The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

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.EDNWARI
The sixty-eighth birthday of Chic
Gently, proved a busy day for him.
office.
He delivered decision and attende
| Court.
..........s"..............
DON She must have been charming, so
many good judges of beauty praised her,
but the numerous pictures of her still in
existence are disappointing to those who
have read the esctatic descriptions. One
of the most celebrated of these pictures
represents her as a prisoner In the dock.
Her hair is built up foot high over her
head and she wears a ridiculous cap and
she could never win anything but the
BOBBY prize in a modern beatty contest.
Ushered into the Adair residence the
situation was explained to her and she
realized its gravity at once.
Il forged the bond" she said. The
| bankers didn't think that probable, or
even possible, thereupon she asked for
pen and sheet of paper and dashed off
a duplicate of the signatures on the bond.
| BY this time Daniel Perreau had arrived,
and also a constable, who had been sent
for by the bankers. But the constable
was sent away. Mrs. Rudd made such
an impression upon the Drummonds that
hat ,fal 90
! currence, and the Perreaus, with the
woman who had saved them, drove
| away.
| Had the Perreaus let things rest there
they might have got out of their diff
ficulty. But there were other forgeries
afloat, and discovery of the truth might
come at any time, so in order to protect
themselves and arrange for a goal, they
went to Bow street and laid information
| against the female forger." This cow
ardly attempt to protect themselves at
the expense of the woman who had risked
everything to save them, deprived them
of public sympathy in the time to come
when they needed it most The judges
took the measure of Robert Perreau and
sent him as we'll as the woman to prison.
| L
them. This Daniel was a great fop. who
cut wide swath among the macaronis.
/ He and Robert We're twins, and greatly
| resembled es ch other in appearance, but
| Robert was a keen business man, a
money maker while Daniel was a was
| trel. Both brothers were specializing in
| Exchange alley, and 1t was this that led
| them to forgery.
| The story of what followed in the courts
is too complicated to be detailed in a
brief narrative. Mrs. Rudd, who had
been the ally of the brothers, was in
furiated by their treachery and became
their bitterest enemy. She testified that
4 she did sign the bond, as she had con-
| fessed, but did it in fear of her life, Dan
| iel standing over her with an open knife
| until it was done. She had committed
other forgeries under similar conditions
| These other forgeries began to turn up,
and they totaled an enormous sum.
The public interest In the Perreau case
was SO great for year that even the re-
belion of the American colonists at
tracted comparatively little attention
/ The newspapers were full of the case
printing press was busy issuing broad
sides. A certain Admiral Frankland,
known as "Old Shiver- Me-Timbers =
used up gallons of ink assailing Mrs.
Rudd and thereby created sympathy for
her, which was the very thing he didn't
wish to do. And Mrs. Rudd had her
champions among the great writer's of the
time.
Brothers Are Convicted
In the course of time the Perreau broth
ers were brought to trial, and their guilt
was so evident to the jury, when all the
testimony was In, that they were con-
victed without the waste of a moment.
and sentenced to death. Many people be-
lieved then, and many argue even at this
late day, that the brothers were the
dupes of the designing Mrs. Rudd. but
this theory didn't appeal to the court.
Being convicted. and sentenced, the
Perreaus were sent back to Jail to await
the outcome of the trial of Mrs. Rudd.
The fact that she was brought to trial
at all was the occasion of much excited
criticism at the time, for she had con-
fessed under promise of immunity from
| punishment. But she appeared in the
dock brilliant as eyer as Walpole said,
and she conducted her own defense to
such good purpose that she was ac-
quilted. And after her release James
| Boswell called upon her and had a
pleasant talk, and Samuel Johnson said
| that he would have visited her, too, only
that nowadays everything gets into the
| newspapers"
| Wednesday, the 18th Of January 1776
was bitter cold. The ground was covered
with snow and boisterous wind shrieked
| through the streets of London. Yet thou
sands of people shivered in the blast for
hours that they might see the mela ncholy
procession which presently set out for
Tyburn. First there was hurdle, on
which two miserable coiners shivered as
the rude contrivance bumped over the
stones Next followed cart, In which
George Lee. the boy highwayman. wear
ing crimson coat and cooked hat en-
deavored to convince the populace by his
staggering airs that he rather enjoyed
an untimely end. He was accompanied
by two housebreakers, who walled and
Vept all through the journey. Following
the cars there was stately mourning
coach, in which sat the Perreau brothers.
The storm had grown worse when Ty-
burn was reached, SO operations were
hurried. Daniel and Robert embraced
each other and spoke a few affectionate
words. and their calm, heroic demeanor