The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-12-27
FLINT JACKSON"
RECOLLECTION or POLICEMAN.


FAinham hops are word-hmous, orat least
famous in that huge portion OF the world
where English ale is drunk, and whcrcon,
have n thousand times heard and read the sun
never scts. The name, therefore, of the pleas
ant Surrey village, in and about which the
events | am about 20 relate occurred,ia. | may
fairly presume, known 10 many of my readers,
] was ordered 10 Ernham, 10 investigate n
case OF burglary, committed in the house OF
=. gentleman Of the name Of IIurslcy, during the
t%aporary absence Of the family, which had
completely nonplusscd the unpractscd Dog
bcrrys of the place albeit Il was not a riddle
at all difficult TO read. The premises, Il was
quickly plain TO see, had been broken, not in
TO, but out Of; and a watch being sot upon
the motions OF the very SpeciouA.and clever
person lefl 10 charge Of the house md prop
erty, il was speedily discovered that the rob
hrry had ,.eep effected by herself and a con
fsdcrate of, the name Of Dawkins, her broth
cr-in.law. Some Of the stolen goods were
found secrctcd nj his lodgings but tho most
valuable portion, consisting Of plate and
small quantity Of jowelg, had disappeared
Il had unquestionaby been converted into
money, as considerable sums, in sovcreigns,
were found upon both Dawkins and the wom-
an, Sarah Pnrday- Nsw, as Il had been
clearly Rsccrtained that neither of the priso-
'ners had lof Rarnham since the burglary, e
was manifest there was n. receiver near Rt
hand who had purchased the missing articles.
Dawkihs aud Purday, were, however, dumb
rs stones upon the subject and nothing oc-
CURED 10 point suspicion till early in the ev-
ening previous to the second examination Of
the prisoners before the magistrates when
Sarah PurdOy asked for pen, ink and paper,
for the purpose Of writing to one Mr. jackson,
in whose service she had formerly lived.
happened TO be at the prison, and Of course.
took the liberty OF carefully unscaling her
note aud reading il. II revealed nothing
and save by its extremely cautious wording
and abrupt percmptory tone coming FROM
servant TO her former master, suggested moth
ing. had carefully reckoncd the number
of sheets ef paper sent into the coll, and now
on rccounting them found that three were
missing, The turnkey returned immediately
and asked for tho two other lcttcrs she had
written. The woman denied having written
any other, and fbr proof pointed to the torn
Fragments Of the missing sheets lying ON the
floor. These were gathered up and brought
10 me, but | could make nothing out Of them,
every word had been carefully run through
with the pen, and converted into an unintel-
ligiblc blot The request contained in the
Actually-written letter was one Simplconough
in itself, merely, 'thnt Mr. jackson would not
on any account fail 10 provide her, in consid-
Grafton of past services, with legal assistance
on the morrow" The first nino words were
strongly underlined and made ont Hter n
good deal Of troublcthat the word "pretoncc"
had been partially effaecd and account" sub
sttuted.
A'She need not have wasted three sheets Of
paper upon such nonsensical request as
that" observed the turnkey. "old jackson
wouldn't she out sixpence TO- save bor or
any ono else from the gallows."
II am of different opinou but tell me,
what sort ofN person is this former master Of
hers?"
"All know about him is that he's cross
grained, old curmudgeon, living about mile
out OF Farnham, who scrapes money togetheC
by lending small sums upon notes of hand at
short dates and alta laundering Interest,"
Flint Jackson folks about here call HIM"
AT all events, forward the letter at once,
aud tomorrow wn shall SEQ. Good-even5
ing"
II turned out as I anticipated. A few min
utcs al6r The prisoners were brought into tho
justiee,room, a Guilford solicitor of much lo-
cal celebrity arrived, and announced that he
appeared for both the inculpated parties lie
was allowed private conference with them'
a. the close Of which he stated that his clients
would reserve their defence. They were at
once committed for trial, aud overheard the
solicitor ASSURE the woman that the abicst
COUNSEL On inc eircua would be retained in
their, ,hehSlf
fhad no longer doub, that Il NAs my du-