American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-06-06

The history of English law contains
| few more startling judicial tragedies than
that to which the statute against murder
| owed such humane amendment as to make
| the finding and positive Identification of
| the body of the slain person essential to
| the conviction of the murderer; and as
| the same remarkable case had peculiar
| moral and social significance for the young
| lovers of all times, who, in their passionate
devotion to each other, are altogether
| too apt to disregard the fortunes of every
| body else in the world, it may be re
called appropriately for modern reading
Upon the death of Mr.. George Perkins,
a Widower of considerable property, in
London, it was found that his will APP
pointed brother of his, living near Ep-
ping Forest, the sole guardian of his only
daughter, and directed that said guardian
should inherit the whole fortune devised
in case his young ward should die either
unmarried or without children. Implicit
confidence in his brother, who was a
middle-aged bachelor of limited means,
had, of course, inspired the dying man to
make such a will; but a number of family
relatives pronounced the document an
extraordinary piece of servile faulty, and
darby limited that harm would ensue
from it. This feeling caused an aliena-
ton between the occupants of the Epping
Forest residence and the aforesaid
prophets, and made the latter the bitterest
prosecutors of the dead mans brother in
the strange and tragic succeeding events,
which have been described as follows:
Uncle and niece were both seen one
day walking together in the forest, but
the young lady suddenly disappeared,
and the uncle declared tn at he had sought
her soon as he missed her, and knew
not whittier she had gone or what had
l. xsrl. u,
sidered improbable, and, appearances be
ing clearly suspicious, he was arrested
and taken before magistrate. Other
circumstances, hourly coming to light,
rendered his position serious. A young
gentleman in the neighborhood had been
paving his addresses to Miss Perkins. 1t
was stated and generally believed that he
had gone, few days before she was
missed, on a journey to the North, and
that she had declared that she would
marry him on his return. The uncle had
repeatedly expressed his disapprobation
of the match, and Miss Perkins had loud
ly reproached him with his unkindness
and abuse of his authority over her as
his ward A woman named Margaret
OAKS was produced, who swore that at
about eleven O'Clock on the day on which
Miss Perkins was missed she was passing
through the forest and heard the voice of
with a gentleman. On drawing nearer
the spot whence the sound came
Margaret Oaks testified that she
heard the lady eXclaim: Don't kill
me, uncle, don't kill mel" The woman
was greatly terrified and ran away from
the spot. AS she was doing so she heard
the report of firearms. On this combina-
ton of circumstantial and positive evil
dence, coupled with the suspicion of
a.. fr,a taI r.
murder, and almost Immediately after
understanding to the customs of those
days-was hanged.
About ten days after the execution of
the sentence upon the uncle the niece re-
appeared, and, stranger still, showed by
the history she related that all the testi-
mOny given on the trial was strictly true.
Miss Perkins said that, having resolved
to elope with her lover, they had given
out that he had gone on journey to the
North, whereas he had merely waited
near the outskirts of the forest until the
time appointed for the elopement. which
was the very day on which she had dis
appeared. Her lover had horses ready
saddled for them both, and two servants
in attendance on horseback While
walking with her uncle he reproached
her with her resolution to marry man
of whom he disapprov I'd, and after
some "REMINISCENCES Snc DdSSlOHdtcly ca
claimed:
Il have set my heart upon him. If l
don't marry him it will be death to me;
and don't Kill me, uncle, don't kill me!''
Just as she proclaimed those words she
heard gun fired, at which she started,
and she afterward saw a man come from
among the trees with a wood pigeon in
his hand, which he had shot On APP
preaching the spot appointed for meet
ing with her lover she formed pretense
to induce her uncle to go on before her.
She then fled to the arms of her lover,
who had been waiting for her, and they
both mounted their horses and immedi-
ately rode off. Instead, however, of go
ing to the North, they retired to Windsor,
and about a week afterward went on a
tour of pleasure 10 France. There they
passed some months happily that in
those days, when newspapers were scarce,
when there was no very regular postal
communication and no telegraphs, they
never heard of their uncie's sad fate until
their return to England.-N. Y. Grdphtc.