Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-06-04

/ bringing the document TO nnlSneu
| close. That is all desire to say by way
! of preface. Shall l begin at once? Very
we'll. The document is headed The
Forsythe Case, and thus it reads:
Twenty years ago Ansel Forsythe
was a wealthy merchant, who persisted,
in spite of the ravages of n terrible dis
ease, in carrying on great and profit
| able business. The rheumatism had
twisted one of his legs out of shape and
made him n helpless wreck at AZ. He
was suffering besides from a nameless
malady, which wasted him away bit by
bit and brought him each year fearfully
nearer to the grave. Personally he was
unable to have an active superintendent
Of his affairs, and the work was done
by keen and ambitious young man
who had formerly been his private sec
rotary, q man INSCRIPTIONS and with
out any religious convictions whatever,
but who, for tho reason that he came Of
Jewish ancestry, was nevertheless called
the Jew.
The jew was undoubtedly man of
great talents, for he managed the mer
chants affairs to such advantage that
they prospered beyond his expectations
For that reason the Jew is said to have
considered the property which grew up
under his care rs morally his own.
THE merchant had remained bach
clor until we'll along i'll years, when he
married a fragile beauty, who died in
giving birth to n female child. This
child was called Ethel and was her IA
Tiers idol. In the will, made Immediate
l. L., 1,nth l,A cpff1nl
oil his property upon her. This was de-
cidedly not to the Jews liking, but he
was too circumspCCt n man to permit
his real feelings TO be seen. He played n
very deep game.
when the child was not more than
year old. he persuaded the merchant
that he ought to marry again. The poor
dcfOrmed man would have been little
likely to have followed his advice, but
great pressure was brought to bear upon
him. Medical men were found who did
not scruple to tell him that marriage
would undoubtedly prolOng his life. He
then consented to the sacrifice.
"All this while prospective matri-
mOny had been to him a sort Of abstract
idea, but this decision narrowed it down
him that to marry one needed q wom-
an. Here he was, an unsightly, twisted
creature, morbidly sensitive to his own
defects. Who would marry him? Moth
ing simpler said tho Jew, than to find
a desirable lady.
He proved this by presenting to him
tie next day his own sister.
Miss ROsenfel was very young-al-
most child in Notwithstanding and,
they told him, rs pure rs the driven
snow. AT any rate, she soon showed that
she had no objections to making sacri-
fee of herself on the altar of Hymen.
She became Mrs Forsythe.
The next month appeared q now cod
icil in the merchants will. A third of
his vast property, in the event of his
death, was to be left TO his widow. En-
vious people say that the Jew made
bargain with his sister whereby she
was to receive this third and leave him
free to gain if he could the other two.
How far she actually assisted him may
never be known.
cit was evident that the merchant
could not live long. After his second
marriage he failed rapidly. One day a
shocking thing occurred Little Ethel,
the merchants idol, then IS months
old, was stolen most mystcriOusly in the
dead of night almost from her nurses
arms. The house had been broken into
and many articles of value had been
taken. So the object of the kidnapers
appeared to be self evident. They had
stolen the child hoping to cXtort vast
sums from the merchant rs Il ransom.
The dying man Wa. wild with grief.
He commanded the jew, the medium
through whom he transacted oil his
business, to use the most effective meas
urcs for the immediate rescue Of his
darling. But, though much money was
expended and a vast amount of work
performed, every claim Of a discovery
of the missing one proved, when hunt
ed up, to be an imposture. The Jew had
an infallible test Of which the world |
knew nothing. An accident had necessi-
tated the amputation of one of the toes
of the child's left foot.
The merchants hope that he might
still see his child kept him alive for
years, but the time came when the ply |
sicians said that he must die Some
weeks before his decease he called his |
lawyer, an old and trusted friend, TO
ask his advice in a most important mat |
ter. AS the result of that advice the |
merchant for the third time altered his |
will. The lawyer mistrusted the jew,
but the merchant to the last held blind !
ly 10 his faith in his integrity. Still the |
counselor persuaded him easily enough |
to protect his child in the strongest |
mo Tho will fhn,, framed
vided that two-thirds of his fortune
should go to his widow, and the other |
third, with the exception of a stated |
sum, given to the faithful Jew, was to |
be held i'll trust by the lawyer and other |
honorable gentlemen for his daughter |
Ethel If, at the end of 80 years she |
had not been heard FROM her share of |
the property, which amounted to nearly |
$500, 900, We 70 go to various chart |
table institutions. This will was made |
on April II. 1875. signed and sealed in |
the presence of witnesses. On April 21 |
Of the same year the lawyer was hastily |
summoned to attend Mr.. Forsythe, who |
was dying, and who. apparently In per.
fectly sane mind, told him that, having |
decided at the last moment again to Oh |
ter the will. he had done so In o codicil, |
which he only desired him to examine
as to its legality and force. There could
be no doubt about that. The codicil had
been added in the Jews handwriting |
and was countersigned by three servants
in the house, who in the eye Of the law,
We're disintercsted witnesses 1t was GER |
tainly legal, but the startling nature of |
the alteration alarmed the lawyer and |
aroused his darkest suspicious 1t re-
voked the provisions of the previous |
clause regarding his daughters legacy, |
reduced the number of years the money |
was to be held for her from 80 to 10 and |
made the provisional legatee, in the |
ho,- NOT fpY1nI ut no |