Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-04-08

fortune and character, was presented a
court, and occupied a certain position Il
the world of rank and fashion. Dow
to the other day the household of 81
Trayers and Lady Twiss afforded n
. more subject for comment, so far as tn
. outer world was concerned, than any on
of the tens of thousands of well-tO-d
households in this great metropolis. l
seems, however, that for a long periO,
of time the AdvOcate-Ceneralh has beel
subjected to threats and demands on tn
part of the individual who yesterda,
stood in the dock at Southwark OF
charge of eXtortion. Mr.. Chatter
either possessed, or alleged that he pos
sessed, evidence as to Lady Twiss's ante
cedents, which, if divulged, would dis
/, qualify her from admission into respect
able society; and on the strength of thi
knowledge he kept perpetually threat
ening DR.. Twiss with exposure. Wha
the correct history of his relations witt
the unhappy victim Of his persecution
may have been it is impossible for US
after the abrupt collapse of the case, L
state or even surmise. All We can SAY
j with any certainty is that at some peri
cd or other, probably not very remote
/ the AdvOcate-Generalr resolved to dare
i Mr.. Chaffers to do his worst. There
upon this gentleman, who seems tC
nave added TO his other employment
the business of a solicitor, wrote a series
\ of letters to the Lord Chamberlain, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and other
1 distinguished persOnages with whom
j Sir Travers Twiss had close official and
| personal relations, containing a number
of the vilest possible imputatiOns against
the life and character of Lady TWiss
previous to her marriage.
Not content with this, Mr.. ChaffeFs,
/ by some means which have not been
| clearly elucidated, obtained the sigma
| ture of a metropolitan magistrate TO q
/ statutory declaration charging the
/ the wretched woman, whose past he
/ proposed to disclose, with having led a
| life of infamy. 1t is with sincere reluc-
/ tanee we allude to the nature of the
charges brought against Lady Twiss.
For our. purpose it is enough to say that,
/ if Mr.. Chaffers spoke the truth, she had
been in former years common woman
of the town, with whom her tTadueer,
by his own admission, had carried on a
low and discreditable intrigue. SuppOs-
/ ing this mans story 10 be true, the wife of
the Advocate General had pursued a
vicious career in London under the
name of Madam Gelas, had been in
volved in all kinds of disreputable ad-
ventures and connections, and had
gained the confidence of her husband
under circumstances calculated TO leave
little doubt as to her fitness for decent
society. To this charge the answer given
was q complete and absolute denial.
According to the story put forward
on behalf of the prosecution,
Lady Twiss was a person of gen
tie birth, fair fortune and ire
proachable character. Her knowledge
of Mr.. Chaffers was confined to a slight
ACQUAINTANCE with him as having been
the legal adviser of Madam Gelas-a
lady OF good reputation, under whose
care she had resided for some little time
in London-while the allegations as to
her imputed guilty intimacy with the
defendant We're foul and viii
ful falsehood Nothing would seem
at first sight more overwhelm-
ing than the force of this denial. Lady
TWiss' guardians, who reside in Bel
gium, gave most satisfactory evidence
as to her pre-n -nuptial life and character; q
number of apparently disinterested wit
nesses swore dates and incidents utterly
inconsistent with the circumstantial de-
tails put forward by Chaffers on the his
tory of his alleged amours with the lady
in question. Proofs of incontestably
Overwhelming weight were addueed to
show that Madame Gelas, whoever and
whatever she may have been, was dis
tinct parsonage from Lady Twiss; and
what, perhaps, told more strongly than
any thing else the unfortunate wo-
man was placed in the witness box,
and delivered her evidence, both in the
exanlination-in-chie and during 3 vim
dictiye cross-examination conducted by
her persecutor in person, with 8 direct
ness, simplicity and force which seemed
almost incompatible with the theory of
her having anything dishOnorable to-
conceal. No doubt there were certain
circumstances which still suggested sus-
picion. By a strange fatality almost all
the people who could have absolutely
disproved the charges brought against
Lady Twiss-heT father, Madame Gelas,
the man Constant, and others OF a like
Inportanee-weree either dead or missing
Still, the pTind fdcie evidence as to the
utter faIsehoOd OF the specific imputa-
tions brought against her appeared SO
overwhelming that the eommittal, IL not
the conviction of the man Chaffers
seemed an absolute certainty up to yes
terday morning.
BY previous agreement the case for
the prosecution was to have been con-
chded by the addition of one or more
formal witnesses as to the publication of
the alleged hbels, and the defendant
was subsequently to have called such
evidence as he could produce in support
of his disgraceful charge. But when the
court met Mr.. Poland, who has con-
Quoted the prosecution with singular
Judgment and delieacy, announced that
Lady Twiss had declined any further
appearance in the witness-box and had
left London, and that, therefore, he was
compelled to withdraw from the prose-
eution. What may have been the mo-
tive for this extraordinary decision it is
impossible even to surmise. 1t would /
be cruel to add TO the misery which has
befallen this most unhappy lady by
specializing on the exact degree of color
the sudden abandonment of the charge |
lends to the truth Of Mr.. Cbaffers's ac-
eusations. Unless we must believe that
all the chief witnesses for the prosecu-
ton were deliberately guilty of perjury, |
we cannot doubt that many of the
worst ipputations brought agaiIst her
by the defendaat we're incorrect, ifl
not baseless. Still, common sense
forces from us the aeknoBleds-
ment that by her own admission, |
Lady Twiss stands convicted Of not \
daring 10 face the foul aspersions /
uttered against her good name. What 1
her exact antecedents may have been
We neither know nor care To INQUIRE
but, II the least of the facts alleged
against her be true, she never should
have been introduced into the presenee-
chamber of the Queen, to say nothing
Of society at large, Less than this we
should not be justified IN saying. Ex-
cuses may be suggested for the grave
Ofiense thus oOnmitted, bat, be thesel
excuses what they may, Mr.. Chaffers
lss succeeded IN bis threat, and has
blighted highly-plae household be-
yond possibility OF redemption. With
respect TO the accused, we shall say but
little now, especially as be is stilf on his
defense for another attempt at extortion.
But, in dismissing the charge, the pre-
siding magistrate addressed to him the
following ohserVationss 81 am afraid
hat, to the vulgar and uneducated
mind, your escape to-day may convey
an Impression that libel may not be ma
Iiaious, but justifahle if true i only
hope that everybody who sees you wal
orth free man from the withdrawal Of
his charge viii consider well the subject
md not consider that libel is justifable,
loYever truthful the statements may be.
With regard 70 what you have said as
Q the conduct of this welnan n-this I'M
woman, whose courage has
led after being brave for a few days,