The Reminiscences of Sir Henry Hawkins (Baron Brampton)Brampton, Henry Hawkins, Baron
History
The Reminiscences of Sir Henry Hawkins (Baron Brampton)
Brampton, Henry Hawkins, Baron
Brampton, Henry Hawkins, Baron, 1817-1907; Judges -- Great Britain -- Biography
"In a letter to Rous, my lord, where he said, 'I see I have one enemy
the less in Harris's death. Captain Strickland, who made himself so
great on the other side, went to stay at Stonyhurst with his
brother, and died there. He called on me a week before and abused me
shamefully. So will all go some day'--this," said Mr. Hawkins, "was
not exhibiting the same Christian spirit which he showed when he said,
'God help those poor _purgured_ sailors!'"
"Why should the defendant," asked Mr. Hawkins at the close of one
of the day's speeches, "if he were Sir Roger, avoid Arthur Orton's
sisters? Why, would he not have said, 'They will be glad indeed to
see me, and hear me tell them about the camp-fire under the canopy of
heaven,' as his counsel put it, 'where their brother Arthur told me
all about Fergusson, the old pilot of the Dundee boat, who kept the
public-house at Wapping, and the Shetland ponies of Wapping, and
the Shottles of the Nook at Wapping, and wished me to ask who kept
Wright's public-house now, and about the Cronins, and Mrs. MacFarlane
of the Globe--all of Wapping.'"
The Judges fell back with laughter, and the curtain came down, for
these were the questions with many more the Claimant asked on the
evening of his landing.
"I shall attack the noble army of Carabineers," said Mr. Hawkins on
another occasion. He did so, and conquered the regiment in detail.
One old Carabineer was librarian at the Westminster Hospital. His name
was Manton, and he was a sergeant. He told Baigent something that had
happened while Roger was his officer, and Baigent told the Claimant.
Manton afterwards saw the huge man, and failed to recognize him in any
way. But when the Claimant repeated to him what he had told Baigent,
Manton opened his eyes. This looked like proof of his being the man.
He was struck with his marvellous recollection, and was at once pinned
down to an affidavit:--
"The Claimant's voice is stronger, and has less foreign accent,"
he swore; "but I recognized his voice, and found his tone and
pronunciation to be _the same as Roger Tichborne's_, whom I knew as an
officer."
Truly an affidavit is a powerful auxiliary in fraud.
While Mr. Hawkins was replying one afternoon, Mr. Whalley, M.P., came
in and sat next to the Claimant. He was from the first one of his most
enthusiastic supporters.
"Well," he said, "and how are we getting on to-day? How are we getting
on, eh?"
"Getting on!" growled the Claimant; "he's been going on at a pretty
rate, and if he goes on much longer I shall begin to think I am Arthur
Orton after all."
I will conclude this chapter with the following reminiscences by Lord
Brampton himself.]
* * * * *
I had a great deal to put up with from day to day in many ways during
this prolonged investigation. The Lord Chief Justice, Cockburn,
although good, was a little impatient, and hard to please at times.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account