THE MAYBRICK AGITATION. Statements of Brierley and Mrs May. Brick's Mother. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 411, 16 October 1889, Page 3

THE MAYBRICK AGITATION. Statements of Brierley and Mrs May. Brick's Mother. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

London, August 16. The last move of the anseroua herd o^ moist- eyed sentimentalists who are clamour, ing" for the release of rthe estimable and much-wronged Mrs Maybrick ie not a particularly wise one, ..and ''will,*,. 1 hope, thoroughly disgust all* 'right *, thinking people. It consists. in blackening the character of the murdereXi * husband The absolute £oundationlessness of the stories that are 'Was ascertained , long ago by the Messrs Cleaver and Sir Charles Russell, who would, you may be 'sure, have gladly cross-examined ,on them at the trial had there been the faintest scintilla- of evidence to back them up. That they should now be resurrected amd spoken of authoritatively as "fresh evidence" is a ghastlyscandal, and shows the. utter folly and injustice of trial by newspaper.

Interview With Mr Brierley. Mr Albert Brierley, whose name has been so prominently mentioned in connection with the recent trial, has (says the Liverpool correspondent of the "New York Herald ") at length ' made a statement. It was prepared after consultation with hia solicitors, and then placed in. the hands of the Messrs Cleaver, the solicitors to Mrs May brick.' Afterwards Brierley granted an interview in relation to the matter. Mr Brierley is the senior member of the firm of Brierley and Wood, cotton importers, at 4, Old Hall - street, not, far from the Exchange. •He has been .in business for 13 years in Liverpool, and has an irreproachable commercial standing. He is unmarried, and his residence is a suite of chambers at 60, Huckisson-street. Mr Brierley, upon being informed that a statement was desired, said, " I have no statement whatever to make for the public." After a little discussion he said :—": — " That I have done wrong in this matter I do not pretend to deny, but I cannot refrain from aaying that a most injurious mi-construc-tion and misinterpretation has been put upon my relations with Mrs May brick, as unjust to her as it is unfair to myself. Our meeting in London was a grave wrong ; but in this trial it has been magnified greatly to her injury and mine, and assumptions have been based upon it which are entirely unwarranted by the actual facts." Mr Brierley is a tall, slender man of 38. His face is nirrow and clearly cut, and he wearo a light moustache and a light beard, clipped close and cub to a point below the chin. He spoke quietly, but with extreme^ earnestness. He was evidently under much excitemenby and showed the effects of a mental strain running over many weeks past. Continuing, Mr Brierley said :—": — " You may put my statement in the form of an interview, but understand clearly that it must not injure Mrs May brick. That is the sole reason why I have been silent" hitherto. I have been maligned, persecuted, and misjudgedMn'evtery way. It bXs broken up mv business, and will cause me 'to leave this city. But lam a man, and I have made no complaint. I only desire that the terrible misfortunes of a woman, whose treat--me'nt fias been scarcely fair, may not .be ( further increased through me." 4 Mr Brierley then proceeded to speak quite freely. Part of the time, he sat on the corner of a Jarge table in front of his desk, and at other times he walked' about the. room. He said ■:'•" Befqre tpe first proceedings against' ?Mrs Maybrick^were initiated oiS talked of, vPhad.arranged fqrja vacatiW'in tWshape -oi attounabout the "MecJiterr'£n'ean: I haxd* made^roy- -pr«para.tiio,ns without a thought 'that'any Jjr,Quble ..was coming "'tocher," for I had no voV'su&jJielQ'if'' ttf any. %T-bis % T-bis is evidently itself in the letter from" fee H'6 V for; ' Whit&i 'was 1 - qu'dtedV ihr % 'cdui't; ' it) S'Vhioh -tetter* I was going^away. 1 ;-! 1 vTbe.j' 1 la§kj interview 'rad with jMrs May brick was pnuApril'ifth. [ ,Be--tween .aurrh^etif^g Londdfv dn 'March 21st antJ this interview I'had~ seem her or% bride; and 1 that was--at the.Grand National Meeting:. .. I- wish you would make a ,nafe bf ahaf,' t^pd let^ people "judge how far those '.three meetings, long 1 previous } ro Mr Maverick's death, justify the,, perpetual' assumption all through, T the trial I ,'" and,,' particularly >by, the,, j,udge, that she amd I were on the closest terms of intimacy, and hand, in hand, so to speak, in the whole matter. However, the moment that I heard that she was, threatened with trouble I abandoned my trip. By way of a trifle, I may state that I had 'alreadj 7 paid £50 as passage money, £35 of which I thereby lost. I simply mention that to show thab it ,was my desire to stay and not to sro.- * I was ready to come forward all through the trial, but was -not called. Last year I met Mrs Maybrick once or twice, but we were merely distant acquaintances up to last November. I. had very few intbi views with her, and the only time I was ever away with her was on the occasion of the visit to London. I decline to say who suggested that trip. I refer you to the evidence adduced in court. We had a distinct understanding that no meeting either in London or elsewhere" a»\ay from home was ever to occur again. We parted in London as if we were never to meot again. " It was distinctly understood that we were not to correspond. It was agreed that she should not write unless &he got into some complications in con sequence of our journey. If she did she was to let me know.' I tell you this because I wish" you to understand that the extent ot our acquaintance and the depth ,of out in )>imacy has been most unwarrantably overestimated, both to her injury and to mine. A few days after the Grand National — on April 6 — Mrs Maybrick came to tell me about her husband beating her and dragging her about the room. It was brought out in evidence that that is the last interview [ ever had with her." In conclusion Mr Brierley said his statement would be forwarded by his solicitors to the Home Seeretarv.

"John." A Liverpool correspondent telegraphs :—: — " ' John,' lam now informed, is the nephew of Miss Bailey, aD old friend of the Baroness yon Rogue. Miss Bailey is the lady who wrote to Mrs Maybrick about the anxiety that her fi lends had felfc when they found that she had not been staying at the Grand Hotel. It has all along . been a mystery how Mrs Maybrick spent ,the remainder of her time in London between leaving the Henrietta-street hotel and returning to Liverpool. This '"John' is able to explain. When Mrs Maybrick went up to London she arranged to meet him as an' old friend. He was also an intimate friend of her brother, who has been dead some years. It was from ' John ' — who, -as he stated in his letter, told his aunt' the truth —that Miss Bailey learned that Mrs Maybrick had not, after arriving in London, gope direct to her house. As soon ( .as Brierley and she had left the Henriettastreet hotel she repaired to her aunt's and spent the remainder of the week there, and not with Brierley, as has been suppo&ed. All this information has been given' to the Home Secretary, 'and it was . prbbably to it • that Mrs Maybrick referred when, upon being asked whether she had anything to say, why sentence should not Be passed upon her, she faltered out something about, certain evidence not having been, given."

Mrs Maybrick's Mother, Talks. The non-appearance of Mrs Maybrick's mother in the witness-box at the trial was rightly enough dropped upon by all lawyers as one of the weakest spots in the defence. The Messrs Cleaver and Mr Pickford, who got up the case, are at the head of their profession in Liverpool, and spent six weeks going over the evidence, and deciding what to lay before the jury They knew better than anyone else how their not calling the Baroness yon Rogue would be construed, and yet.they decided against calling her. Obviously for some sufficient reason it was considered undesirable to risk her cross-examination. The Baroness nas now electe'dto! volunteer a statement. Ib hurls 'cHarges brosidca^t-'at Mrs'B'ri'gfirs, the brothers Mayfyrick, and;. Nurse Yapp, bufc fails altogether to-'exp^n away -one .scrap: of the terrible chain of circumstantial cvi-- 1 ' ' dence against the prisoner!

[ Interview with the BXroness yon I Rogue. The following- is the sfcatemenb of the Baroness yon Rogue, the mother of Mrs Maybrick. It was made veabally by the mother herself to a correspondent of the "New York Herald" at balf-.pasb.ll yesterday morning, in response to a request made on Sunday last. The Baroness is a well-preserved woman, who looks to be 45 years old or older. Her hair is "grey. She was neatly dressed in black, with- a black embroidered cloak, and wore no jewellery. Her manner had the depression natural to the fearful circumstances in which she is placed. Her voice was low and firm, her words measured, and her miiid perfectly clear. Her statement was as follows :—: — "I make this public statement for one reason only — that is, that the basis upon which Justice Stephen and the jury conscientiously condemned my daughter to death was made up of only a part of .many facts which should have been before them. It is only for the purpose of calling attention to a side of the case which has nob been weighed by them that I 9peak to you. "j.Vjr Maybrick died on Saturday. Up to the following Friday afternoon daughter lay ill— prostrated and helpless, without a friend. She was surrounded^by enemies whose bitterness I need.' riot call your attention to, for it is in evidence. "A nurse, the woman Yapp," whom my daughter had some months before reprimanded, and, as she wrote me, felt that she would be compelled to discharge, knowing or nob knowing Mr Maybrick's own use of arsenic, communicated her suspicions to Mrs Briggs. Mrs Briggs telegraphed. Mr Michael Maybrick. Mrs Brfggs was the moving agent- in all .that ensued. My daughter was satisfactorily convicted of murder before Mr Maybrick died by Miss Yapp, Mrs Briggs and Michael Maybrick, who was acting only upon the information, suspicion?, and conclusirns of these two women. Now, I respectfully suggest that Mrs Briggs's actions, Mrs Briggs's motive, and Mrs Briggs's character are things that should be considered and have not be considered in this case.

The Letter to Brierley. "On heading of May,bi;ick's death I went straight to Battlecre&se. I' met; Edwin Maybriek in the vestibule of the house, si asked him at' once why I hud not been allowed to come before. * He said they had all lost their foe'ads'^'thab Florae .was. too ill to know' anything, and that Mrs Brigrgs did nob know or had forgotten my address. Be.Ksa,td, ' I would never have believed on?? >w,qr,d asfainsb Flprrie if if had not been for that letter to Brierley.' Now permit me to say that/ the"re was a great deal q^sq^Bentitiousness 'about- -thatr letter to [if was l wVitte« Vwfth 4 the knowledge oi!'ai"^oman come "to* tfte^ifaeibsion, honestly >? or .cJi^hanestlyV .'thai''yftyiSS.ighter was a nrftrrdefels^t hj&art.i«/ It was given to that woman to' post, and that woman JJ o c p'eq^ 'ifcetvl'.;; ma^ be, _JVJ ay brick's mother, but it looks' to*. as if that; --Ve.ivy;,^^tranire M andy-very^uijneces-■>«arVi^ l^ttei^, \ a^ "letter',, so,!! and ingeniously "" cbmprdm l isin > § > ,'' > nt bbat no , other pdssible Si^6m^ln4tiy^of'-WA-ds could 'ha>ve been equally I 'ti^rtrffulV'^vast simply a trajD successfully ? "l^fti tenSt' udjkiinphantly executed.. MV'd^ughber-ife'/tro^Jvjjivoman of very 'much "penS6ratio"n. v3sj^yjQj|f' could see her you would'aiot Vo'hder j|.ti i ,t^e > „ease with which- sfre has c been' deceived^^\ Kindly remember that Mrs,. Brings testified' in Court 'th'ati she' advised -,my .daughter tio write to Brierle)' to get money enough'fco'send some telegrams, and then walked straight out of the priso,n with the letter, an'd ' at once handed it to a rioliceman.'. '

How Maybrick' Wijed. "Tbelieve I<know that Jatnes Maybrick died<a natural 'death. -I believe that these two * women, ignoianb of alt the privace circumstances, ignorant of Mr'Maybrick'a extensive use of arsenicV ' cain'e 'to the conclusion that my daughter "was poisoning him, and did everything they could bo build up their rase. The "idea is simply absurd, to begin with, that you can poison a man with arsenic who has been using arsenic ■ for 11 years, without) his knowing or suspecting it. Mr Maybrick knew his own constitution perfectly well. He has been experimenting on it with drugs ever since I knew him. He wasa deep studentof medicine from a personal standpoint. If there was one man on earth who would have scouted the idea that anybody could poison" him with arsenic without his knowledge, it was James Maybrick, and he would say so if he stood here to-day. My daughter said in her statement that she put a white powder in the meat juice at his request. That is perfectly true and the Home Secretary will see 'that it is true. She' made the same statement at the; beginning in her first interview with her solicitor. Sbe said the same thing to me. She has said ib all , t.he time, and sbe has never varied, and there will be no difficulty in proving bhis to anyb6dy's satisfaction. She also &aid to me, " Why, mamma, if they had only told; me what thej' suspected - if I could only have taken* ifchem over my own house and shown them everything, there would have been nothing needed to be explained ; but -they-, would not let me do this. They did all the searching, and I was already a prisoner and jm. bed.'

Mother and Daughter Meet. "Buc this is anticipating my story. I left Edwin and went up' to, my daughter's room. In the hall in front of her door were two policemen on . guard. I went in and found a police-inspector sitting within two feet of her. She was in bed. There was also a nurse in the room. I saw both the nurse and the Inspector'' with pencils prepared to take notes, and 'I'spoke to her in French. I ; think my' mother or any other woman would have done Ihe same thing. I said, ' What on'earth" does all this talk about fly-papers' lrfean*?' *Ed\vin had told me of the fly-pape'fs. She said, • Cosmetics, course.'' I-said,- * Why.have these people taken- possession of y,pur house in this way?' She answered, ' Mamma, you have no idea how. l have been treated' by the Maybrick -brothers. . Mrs Briggs has made all the trouble.* M ';' '/' '

'MKs Bbiggs. " Who is krs BnggsJ" : f« Mrs Bjiggs W as a very 'intimate friend of 'Mr.Maybvick. 'lie had known her long .before he met my daughter. He permitted ,her fco visit the house most freely. She w fti.-.

woman about forty-five years old, who lias been divorced from her husband, though Bhe obtained the divorce on account of his conduct, and there was nothing in the proceedings* to reflect on hor. Mrs May brick told me this. Mr Maybrick was an intimate friend of her father, Mr Janion, and has-been on close terms of friendship with the Janion family all his life. When Mr Maybrick married my daughter he was a man of forty-three or four and she was a girl of eighteen. Mrs, Brigge from the out*eu was a potent factor in tho household. She kept a general eye upon affairs. Mrs Briggs had unmarried sisters, aud I have no doubt that the opinion prevailed that if Mr Maybrick's taste had been all that it ought to have been, ho would ha\o married a Mie.s Janion. Miss Gertrude Janion, her sister, has been known for a long time in their circle to be smitten with Mr Brierley. Miss Janion, through Mr Hughes, tho husband of another -sister, caused the quarrel between Mr and Mrs Maybrick at the race grounds. He was inspired to do this by Miss Janion, because Mr Brierley had taken Mrs Maybrick to the Grand Stand to see the Prince of Wales, and Miss Janion was left alone on the coach. lam not dealing in trifling gossip in this matter ; I am showing you states of mind and motives which bear directly on this ca3e. When tho reconciliation took place, or before it Mrs Briggs told Air Way brick all that sho knew about Mis Maybrick's relations with Mr Brierley.

Whvt Has Been Kept Back? "My daughter, lying prostrate, wa« robbed of everything she might have needed to substantiate her case, if she had the mental grasp to understand her position. The pill-box containing Mr Maybrick's private storo of arsenic only turned up at the trial. It had been kept back. Who knows whatjelse has been kept back ? Does the judge know? Do the jury know? Where are Mr May brick a clothes? Have they been examined for arsenic? Have the pockets been examined ? Of all that belonged to my daughter, of all the presents that had been given her, of all that she needed to save her life, all that she got back was a dressing wrapper, which was valuable because it was stained with arsenic."

L vbky's A>. alysis. If any of your readers conscientious^ doubfc the justice of the verdict in the Maybrick trial, let them read "Labby's" masterly analysis of the evidence in "Truth" for "August 15th. Before its irresistible logic and robust common sense even the most sentimental sympathiser's doubts must crumble into dust.