The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1856-12-19

) landlnrd OF the Hunters q NM Ahoy
, to arrest him on charge Of burglary an'
murder Mr.. Bradshaw had been found
early in the morning cruelty stabbed .
death beside his plundercd strong-bo1!
, mus. pass lightly over the narrowing
scenes which followed tho agony Of 'n'
wife, and the despairing reservations OF sh,
husband impossible to bcimplicilty believed
, in even by that wife, for tho eliminating
evidence was overwhelming. Drysdale hae
been seen skulking about Rodney Plao'
, till very late, by both Barnham and Berry
In the room through which he must have
passed in going and returning from tn
sccnc of his frightful crime his hat had beer
found and II was now discovered that he
Drysdale, had taken away and worn hom'
one of Berry's-no doubt from hurry and
inadvertance. In addition TO oil this
considerable sum in gold and silver inclOsstf
in canvass bag, well known to have be
lonsed to the deceased, was found upon hii
person! It appeared probable that the ain
Of the assassin had been only robbery in the
FIRST instance, for the corpse Of the unfortu
nate victim was found clothed only in
night dress. The fair Inference therefore
seemed to bc, that the robber, disturbed a'
his plumber by tho wakeful old seaman, wa
compelled. perhaps reluctantly. to add thu
dreadful crime of murder to that which he
had originally contemplated. The outcry
through the country was terrific, and a'
Edward Drysdale, by tho advice Of Mr.
Sims, the attorney, who subsequently, in
structsd Mr.. Price, reserved his defence,
there appeared to be nothing Of feathers
weight to oppose against tho tremendous
mass of circumstances arrayed against the
prisoner.
And when, upon the arrival of tho kings
commission ut Exeter, Mr.. Prico received a
very full and carefully drawn briefin defence
"a speoious, but almost unsupported story
OF the prisoners, appeared oil that could be
relied upon in rebutal Of the evidence for
the crown. According to Edward Drysdalo,
he merely sought Mr.. Aradshaw, upon the
evening in question for the purpose Of con-
cluding with that gentleman an arrange
ment for the separation Of himself from his
wife and children, and their domicilation at
Rodney Place. 1t was further avcrred that he
was received with greater civility than he
expected that tho interview was long
one, during which hc, Drysdalo, had seen
nobody but Mr.. Bradshaw, although he be-
lieyod the aged and deaf cook was in the
kitchen; that he had arranged that Mrs.
Drysdalc and his children should be early
on the morrow with her uncle, and that he
statement-as, indeed, thoy wero-and did
not, therefore, bear the frightful meaning
that had been attached to them. With re-
spect to the change Of hats, that might ca
silly have happened, bocausohis hat had bccn
left on entering in the hall passage, and in
his hurry in coming out by the same way,
he had no doubt mistaken Berry's for his
own; but he solemnly denied having been
in the room, or near the part Of the house,
where his hat was alleged to have been
found.
This was the gist of the explanation but
unfortunately, il was not sustained by any
receivable testimony in any material partic-
ular. True, Mrs. Drysdalc, whom every
body fully believed, declared that this &c.
count exactly coincded with what her hus-
band told her Immediately on arriving home
in tho tchaise-but what Of that? 1t
was not what story the prisoner had told,
nor how many times no had told it, that
could avail, especially against the heavy i'm.
probabilities that weighed upon his, at first
plausible statement. How was it that,
knowing Mr.. Bradshaw's almost insane dis.
like Of himself, did not counsel his wife to
mako terms with her unclo, preparatory to
her returning to Rodney Place? And was
it all likely that Mr.. Bradshaw, whose i'm.
placablc humor Mrs. Drysdalo had expert
enccd on tho very day previous to tho mur.
der, should have so suddenly softened to-
wards the man hc 30 thoroughly hated md
desrisedP And tho first consultation on the
case woro wrctchedly dismal aspect, till
tho hawk eye Of Mr.. Prince lit on an asser'
tion of Thomas Burnham's, that hc had gone
10 Mr.. Bradshaw's house upon somo partic
ular business at a quarter past twelve or
tho night Of the murder, and had seen thu
deceased alive at that time, who had on
wercd him, as ho frequently did, from hi
bedroom window. "Rodney Place." sait
Mr.. Prince, " is ninc miles from Drysdalc'l
residence. I understood you to say, Mr.
Sims, that Mrs. Drysdale declares her hus
band was at homo at twenty minutes pas
one?" ~
Certainly she docs; but the wifs's cv
idonco, you are aware, cannot avail tho hus
band"
"Truo; but the servant girl the drivcl
Of the postchaise This Is vital point
and must be cleared up without delay"
Williams, Sims clerk, and I set OF in
stantly to SEQ Mrs. Dysdalc, who had mo-
left her room since her husbands apprehen'
sion. She was confident it was barely st
late as twenty minutes to ono when the pos
ehaisc drove up 10 tho door. Her cvidcnc'
was, however, legally inadmisablc, and ou,
hopes rested on Annie Moody, who was i'm
modiatcly called in. Her answer was ems
perating. She had been asleep in tho tisch
en-, and could not positively say whether i
was one or two o'clock when her master
reached home. There was still chance LOT
that Of the postchaise driver. Ho die