, 1874-03-14

should not live at Tichborne, " because" as be
said, ait would be impossible for me to put
up with her character" (which term be appear
ed to have used like the French "caraot6re,"
to signify " diSposition"). You will have to
ask yourselves" added bis lordship, address.
ing the jury, whether the defendants con-
duct IN remaining so many years in Australia
in obscurity and SILENCE is consistent with what
We thus know of Roger Tichborne." The
defendants counsel had represented him as
being at that period anxious only for the life
OF a hermit, " but | should think" observed
his lordship, "that the Travellers Club would
have been the last place on which a hermit
would have fixed, unless recherche cookery,
the finest wines, and the most pleasant society
constituted his ideal Of Permits existence"
The defendants account of the loss of the
Bella was then compared with the evidence of
Captain Oates and the ascertained facts of the
discovery of her long boat and other tokens of
the wreck. 1t Was not unimportant that this
boat and cabin furniture and other articles
were found floating together only four days after
the Bella sailed-the defendant having sworn
that the vessel foundered on the fourth day,
and that after that the long boat was stored
with provisions, and rowed day and night until
finally lost sight of by the survivors in the
other boat, of whom he was one. Having thus
reached the point at which the defendants
story of his rescue and wanderings commences,
his l)rdShip entered upon IA general survey of
the correspondence, which, he said, showed
tlat the young man was not idle, self-indulgent,
and diseased, as the defendants counsel had
cOntended; but, on the contrary, singularly
active, given to vigorous exercise, and mani
testify IN the enjoyment of good health. Nor
was his intellect by any means below par. AS
to his disposition, every one agreed that be
was amiable and pleasing; though, said his
~lOrdship, 81 do not think he was capable of
very ardent affection" At least his love for
his father and mother did not appear to be
strong; though be evidently loved his father
best, and sympathised deeply with his suffer
ings from the violent temper of his wife and
though exception must be made in the case of
his brother Alfred and also of Mr.. Vincent
Gosford, " the one person in whom his conf
dence, even in the most sacred matters, appear
ed to have been practically unlimited"
The remainder of his LOrdShip's Observa-
tionS, which were devoted to the defendants
account of the wreck and rescue and of his
life in Australia were certainly the most in
t~eresting portion Of the address as far as it has
gone. More than once his lordship referred
to =" the injury done to the Defendants cause"
ny Ills OOuHSClj ~ N6u0dlJJ lu0 inconsistency
of whose arguments and the damaging oharao-
ter of whose admissions were carefully distin.
guished from the defendants own statements,
His lordship, however, called attention empha-
tically to the inherent improbability of the
Roger Tiohborne Of the letters which had been
read being guilty of the cruel and purposeless
trick of remaining silent even about the fact
that he had been saved His lordship pointed
out from the descriptions given by witnesses
how little there was of the romantic In the life
of a herdsman and Straightforward in Australia
to induce Roger Tichborne, who had not been
able to dispense with a man servant through
out his previous travels, not only to voluntarily
embrace that career of hardship, but to persist
in it after trial. "But what" asked the Lord
Chief Justice, lean we say to what follows :
We have then Roger Tiohborne, according to
the defendants own statement, the associate
of robbers, ~outcasts, %rufians who did not
scruple to murder men or women if it suited
their purpose )" then adopting the peaceful
and unattractive occupation of a butcher, sub
hitting to ~reverseS, insolvency, without ever
communicating with home. "Far be it from
me-" added his ~lOrdship, to say this is i'm
possible. Men have done strange things but
they are the exceptions to the rules by which
we judge o human conduct"