Rapides gazette. (Alexandria, La.) 1869-187?, 1873-12-13

long time before we could reason coher-
entity upon the subject, or advise as to
what should be done. That Richard War
rem, OF all other men i'm the world, should
be accused of such crime was, we both
heartily agreed, marvellous, incredible. He
and were born in the same parish; had
never lost sight of him from his boyhood.
and knew that he had ever been a dutiful
son, and an attached husband. and an hon.
est. industrious citizen-though not one
with whom the world had gone smoothly.
His trade was that of herald-painter /:
that is, he painted arms and devices upon
coach-panels and when he came to Lon
don had found employment at the Messrs.
Houlditche's establishment, in Long Acre.
He saved a considerable sum from his
earnings, and was thereby emboldened to
marry Charlotte Goldsworthy, an amia-
bic, intelligent young woman, and to fur
nish house at Hampstead, with a view to
increase his income by letting furnished
apartments. This latter speculation
proved more difficult of successful accom-
plishment than he had imagined, as well
knew, from having been consulted by
him relative to several debt-difliculties, in
which, from the furniture having cost
much more than was anticipated, he had
become temporarily involved. TO this
hard struggle to save himself from being
pushed to the wall by one or two impa-
tent creditors, l attributed the great error
he committed in not insuring his property.
every shilling being, as it were, OF vital
Importance in the uphill game he had to
play. The neglect, however, occasioned.
was fatal one. He had let his first floor
to disabled veteran, who had served in
the Peninsular war. This gentleman, on
the anniversary of Waterloo, drank SO
many bumpers in gratitude of the tri-
umph of Wellington, and his army, that
on retiring to bed, he ontrived-instead
of extingaishing the candle as he intended
to set fire to the window-curtains: and
so swiftly did the flames gain head. that
before efficient assistance arrived, the house
was mass of fire, and poor Warren's
furniture, save few articles, utterly con-
sumed! This was a cruel blow in itself
and greatly aggravated by the falling of a
blazing beam upon the unfortunate pro-
prietor's right arm, whilst he was stren-
uously engaged in endeayoring to rescue
some portion OF his entire worldly sub
stance from the flames. He became. i'm
consequence, an inmate of Middlesex Hos
pital for between two and three months
and when discharged ''cured,' found
that his right hand had irretrievably lost
the cunning which had enabled him
to gain high wages as a herald-painter,
and that nothing was left to him but a
chance of earning an existence in the much
worse-paid calling of an ordinary coach
painter. Even in this lower mechanical
walk, the accident he had met with pre-
vented him from acquiring quickness, or
more than barely average skill, and he
was sinking rapidly lower and lower in the
world, when his father-in-law, Bartholo-
NEW Goldworthy, came very unexpected
ly forward to the rescue, and it seemed
probable that Richard Warren might even
yet get ON i'm the world.
Bartholomew GOldsworthy was an odd,
wayward, eccentric kind of mortal-ex-
ceedingly deaf, half blind, a cripple in his
arms, and, moreover, addicted in his latter
years to growing habit of talking aloud
TO himself, unconscious apparently of the
presence Of others, and of walking in his
dreaming sleep. In fact, his falling mind
dwelt continually, day and highland
every hour OF the day and night-upon
one idea-that of his boards, and the means
whereby they might be added to, to the eX-
clusion of all other thoughts, passions or
desires, except love for his daughter Char
lotte, which one saw from time to time,
CLEAN through the thick crust of worldli-
ness that enveloped his whole life. This
penurious old man possessed considerable
house-property in Tottenham Court Road,
and contiguous localities, and was himself
domiciledin in roomy, tumbled-downh house
of his own in Newman street. He now
proposed that Newman and his wife
should have apartments therein, free of
charge, and further suggested, that as he
had all the upper part Of large, light
workshop i'm the same court untenanted,
his son-in-law might set up business there
as coach-painter to the trade.
This offer was gladly accepted by War
rem and his wife, and was told that mat
ters were beginning to wear a brighter as
pect with them--Charlotte's affectionate
ministrations to her fathers infirmities,
gradually softening the old mans flinty
miserliness, though not yet to the extent,
much as his daughter pressed him upon
the point, of effectually assisting Richard
Warren with money in his business. Colds
worthy's propensity 10 dream-walking had
increased with years, and but few months
previous to his untimely end, he had been
caught deliberately unfastening, in the dead
of the night, the very folding doors through
which he had now fillen, or been hurled.
They were always afterwards carefully Sc
cured at night, as well as every other aper-
VI Out Va NIliCn hC ht ~.
possibility fall in his frequent sleep-wan-
derings. Sometimes his bedroom door was
locked on the outside, but to this precau-
ton he himself strongly objected, from
nervous dread of fire.
This brief summary of our acquaintance
with and knowledge of Richard Warren
will sufficiently account for the concern
and CONSERVATION with which his arrest on
charge of murder overwhelmed us both.
Mrs. Warren had been not long before con-
fined of still-born child milk fever had
been apprehended, and after much dismal
cogitation on the subject, we dimly con-
cluded that some wild expressions uttered
by the wife in her frenzy, aggravated, it
might likely enough be, by an unguarded
communication of her fathers dreadful
death, had led TO the apprehension of her
husband.
did not sleep much that night; and my
first business in the morning was to see
Mr.. NJ 'Intyre, solicitor, of Southampton
buildings, and engage his services in be-
half of Richard Warren. then strode on
towards Newman street, with double