Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-08-04
land. and four other counsel of ceIebri-

land: and four other counsel of ceIebri-
ty appearing for the defense.
The Oaths of more than thirty wit
nesses. with every degree of positive
ness that they were sure he was Roger
IlchbOrne, some of them convinced of
1t as of their own existence, made out
case 50 strong that the solicitor Gen
erals acute cross examination could
not shake it. The claimants seeming
knowledge of the affairs of the Itch
berne family Immediately HpOn his ar
rival from Australia, although lame in
some particulars, was wonderfully ac-
curate in the main details, and most
witnesses who had cOnyersed or had
business with him, were satisfied, from
his conduct anI manner, that he was
the true heir, accounting for his i'll
breeding, his defects in English spell
ing and grammar, his loss Of all
knowledge of French (which was
taught at StOnyhuTSt,) } and other facts
suspicious in themselves, on the theory
of fOrgetfulness, and the effects of dis
sipation, and bad company III the Aus
tralian bush.
ANOTHER ROBERT MACAIRE.
But since the witness himself has
been OH the stand-now almost daily
for mOnth-his case has been torn to
pieces by the Solicitor Generals cross
examination. 1t is not that the man
has cOntradicted himself in his testi-
mOny-fOr any witness may be made
to do that by the badgering and trap
setting Of a skillful lawyer-but he has
been forced to confess thathe has been
trickster, that he has committed
crimes in Australia, that he is nOtO-
Tious liar, that he has an imDudcnce
surprising that of Robert Macaire.-
In his answers to the Solicitor Gener-
al he has painted his own portrait, and
it is that of man who would have all
the requisites necessary for the perpe-
petratiOn of so bold and gigantic a fraud
as the passing off Of butcher named
Arthur Orton for the long lost heir of
the TichbOrne estates. According to
the claimants own statements he is
none too good for such an imposter.
THE CLAIMANTS BREAKDOWN.
His testimony on the point Of identi-
ty, while striking in portions, breaks
down completely in the main. While
his recollection is minutely correct
about some trifies, in respect of which
he might have been ''pOsted up" by
other persons, he is totally oblivious
concerning hundreds of matters which
the genuine Roger Tichborne must
have known about, especially of events
occurring in his schOolboy days, when
the mind receives indellible impress
ions. The only school which Roger
ever attended was at Stonyhurst, and
l,f fA 1, ,Y.f,.a Mt
claimant is ignorant of the school of
the studies, of the names of his teach
ers and playmates, of the number and
description of the school buildings,
and of all else above the place. The
real Roger had studied Greek and Lat
in at StOnyhurst, and it is incredible
that boy who had ever been obliged
to learn lessons from text books in
those languages should not, to say the
least, know which was Latin and
which Greek, and never forget it; and
vet the claimant being shown a Del
phin edition of Virgil, and asked by
the Solicitor General whether it was a
Latin or or Greek book, said, after
moments hesitation Greek"
Other points of his testimony are
marked with wrong replies, or II
don't remember" confessions which
no school-boy, not an idiot, could ever
have forgotten There are probably
a hundred Other witnesses to be exam
ined pro and con. Besides being the
iii6st famous of recent times, it also
promises to be the longest lawsuit on
record. If the claimant does not get
the estate, the lawyers among them
will have fair slice of it before they
are through.