Newspaper Page Text
& REID, Proprietors.
GEORGIA TELEGRAPH BUILDING.
MACON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1868
wne
skxoham youvo.
[interview with the Mormon
Prophet.
, Cincinnati Commercial.']
Salt Lake City, July, 1868.
^ jg on a prominent tradesman in
1 j,te (himself a leading Mormon and
[,■ pioneer) our party of four inquired
, &e feasibility of obtaining a brief
with Brigham'Young. We
: iid that the modern Solomon (in
he w»<s fresh from the grave of one
i? most trusted ministers—Heber
ill—and must be presumed to be
in that grief that arises as much
"suggestion, “how soon may para-
pm me,” as from the sense of pain
raeancy that follows a bereavement,
happened that one of our number
[proposition to lav before the Arch-
...f the Mormons which had the color,
j the substance, of business; and so,
:i private parley between the gentle-
ure applied to and Brigham, we were
rmed that the latter would see us at
,,if he could spare the time, if not,
a at some later hour.
U ten minutes before the musical town
,ck struck ten we were on the way from
hotel, talking along the stream and
Ie-tree bordered avenues, under a sky
niritdy blue, and fanned by an atmos-
¥ that seemed just to have been un-
red from the original package. Brig-
Young’s famous Residential man-
; or harems, the Lion aud the Beehive
8, stand in the centre of a square,
: ten feet from the pavement, and are
jnded by beautifully embellished
jds of twenty acres, the whole block
: inclosed by a high wall of boulders.
Lion House and the Beehive House
i side by side, and look like ambitious
,trv villas, three stories'high, adorned
wilderness of gables. A carved lion
wunts the- portal of one, and a bee-
that of the other. In front aud along
iatire square the pavement is margin-
ith a row of vividly green locust trees,
grown. To the lelt of the mansion
rge branch of the network of small
ms that line the streets and irrigate
gardens of the city, tumbles out into
Street in a rocky channel excavated
the wall of boulders and neatly
1 over.
•ing through the iron gate of the
:re House, we found our intercessor
to introduce us to the modern
Zion. We were conducted into
.-.ini’s office, a large apartment, hand
ily furnished, and found ourselves
tig hands with a strongly built man
atv-eight, who seems ten years young-
fiw manner was gravely cordial, and
ioned us to chairs with the routine
ton, he entered into a general conver
ts with the father of the young lady,
•name suggested the invention of the
:raph. Upon that topic the discourse
!"!■ n few moments; then glided to
nrrt Fulton, his rebuffs, reverses and
1 triumph. The young lady's father
;ht the progress of the nineteenth
;ui T was something almost startling;
;bm agreed with him, and the young
:a holt upright, prunes and prism
looked as if she were debating
“••r or not it would presently be the
’■f. t0 say. “ President Young, I am
to drop your acquaintance.”
for a glance at Brigham himself,
« sits gravely upright in his chair,
? his large, broad feet making a decent
;t angle on the soft carpet. He is clad
! !cit of greenish cassimere, coat, vest
•pantaloons all of the same piece, all
roomy and comfortable, with no
-adons whatever to stylish build,
rest is cut so as to reveal a broad
*** of white linen shirt aud turn-
^ collar. The only jewelry visible is
purplish in its fullness of blood, and in
clines to take on the double chin. The
throat is thick, the chest deep, the shoul
ders broad, the arms rather short, the
legs yeoman-like in stoutness, and the
whole figure that of a well proportioned
large man nearly six feet in height, who
has passed his prime, and commenced to
descend a little. The predominant ex
pression of fiis face is a broad sort of
shrewdness. A profound knowledge of
human nature, combined with quick, sol
do multiplicities if not in wisdom) j d “tuitions, and a rare: executive capaci-
,j few audiences to parties seeking ? y ~ a opacity of intelligently despatch
ed from motives of curiosity, KT ? work with ramdity and no
- - - -• - bustle have placed Brigham Young where
he is, and-made his little empire in the
desert one of the wonders of the world.
For a man of sixty-eight he is well pre
served. Hardly a gray hair is percepti
ble in his head. But when he walks
across the floor there is a suggestion of
old age, with its coming flabiness and
want of suple sinews. His step lacks
elasticity, and his complexion the fresh
ness of vigor and ripe robustitude. The
Prophet is going down hill.
He is no longer young—nor middle-
aged. Though he has taken two new
wives within the last six months, he has
not increased the number of his offspring
for three years and better. Three years
ago Brigham marired “Amelia,” the viva
cious* willful, pale and rather homely,
daughter of a Salt Lake carpenter. From
the alter she has exerted a strange in
fluence over her august lord; and though
she has borne him no child, she is still
his favorite, is most frequently seen with
him in public, and is the object of atten
tions from him which few of his harem have
ever known. Two new wives have suc
ceeded her—one of them a widow—but
neither of them have supplanted her as
the Prophet’s dearest.
The conversation rippled in the shal
lows for awhile, and then one of us made
a push for deep water with the question,
“Does your community, Mr. Young, take
any interest in the general politics of the
country ?”
“No, sir,” was the reply; we believe
here in men and not in parties.” And he
changed the same topic almost in the
same breath to that of mining, in which
some of his visitors are interested.
“Gentlemen,” “said he,” “I understand
some of you are going to the Pahranagat
mines. You are very hopeful, I observed,
but you will lose your money; mark
my words. The ore is there, true enough;
blit not one mine in fifty can be profitably
worked in America until wages are twenty-
five cents a day, as in Germany, instead
of six dollars, as at your mines. The ex
pense of reducing your ore will swallow
up all the revenue, and much more. It
won’t do. What would my community
be to-day if it had taken to mining in
stead of agriculture ? Set one hundred
, ... , , i meu to mining anti ten to larming, and
; o?Th,°se station demands that he , the end of ten vears the ten will be
i dnilv ‘‘public bath of visitors of h more tban > t ‘ be oae hundred, and
.'irees. We were but fairly seated babl bave tc feed tbem gratui tou#r.
|a wo other callers were announced You say it is possible that my views on
this subject may be changed. They may
be enlarged, and for your sake I hope
they will. But I can only repeat my full
est conviction that you are doomed to
bitter disappointments and heavy losses.”
“I understand, President Young,” said
another, “that you have taken a contract
for grading the ninety miles of the
Union Pacific Railroad next east of your
city.” .
“Yes,” answered the Prophet, “not pre
cisely east of the city, but east of a point
»-erai-cirde, whi Ie the Prophet dg*»- j ‘^^^^hSrd/’pursued the first
• iim-elf with due deliberation, in a; gp^gj. “that you would greatly prefer
■Wed arm-chair. Emptying his face n J ottQ b ’ e di3tar ' bed by ra ilroads-that is,
itudeof all but the sobeiest ex- y dur p e0 pj e sought to be isolated and
would not object to remaining aloof from
Gentiles and their enterprises?”
“Oh, yes,” replied Brigham, with a well-
feigned flurry of impatience at the thought.
“That is the way with people generally.—
They would discredit the world of a reliable
man, and believe the first drunkard that
sallies out of a grog shop. Why should
we grade ninety miles of a road we are
supposed to be afraid of?”
Nobody answered the question, but it is
susceptible of rejoinder. When a man a3
far-seeing and shrewd as Brigham Young
finds that he cannot crush an enemy, he
makes a friend of him. And in the case
of the Union Pacific Railroad, which he
could not stay nor cripple, if he would,
he claims to grade ninety miles at a pro
fit to himself of a million of dollars, and
have the work^one by Mormons instead
of regiments of obstreperous Irish laborers,
who would surround Salt Lake City, and
make its streets the scene of tlieirperiodic
larks. To have said this much in the
Prophtt’s own office would have beenven-
as stipulated. I have a large force at
work already, as you doubtless saw when
vour coach came through Echo Canon.
The sub-contracts have nearly all been
given out.”
“Mr. Young,” said one of the visitors,
“I am the representative of a prominent
mining company in the Pahranagat dis
trict, and am empowered to treat with you
for an extension of the telegraph from
your settlement in Southern Utah, to our
mines in Lincoln, county Nevada.”
“Lincoln county, Nevada, eh?” said
Brigham with a slight sneer. “Well,
now, we are not quite sure yet that your
mines are not still in Utah.”
—, of Illinois, and his daughter, a
ikr young lady of twenty, or there-
0. She rushed at Brigham with a
gating stride, seized his hand con-
arely, and exclaimed with hasty effu-
: “Ah, President Young, I am dee
ded to make your acquaintance.”
righam bowed with formal gallantry,
with a certain someting lurking in his
ipoaire that seemed to say, “Don’t
it, my dear young woman; either
*re scared or a trifle bold.” The
-tors, now numbering six, took seats
Svy but tasteful watch chain, leading j turesome; but some of us thought it, and
** vest button hole to the left vest
■*. A crisply clean parti-colored
pocket handkerchief is tied around
and fastened in a comely knot as
-eshlv adjusted there by the last new
*■ ’Che occasion of this addition to
riinary costume is a trifling disorder
throat, incurred in preaching the
^1 discourse of Heber Kimball and
'dug his remains to the grave. If
to get near enough you will
penally notice that he wheezes a lit-
«ter speaking.
hair is still thick and retains much
f original golden color. It is neatly
W back, and its tendency to turn in
the ends encouraged a little. The
7® face is a good looking one in whole
; 10 detail, but far from easy to con-
, The forehead is broad, moderate-
“Sh. and well marked in the perceptive
over the brows; the eyes are keen
.'; Ir glance, though light in hue, and
-Rurally lustrous; the nose is a good,
"?> straight sort of a nose, and has
* handsome aquiline, with sensual
jk The mouth can hardly retain
.."/(fits original form and expression,
.^dty has remolded and compressed
it is more like a seam man a
When he speaks the words seem
j trimly weighed bv the brain, dipp-
. the teeth, and finally squeezed
. ?h the left half of the almost locked-
The jaw is the one undisguieed-
-!na ’ portion of the fece. It is heavy,
conceived that Brigham appeared to be a
little indignant at the question, because
he objected to a deeper, probe.
“Wquld you rather the railroad would
pass twenty miles north of instead of
through vour city ?”
“Why, of course not,” growled Brig
ham. :“We have exhausted our influence
in attempting to bring it right into Salt
Lake City. Years ago I set iapart depot
grounds for railroad purposes. I have
offered a part of them to the Union Paci
fic, if they will come here, but they choose
to pass [twenty miles to the north, building
across the lake and continuing their route
west in that latitude without a detour of
forty miles.
“Will you build a branch, then, to con
nect with the railroad?”
“Certainly, in good time. The valley is
perfectly level, and the branch can be
easily and cheaply constructed.”
“What is the Mormon population of
Utah, M*. President ?”
“I don’t know, sir.” This was said so
laconically that some objection to the
query was implied.
“This city, we hear, has about 16,000
inhabitants.”
“It has about 20,000,” said Brigham.
“When, Mr. President, do you expect
the Union Pacific Railroad .to reach the
latitude of this city?”
“Another season will' suffice, I thiijk.—
The ninety miles I have contracted to
grade will be finished by next September,
But, you must remember Mr. President,
that our mines were recently transferred
to Nevada by a sepcial act of Congress.”
“I know all about it. That special act
is the only specimen of that sort on record.
We are not entirely convinced that you
are notin Utah,” continued the Prophet,
with the air of a ruler co-ordinate, at least,
with Uncle Sam himself.
“I suppose,” chimed in Apostle Can
non, with a sarcastic smile, “that you had
yourselves moved out of Utah because you
feared invidious legislation.”
Yes,” was the frank reply. The sub
ject was becoming warm; so by tacit and
unanimous consent it was dropped.
“I have read nearly all the books writ
ten about the Mormons,” said somebody,
“and have been most struct by Hepworth
Dixon’s rather elaborate volume on your
community. What do you think of that
book, Mr. President ?”
“ It is a novel,” said Brigham, quickly,
a pleasing work of fiction. There’s a
little truth in it, but mostly it’s an imag
inative creation.
Here he arose, went to a book-case with
the confidence of a man who knows where
he puts things, and got a card skewered
with many varieties of telegraph wire.
The conversation reverted to the subject
of the telegraphic extension before allud
ed to. Brigham had scented the one
grain of business in our visit, and propos
ed to dispose of that and the call, which
had now consumed about forty minutes.
In conversation Brigham Young is frank,
ready, apt and concise, with no peculiari
ty of accent and no eccentricities of gram
mar. It may interest those who hunger
for minute details to know that he pro
nounces route as if spelled root, and that
he says needier, not nither. The tele
graphic negotiation resulted in nothing
definite. We arose. The Prophet fol
lowed us to the door, shaking hands with
each one. The young lady, who had re
mained primly silent, convulsively said,
“ God bless you, Mr. President Young!”
“ God bless vou, miss,” said Brigham with
fervent emphasis, a bow, and a touch of
presumably lily-white hand.
As he bade adieu to the mining deputa
tion he said: “Sorry, gentlemen, if my
views about digging silver are not as hope
ful as your own. I can only repeat that
your dreams of bullion will be shivered.
Good day, gentlemen, good day.
The door closed gentle, and in a few
seconds one of the party said: “Good
gracious! we forgot to follow Artemus
Ward’s example, in askingBrigham after
the health of his mother-in-law!” My con
viction is, however, that I have never
seen a man who looks better capable of
neatly resenting an impertinence than
Brigham Young. He is more shrewd
than pious; more of a great man than a
good one. J. W. M.
THE LITTLE OLD GENTLEMAN.
osr thu rail in a flood.
One of the most graphic descriptions of
the late fearful storm in Maryland, and
of its effects in a section of country con
cerning the devastation of which no ac
count has before reached us, is given by
a correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette,
who was at the time on board an eastern*
bound train on the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, and reached the _ village of
Mount Airy, about fifty mi’es west of
Baltimore. Shortly before six o’clock
a. M. clouds from the east and west met
over the train, and in an instant a deluge
of water poured from them as though a
lake had fallen in mass from the sky.—
Mud washed upon the track so that the
train was anchored fast. Floods rushed
from the mountain threatening to leap
through the windows of the cars, and soon
the Patapsco, which before was but a
thread twenty feet beneath them, was ex
panded to a stream more than a mile in
width, anu had risen to the edge of the
track. On its surface houses, barns and
cattle were seen floating past. Escape
for the passengers seemed impossible. To
leave the train was certain death. Trees
were shattered to pieces by the lightning
all around. Hail was showered down
upon them, as thick as it could fall, in
blocks of two and three inches in diame
ter. One could liken the terrifying roar
of the elements to nothing but the*” noise
of battle, with deafening tnunderjfor artil
lery, and the rapid reports of the falling
ice for the rattle of musketry. All took
refuge in the forward car, as the others
seemed about to be swept into the river.
The rain was driven upon them, for all
glass was broken by the whirlwind. Men
turned pale; women and children cried
with terror. The scene was-one of unsur
passed sublimity; the torrents leaping
over the tops of the trees; red and blue
streaks of lightning clothing them in fire;
the waters plunging madly to the river.
For an hour and ten minutes the great
lumps continued to drop. Other trains
were due at the place, but there was no
possibility of reaching the signal by means
of which they might be stopped. For
eight hours the storm continued. The
water was three or four feet deep upon the
track, the edge of the river really flowing
directly under the car. In the afternoon
the water subsided, and the passengers,
who eat nothing in the last twenty-four
hours, were released. The devastation in
From all the Year Round.]
“Would you like to look at the Times,
sir? Singular trial of Risk Allah Bey
against the Daily Telegraph.” ,
The, speaker was a curious little old
man, cleanly dressed, cleanljr shaved,
with short, crisp, white hair, aid a face
like a red pippin, such a face as is hardly
ever seen out of this country, ind even
here rarely, save among farmers, game-
keepers, and others who are much in the
open air, and at all seasons. Tlis little—
for he was very small indeed as to size
—this little old gentleman was encounter
ed in a first-class smoking carriage on the
Southwestern Railway.
“Curious trial that before .the Lord
Chief Justice,” continued the old gentle
man, as if he wished to promote further
conversation. “I was once tried for mur
der myself,”—with a pleasant smile.—
“Yes,” said the old gentleman, “and’
(looking pleasanter than ever) “very near
ly hung too. I did not get off free—-I
was sentenced to transportation for life;
went through seven years of it; and then
they pardoned me for what I had never
done.
You see,” said the little old gentle
man, smiling more than ever, as the five
other smokers in the carriage stared at
him, “you see, I was for many years a
cattle merchant in London. Sly business
consisted in receiving from abroad—from
Holland, Germany, Normandy, or where-
ever I could form a connection—oxen,
cows, sheep, pigs, some on my account,
others to be sold on commission for cor
respondents who sent their animals to me
for sale. The trade was a profitable one.
Every beast sent over on my account was
fully insured, so that, if it died on its pas
sage, it came upon the insurance com
pany. I had very few bad debts, and
taking one thing with another, I may ful
ly have calculated upon realizing at least
twenty-five per cent, on my capital every
three months. In other words, I got a
profit of a hundred per cent, per annum
on the money I had commenced business
with,
“But with money comes the desire for
more. There was a time before I began
to deal in cattle, when I thought myself
rich if, at the end of the year, I had a
couple of hundred pounds in the bank
over and above my expenses for the past
twelve months. Now it was otherwise.
I lamented that I had not always an idle
balance of fifteen hundred or two thou
sand pounds. I was fond of money for
money's sake. I could not make money
fast enough for my wishes on the cattle
tdare, and therefore determined to do a
little in the loan and discounting way.
“It is nearly twenty years ago, and I
have gong through a great deal of trouble
since. Mv system was never to put too
many eggs into one pot 1 —never to lend
very much to any single person—but to
lend many small amounts to various
people. I used to answer the advertise
ments of tradesman in difficulties, and, if
I found that a borrower had good security
to offer, I would lend him perhaps thirty
or forty pounds, taking ten pounds for
the accommodation for a month, and
much more in proportion for longer pe
riods. One of my clients was a printer
with a small business, near what was call
ed the New Road, now MaryleboneRoad.
He had often borrowed twenty, thirty,
and once as much as sixty pounds from me,
and had always repaid me to the day.—
The security he gave me was always the
same, the j oint note of hand of his brother,
a grocer up Hackney way. The name of
this borrower was Strange — Edward
Strange. He was in a delicate state of
health, always suffering from his chest,
and in severe winters he used to be laid up
for weeks together with a bad cough. He
was a widower, without children.
“One day Strange came to me and said
he had an excellent offer to enter into
partnership with a printer who had been
established in business several vears.—
The sum required to be paid for the part
nership was £300, and he asked me to ad
vance nim that amount upon the security
of a ^policy of insurance for £1000 upon
his own life. On inquiry, I found that,
three years before, Strange had, when a
young and healthy man, effected an in
surance upon his life for £500, and after
ward increased it to £1000. This policy
he had always managed to keep up, and
still wished that is should not relapse. As
it had been running pn for nearly twenty
years, and as he paid a very small pre
mium, and was now in bad health, the in
surance company would have been glad
to purchase it back. Therefore, after
looking at the affair in every possible way,
I came to the conclusion that the security
was good, and that I might safely advance
the some of £300 upon the security of the
policy being endorsed over to me. This
was done and I advanced the money!
Gentlemen, the worst day’s business I
ever did in my life.
“In general, a creditor sees but little of
bis debtors, whether they are few or
many. The man who owes money gener
ally avoids the individual to whom he
owes it. But it happened otherwise with
Strange and myself. "With th# new busi
ness that he had bought, he was not ex
pected, nor even wished by his partner to
interfere; and his own' indifferent health
dealers, I had no time to look properly
after my accounts, which sometimes got
rather complicated. On the other hand,
Strange had enough to live upon, but not
enough to pay traveling expenses with
comfort. Hinung been friends for severa-
years, when we traveled together we all
ways had our meals in common; and in
country places or where the inns were
very full, we generally took a double-bed
ded room between us.
After a time I found Strange’s assist
ance of such value to me that I was able
to increase my connections very material
ly indeed. Being a shrewd man, he was
able at the end of a twelve months to
make purchases and conduct my business
as well as I could. This led naturally
enough to a partnership being formed be
tween us, by the terms of which I was to
lend him five hundred pounds to put in?
to the business, of which he was to have
a fourth of the net profits. As surety for
the five hundred pounds, he insured his
life for another thousand. Thus, when
we commenced working together as part
ners, Strange owed me eight hundred
pounds, and I held policies of insurance
on his life for two thousand pounds.
Our business trips used generally to
last from a week to a fortnight. Some
times we were detained at the port to
which we had brought the animals, for
four or five days, awaiting the means of
shipping them to England; for it is not
every steamer that will take bullocks or
sheep or pigs as cargo. Sometimes one
of us would remain in London, conduct
ing the sales of such animals as his part
ner sent him abroad. And this had Hap
pened when the event of which I am now
going to tell you took place.
“As Strange could -speak French very
well, I often sent him to the fairs at Nor
mandy and Brittany, nearly always going
myself to those in Holland and the north
of Germany. It wa3 somewhere about
the end of a certain May that he went
over to France, intending to be there
about six weeks and go from one fair to
another on a certain round. Three or
four consignments -of beasts had reached
me in London, and the last was to come
over in a day or two. My partner had
visited all the fairs he intended to go to,
and was to join me. I wrote him at South
ampton where he was to land, saying I
would meet him there, take a look at the
cattle he had bought, and send some to
London, and go with the rest to some of
the southern counties, where there wa3
likely to be a market that would suit my
book.
“ I reached Southampton on the day
named, and met Strange. We dined to
gether at a small inn near the docks, and,
finding we could not get two bed-rooms,
engaged a double-bedded room for the
night. Then we began to square up ac
counts, and spent the afternoon seeing
how we stood in the matter of money.
But something that Strange had done
vexed me sorely. He had, in the face of
what I had written him in London to the
contrary, paid some two pounds a head
more for about thirty or forty beasts than
we should ever realize. When I told him
how foolish he had acted, he answered me
back that he had done his best, and that
he had as much right as I had to specu
late with our joint funds. To this 1 re
plied that, although he was undoubtedly
a partner in the concern, it was I who had
put in all the capital, and that he had
only an interest of twenty-five per cent,
in the profits. His rejoinder I remem
ber well. He said that, if he died, I
would get all the money he owed me, and
more. To this I retorted in a passion that
I knew it, and that I did not care how
soon he died. All this wrangling took
place in the coffee-room of the inn, be
fore the girl who waited on us, the cook
of the house, the barmaid, the landlady,
and the landlady’s husband. The latter,
when he saw we were getting angry, tried
to make friends between us, but in vain.
We were each annoyed at what the other
had said, as well as our own folly, and
neither would be the first to say he was
sorry for what had passed.
“ About six o’clock I took up my hat
aud went to see some friends in the town.
When I got back it was past 11 o'clock,
and Strange, the housemaid told me, had
been in bed and asleep more than an
hour. I paid my share of the bill, for I
intended starting early, went up stairs,
found Strange fast asleep, and went to
bed myself. Next morning I was called
at five, packed my bag, swallowed a cup
of coffee, and in half an hour was on my
way to London. . On leaving the inn, I
told the porter that my companion was
asleep, and that, as he was only going by
the ten o’clock coach to Brignton, they
need not call him yet. I should not for
get to tell you that, while I was dressing
in the morning, Strange awoke, and that
he shook hands over our dispute of the
previous day. We moreover agreed to
change our plans, and Strange was to
meet me in London on the next day. As
I was closing my carpet-bag he asked me
to lend him one of my razors—a thing
which I had the greatest objection to, (for
if I am particular about anything I pos
sess, it is about my razors,) but, having
only made up my difference with him, I
could hardly refuse him so small a favor.
“The days I am writing of were be
fore railways had extended to Southamp-
the country about there was fearful to of use to me as a clerk. He askedfor no
made it very desirable that he should be
as free as possible from the confined air of
the close printing rooms. The partner
ship he had purchased secured him a cer
tain amount of income, which, together
with what he had besides, allowed him to
go about to divers parts of the country,
traveling being much recommended by his
medical attendant. Rnowmg that I had
to make weekly trips to Harwich, and
that I had often to go to Rotterdam in
the way of business when looking after
cattle, he asked me whether he could be
look upon. Small animals were lying
thickly around dead upon the . ground,
and every blade of standing crops was
swept from the fields. By theaid of two en-
o-ines, the cars were dug out of the mud;
Sut the inmates, were obliged to fake pri
vate conveyances” in order to reach a place
where thev could obtain food and shelter.
salary, only his actual traveling expen
ses; and for this he was t# keep my ac
counts, write and copy iny letters, and
make himself generally useful. The bar
gain was a good ono for both parties. On
the one hand my business was increasing
every week, and having to knock about a
great deal at fairs, and to see a great many
ton. Leaving the latter place at half-past
five in the morning, it was half-past six
in the evening before I got to town. I
went to bed, got up next day, and, while
I was sitting at breakfast with my wife,
our servant told me that two gentlemen
wished to speak to me. I went down to
see them, and, before I could open my
mouth to ask what they wanted, found
myself with handcuffs on, arrested for the
murder of Edward Strange.
“It seems that, finding Strange did not
come down by- half-past nine, the porter
went up to call him. He found the door
locked, but no. key in it After knocking
some time on the outside, the door was
broken open, and poor Strange was found
with his throat cut from ear to ear, and a
razor in his hand. The key- of the door
was afterward found in the coffee-room,
under the very bench on which I had sat
to dririk my cup of cpffee before starting.
*1 was brought before the magistrate
at Bow street tne next morning, and was
by him sent down to Southampton to
await the result of the Coroner’s inquest
upon my partner. The verdict was will-
fin murder, and, after commitment by
the magistrate to the Sessions, I was put
on trial for my life at Winchester.
“The trial lasted only a few hours. It
was fully proved that Strange and myself
had. quarreled and had high words the
night before, and that I had said I did not
care how soon he died, so that I could re
cover the money I had lent him. A great
deal was made of the fact that by
Strange’s death I should be entitled to the
insurance upon his life to the amount of
two thousand pounds, by which I should
be a dear gamer of one thousand two
hundred.
“It was further shown that the razor
found in poor Strange’s hand was mine,
and three medical men declared their con
viction that,, although that instrument
was undoubtedly used to kill the dead
man, it must been placed in his hands af
ter death. Moreover, there were not only
evident marks of a struggle about the bed
and clothes, but Strange’s throat was cut
from right to left, which no one could
have done unless he had been a left hand
ed man, which Strange was not. Then,
again, the fact of the bedroom door being
locked, and the key hid, close to where I
breakfasted, told fearfully against me. It
was dear that Strange could not by any
possibility have cut his own throat, and
then locked the door of his room on the
outside. It was attempted by my coun
sel to throw discredit upon ’this part of
the evidence. The learned gentleman
tried very hard to elict something which
might even lead the jury to imagme that
the door had been locked after the mur
der, and that some person unknown, had
knowingly let the key drop in the coffee
room. But it was of no avail whatever.
It was clearly proved that the key had
been inside the door when I went up to
bed, and that it had never been seen
again until it was found in the coffee
room. My defence tried hard to make
out that some person likely to commit
the murder might have been in the house
on that day, but of no use. As the trial
went on, even I, who knew my innocence,
could not help allowing to myself that
the evidence, though purely circumstan
tial, was very strong against me. The
only points in my iavor were, that on
the day of the murder I was supposed to
have committed, I traveled up to London,
and had not the least appearance of a
man wh* had anything on his mind.—
Again, Strange was known to have on
his person a gold watch, and a purse con
taining a few sovereigns and twenty-five
pounds notes, the numbers of which latter
were ascertained at the bankatSouthamp-
ton, where he had procured them in ex
change for a bank-post bill. The watch
had been taken and never traced; the
sovereigns had also disappeared; but the
bank-nqtes had been exchanged at the
Bank of England on the day after the
murder, and before I, as I fully proved,
had any communication whatever, with
any one in London. Of this last point
my counsel made the most, but it did not
help me much, if anything. The jury re
tired and after deliberating about half an
hour, returned into court and declared,
through their foreman, that I was guilty
of the willful murder of Edward Strange.
“Gentlemen, a man who Jhas gone
through that ordeal—who has heard the
jury pronounce him guillty of capital
crime, and heard the Judge pass sentence
of death upon him—a man, I say, gentle
men, who had gone through that ordeal and
still lives to tell the tale, may (or am I
presumptuous ?) be looked upon as a man
who had really gone through what, in
these days, would be called a sensational
time. I heard every word the foreman of
the jury said, and wondereing what the
Judge’s black cap-yof which every one
has seen, would be like. Then I was in a
kind of dream for atime, until Iheardtlie
words condemning me to be hanged by
the neck until I was dead. A sensational
effect upon me, gentlemen, or am I pre
sumptuous? And will you favor me, sir
with a light?
“In spite of appearances,” said this
little old gentleman, smoking with exceed
ing relish,, “my friends \3idnot believe
me to be guilty of the fearful crime for
which I was to be hanged by the neck un
til I was dead, in ten days after the trial.
They moved heaven and earth to obtain
a commutation of my sentence, and, af
ter a great deal of trouble, they succeed
ed. At the time of which I speak, there
was in England a temporary, but very
strong reaction against capital punish
ment. I cannot recollect all the circum
stances of the case, but, in a trial for mur
der, two men had been condemned to
death and duly executed, and, shortly af
ter they, had been hanged by the neck un
til they were dead, their supposed victim
made his appearance, well and hearty.—
The public press took up the question of
not hanging upon circumstantial evidence
and I benefited to the extent of my life by
the temporary exciment. I was respited
and condemned to transportation for life,
and very shortly afterwards—for in those
days transportation was in full swing—
found myself on my way out to Van
Dieman’s Land, a convict ‘lifer.”
“ For seven long years, gentlemen, did
I undergo this punishment for a crime of
which I was perfectly innocent. Curi
ously enough, the man who really had
murdered poor Strange, as he afterward
confessed, went out in the same ship with
me, condemned to seven years’ transpor
tation for burglary. He must have heard
me tell my story and declare, my inno
cence over and over again; for in the
colony, we worked a long time together
in thej same gang. He was afterward
assigned to a master who lived near the
prison where I had to slave out my time,
as in those days ‘lifers,’ whose sentence
had been commuted for capital punish
ment, were never allowed to leave.the
chain gangs. But, after three years in
Yan Dieman’s Land, this real murderer
took to his old trade of burglar.y To
avoid being captured he fled to the bush,
and on a party of - police being sent after
the band to which he belonged, he shot a
constable in cold blood. He was captured,
sentenced to be hanged by the neck until
he was dead, and two days before his exe
cution confessed that he had murdered, at
Southampton, a person called Strange, for
which offence another man had been sen
tenced to death.
“His statement was taken down, and it
was exact. It appeared that he had been
bidden for several hours in the inn, intend
ing to steal whatever he could lay his
hands on. Early in the morning he had
found his way into poor Strange’s room,
hoping to pick up something before the
house was astir. But his entrance awoke
Strange, who struggled for a few minutes
with nim, and kept hold of him. The
razor which I had lent Strange being still
ljing ok the bed, he murdered his victim
with it, and then put it into Strange’s
hand, in order to make it appear that he
had committed suicide. He secured the
watch, the purse and the bank note^ of
the murdered man, and stole out of the
house, locking the door of the bedroom
on the outside, aud hiding the key. He
declared that he had gone into Strange’s
room before I had left the house, and that,
for some time after, his fear was lest I
should come back. Had I done so, the
murder would, in all probability, have
been prevented.
“When the statement made by this
convict bad been duly verified, and when
certain references bad been made to the
Home authorities, I was duly liberated.
That is to say, gentlemen, I obtained the
royal pardon for having committed a
crime which I never committed. And
very sensible I am, gentlemen, of the roy
al clemency. Though it seems odd.
“All tickets, gentlemen, all tickets!"
“The train had reached the ticket
platform at Vauxhall.
t‘Ah, yes!” said the little old gentle
man, producing his, “mine’s a return
ticket; but it had very nearly been other
wise.” . • •
Curiosities of Marriage Law-
Before the middle of the seventeenth
century, after the Roman law, a husband
was empowered to give bis wife a regu
lated amount of corporeal chastisement
(“to give hi3 wife a sharp flogging with
whips or cudgels.”) By Charles II.’s
time it was found convenient to repeal so
unnecessary a sanction; but English con
servative prejudice would not allow it to
remain quite a dead letter; for, as Black-
stone navely observes, the lower rank
of people, who were always fond of the
old common law, still claim and exert to
their ancient priveleges.
The Chinese, although probably the
least religious, that is to say, the' most
materialistic, people on the face of the
earth, are scrupulously attentive to a va
riety of superstitious, or rather ceremoni
ous, observances. Like the Greeks and
Italians of old, they are careful to fix
upon a fortunate day for their weddings.
For this purpose the horoscope of both
parties is anxiously consulted to assure
themselves that the planetary influences
of their respective births do not threaten
any unforeseen misfortunes. This point
ascertained, preparations are actively set
on foot, often of long duration; and en
gaging much thought, as if by a present
ostentatious display to compensate to the
bride for her future obscurity.
Yellow is the favorite national color;
and this is the favorite bridal choice also;
while the attendant female supporters,
usually old mai(L or matrons, appear
dressed in black. Covered with powder,
paint, musk, and other scents, the bride,
after previous ceremonies, is conveyed to
her husband’s bouse in a closely locked
sedan, which the ignorant lover alone
unlocks, not always with unmitigated sat
isfaction. Disgusted, as it might some
times chance, at his first inspection of his
mistress’s charms not invariably realizing
the brilliant picture drawn by his inter-
mediatrix, it is said that the exasperated
husband is known to send away his reject
ed wife, together with her indignant
friends.
This catastrophe, it should be added, is
not of frequent occurrence, inasmuch as
the friends take care to provide against
any such eventuality by the terms of con
tract; besides, the female agent, always
employed, usually knows her business
better, and is careful to, have an inspec
tion of the intended in her bath. "What
also causes some confusion is the practice
of contracting alliances before the prin
cipals in question appear upon the sublu
nary scene, while yet in embryo; since it
happens that the anticipated pair does
not always make its appearance. As the
ring serves with us to mark a married
woman, so does cropped hair, worn in a
particular fashion, the Chinese matron.
All over the East, where maturity is
sooner attained, the nuptial period is at
what, with us, is an infantile age. Girls
of eight or nine are frequently married to
youths of twelve; the average periods,
when piarriages are entered upon early,
being probably twelve and fifteen respec
tively. The civil law enjoined twelve and
fourteen a3 the nuptial ages, adopted nom
inally into our own laws, but practically
modified, in a Northern climate, by cus
tom. In fact, it was nullified by the
municipal law, which does not recognize
unions entered upon,. without consent of
guardian, under twenty-one years. By
the old laws of France the age is thirty
for the son, and twenty-five for the daugh
ter.
No age was fixed by the Mosaic code.
Hence, it is to be presumed, the silence of
the Church; the canon law allowing it to
vary according to individual fitness for
matrimony. : .. V
Hesiod advises thirty as the lowest at
which a man should take a wife, fifteen as
the feminine nuptial period:
"When ron here numbered thnee ten Teen in tine,
The esa mature when manhood ante* its prime,
With eahtion ehooae the partner of your bed
Whom fifteen Springs have crowned s % virgin wed”—
is Ms advice to his brother Penes, a time
of life which Plato a&o deemed mo£t sui
table; while Aristotle would have delayed
it still later; namely, to- thirtVv-sqven la
the case of the^-Temple jSar.-