The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-04-12

| Postscript Of Lord George Hau,il.o,
Gordon.
The sensation-loving portion of the English
nation Is just now in unusually good fortune.
The exhaustive excitement of the Tichborne
trial has not yet died out The claimant,
Orton, Castro or Tichborne, butcher or baro.
net-appeals from his cell in Newgate to
''every British soul who is inspired by love Of
justice and of fair play, and who is willing to
defend the weak against the strong" to stand
by him still, and to supply him with funds, so
that he may be able to defend himself in his
struggle for justice against the purse of the
government of England" He promises the
public renewed fight in the Criminal Court
of the Old Bailey, as compared with
which that recently fought in a civil
court will dwindle to the dimensions of sim
pie skirmsh. "That l am Roger Charles
Tichborne," says the corpulent prisoner, ~
solemnly declare, and which fact have al
ready proved by eighty-six witnesses, and will
prove again by more than two hundred il
necessary; and that am not Arthur Orion
will prove beyond the shadow of doubt by
witnesses who knew both Orion and myself.
As to the tattoo marks, at least twenty -four
disinterested witnesses will prove that l, Roger
Tichborne, was never tattoed, but that Arthur
Orion was there will be conclusive evidence
forthcoming" So it is still uncertain whether
this singular person will in the end grace the
baronetage or the Newgate calendar, and
those who have believed that the verdict
against the claimant was induced by the natr,-
raj disinclinaton to sully the fair fame of the
aristocracy by admitting to its sacred ranks a
horse thief and bushwhacker, continue to
insist that the reputed Sir Roger, in spite of
his present misfortunes, is as likely to go to
Court as to the treadmill. On the heels of this
remarkable case comes another story almost as
marvellous if more simple in its Incidents
The new DRAMA the main features Of which
are told in the HERALD to-day, touches the
history of one of the Oldest and most noble of
the families of Great Britain, the Gordons,
Earls of Aberdeen, whose ancestry, traced
back thousand years, presents long array
Of statesmen and warriors with records equally
brilliant in the cabinet and In the field. The
plot is complicated and the interest increased
by events Transporting at the present moment
on this side of the Atlantic, and il seems not
improbable that the English courts may yet be
called upon to fight something like the Itch
borne battle over again. George Hamilton
Gordon, sixth Earl Of Aberdeen, succeeded
his father in the title in 1864 and
took his seat in the British House Of
Lords as Viscount Gordon in the peerage Of
the United Kingdom. He was then twenty
two years of age, unmarried, and had bril-
liant, and, apparently, happy career before
him. He had two brothers, James Henry and
John Campbell, the former Of whom died in
1868, unmarried. Two years after Lord
George Hamilton Gordons accession to the
earldom of Aberdeen he left England for the
United States informing his family that he
designed remaining abroad for an uncertain
period He came to New York, and will be
remembered by many Of our citizens as a
somewhat eccentric young man, but pleasing,
courteous and intelligent. He suddenly
disappeared from the city and nothing further
was known or thought about him. His
mother received letters from him at intervals,
in which he was accustomed to sign himself
simply George" and to omit any aluson to
his exact location and pursuits. If he men
avoided giving names, and thus evnced his
desire to withhold any direct clue by which
his movements could be traced. There
seems to have been no apparent reason for
this mystery or concealment In the habits or
pursuits of the man, as he was temperate and
moral at home and in this country, 50 far as
anything Is known of his conduct here
The principal reason given for his wanderings
was that he was much attached to seafaring
life, and entertained the idea that his constitu-
ton required activity and toll. He had also
desire to see the world from standpoint diff
ferent from that of the highborn and wealthy,
and to learn the real character Of The work
ing classes by mixing among them on equal
terms. These explanations satisfied his
friends at home, and nothing was thought of
the reserve manifested in his letters. But in
the spring Of 1869 his correspondence with
his mother ceased, and after several months
had elapsed without bringing any tidings of
the Earl his family became alarmed for his
safety and determined to set an inquiry on
foot. A competent person, who was we'll ac-
quainted with Lord Aberdeen, came to Amer
lea and after patient investigation traced out
the movements and the fate Of the young
nobleman.
It appears that the Earl, a few months after
his arrival In New York, in 1866, discarded
his real name and title, and, calling himself
George II. Osborne, shipped before the mast
on merchant vessel and steadily followed
the life Of sailor for four years. Wherever
he could be tracked the story told of his life
and habits was creditable one. He had
been found steady, diligent and efficient. and