New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-03-10
THE CASE or Mr.. SpEKE.

On the Sth of January, the Rev. y. Spoke,
clergyman of a parish in SOmersetshirc, En-
gland, and brother Of the celebrated African
explorer went to London to be present at the
wedding of friend saying that he should
return the next evening On reaching London,
he drove to the residence of his brother -in-law
in EcclestOn- square, remained there about ten
minutes talking to the footman, and then vent
out to buy hat, remarking that he was alter
ward going OIL business to Westminster. He made
his purchase at shop in Warwick-st., ordered
the Int sent to his brother-in-law's not later
than OF D. H., as he had an engagement to
dine ut :, and from that time (Which vas
about 81 in the afternoon all trace of him was
lost. lie did not return to Ecclest0n-square,
and a little after 7 the same evening the hat
he had been wearing, with his name written
in it, was picked up in a distant part
of London. The police were put on the alert
Every quarter of the metropolis was searched
in vain. Ingenuity was exhausted in trying to
account for his disappearance. He was gen
tleman of amiable temper, of well balanced
mind, of a highly religious character, and
cheerful disposition. He was in perfect health,
and had no irregular habits Nobody knew OF
any reason why he should voluntarily take
himself off by fight, Orput an end to ms life
by suicide There seemed no way OF account
ing for his presence in the part of London
where his hat was found, unless on the suppO-
stion that he had been decoyed into some low
haunt for the purpose of robbery. Foul play
was generally suspected. For weeks the news
papers teeme6 with letters and editorials on the
-,.gt nnn
even reminded the public that Mr.. Spoke bore
an extraordinary resemblance to the Home
Secretary, Mr.. Claiborne Hardy; and was 1t
not quite possible that the Fenians had carried
him off by mistake, in retaliation for the ex-
ecutiOns at Manchester
At last, after nearly seven weeks of excite
ment, Mr.. Spoke is reported to be found alive
and well. Why he disappeared we are not yet
informed, and, so far, the discovery only makes
the case more mysterious than ever. On the
2jth of February a man dressed as bullock
drOyer was arrested at the little seaport town
of Padstone, in Cornwall, on suspicion of being
an absconder from Hull. He proved not to be
the person supposed. but after great deal of
questioning reluctantly admitted that he was
Mr. Spoke. He had large sum of money in
Ills pOSStNhlOls anu Sthtldl h'Ab i""'iN
among his effects. His conversation is said to
have been perfectly rational This is all we
know about the matter so far. The English
papers take il for granted that the suspicious
drover really is Mr.. Spoke, though ut the latest
dates no proof of his identity had been made
public. Assuming that the missing man has
been found. we shall await with considerable
curiosity an explanation of his strange journey
of several hundred miles to a remote corner of
the kingdom, his silence under the anxiety
of the public and the distress of his
friends, and the circumstance of his being
in disguise The solution which will most
readily occur to peoples minds is that he
has been the victim of sudden arrangement !;
but such violent freaks of insanity do not usu-
ally manifest themselves without premOnltOry
symptoms and there is another circumstance
which appears to us very significant. For some
time before the discovery, it was noticed that
the anxiety of the gentlcman'S family seemed
good deal relieved; it was even announced
that they had assurance of his being alive and
we'll Had they discovered any reason why he
should abscond Speculation, however, is idle.
The excitement in England has been so in
tense that u full explanation will have to be
made, and by the next steamer we shall prob
ably receive Il solution of the curious problem.