THE TICHBORNE CASE.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 862, 16 September 1871, Page 3

THE TICHBORNE CASE.

The London correspondent of the " Argus" writes:— The Tiehborne trial is still proceeding, and likely to drag its slow length yet for many a day, unless by some conclusive evidence the case is suddenly closed. Great bets are depending on the issue. The case is wholly without precedent, and so many startling incidents and puzzling problems have arisen in its course, that public opinion has been greatly excited and divided. It has been the universal subject of debate, and every day the fresh points of evidence are weighed and argued in every circle with as much zest as if we afl 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. You 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, hearing testimony on minute points, all tending to identification, it seemed impossible that the claim could be an imposture. The newspapers have preserved throughout a discreet silence, and I will not now attempt to trace the fluctuating probabilities, but since the claimant has come under cross-examination it is a matter of fact that the " Tichborne funds" have gone down greatly in public estimation. The Solicitor-General has conducted this part of the case with uncompromising severity, as if sincerely indignant, and has laid himself open to some censure, though handling the subject with great ability. The exa-mination-in-chief, by Mr G'ffard, occupied more than three days, and the cross-examination, not yet finished, has—though with frequent interruptions, through the claimant's illness—run over eight days. There was a painful sensation when he was questioned as to the contents of a sealed packet left behind him by Sir Roger, and swore—after protesting against taking the responsibility of* such a public declaration—that it related to his cousin, a lady then in court, whom he maintained he had seduced before he left England. The cross-examina-tion, which covered the whole period of his life, revealed the most astounding ignorance and forgetfulness, supposing him to be a man who once received a partial education. Of the years spent in Paris he retains but the most meagre recollection, and shrinks from committing himself to a single fact. Of Stoneyhurst he is almost equally ignorant; he did not know Greek from Latin—thought Csasar wrote in Greek, and when shown a Virgil said that it was written in Greek ; he had learnt mathematics, but never heard of the " Pons Asinorum; physiology, he said, related to the "formation of the head."

" Laus Deo semper," he another day translated as " the laws of God for ever." Of chemistry, he remembered that " nitro-muriatic acid will dissolve gold ;" and when questioned whether he learnt that at Stoneyhurst or at Omeo Diggings, answered promptly, "At Stoneyhurst." The claimant has shown great astuteness in baffling the lawyers , once he ventured to challenge the impartiality of the judge. The expenses of the trial will sink a fortune; they have been stated in court to be " hundreds a day." The claimant is at present in the Bankruptcy Court, and a joint stock company has been formed to furnish funds for the prosecution of the suit.