Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-12-20

of the treasury, into recommending him
to the queen as proper recipient of the
royal bounty, but he did it, and successes
emboldened him to further and even more
ambitious efforts. 1t also put Henry La
bouchera upon his mettle, and Truth de-
nuncations thereafter became so vigor-
Gus and telling that Brooks income began
to diminish and finally he resolved upon
the daring and desperate expedition OF
prosecuting Truth for libel No more inn
pudent action was ever brought in any
court of law, but such is the operation of
the English law of libel, protecting scoun-
drels like Brooks, that the action was
by no means as hopeless as 1t looked at
first sight. The case occupied the high
court of justice for three days, and
week, and resulted on Thursday in Mr.
Labouchere's triumphant acquittal. 1t
was shown in the evidence that in pc
riod of five years Brooks, by the simple
method of begging letters, gathered in
no less sum than $4,000 and that While
posing as a broken down, deserving man
of letters plunged in the deepest Distress
he was keeping up country houses, with
servants and horses and carriages. The
jury practically stopped the case and un-
fortunately prevented the calling of Mr.
Arthur Balfour as a witness to show the
means by which Brooks duped him and
the queen, and the world therefore Will
probably never be given the opportuni-
ty of enjoying that story, but in the able
hands of Sir Frank Lockwood, who rep
resented Mr.. Labouchere, the case was
the entire country read and reread over 1t
the entire country read and reared over 1t
every day.
Mr.. Labouchere is now engaged in hunt
ing Brooks for the costs of the action,
but he is not likely to get anything
Brooks is sufficiently astute to have con-
Veyed his money to his wife or to nave
put it in some other way out of reach
y, ncfe, In, II S1NnlNi xxi1
be added to the big total which Mr.. La
bouchere told the judge he had spent
since he had been owner of Truth IN eX-
posing sWindlers of various descriptions
That total already exceeds $200,00O ana
it is likely to increase regularly as in
the past. The amount seems larger, but
against this expenditure has to be set the
gain OF most interesting matter for Mr.
Labouchere's paper. 1t was estimated a
few years ago that quite 10000 stern
tories who detest Mr. Lebouchere's radi-
cal politics, buy his paper solely for the
sake of a couple Of pages or so of enter
tanning exposures of swindling money
lenders or scoundrels of the Brooks type,
without which number of Truth is neV-
en- complete. Even now virtue is not
without its reward, for 1t will be strange
indeed If the enormous publicity given
to the paper and it's editor does not re-
suit in a vastly increased circulation.
The latest report of the matrimonial
intentions of young King Alexander, of
Servla, credits him with aspiring to the
hand of a daughter of one of the Aus
trian' archdukes. He has, however, so
the story runs, met with difficulty from
the lady's parents. This imperial couple,
although able to trace their pedigrees
through untold years, waived their OBJ
jections to the young kings suit, objec-
tions being based on the ground of the
upgtart character of his family but point
n6
perial house could not possibly receive
into its bosom a young man whose par
ents live apart, thus giving rise to scan
dal