Fair play., 1874-04-02
The TichbOrne Case.

h' et'''
ont "i the attempt Of an Australian advrn
,, trIrrr I" gain possession of the valuabl,
Tirhborne estates in England have attract
c'l. considering our distance from the seen,
: of action. m unusual amount "f attention
: in this country. That they should hay.
attracted 50 much attention is not. ~ many
; people arr inclined 10 suppose. OWN" pri
nEirily To the inbOrn >nobbiShncSS of RI,
Brit"n. nor To the curiosity Of his Amcri
can relative about the causes Of that snOl.
bi>Ancss. Ii was really remarkable trial
1t has brought upon the stage sn,l expose,
tn the @laring light Of judicial invrStiga
tion all kinds and conditions OF men. no,
merely from England. hut from every
quarter Of the globe. 1t has involved thu
title {" the possession of the property of !;
family more ancient than the system of l,.-
gal procedure in which they have found
themselves involved: not only their prop
erfy but their reputation has been at stake
ami they have been impcrilcl by an ;,i-
vcnfurrr who can barely read aud write
without money. without anything. in fact
but sheer au,lacity To further his designs.
Ii has raised questions as tO the rights Ot
| the press and lrtr tli>cus>iOn. aS To the
rights of the bar and the dignity Of the
bench. ami rs to the judicial system itself
under which tlH. ciss. WAS tried: it has
been nia,l. To appear in the eyes Of many
Parti>an> i struggle between Catholicism
and Professionalism. AMI in those Of others
an episode in the great contest for the
! possession "f the world between :ri>toc-
| r:,cy and democracy. Ii has made an cX-
hibition, rs only a long trial can. VT may
almost say. Of modern society. certainly
Of modern English society as whole ::
and it has all been terminated by u charge
Of one Oftllc dozen men in the world COM
letcnt by his learning and his co sum
mate ability to preside over such trial.
and give its conclusion the weight and
gravity its Importance demanded
During the first trial-tle cjectmcnt suit
in which the Claimant sought to recover
possession Of the 1'icl,bOrnc cstatcs-a good
deal was said both in England and in this
country about the length Of the proceed
in%>: bu. il seems now to bc clear tn I.
though the time CONSUMED In trying the
two cases was about year, this was mis-
fortune which arose from the nature of ti,..
evidence. and from the vast amounts of
money which both sides Were willing To
spend. ratlr than from any defects in the
system Of procedure. This is interesting.
because the procedure OF the English
courts is now not very different from what
it Is in many Of the older American States.
rs for instance in New England and what
ever reflects discruiit on the one is almost
sure to reflect discretlit on the other. II
would hardly b. possible, with several
hundred witnesses swearin. in the most
contradictory fashion about Il question of
disputed identity, and about transactions
covering the period of Il lifetime. to have y
short trial. Whether in matters Of detail
;he TichbOrne case may not have shown
defects in the modern system of Anglo
Saxon Jurisprudence, must be left to law
yers TO determine; hut in general tllcr.
seems every reason why eases Of such inn
pOrtane should not bc rapidly decided.
Indeed. If such cases WERE hustled out Of
the way rs they used to De in more arbiir:l-
ry times, Il feeling of injustice and injury
would bc frequently left ranking in the
minds Of the vanquished party. which In
its general bad effect. IN bringing the att
mini>tratiOn Of justice into Odilim anl
contempt. no saving Of time could possibly
counterbalance. There is good deal Of
similarity in these respects between Iues-
tiOnS Of identity and questions Of legitima-
cy-in both, the transactions investigated
often cover long periods Of time in both.
they necessarily lead To minute investig:-
ti0ns into the ,laily life Ot persons no long
er living; and it may be seen from the
Gaines will case In this country (which
was claimants ease alsO) how tct!iO,,sly
long such investigations are apt To M.
Another point Of interest in the Ticl-
borne case is the light it throws Oh the
value OF circilmStantial evidence. II has
been the fashion in many quarters of late
years. particularly among those who are
opposed to the death penalty. To dccry cir
cumstantiai evidence Il being Of little or
no value. They have argued with good
deal of pla,lsibility from the numerous
cases where it has turned out. after 4 con-
viction and execution Of 4 supposed mur-
derer. that the crime was really committed
by some one else, that it was too serious
4 matter to permit the possibility Of such
an awful catastrophe. They have not. we
believe, zone to the length Of proposing
the abolition Of the Use Of circumstantiaD
evidence. which would indeed be difficult
thing to do. since the evidence in any case
is partly circumstantial. and only partly
direct: but they have certainly east much
discredit upon it. The TichbOrnc case
shows Of how little value direct evidence
may often be in comparison with that
which is Of the circumsfantial Kind. The
question Of identity in the two trials really
resolved itself into tlie>r questions: lsi,
Was the Claimant Sir Roger rfchbornr.
who disappeared when young man some
twenty years ago. AMI was supposed by all
his friends and relatives except his mother
TO have been lost ut sea. 2d. Was he one
Arthur OrtOn. a butcher Of Mapping. who
had also disappeared from England many
wears before? Without going through the
evidence in detail. we may say that. so far
as direct testimony went, there was nearly
a. good evidence ON one side as on the
other. Where dozen witnesses turned
up who sr ore positively that the Claim
ant was Arthur OrtOn, and that they rec
Ognized him by certain pec,lliaritiss Of ap-
pearance. walk. manner. which they mi
nufely described, another dozen were al
ways found who were quite As ready to
swear that he was undoubtedly Sir Roger
TichbOrne. We have not. however. mere
ly this extraordinary conflict Of evidence.
We have in the case of some Of the wit
nesSes minute details Of the reasons which
the fact Of identity. and this evidence
seems to show that direct testimony as to
identity in case so sharply contested has
a very low value. The strongest point in
favor of the Claimant was that Oh his ap-
pearance he was recognized by Lady Ticll-
borne as her son. When we examine the
grounds OH which Lady Tichborne made
up her mind. We find them to
be very peculiar. The scene Of the recog-
milton was Paris. In the company Of a
Mr.. Leer. friend whom he had picked
up. and of Mr. Holmes. his attorney. the
Claimant went to Paris TO have All inter-
view with his mother. Instead OF going
to see her. however. he remains in his
room. making excuses. until at1ength she
comes to see him. Coyne. her servant,
says:
Il went in myself. and saw the Claim
ant. Lady Ticiiborne walked IN first. and
| and Mr.. Holmes walked in afterwards.
He was lying on the bed with his clothes
on. He was lying with his face towards