The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-02-15 00:00:00

THE REV. B. SPEKE'S MYSTERIOUS
DISAPPEARANCE.

The correspondent of a London contemporary has
given circulation to the ingenious surmise that Mr.
Speke has been carried off by the Fenians,
take for Mr. Gathorne Hardy, to whom the missing
gentleman is said to bear a striking resemblance.
These are the words :—" Do you happen to know
that there was an extraordinary likeness in figure as
well as feature between Mr. Speke and Mr. Cathorne
Hardy? And is it not possible that, in an
attempt to fulfil their long-standing threats
against the Home Secretary, some daring and in.
genions knot of Fenians may have mistaken the one
man for the other?' Unfortunately the Home
Secretary, as Dod informs us, was born in the year
1814, and is therefore fifty-four years 4 age, whereas
Mr. Speke was only about five-and-thirty. Now, es-en
assuming that Mr. Speke and Mr. Hardy were origi-
nally as like in form and feature as the Siamese twins,
twenty years must make sufficient difference between
them to render it impossible that even the most foolish
of lecithins could carry off the sine for the other.
On the mysterious disappearance of the Rev. B.
Speke the Rev. G. 'l'. Gowring, of Ilminster, has
written the following letter to the London Times.—
Von will, I hope, out of regard to hi. character and pro-
fession, allow publicity to the following statement from one
who Is in no wa) connected with his family, who has known
hlm intimately, and who was the last of his trends who
saw him.

Ile waa my colleague In a curacy at Banbury—his first
curacy. Ile was there most exemplary and earnest in his
duties, and when he went to take charge of a lining in
Devonshire he left the town with the respect and regard of
all the parishioners, whether rich or poor. When, soon after
his disappearance, I visited that town and informed some of
Me old people of it they mourned for him as for a brother,
and instinctively felt he had been a victim to violence.
From Devonshire, eleven years Mice, he proceeded to his
present living, and during the whole of his incumbency he
has seemed to live but for two things, his parish and his
family. Though in an affluent position. he has. for the sake
of the poor, denied himself the comforts, if not the neces-
saries, of life. His whole time has been given to them, and
almost the last thing he did nasal his own cost to arrange a
te of relief for the distressed. It was a most touching
s Dole to see his people in churchmourning for him on
the Sunday when his disappearance had become known, and
Ids recovery seemed hopeless
It happened that I travelled with him on the Wednesday
from Chard to Salisbury, and that we were almost alone
during the journey, and though I thought nothing of it at
the time, I have since remembered with satisfaction his per-
fect freedom from absence of mind or forced sprite. . . .

........
It is, I am sure, perfectly impossible that he can have
purposed such a shameless enterprise as to absent himself
from his home or his work. Ile wu by nu means a likely
roan to be entrapped : he was a very pure and abstemious
11111111 in youth and at college, and has been so to my know-
ledge ever since and the only alternative but violence is a
sudden aberration of intellect, of which there were neither
ersonal .or hereditary symptoms.
Ilia family will be grateful for the publicity you have given
to his disappearance, and it is yet to be hoped that the
unceasing and varied efforta of his friends slid the autho-
rities may restore to no a man whose loss is felt by this whole
neighbourhood to be a public calamity.

The following correspondence has also appeared on
the auhlect

. -
It has been remarked that there is a tendency of people
who speculate upon eases of mystery like that of Mr. .pekes
disappearance to seek for. solution in out.of.the-way sug-
gestions, to the neglect of more simple and obvious con-
sideration. There seems to be a danger that even those
Who are actually engaged In investigating this matter may
fall intn this common error It may, therefore, be worth
while to lay a fe.w words on this subject
. . . . .

In the tAt place, it is a sound principle that in Inquiries
oi this kind one fact, or even one simple inference from a
fact, is worth a hundred surmises. We may, therefore,
discuss fir the present the supposition that Mr. Speke, after
he left the hatter's shop in Warwick-street, started on some
secret expedition into the labyrinths of Pimlico. The fact
that some portion of that neighbourhood hears a doubtful
reputation seems to have excited the imaginations of many
persons, but it is not easy to see why. As the missing
gentlenian had taken ep his quarters at the residence of his
brotherM law in Ecelestiiii•square, Pimlico, and as the
hatter's in Warwick-street was probably the nearest hatter's
to that house, being, in fact close by, the circumstance that
be was last heard of in Pimlico is certainly not extraordinary
and does not seem to require much comment.
What we do know is that Mr. Speke arrived in London at
510 in the afternoon of the sth of January fur the purpose
of being present at the marriage of his most Intimate friend
on the next day that, on his arrival, he took a cab and
strove to his brother-in-law's, that he went out at 530, leav-
ing word with a servant that he was going to buy a hat, and
then on business to Westminster; that he hail an appoint-
ment at his brother-in-law's at 6M; and that lie bad also
an engagement to go out to dinner at seven the mune
evening.
Stippose. then, we assume that this gentleman, who Is
described by his friends es a man in perfect health, of evenly-
balanced mind, high reit-done character, and of a cheer ul
and amiable disposition, really ilid intend to carry out this
very simple programme, and that he had tin intention of
going on secret expeditions in Pimlico, or to get drunk, or,
In fact, to do anything but what he had said that he was
going to to, l'p to a certain point—as far. Indeed, as we
are able to trace him stall—we know that this was the case.
Ile was at the hatter's at 5 SO. Ile repeated to the batter
that he was going out to dinner, sad gave that as the reason
for wishing to have the hat sent home not later than 6,15.
Morever, the family tell ris that he really was going to dine
that evening at South Kensington ; and that he hail an ap-
pointment at his brother-in-law's at 630 has also been
proved by the young man whom he hail appointed to meet
being there at that time and waiting for him
I hough a dinner at seven generally means half-past seven,
the gentleman was certainly pressed for time. Ills train was
considerably behind. Within ten inMates after his arrival
In Eccleston.equare he went out again. He bait but an hour
to get from Eccleston-square to th• bait ri's . from the hat-
ter's to Westminster, and from Westminster back again to
his appointment in ECCIedoII•SIVIATO. He hail to dress for
dinner. His • hole visit to London, in feet, was • match
against time, for after the wedding and the breakfast he
wee to return to Chard on the morrow, having desired his
groom to be In attendance at the station on the following
evening. Vs hat, therefore, he would be likely to say to a
stranger who came up to him, like the man who accosted a
correspondent with a vague story of his being wanted as a
Fenian witness, or indeed with any other story, can be easily
imagined. Clergymen are not so scarce that a country parson
In • great hurry and with a multiplicity of engagements
should feel himself bound to go up some blind alley at the
beck of Is stranger, even to "visit a dying person." Nor is
the possibility of such a story being a mere pretext for rob-
bery so very remote th it even a country clergyman would
be likely to he taken in by it.
Let us, the'', go hark to Mr. Saeke's own programme.
When he left the hatter's he was going next to Westminster
on business. There is, therefore. a hundred anes better
reason for supposing that he did go to Westminster on
business, or, at least, that he started to do SO, than that he
went anywhere else. If so—and this is a point of great im-
portance—the chances wonld be enormously in favour of the
supposition that he arrived there safely and within a quarter
of an hour of his leaving the hatter's. tieing in a great
burry, he would, sin doubt, take a cab. It has been
suggested that he was decoyed into scab by some murderer
in confederacy with a murderous cabman ; but the obvious
supposition is that Mr. Speke chose hia own cab, instead
of having it chosen for him. Warwick-street is a busy ,
street id lighted shops. Can anything be more likely than
that, driven for time as he was, lie hailed some cab within a
very abort distance of the hatter's door, and ordered the
driver to go to some address in Westminster? If so, look at
the chances that he arrived at his destination. How could
the driver offer him any injury without a confederate? And
how cxulit a confederate be quartered on Mr. Spoke in .cab
which Mr. Speke had chosen fee the simple purpose of going
about his own business? If any breakdown of a cab, or
other accident by which the gentleman was injured, had oc-
curred we should assuredly have heard it; but that no cab-
man has come forward to say that he drove a gentleman from
Pimlico to Westminster on that evening is not remarkable,
seeing that the family have professed themselves unable to
suggest whereabouts at Westminster Mr. Speke was going,
or was likely to have been going. This is. I think, one of the
strangest features of this case. It is time to ask whether it
is quite clear that "all trace" of the noising gentleman
ceased at the threshold of the hatter's shop, and whether it
is certain that he never entered the house in Westminster to
which he said he was going, and where it Is SO hard to CCM-
eeive that he failed to arrive. I dismiss the supposition that
he was attacked In the street. Snell a thing could not occur
in Pimlico or Westminster at six in the evening without
attracting attentiou in some way. If violence has been
offered to him, it Is infinitely more probable that the deed
was done tinder some roof, or in some enclosed piece, and it
is certainly more likely than any other supposition that Mr.
Speke was at the time in some situation where he would be
in the ordinary course of things. . . . .
-
" W." Writes to the London Tim.
- • - • •

Between five and six o'clock on the night of the 2lst of
march, 1,67, I left the city in an omnibus, got out just before
the Elephant and Castle in the middle of the road at that
time there was a great deal of hoarding up, gave the man
ed., and received the 41. out : the rest is blank, until about
eleven or near twelve o'clock a man came, shook me by the
arm, and said, "We are going to close." I, heavy with
sleep or something else, looked up, and supposed I was in a
ce.ffeeshon from one light then burning and the wood In
front of the window. Presently he came again and said,
•' You must go, Sir ; " at wlvch I got up and was let out of
the door, it being then quite dark, save the street lamps.
Shortly I band myself sitting in a cab in front of the
Elephant and Castle, directing the man where to drive me,
which was ten miles off, and where, thank God, I got safe
between four and five in the morning, cold and snowing,
paid the man, gave him something to drink, got his card,
Ac ,relieved the anxiety of my friends, had some tea my-
self, wax sick, went to bed for an hour, and off to businesses
If nothing hail happened. Anil yet, Sir, something very
mysterious and frightful had taken place: from the time I
got out of the omnibus to the time I was awoke lathe coffee-
house I remember nothing : lost gold watch, gold anal silver
near Cu. all but one shilling. Everything else was safe.
My pocket-book, with more than kit, worth of notes, all my
loose letters, and every atom iii paper sale; my hat, gloves,
pocket-handkerchief, and clothes safe, and not sidled—save
on the inside of my coat-collar were some spots of tallow
grease, as though iny coat had been off, and my shirt sleeves
here trie print of some fair creature's hair-net plain enough.
I had not drank anything to cause this, and had apparently
nothing given me, such as beer or spirits. I felt I had
escaped with my life, and when next day in the same locality,
I felt as though some one would seize me from behind, which
did not wear off for a week or two. For thirty years I have
known every inch of the neighbourhood. On that night I
never went into any place to drink with any 0118, and the
mystery always seems to me how with so slizht after sickness
I was rendered so •• instantaneously senseless" as not to
knew "how and by whom" I was lot into the place in which
I found myself. I have merely related "facts," and tear
Mr. Speke has succumbed, while I escaped with my life.

The Rev. Henry White, too, relates &wither
incident, which betel himself, and which may serve to
show how clergymen with the best of intentions may
be led into dangerous places.
" I was leaving the Punch office," Mr. White says, "in the
dusk of all autumn Weshiesday evening. AS I stood on thu
thresle.l.l, for an instant, • woman asked me, In an anxious
tone, if I was a clergyman, and then implored me to go to
her home and baptise her sister's dying child. She assured
me that she had sought help from the incumbent of her
district and from two neighbouring clergymen ; that these
gentlemen were gone out for the evening. In the faith of
this seemingly hopeless and likely failure, I consented to ;
accompany her. We threaded our way through several
courts which lead circuitously to Fetter-lane On our
Journey she recollected that she had not called at the
druggist's for some medicines which were needed far the
chinL She hade me to hasten to the address, which she
then gave me. atter • fruitless search among intricate
alleys, I asked the help of a policeman. lb eat once recog-
nized the address to be the abode or resort of thieves and
Bride-lane ruffians.' In spite of his discouragement', aud
guarded by his willing companionship, I went to the house,
prepared to be use even to a ruffian's ' child. We found
that no child was ill, and that 'of course) the people of the
house knew nothing of a woman scut in search of a clerzy-
man. The police congratulated me upon my escape from a
possible awkwardness, sod assured me that it would be
useless to seek or to charge the woman who had been sent
out to entrap soy unwarinesa"

In a leader on the case, the Murning !Oar remarks :
There are plenty of other stories in the papers which,
true or false, have even less to do with the Spoke mystery
than the two we have referred to. We are told of broad,
open London streets, where the shopkeepers see murderous
assaults committed before their doors by highwa) men and
dare not interfere of other streets where the female popu-
lation habitually display themselves in absolnte nudity; of
dens of murder which the police dare not even denounce ;
and these statements are not vague slid general, but distinct
and precise, each correspondent adding sonie new horror to
the awful disclosures of his predecessor Now. If these
stories, or a tithe of them, be tree, it is plain that London
is in a far worse condition than any part of Alsatis la. the
Mint was fir their worst days met the disappe•ranee of
Mr. Spoke, 14' of fifty other men equally respectable, is no
more to be wondered at than the capture of a traveller by

the brigands of the Abnizzi or newly. We mint confess
, that we are rather sceptical about this state of things, and
we still think Mr. Spoke's disappearance a strange and
startling mystery. It is characteristic of the manner In
which public and even official attention Is occupied in such
cases by Irrelevant matter, that while we were being
treated to stories of what might, could, or would have hap-
pened to various persons at divers times and in all parts of
London, the fact that there is a house in Queen's-square to
which the missing gentleman might naturally have been
going, and not far from where his hat was found, only
transpired two or three days ago, and had not before been
heard of by the police."

MORE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES.
If Mr. Speke's fate is not soon discovered the
columns of The TOWS and other papers will become
more exciting than the most sensational of novels,
as several mysterious disappearances are recorded.
One gentleman writes :

Some four or live years ago a friend of my own, the son of
a clergyman, and about twenty live years of age, had
arranged to sail with his cousin to New Zealand. They went
together one day to inspect the ship in which they purposed
taking their passage, but finding her, as they thought, un-
seaworthy, they agreed to defer their departure until they
could Snit a vessel more to their liking. tin the evening of
that day they parted, and from that time to this nothing haa
ever been heard of my friend. His cousin was obliged to
sail without him, though enemy and annoyed at his non-
appearance. Inquiries were made at the time, and it wan
ascertained that no one bearing his name or answering to
his description had taken a passage in any ship bound to
New Zealand from any port of the tonted K ingdom
All efforts to trace him proved fruitless, and his fate still
remains a mystery. He hail no inducement whatever to
conceal himself from his friends, and he was of no merry
and cheerful a disposition thati t seenied out of the queetion
to suppose that he had made away with himself. Moreover,
his personal appearance was no remarkable that lathe event
of his body having been found it must have been identified.
Ile was connidera'ily over sin feet in height, sod of singularly
powerful build no strong, indeed, was he that it is difficult
to conceive of Lis being easily overpowered, .0, beside.,
the small sum of money which he had about 111111 was not
sufficient to tempt the cupidity of unscrupulous ruffians.
Yet five years have panned and not the slightest clue to his
disappearance has been obtained The striking similarity
between this cue and that of the Rev It. Speke has led me
to think that, although it throws no light npon the present
mystery, it may be interesting as showing how possible It
Is that such my sterns may remain for years, if not for ever,
unsolved.

The following letter appears in the Morning Post

Sir,—The case of the mysteri .... s disappearance of the
Rev. Mr. Sock° so closely resembles that at my nephew,
Lieutenant Robert klecredy. of the Bombay fumy, that a
brief sketch of the circumstances may interest the public at
the present juncture, and might possibly lead to serve
elucidation. Lieutenant Mecredy left his lodgings, No. 6,
Bury-street, St. Juices's, on the 4th of February, 1c64. in a
cab, with the avowed intention of going to Dublin to visit
his relations and possibly myself en route, but from that
day to this has never been heard of, although every
iniaginable step was taken at the time to trace him. Sir
Richard alayno was applied to, advertisements issued, de-
tectives employed, and rewards offered, dm, but all In
vain—Yours eke., it. C. SANDYS, Lieutenant-Colonel
Bengal Retired List, Craig-yr-listen, Meual-bridge, Feb. 7.
A Country Rector writes :

With reference to the disappearance of the Rev. Mr.
Speke, I must ask you to give publicity to another Case of
disappearance.
inie Sunday afternoon late last &damn, a young girl from
my parish left her mistress's house, near Portman .square,
for a walk with her "young mat" She has never since been
heard of. She neither returned for clothes nor to claim her
wages, nor have any of her friends any clue to her doom.
It is absurd to talk of her taking to evil courses: in that
case she would have had all occasion for her money and
clothes besides which she was singularly steady and well
principled, she lived in my family a long tinie, and she was
as far from handsome or attractive as could well be
imagined. Who her young man was is a mystery. We feat
she was made away with for the sake of her Sunday clothes.
The police will have it that she went tntbad company. It is a
very convenient hypothesis, aid it would he credible if they
could produce her. I cannot think they believe it themselves,
for why should she never claim her property ° I fear these
are not rare cases.