The Express.
London, England, 1862-09-25 00:00:00

HIGH WATERATLONDON BAIDGL

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LONDON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25.

YIESEZDAY morning the infamous WILLIAM
Roupsu., the ex-M. P. for Lambeth, confessed
himself guilty of forging his father's Will, and other
such crimes, at the bar of •the Old Bailey, and
accepted with a smile the sentence of penal servi-
tude for life. To die with decency was the
highest aspiration of ancient Philosophers and Sol-
diers, and it may be conjectured that a like ambi-
tion dictated the speech which ROUPELL addressed
to Mr. Justice RYLES before he received his sen-
tence. The dumb apathy with which the wretched
working-day criminal hears his fate would have
been unworthy of the man chosen by 20,000 of
his fellow-citizens to represent them in the Bri-
tish Parliament, and to maintain the public inte-
rests at home and abroad. SHAILSPEARZ made the
passionate Othello, who had murdered his wife, die
upon a kiss ; and it ras natural that a self- •
convicted M.P. should evaporate in a "dying ;
" speech and confession." Grievous as are the
miseries which this calculating scoundrel has in-
flicted upon many innocent persons, it is singular 1
toobserve the self-complacent confidence with which
he admits and descants upon his guilt. It would be
idle, indeed, to place any reliance upon anything I
this wretched creature may now say. Few can
" wish to believe," and therefore many " will re-
" main unconvinced " of the truth of the story he
tells. But the tone of his speech is so singular
that it affords a curious study.
Ambition, selfishnesa, and cool audacity are the cha-
racteristics of WILLIAM ROUPELL ; these, combined
with moral idiocy, are the key to all the apparent I
mysteries of his startling career. " I know why 1
" you were placed on that bench, Mr. Justice
STLIA, and thOrtfOrt I shall net ',mete words in
" attempting to plead for moray. I confess my-
" self guilty of ' monstrous ' crimes, but I will ;
" not even condescend to move your feelings, be-
" cause if you were weak enough to yield you
" would be violating your duty. I will not ex-
" pose you to this temptation ; indeed, my only
" regret is that I may have caused some inconve-
" nience by delaying even for a day to put in a
" plea of guilty." This is the very chivalry of i
crime. The self-convicted forger surrenders hi■
life as the Great NAPOLEON might have sur-
rendered his sword to WELLINGTON. But
having determined to give himself up to
justice, with all the pride of a soldier who had j
earned distinction, he disdained the vulgar expla-
nations which had been offered of his conduct.
" I am," he exclaimed, " a living paradox, and
" no one can solve my conduct or my proceedings
" but myself." The low-minded public, repre-
sented by the " minor newspapers," had supposed
that ROUPELL had surrendered in order to benefit
his family. And if the Will and the various deeds of
conveyance could be proved to be forgeries, no
doubt the vast property of which he had swindled
his father would be restored to his brother or to
his relations. Let it not, however, be ima-
gined for a moment that any motives so
mean ever actuated him. It is true that
his life has been a " great mistake," as he
says, and that the crimes of which he con-
fessed himself guilty have been the consequences
of one false step. If the story of his life, in
writing which he employed his ample leisure
in piison, were published to the world the public
misconceptions would be corrected. But such reve-
lations might cause pain, and therefore, it seems, he
hsadctermined to suppress them. "'desire to blame
"no one : my guilt is unmitigated ; it is mine
" alone, and no men shall share it with me." It
may be said of course that this confession is an
afterthought, and that if his horror of his iniquity
had been sincere, he would either never have com-
mitted those crimes or would have confessed them
sooner. And so perhaps he did. ROUPELL fled
from England, but, as he declares, he only fled after
telling the whole story to some friend, and giving
the unfortunate persons who purchased upon the
faith of the validity of these forged instruments
the option of taking proceedings against
him, and thus of depriving themselves of
the property which had cost them so much.
To most people it may seem not unnatural
that these unfortunate dupes should have declined
to consummate their own ruin by proving they had
no title, but to Wrriams ROL/PILL the fact that
they declined.to take proceedings seemed at first a
complete justification of his flight from England. It
is but justice to say that upon reflection ROUPELL
found himself compelled to abandon this plea ; and
no sooner was his mind enlightened upon the point
than he returned to England and placed himself in
the hands of the Crown. " I knew," said
hes " what I had to expect—a terrible fate,
" always more terrible to a man of education
" and refinement, but I returned to England
" because / prcjcrred penal servitude for life io
" passire remorse. In doing as I have dons I
" have been led by sincere repentance and a desire
" to serve the ends of justice."
When Louis XVI. wee condemned to death it
is sel,l that be spent the most of his time in read-
ing the story cf the last days of Ormuz* I. of
England, in order to learn how to conduct him-
self with becoming dignity on the scaffold. It
seems as if the late member for Lambeth had,
studiously employed his leisure on the same!