincerity, in the course of which he read a statement sent somehow from prison by OBrien, giving an account of the violence really inflicted on him. This made Mr Balfour turn all coloxirs and look profoundly uncomfortable. Tim Healey, who is always in extremes and can't leave well alone, sub pequently disgusted many moderate members inclining to theParnelliteside, by boldly hinting that the Home Secretary had connived with the "Times" to get Pigott away. Mr Matthews scarcely deigned to notice the silly accusation, and ib presently transpired that Mr Lewis's (Pavnell's solicitor's) clerU was alone answerable for the delay in sending the warrant to Scotland Yard The money Pigott gob away wibh, it seems=, wis obtained from Sothebys the auctioneers, v\ ho gave him £25 on Monday afternoon for some books they'd sold for ! him. '

Confusion Worse Confounded. The trial of the three policemen who we?e accused of perjury and conspiracy in connection with the famous Edlingbam burglary case, lias resulted in confusion woi?e confounded. The jury, after caiefnly hearing both sides, promptly acquitted the constables, and the judge openly expreesed warm apprsval of the verdict. His Lordship, in summing up, said the evidence against Edgell and Robinson (the two men who recently confessed to the crime) was not strong enough to hang a dog on, whereas the cases against Brannigan and Murphy (the two presumedly innocent men who have been in prison nino years) seemed ten times stronger to-day than when they were originally convicted ten years ago. If, indeed, the pair could be put on their trial again, no jury in Christendom would hesitate to find them guilty. This, mind, from Mr Justice Den man, a noloiiously acute and just judge. What, I wonder, will happen now ? Brannigan and Murphy have received £300, and been feted as martyrs all over the country, whilst Edgell and Robinson are hi prison, doing jive years' ppnal servitude. The theory of the prosecution at this last trial was that when Edgell and Robinson spoke to the Rev. Mr Perry of labouring under a burden of remorse for some crime they had committed years back, they were not thinking of the Edhngham burglary at all, but of the murder of a policeman sixteen years ago, in which both of them were suspected of having a share, though no case was made out against them. They were afraid they might yet be wanted for that more serioup crime, and so took the burden of the minor one on their phouldeis to divert the attention of the police. They were the more ready to do this as they were led to beliove that their sham confession would entail no consequences. On this point most weighty evidence was offered. Both Edgell and Robinson said that Mr Perry, the clergyman who had moved them to repentance, and Mr Percy, the solicitor who got up the case for the free pardon, had assured them there could be no second conviction for the burglary at the vicarage. The only efiecfc of their confession would be the release of Brannigan and Murphy. The Judge expressed a strong opinion as to the untrustworthiness of Edgell, who had, he pointed out, peculiar opportunities for concocting a false <siory, because he had been gardener tor a time at Edlingham vicarage and heai'd the tale of the burglary again and again. Furthermore, the aged vicar and his daughter came forward to swear most positively that neither Edgell nor Robinson in the least resembled the two men whose figures they saw tor a moment on the fateful night of the burglary, whereas Brannigan and Murphy were exactly the same size, height, breadth, obc. Altogether, the affair ends (if it has ended) most unsatisfactorily.

Another Ducal Bride. The feelings of the Leveson Gowera bewared description when they heard that their father (commonly supposed to be an inconsolable widower hiding his grief in the backwoods of America) had replaced their adored mother (the beautiful and

austere Duchess of Sutherland) within three shorfa months of her death with an Ameri1 can girl, young, lovely and slangy. The lady's name is Mrs Blair, and she is quite an ingenue. The Marquis of Stafford and Lord Cromartie with other members of the family will, on dit, decline to recognise their step mother.

Presented at Court. The Duchess of Maryborough was not, after all, presented on Tuesday to our gracious monarch and the Empress Frederick. Her frock was bought, her bouquet ordered, and her diamonds brought from the bank, yet the Duchess voluntarily stayed away. The reason was that a hint, a "teeny-weeny" hint, had reached Her Grace, or rather His Graoe, from the Lorp Chamberlain's office. The tenor of it was that the Queen had consented to receive the Marchioness of Blandford as well as the Duchess of Marlborough, and that that much-injured lady meant to present her daughter, Lady Cecil Spencer-Churchill, at this Drawing-room. As a meeting between the Marchioness and her successor would be most embarrassing and painful, Her Majesty hinted that the latter would do well to defer her presentation till later in the season. This will also enable the Queen to avoid receiving the Duchess personally, and after a presentation to the Princess of Wales has fulfilled -the convenances, Her Grace will probably see the wisdom of keeping away from Court. The prettiest of the young married women on Tuesday was the Marchioness of Granby, and the most conspicuous figure at the Drawing-room the Baroness Henry de Worms. This lady simply blazed with diamonds. She wore a priceless riviere, ca 1 rings, bracelets, and an aigrette, whilst her bodice was covered with brooches and stars. It was too much, of course, and looked vulgar, but the lady didn't mind that. She probably knew most oi her fair sisters were consumed with jealousy. The stcnes in the riviere were extraordinaiily large.