A Debate from beyond the Grave: James Annesley was a Villain not a Victim

An't please you, my Lords and Ladies, I am the Spectre of Thomas Egglestone, an ancestor of Brian Eggleston, whose Debate.org Account I have hacked into from the Spirit World in order to relate to you the terrible Injustice that Scribes such as Robert Louis Stevenson, the Author of ‘Kidnapped’, have done to me.I beg leave to explain.On Saturday, the first of May in the Year of the Lord Seventeen Hundred and Forty Two, I was going up Staines River, to catch a Dish of Fish in Staines Moor, in the Parish of Staines, with a Casting-Net; I fish'd all the Way up till I came to Mr Samuel Sylvester 's Meadow; I was turning back again, an't please you my Lords and Ladies, in order to go home; I carried the Net upon my Arm, and the String was fastened to my Arm.By that Time I had got half Way in the Meadow, I saw Joseph Redding and Mr Annesley running, and Joseph Redding out run Mr Annesley, and came up to me.Redding took me by the Collar, and demanded the Net, and I refused to deliver the Net and I threw it into the River.After the Net was thrown into the River, Annesley came up with his Gun, and swore God damn your Blood deliver your Net, or you are a dead Man; and he fir'd off before he received any Answer from me. I said, “You Rogue, what have you done, I am a dead Man”, and dropp'd immediately.Thereafter, from my Ghostly Perch I observed James Annesley and waited nigh on One Year before he stood Trial at the Old Bailey where he was duly indicted for not having God before his Eyes, but being moved and seduced by the Instigation of the Devil, and with Force and Arms, feloniously, wilfully, and with Malice afore-thought, killing and murdering me against the Peace of our (then) Lord the King his Crown and Dignity.Aghast and outraged but powerless to intervene, I witnessed the shameless Scoundrel, Annesley, respond to the Charges laid against him thus:“My Lord, I observe that I am indicted by the Name of James Annesley, Labourer, the lowest Addition my Enemies could possibly make Use of; but tho' I claim to be Earl of Anglesey, and a Peer of this Realm, I submit to plead Not guilty to this Indictment, and put myself immediately upon my Country, conscious of my own Innocence, and impatient to be acquitted even of the Imputation of a Crime so unbecoming the Dignity I claim."However, despite his protestations of Innocence, the Jury of Twelve Men Good and True found Annesley not guilty of Murder, but guilty of Chance-Medley, which in my Day was the Verdict used in Murder Cases where the Killing did not involve premeditated Malice.Scandalously, despite being found guilty of unlawfully killing me, the Court did not punish Annesley for his Crime and he was released a free Man.This misguided and unjust Decision afforded James Annesley the opportunity to return to his native Ireland where he summoned his Uncle, Richard Annesley, Lord Altham, the Sixth Earl of Anglesey, to Court and laid Claim to his Estate, using the Pretext that his Uncle had kidnapped him as a Boy and had sent across the Atlantic Ocean where he spent twelve Years as an Indentured Servant in the backwoods of Delaware before he was able to secure a Passage back to Britain.When Reporting the Procedings, the Press at the time were very sympathetic to Annesley, describing him as a "most remarkable and unfortunate man" who had "engrossed the attentions of three kingdoms more than any private man ever did" and "truly a victim of the avarice, inhumanity and injustice of others".Annesley's Story inspired at least five Novels, including Robert Louis Stevenson's ‘Kidnapped’ which was also released in the form of a Magic Lantern Projection (which I believe you might refer to as a “film”) but Annesley’s Story would have never come to light and he would not have engendered so much Public Sympathy, had he been duly punished for killing me.So, let the Records show that James Annesley was a Villain, not a Victim, and my Death at his vile and wicked Hands are Testament to that Fact.Thank you my Lords and Ladies, an't please you, here be my Sources:http://www.oldbaileyonline.org...http://www.guardian.co.uk...