Out of the total number of possible hypotheses which may be advanced to account for the relation between Prance and Bedloe two are thus disposed of. The witnesses did not arrange together to give evidence of Godfrey’s murder. Nor was Prance furnished with the information which he was wanted to give and then subjected to such pressure that he was compelled to acquiesce in it. What then are the remaining explanations which may be put forward? The notion that Bedloe, on seeing Prance in custody on December 21, proceeded to denounce him at a venture in the bare hope of getting some support from him may be dismissed briefly. It would in any one have been a mad action to expose himself to the risk that Prance could prove an alibi, but for Bedloe to take such a course would have been more than improbable. When at a former date he accused Atkins of complicity in the murder, he used the greatest caution to obviate this risk. Until he knew whether or no Atkins could prove an alibi he would make no positive charge at all. The fact that his caution was justified would only make him more careful to avoid being caught in a trap similar to that which he had only just avoided. A more probable supposition is that Bedloe had made sufficient inquiries to be sure that Prance could not prove an alibi, and then denounced him, as if on the spur of the moment. This is a theory which has likelihood in its favour and deserves to be well weighed. Bedloe, it is supposed, had given entirely false information about the murder. After his failure to secure the conviction of Atkins he was compelled to turn in another direction. Looking round, his eye fell upon Prance as a suitable tool. He made careful inquiries as to his opportunity and ability to bear false witness, found that Prance would be unable to make out an alibi, and denounced him dramatically at Westminster. Prance was clapped into prison and, without having any notes of Bedloe’s evidence given him, was so terrified by the two nights which he spent in the dungeon in Newgate that he concocted a false story and then made confession of it. There is certainly something to be said in favour of this view. It was common talk that Godfrey had been murdered in Somerset House, and Bedloe was well known to have said as much. Prance was well acquainted with the place and the people belonging to it. He had at least as fair a chance as another of making a plausible account of the murder. He was in considerable danger and in great discomfort. He had already lost his liberty and bade fair to lose his life for speaking the truth. It was natural enough that he should renounce his honesty and spin a tale to save his skin. He could make use of knowledge which would render it unlikely that he should be caught tripping. He had heard Bedloe say that he saw him on the Monday night standing by the body with a dark lantern, so that he could place this incident in his story without hesitation. The publicity of