Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1909-11-23
LITERARY FORGER|ES
Versatility and cIeverness Of a
Shrewd Scotch Lad.
FOOLED THE cONNOlsSEURs.
He Poured Forth His Extraordinary
Documents In Profusion TO supply
the Demand and Was Finally Ex-
posed by = Simple Little Slip.

] faoh tht NisN va ioiuoi MtI'dt'i,
who forged letters of the bishops Of
Rome with such skill and success that
they were treasured for centuries ia
the Roman archives. 10 the days OF
Ireland. the notorious forger Of shake
spearean plays and letters. aud Chat
terton. the clever and III fated boy
who died miserably In his attic. there
have never been wanting unprinciplcd
men who could forge ancient manu-
scripts 80 cleverly that leading experts
have been deceived.
But for versatility and cleverness
none Of these forgcrs of past centuries
could approach the cleverness OF a
young Scotchman who years ago pro-
auccd long succession OF forged man
nscripts which completely bafiled the
ronnoisseurs Of the world. The true
and full story VI these remarkable
forgerles Is almost unknown and Is so
extraordinary that II may well be told.
II was In Edinburgh that this In
comparable forgcr practiced his arts.
and Il was by an accident that he was
tempted 10 embark on career which.
after spell of great success. involved
him In disaster. one day the princi-
pal of an Edinburgh firm OF lawyers
told one Of his clerks to clear out sew.
eral boxes full Of old documents. the
accumulation OF many years. Among
them were several documents and au-
tographs the value of which the clerk
WIS quick to recognize. and he had no
difficulty In finding purchasers for
them. As the supply was limited and
the demand constantly increasing IL
occurred to him to supplement the gen.
uinc documents with others of his
own manufacture. and as he developed
a remarkable skill In forging and had
already won the confidence OF large
number Of collectors he found II easy
20 dispose OF ms many forgeries as he
could produce ut very profitable prices.
Many OF them were sold to collectors
In different parts Of the world. others
were disposed Of by auction. and the
remainder were pawned and sold as
unrcdecmed pledges. These forgeries
covered very wide range and includ.
cd autographs and letters by Groin
well. Mary. queen Of Scots; James VI.
Prince Charlie. John Knox. Rob Roy.
Burns. Scott. Thackeray. Carlyle. Sails
bury. Gladstone. Lord Nelson and
many other men OF note as well as
tauae ..ssuuflff.a ~ Iaanl.ff.
ence.
So cleverly weic the forgeries exc
cutcd that the largest purchaser Of
SCOTS letters was gentleman who
as boy had carried most OF the great
authors manuscripts from Abbotsford
to his Edinburgh publishers and was
as familiar with Scott's handwriting
as his own. and the head Of the firm
that published Lord Byron's works
purchased forty-seven letters purport-
ing to he Lord Byron's for the sum OF
fl2J IS Cd. A very large collection 81
these manuscripts was purchased for
sum OF over fiO0O and presented 10
the Lcnox library. New York. where
they were for some time regarded with
reverence as the chief treasure OF the
library. and another collection was
presented to the city OF Edinburgh.
Although these forgeries were pour.
ell ON the market in such profusion. no
suspicion seems to have been aroused.
They were accepted without question
by the experts aud found ready pur-
chasers at large prices. Whether the
forger's success made him careless or
whether IL was due TO one of those re-
markable oversights 10 which the most
skillful criminals seem liable and
which bring their career to a close. the
forger was at last exposed through a
mistake Of which such clever man
should scarcely have been capable.
Among the many forgeries he pro-
duced a poem signed by Robert Burns
IL was called "The Poor >ians Pray.
or" and opened with this stanza;
Amidst the more important tolls Of state.
The counsels laboring In the patriotic
Though Europe from thy voice cxpec, her
fate.
And thy keen glance extend from pole
to pole.
This poem. which consisted Of nine
teen verses. might well have escaped
detection with the rest but for the
fact that gentleman 10 whom the
poem was shown discovered the idcn-
teal verses Ia the London Magazine
OF 1866 in poem addressed TO the
Earl Of Chatham by one Simon Hodge
laborcr
Thus Il appeared that II the verses
were actually written by Burns the
poet must have opened them under
the pscudonym Of Simon Hodge at the
very immature age Of poet Of seven
years. Suspicion once aroused. doubt
was at once east on the hundreds Of
other documents which had cmanated
from the same source. The LenoX col
lection was submitted To the experts
~ the British museum and pronounced
"A worthless lot ~ forgeries, and col
lectors all the world over awoke to the
painful discovery that their treasures
Of old manuscripts were scarcely worth
the paper they were written on. The
forger's career was brought 10 sud
den termination lie was brought up
for trial aud sentenced To- term OF
imprisonment thus closing a career OF
forgery which Tor daring. clcvcrncss
and success has perhaps never been
equaled .--Ne-v York Press.
Great trees give more shade than