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Pv^EBHING COXPANir Ten of the Greatest Novefs ever Written By Ten of tlu Greattst luthois Who eiier Lived ITyovwin (itndy'thelitofMii&iflBaf th«^gTenfesathRr»of enrday.r'>uwin obaerre fliat f !» most inalancea their repuuitknu were Buule by tiie uroduction a< n »iugie buuk. Let but ox.or work that Ih rooMy groAt—cne nMuteruece— emanate troui an author's ven, and tltough hl» fatnr« eflbitVBmjr b» trl* Mlii cwnMrnmi. Ui mane wiD live and his works be read lonff af tor tb« aatboa ha* pasaad »w«(y. A wflll-koown New YoFk pvbrMiinsr hotue has iaaced in ^mlform and haadaonn style ten of the amimt and moat f^ona novela in tLs BmrUalt lammase, and WQ have perfected mtnxitlBJumU^K^hmmf l#e>a(»«nafai«d tOofRr thia haadaome and valuable •et of books as a i i roi rrf a n i (9» cor aa b a mlbw mam Uiemm wfaleb make fhem almeafc a f roe gift. Each one of these ftuBoua Bevels was its ftutborli ' production that madeluamBe and tajae» jrk% which are published vndar tba AathotHi" are ae follow* : ,teet work-hia ma e tcrp ie ee the greatc „_- cempriaed la tbta valuablesetot booka^ "JPhmm* Viettgn by theWoild'a Oteateat EAST LYNNE, By Win. HBMy WieMNb «IANE EYRE, Bf ChartoMa Brwila •lOHN HALIFAX. GEimXIMNb ADAM BEOE, BjrOMive mat. THE WOMAN IN WHITB» LADY AUDLEY*8 SECRET, •r *nw W E. Bradvloiv VANITY FAIR, ^jf W» Me TlMMVBMnR|^« ~ THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII, By Sir f. BuhMT Lytlaa. THE THREE GUARDSMEN. Br Alexander Dumaa FUT YOURSELF IN HIS PLACE. BrOiiarlear ' Preniiiiiii § Tht pabiiibna wm J Vum TW QaaM Noviba ^iX*^ *?.!^'*^^^!'^^*P*''^ **yy la OI>n»aa,lbr oae year, umb iwelM of «Bly^!w' nil ORBuKovatiwIttiaeo begfnsi fUBBIa tm one MmtiBi n a diAel TWOeafasaflbefa to Ita ainotr IM> r|)titrated in Canada, and was so cleverly planned and carefully executed that but for an accident the young Englishman's fate would probably never have been known. It seems certain that the crime was not the result of a suddenly conceived idea, but was first suggested in England months before the consummation, and the evidence points out how step by step the murderer carried out his scheme. His plans were so ingeniously laid and so ■kilfuUy executed that but for an apparently trifling circumstance the murderer of the hapless yictim would never have been apprehended. The awful treachery, the infernal £. C. r.KNWELL, THE VICTIM. T^ I V THE MURDER OP BENWELL. •J > nninflf, and isrofound hypocrisy of the aBsaBsin suggeita that he must hare studied murder as a fine urt, and his remarkable coolness in the time uf danger indicated that he had the nerve to carry out the awful scheme his fertile brain had conceived. Men have slain each other in moments of passion, and have gone to their death voluntarily for the sake of love ; but there is no record in the history of criminid jurisprudence in this country witti which to compare Birchall's crime. In the expectation ^f making a sum of money he lured a young man from his home and friends in England, and after bringing him to an unknown country brutally murdered him in the hope of being able to rob his father. Poor Benwell came to America flushed with the hope of being able to carve out a name for himself, and the day he arrived in Canada he was murdered by the man whom he trusted, and who should have protected him from evil. THE SWAMP MYSTERY. Early on the morning of Friday, the 21st of February last, two brothers named George and Joseph Eldridge, who rent a farm about two miles west of Princeton, on WHIRI BBNWBLL WAS BROfB, the road to Eastwood, in Oxford county, visited a place known as Blenheim Swamp, for the pupose of cutting saplings and firewood. The swamp is a little over half a mile in length and is divided by a corduroy road, the latter being a lonesome highway and one not generally used by the public. The swamp had been repeatedly visited by fire, and as a result half -bur aed pine trees and a dense growth of underwood and brush made it almost impossible for a person to pass through. Even an old trail formerly used by hunters was so blocked up that it fell into disuse, so that, with the exception of some sportsmen, few people had attempted to force a passage through the dense woods during the past two years. A few hundred yards to the north ot the corduroy road there is a small body of water known as Pine Pond, which was at one time a popular resort for sportsmen ; but the pond, like the swamp, became neglected owing to the trouble that was experienced in getting there. Among the sparsely-settled neighbourhood the swamp was looked upon with a Mrtain degree of supernatural awe, and moM than one story waa told of men diaap- Pl fo Tl fr ml re| tl tl hs a Pi| lei hi' m THE MURDER OF BENWBLL. peAfincr forever within its dense recesi^es. Some years aero the skeleton of a man was found near thu ruadway, and the mystery surroundini; his death was never explninod. The bad reputation of the place had the effect of keepins; sportsmen and farmers away from it, and it was simply necessity that forced the Eldridge brothers to go there in search of younp: saplings. Some months previous to the 21st of February the young men had visited the swamp and had out down a number of young saplings, but for some reason or other they did not carry them away. They haa then entered the swamp from the corduroy road about midway between one end and the other, and at a point whore they could plainly see the house of the nearest neighbour, John Rabb, a Qerman, who had resided in the locality for many years. After cutting a narrow trail into the swamp a distance of about one hundred yards, they cleared a small space with the intention of piling the saplings, but they never finished their work. Night overtook them and they left the place, and next day they secured their saplings from a point nearer their own home. The trail they had cut, however, was plainly discernible from the road, and on mor,j than one occasion John Rabb saw men with guns in their hands go in there. Soon after daylight on that fatal S^'- morning the Eldridge brothers set forth in search of more saplings, and by some strange fate went directly to the old trail they had cut. On their former visit they had decided that the saplings there did not suit them, and yet they returned to the old spot as if guided by intuition. There were thousands of young saplings growing along the edge of the swamp, but they passed by them with scarcely a glance, and upon arriving at the old trail set to work with their axes. Why they went there they have never been able to explain, but as with most people the Eldridge brothers had a vein of supersti- tion running throuf;h them, and they now firmly believe that some occult power led them to the spot, in order that through them a murder most foul might be brought to light. Lv tily swinging their axes the brothers gradually worked their way into the swamp, piling the saplings as they progressed, and pushing aside the underbrush so as to make their exit with their load as easy as possible. George Eldridge industriously worked his way through the dense growth, while his brother used his axe alonf; the border of the swamp, and it was just as the former reached the little clearing th^t ha beheld a sight that for themoment deprived him of muscular motion, and drove the blood in a flood from his heart. On a pile of dead saplings he beheld the dead body of a young man lying on its back, with the overcoat, undercoat, vest, shirt, "and undershirt thrown back, exposing the naked breast. The trousers were rolled up at the feet, and one leg was raised above the Uval of tho body and rested on a small charred stump. Horrified at tho ^ THE MURDER OF BENWELL. •iKht. George Eldridge dropped hi. axe and ran to his brother and th. two. without returning to the body, fled to the nearest house »ad ootihed John Rabb. boon a crowd of farn.erB formed themselve. into a body of investigation, and iipon arnvinK at the old trail found the body a» described by George Kldridge. Ihe constable at Princeton was notitied, and on the same afternoon he took charge of the body. At the first «lance it was thought that the remains were those of some tramp who had crawled into tho swamp to die, but when the officer raised the head he found a small clot of blood on the ice that had formed under the body, and a further examina- tion disclosed two bullet wounds in the back of the head. Either of these wounds must have caused instantaneous death, so that to the constiible it seemed impossible that they could have been self-inflicted. He made a careful observation of the ground and body, and noted that the clothing of deceased was of a superior quality and not like clothing that would be worn by a tramp. Although the body wai frozen stiff and the face was slightly discoloured, he noticed that the hands were not those of a man used to hard work, the palms bemg 'smooth and delicate, and the face was that of a man who had moved in the higher walks of life. The body was clothed in fine silk underwear, a light suit of West of England tweed, and a long, light macintosh with a large cape, such as are frequently worn by young English- men newly arrived in Canada. While OKOBGB BLDRIDGE. the constable was noting these things he discovered that the dead man's linen had been tampered with ; some one had cut away the owner's stencil marks from the shirt- undershirt, socks, and collar, the work having evidently been done with a pair of scis- sors. A felt hat, crushed in, was found about six feet from the body, and a little closer was picked up the deceased's linen collar. The stencil marks had been cut out so care- fully from every piece of clothing, v ithout the body having been undressed, that it was evident that the person who removed them knew just where to look to find them. Satisfied that a murder had been committed, but finding no clue whatever as to the deceased's identity, the constable had the body conveyed to Princeton, and notified the coroner. Next day, however, there was discovered the solitary clue chat led to the iden- tification of the murdered man, to the discovery of his history, and to the unfolding of a murder mystery as hideous and revolting as ever fell to the lot of a police officer to in- vestigate. An ordinary cigar-case, with the name " F. 0. Benwell " neatly printed on the inner case, was found partly imbedded in the snow under a piece of underbrush, dose to where the body was found. It had evidently fallen from the coat pocket of deceased as he lurched forward after tho fatal shots had been fired, and lay unnoticed by the murderer, the one single circumstance that led to the conviction of Reginald Birohall for the murder of his companion. The body of the murdered man was kept at Prinl idenj villal mysl TorI opiii to si the cov« wasl THE MURDER OF BBNWBLL. ▼B Princeton until decomposition made burial imperative, and as no one eame forrard to identify the remains the dead stranger was finally placed away in a lowly ^rave iiuar the villaKo, with no steoe to tell his name, and apparently nothing to tiiruw light upon his mysterious fntb, Tt was not until after the Government detectives were put upon the case, when Thr Toronto Daily Mail announced the finding of the fateful cigar-case, that public opinion became aroused, and then gradually but surely the wheels of justice commenced to grind. Simple circumstances, unnoticud at first, gradually unfolded themselves to the keen eyes of the detectives, until at last the identity of the dead stranger was dis< covered, and the our'-ain of mystery was drawn aside from as gigantic a swindle as ever was planned, and as foul a murder as ever shocked a community. BIRCHALL, BENWELL, PELLY. Until the trial at Woodstock it was not generally known in Canada that there existed in England regularly established agencies, organized for the puxpuse of sending young men, the sons of people in comfort- able circumstances, to this country for the purpose of being educated as farmers. Under the law of primogeniture in Eng* lawd, the eldest son becomes the heir to the father's estate, and the younger sons are left to shift for thera» slves. The farm pupil business flourished because of this law, and the parents, naturally wishing their children to prosper, seized upon what they believed to be a good opportunity to start their younger ions upon a prosperous life in a new country. In many instances the parents were financially in high stand- ing, and were willing to pay a reasonable ■um to get their sons settled in life. Among those who were sent out to Canada aa a farm pupil waa Reginald Birchall, the son of a clergyman in Eng- land, who had been marriad but a short BIBOHALL AS AN CNDKRORADUATE. time before, and whose wild pranks had caused hia parents deep anxiety and his wife's relatives a great deal of pain. He was but twenty-five years of age, and had spent a couple of years in Lincoln College, Oxford, where he acquired an unenviable reputation, his wild pranks having been the subject of many a discussion among the students and a source of trouble to the dons. It appears that he was popular with his associates, and although he was the leader in many a lively incident ot college life, he was looked upon as a young man of fine impulses, being aa generous as he waa extravagant, and m talented as he was recklesa Tired of college life, he came to Canada as a farm pupil, but he soon became disgusted with the Iftborious Ufa of a farmer, and went to Woodstock to live. He had. ▼nx THE MURDER OP BBNWBLL. apparently, any amount of money, iNnd soon became an nc' nowledged leader In sportins; circles in the lively western town. He spent his money lavishly, was hail- fellow-well-met with everyone, and it was not long before his handsome face and easy, graceful Stture were well known, not only in Woodstock, but throughout the Oounty of Oxford. His English rnanners were Boftened by his colonial experience, but in dress h« was BO dudish as to become almost fantastic. Knee-breeches and silk stockings, tied al the knee with bright-coloured ribbons, was his usual mode of exhibiting himselt on th« streets, so that it is not to b( wondered at that ho was talked about. And from his manner it was evident that he liked to be talked about. At this time he had dropped the name of Birchall and was known as Lord Somerset, and as he spent his money freely, dressed extra\agari:ly well, and was exceedingly charming in manner and con- versation, he soon became the centre of a large circle of sports. He was known everj> where in the oounty, and it was this very fact that led to his positive identification at m time when his movements should have been hidden from every eye. It has been said and repeated time and time again that Birchall was the victim of farm pupil sharks, and that after he had been swindled out of his money he became a willing agent of those who had fleeced him. During his sojourn in Woodstock his wife was with him, and, being an educated lady, was not less popular than her husband. A year ago Birchall, or Lord Somerset, left Woodstock with his wife, leaving sundry unpaid bills behind him, and he shortly afterwards appeared in New York where he exchanged a considerable sum of money for English currency. He started for England, and was not heard of again until last winter, when he entered into partnership with a man named Mellerish in the farm pupil business. They adver- tised their business extensively, and one of their cards attraoted the attention of Frederick Comwallis Benwell, a young Englishman of high connections, who was anxious to emigrate to a country where he might earn for himself a livelihood and a name. % Col, Benwell, the young man's father, had some acquainunce with Canada, he liVS. BIRCHALL. having been in Toronto at one time, when he was instrumental in forming the 100th Regiment, some thirty years ago. The father was at first averse to the son cominsr to America, but finally gave a reluctant consent, although he was noc altogether satisfied with the representations made by Birchall. He advised his son to look closely after his money, and to pay over nothing until he had inspected the stock farm which Birchall aftid he owned near Niagara Falls, and which was said to be lighted by electricity. Birchall hed'offered as an inducement that Benwell migh) become a partner in this farm by the payment of £500, and it was through this ofTer that the young man decided to eeme to Canada. . . THE MURDER OP BENWBLL. I d ..J About the aame time another young Englishman named DouG^las R. Pelly replied to one of the advertisementa, and after several interviews with Birchall he arrived at an agreement by which he was to secure an interest in the electric-liKlUed farm by tha pay.nent of £170, which he finally paid over. At this time he was not acquainted with Ben well, and had no reason to believe that he was being swindled, or that Be nwell was also accepted by Birchall as a partner in the farm. Birchall had demanded money from Benwell, but the young man, remembering his father's injuubr.ion, declined to pay over any money until he had inspected the farm. On the 5th of February last young Benwell bade farewell to hia patents and sailed from Liverpool for America with Reginald Birchall, his wife Florence, and Douglas R. Pelly. He had proposed to Birchall that he should have his linen marked, but Birchall advised him not to do so, explaining that it would be easier to pass unmarked goods through the Customs. Notwithstanding this advice, it appears that Benwell did have his clothing marked, and it is evident from what took place in the swamp that Birchall was aware of the fact. During cbe journey across the ocean both Birchall and his wife spoke in glowing terms of their farm near Niagara Falls, which was so wonderfully lighted, of their great stable of horses, and of their immense buildings. To Pelly Birchall repeatedly described the beauties of his possessions in Niagara district, and dilated on what a good paying basis they had been established. While on board ship Birchall manipula- ted Benwell and Pelly so that they could not become on intimate terms. To Pelly he spoke in disparaging terms of Benwell, and to Benwell he spoke slightingly of Pelly, telling each that he was tired of the other, and that he would get rid of him on their arrival in America. In this way Bir- chall succeeded in keeping the young men apart, so that they knew little of each other on their arrival in New York on the 11th February. They remained there for a ooupie of days, aad then started for BuflOilo, where they arrived on the 16th of February, put- ting up at the Stafford house. While at this hotel Birchall and Benwell amused them, selves by imitating each other's signatures, and late that night it was decided that Birchall and Benwell should start early next morning for N'iagara Falls to inspect the former's stock farm. They left the hotel soon after dayli^^ht, and some hours later Mrs- Birchall and Pelly started for the Falls. They spent the day together, and at nine o'clock thai night they were joined by Birchall, who was alone. Rooms had been engaged at the house itf a Mr. Baldwin, and it was decided to spend several days there* as the house oi the stock farm was said to be out of repair. In answer to questions by Pelly, Birchall explained vhat Benwell, after leaving Buffalo, had suddenly decided to go as far as Woodstock or rioinity, on a tour of in* ipMtiea through the oenntry for the purpose of seeing if he oould purohM* for liiniM ^■^'^^ THE MURDER OF BENWELL. *'-i i |-Vi» m a suitable farm. Birchall also explained that he had parted from Benwell at the Grand Trunk railway station at the Falls, and that the young man said he expected to be gone for several days. He spoke of Benwell in slighting terms, and expressed the hope that he would not return again, as he was tired of him. Pelly was not surprised to hear Birchall speak unfavourably of Benwell, as he himself had not been favourably impressed with him, owing to the conversatioas that occurred on board ship ; and it will be remembered that at this time Pelly was not aware that he had been swindled. Birchall aitd his wife and Polly remained at the Falls for several days, and as no proposition was made to visit the electric-lighted farm the young Englishman's sus' picions finally became aroused. He asked Birchall for an explanation as to what had become of Benwell, and in reply BirchiiU stated that the young man had become dis- satisfied, hud gone to New York, and requested him to forward his baggage to the Fiftii avenue hotel. In the meantime the newspapers had taken up the case of the body found in Blenheim swamp, and mention was made of the finding of a cigar case with the name '* F. C. Benwell " printed on it. One of these papers fell into PcUy's hands, and he at once called Birchall's attention to it. After some discussion it was decided that Birchall and his wife should go to Princeton and examine the stranger's body, while Pelly was to go to New York in quest of Benwell and his baggage. This programme was carried out, and, of course, Pelly fuund no trace of the man or his possessions. He at once returned to the Falls, only to find that Benwell's luggage was still in bond there, and that the keys of the trunks were in Birchall's possession. It was at this time that the first glim- mer of the truth dawned upon the young Englishman, and, filled with a terrible dread, he proceeded to the residence of Magistrate Hill, and told of his suspicions. Thomas Young, chief of the Ontario police, was sent for, and upon hearing Pelly's story that officer proceeded to the house of Mr. Baldwin and arrested Birchall , . Meanwhile Birchall and hu wife had started for Princeton, and on their arrival there the authorities had the body exhumed. Although greatly decom- posed the features of the dead man were plainly distinguishable, and Birchall and hi. wite had no trouble in recognizing in the familiar features the face of Fred Benwell, their , oung companion across the ocean. Birchall stood unmoved by the side of the grav of the murdered man. and gazed without flinching into the dead face that ho had known so well in life. Without a tremor in his voice he told the officer in charge that he recognised in the face the features of his young friend Benwell, and then told of their journey across the ocean, and of the young man's disappearance at the Fall^ M«. BinhaU stood calmly by his side and spoke in kindly terms of the dead youth. on a charge of murder. t J THE MURDER OP BENWELL. SI referring in feeling terms to their experience on board sliip, and expressing the nope that the man who committed the murder might be made to expiate his crime. It does not seem possible that Mrs. Birchall could have been aware of the facts at this time, and all the evidence goes to show that she, like the othe ra, was misled by her husband's demoniac cunning. And so, after poor Benwell's identity had been estab- lished by the man whom it was afterwards proved slew him, the cofiin was lowered again, and the earth once more hid the body of the murdered victim from view. Aftv^r- wards, when Pelly returned from New York, he too repaired to Princeton, and, like Birchall, he recognized in the dead face the features of young Benwell, so that when Birohall's mouth was closed by his arrest there still remained evidence of identity suffi- cient to satisfy the Crown. REG. BIROHALL'S ARREST. It seems singular, but up to the time of the arrest of Reginald Birchall there was not the slightest evidence to connect him with the case, and when Chief Constable Thomas Young took him into custody at Niagara Falls he did so simply on the strength of the statement made by Douglas X«ETECTIVE MURRAY. R. Felly to Magistrate Hill. On searching thb pnsoner, however, the officer found articles that proved an important factor in the case, and went far in helpmg the jury to arrive at a verdict. In the prisoner's pocket was found a gold pencil case on which was engraved the deceased's initials, 9 detective oreer. but time and usage had almost obliterated the engraving, and it is doubtful if Birchall knew that the initials were there. There was also found a bunch of keys, and these were afterwards found to fit younw PAnwell's trunks. While Chief Young was engaged in ^tracing up the dead man's baggage Detective John Murray appeared upon the scene, and for a time engaged himself in enquiring into the moveriients of two men named Baker and Caldwell. These two men had been un a spree, and one night about the time of the murder druT« trom Woodstock to Princeton, conducting themselves as zn THE MURDER OF BENWBLL. ■,.'• i-t t mi li: hU' ■Vr. \ drunken loafers usually do. They called at several houses during their journey, and represented that they had lost their way, although those who recognized them knew that they were well acquainted with the neighbourhood. Murray carefully enquired into the movements of these men, and although it was learned that they had passed through Blenheim swamp on the night of the day on which Benwell was murdered, he satisiied himself that they knew nothing about the crime. He was at Paris making enquiries when he heard for the iirst time that the stranger's body had been identified, and shortly afterwards he came face to face with Reginald Birohall and his wife, the two beine on their way to Niagara Falls from Princeton after identifying the body. Ac this time Detective Murray did not suspect Birchall as the murderer, but during a conversation the man's conduct was so peculiar that the officer's suspicions became aroused, and he quietly decided to watch him. In this conversation Birohall told Murray that he and his wife and Benwell left Buflhlo together for the Falls on the 17th HUD LAKB. of February, and that afterwards Benwell left alone for the west, taking with him a lai^e brown bag, which was afterwards found in Birchall's room at the Baldwin board- ing-house. At this time, too, Birchall told the officer that when Benwell left him he wore a suit of blue, but young Pelly correctly described the clothing afterwards found on the body. Birchall also told Murray that he had received a letter from Benwell dated London, Ont, February 20th, or three days after his death, in which he enclosed a receipt for his baggage, and asking him to release the trunks from bond. Murray did not let Birchall see that he suspected him, but went quietly away, intending to accomplish his arrest when he had some of the dead man's property in his possession. Chiet Youn[ J however, stepped in in the meantime, and ou the Sunday following the identification of the body arrested Birchall. Shortly after Birchall's wife was taken into custody, but at the preliminary inveBtiga^ i. 'V \ 't THE TRIAL OF BIRCHALL On Monday, the 22nd of September, Reginald Birohall wai brou(;;ht before Jud^e BlaoMahon, at the Oxford County Court of Criminal Assize, held at Wood* ■took, and with his plea of *' Not Guilty " there vm commenced the most remarkable murder trial ever held in this country. It had not been usual in Canada for ladies to attend court In criminal cases, but so widespread was the interest in this most extraordinary trial that when the court was opened the gallery, the aisles, and the main body of the town hall was crowded with ladies, among them being fair representatives of Oxford's most prominent families. Day after day as the trial proceeded the interest increased, until it was found literally impossible to accommodate the large number of people from the town, the county, and the country who carried with them the Sheriflf's ticket of admission. From nine o'clock in the morning until six in the evening thousands of men and women congregated in the market place in front of the town hall and eagerly waited for the adjournments in order that they might catch a glimpse of the prisoner, around whom so much interest centered. Reporters from the principal papers in the United States flocked to the scene, and so intense was the interest that the cable companies made arrangements whereby a verbatim report of the remarks of judge and counMl might appear simultaneously with the reports published in Canada. Forty reporters, trained to criminal work, occupied a J' rge space in front of hia Lordship, and an enterprising citizen of Woodstock had suspended from the ceil- ing "lelephones, with wires running to hia hotel, BO that a dozen people could occupy inU O. T. BtACKSTOOK. his sitting-room, a quarter of a mile away, and hear all the evidence that was given. Mr. George Tait Blackstock, Q.C., ap- peared as counsel for the prisoner, and Mr. S. G. McKay, of Woodstock, acted aa ziii TIT THE MURDER OF BENWELL. assistant counael. Mr. B. B. Osier, Q.C., acted as Crown prosecutor, and he had associated with him Mr. F. R. Ball, County Crown Attorney for Oxford, and Mr. J. R. Cartwright, Deputy Attomey- (jeneral for the Province of Ontario. Owing to the ereat crowd in attendance his Lordship was obli(;ed to occupy a seat on the stage, and behind him were seated % number of ladies, all appearing to be loeply interested in the evidence. After a jury had been chosen Mr. Osier MR. B. B. OSLBR, CROWN COUNSEL. opened the case by going over the different points the Crown proposed to prove, and concluded by reading ant trip indeed. Your son has inspected all my books and all my business arrangements, and I in- troduced him to people who know me well. He suggested taking other advice, so I, of course, was perfectiy willing, and he consulted a barrister in Lmdon, On- tario, concerning the business, vith satis- factory results ; and he has decided to join mo, as he has found all that he wished to be satisfactory. I think we shall make a very good business together. The books show a very good profit for last year. I think the best way is to place the money in our joint names in the bank to the credit of our reserve fund. We shall t:t asked Mr. Blftokatook. *'I do nob propose to read the letters until his Lordship has ruled on the objection raised a mon;dnt ai;o ; I simply put them in to prove the prisoner's handwriting." The witness was then handed a batch of letters dated from December 10, 1889, to January, 1890, and also the original agree- ment that was drawn up betweao Birchall and Pelly, when the latter paid over the £170. Birchall gave me his address, continued the witness, and I wrote to him on several occasions. It was in consequence of the representations in these letters and the agreement that I left Enfiland for Canada CWBONBB U'LAT. with Birchall. The endorsement on this cheque for £170 is in Birchall's hand- writing!;, and the cheque is one that I gave to him. I think it was on the day I went to Liverpool to catch the ship that Birchall first mentioned Benwell's name. He told me that Benwell was Komg to Canada to f;;et settled on a farm, and that he was going to look after him as a favour to his father. At Liver- pool on the 6th of February Birchall in- troduced me to Benwell, and afterwanu he spoke in such '\ way of him that I did not care to associate with him. Some time afterwards Benwell told me thnt he ex- pected to go into partnership with Birchall in three months' time, and I told this to Birchall. The latter replied that Benwell might have understood, that there was such an arrangement with the father, but there was no such thing arranged. Birchall also expressed his regret that he had had anything to do with Benwell, and said he would be glad when the young man was placed on a farm. During the journey from London to Liverpool Birchall showed me a small revolver, and I also had one in my pocket. On the way down to the vessel Benwell turned back, and, going into a store, purchased a single eye-glass. We arrived in New York en the 14th of February, and remained there until Saturday night, when we took an Erie train for Buffalo. On the voyase Benwell left some of his money with the purser, and in New York he got about 25 sover- eigns changed. Birchall and I also got some money changed. We reached Buffalo about noon on Sunday, the 16th February, and during that day I saw Birchall and Benwell together. They were engaged in drawing pictures and making copies of each other's names. Benwell would write his name and Birchall would endeavour to make a copy of it, and then Birchall would write his name and Benwell would copy it. It was arranged that Birchall and Benwell were to go on to the Falls to inspect the farm on Monday morning, and Mrs. Birch- all and 1 were to wai^ 9 He said it would be better for Benwell and him to go alone, as he wished to take the people on the farm unawares and see how things were progressing. About six o'clock on the morning of February 17 Birchall came into my room, and, lighting the gas, talked to me. He said he had made linal arrange- ments with Mrs. Birchall, and had left THE MURDER OF BENWBLL. xth Money with Mm. Blrohall to pay the ex- peiiseB if he telegraphed to us to come on to the Falls. How was the prisoner then dressed? He had on a blue jackidt, a cap of imita- tion black Astrachan, similar to the one now produced, and thick boots. On that morning I also heard Benwell speaking, and said *' Good morning " to him, bu I did not see him, I think. Either on that morning or the night before I told Ben* well to have his luggage brought' down to the office. How was Benwell dressed? I cannofe remember just exactly, but the clothes taken from the body at Princeton were the same as deceased generally wore. During that Monday I went to the office repeatedly and asked if there was a mes- I sage for me, but I did not hear from Bir* I ohall until nine o'clock that night, when I I received a telegraphic message from him, I which message I here produce. What was the message you received ? [That we were to stay another night in [Buffalo. Who came that night 7 Birchall. What did you ask him ? I asked him labout Benwell, and he said that he had [shown him the farm, but that he was sulky iiid displeased, and that he had sent him »n, giving him addresses of other farmers ibout London. What did he say about his farm T He tid that his farm had been rented to Mc- onald, and that the house was dirty and ^ut of repair, and that he would stay at Niagara for a few days. Did he say anything else t He said that |ie had shown Benwell McDonald's farm, id that he had seen some men and ool- Bcted some money. Was Ben well's baggage at Niagara Falls ? ['es : all but two boxes had been passed irough the Customs. These two boxes been f orwMd«d to the Falli from New York. These were still in bond, benwell had a canvas bag in his room. Where did you check to 1 To Suspen- siou Bridge, American side. What boots did Birchall wear that day? A pair uf held boots. a BBITWIIiL. Were they dirty ? Tea, bat he had them cleaned outside the railway station. I had made a mistake in the time, and he had time to do this. We saw the Falls and went up on the American side. In the evening we enquired for a boarding-house and selected Mrs. Baldwin's. What else did yon do that evening? We went across to get our baggage over, but missed the train, and had just enough taken over to do us for the night. What did you do next day? We brought all the baggage over. How did you sret Benwell's baggage through ? Birchall had keys (Keys pro- dooMl) I >•) i xvirt THE MURDER OF BENWELt. Were thoy like this 7 Yes, like that. What did you do on the 19th ? We went to the posx-ottice and Birohall took a box. What waa the number ? Three hundred and thirteen. Now that you had a post-office box and the basfgaKe paesed, why did you not go to the farm ? For various reasons given by Birchall. What were they ? He daid that it was too muddy and stormy, etc. Did you suspect him 'I Yes, I taxed him with beini; a fraud and having brought me out under false pretences, and he said I could believe him or not. BIBOHALL IN CANADA. Mr. Osier — With regard to his business relations, what did he say ? He said he expected a ch?que from England in a few days, and everything would bo all right. Did you ask him about his horses ? Yes, he said they were safely housed in Toronto. Did you go about the Falls with him ? O, yes, we walked up along Suspension bridge and back. Go anywhere about the cliffs ? Yes, as I understood, in the direction of the farm, but never there. What about BenwelH Birchall said that perhaps Benwell did nut know we were at the F Jls, and might be writing to the American side. On Thursday, 27th February, he said that he had received in formation with reference to the telegratn and letter at the Stafford house, and li«l was going there. I went to St. Catharines, j What further did he say about this f ' That the letter and telegram were for- warded to Niagara Falls, and that upoc opening them he found that Beiiwell^ wanted the bag^rago sent to 6th avenue, :< New York. I vondered how Benwell wai5 getting along without any kit, and Bir chall said th&t he might have enough clothing out of the baggage he took out oi bond. What further did he say about the bag- gage ? That he had arranged to send it to New York next day. Did he say anything about the letter I He said he had not seen it, as the clerk and operator at Buffalo had forwarded them to Niagara Falls to be repeated. Did he make any arrangements as to letting Benwell know that he h&d expressed {< baggage to Niagara Falls ? Yes ; he aa\A' that he had wired Benwell to New York telling about arrangements. Did he ever go out without you ? Yes, he went out twice. Did he tell you about going over onc« to the other side without you ? Yes ; h« said he had been over looking for stables. Did anything occur on February 28th I Yes ; Birchall went out, as 1 understood, to forward the baggage. When he return- ed he threw a letter to me up the stair- way, and told me about a cigar case being found on the dead man near Woodstock. Can you identify this cigar case ? No. What did he say about this ? He said we should go at unco and see about the b thb telegram^ 1 house, and Wl St. Oathariiieii.- iy about this i (ram were for- and that upoiii>| that Beuwell Ui 6th avenue J w Benwell wa kit, and Bir have enough i he took out ol^ about the bag- ed to send it to tut the letter) » the clerk and rarded them to d. ^getnents as to hbd expresaed I Yes ; he saii' to New York it you? Yes, ■ ing over onc«i ou ? Yea ; h» [g for stables, sbruary 28th I understood, hen he return- up the stair- gar case being Woodstock, case ? No. is ? He said lee about the nt to have a t look at the ■ us was near 3uuld not yet J iBirchall pro- posed that we so over to the American side and cash the cheque there, as ho had I a bank account. Did you go over '( Yes, we went over, land he had the cheque cashud at the Bank I of Niagara. What did you do when you came back ? Iwell, it was decided that Birchall and llVIrs. Birchall should go to Paris and look it the body, and that I should go to few York. Were these arrangements carried out ? fes. Did you find Benwell there ? No ; I could find no trace uf him. Did you wire to Birchall ? Yes, but never got an answer. Did you say anything about the place vhere he should go to ? Yes ; I said that Princeton was the place where the body ras found, but he said that Paris was the nearest. Did you see anything further of Ben- rell's baggage ? No. Did he say anything later about his pis- ol ? Yes. On Friday, 28th, he said :— )o you know Benwell has my pisiol ? I ftid :— Oh ; why did you give it to him ? Now on 2nd tell me what took place, ^hen I got back I went up to the board - ag-house. Mr. Baldwin told me that lirchali had identified the body as Ben- irell's, and that detectivos were watching lirchall. Did you seff them ? Yes ; ^ had not een long in the room when I was called their room. Mrs. Birchall asked me ^ho the man upstairs was. I knew who ! was, but had been warned ; so I did not bll. It was a detective. Witness was then shown the clothing ' the deceased, and identified the under- pat, tie, and hat. He could not swear to lie trousers or to the mackintosh coat. Fitness also identified Birchall's hand- rriting, and in answer to questions by Mr. Black stock repeated the Sb^ry he told to Mr. Osier. t Charles Benwell, brother of the mur- dered man, described the dead man's ap- pearance, and told how he had arranged to come to Canada with the prisoner. Witness identified a pencil-case found with the prisoner, and stated that it had belonged to his brother, and he aUo identified the dead man's baggage which was found to be in Birchall's charge at the time of the arrest. William M. Davis, town surveyor of Woodstoolc, produced a plan of the place ^fxUl^^^ where the body was found, and gave the distance from Eastwood to the swamp, which was 4.61 miles. He also measured the route taken by Birchall and Benwell to the swamp, and the re'<;iirn journey, the latter being 4.83 miles. The total distance to and from the swamp was a little less than nine miles and a half, and as an actual experience he explained that he walked from Eastwood to the swamp in an hour and twenty-fivo minutes, and ac- complished the return journey at an ordi- nary pace in an hour and twenty-three minutes. Capt. John Ross, of the 34th Battalion* tMtified that he walked from Eastwood to the iiwamp and back in two houre and lorty minutea. Joseph Eldridge, one of the brothers who found Benwell's body, was examined, and he told the story as it appears in an earlier chapter, and his testimony was cor- roborated by his brother George County Constable Watson testified that he removed the body to Princeton, and afterwards had it exhumed for identifica- tion. He recognized Birchall as the man wno idontiHed the body, and added that it was he who introduced Birchall to Detec- tive Murray in Paris. James H. Swartz. an undertaker of Princeton, told how Birchall came to him and asked him about the body that had THE MURDER OF BENWELL been found, «»ying that he had lost fnend, and the name "F n « , * onthecigarcasehadedLmtolT"" that the body found in H! ^^'^''^ thatof.t.^„tTngLnr'H?:r; Swartz that he and lenweHweret .f pendent circumstances, and That h tended to take im „ f. , "^^^ ^^• houses theln, \u "iri '""' «°°^ caused him a good de^l of I ^ 1? *°" ^"^ Pen..byf.4ntinnst;-:Ltroi-: I^ndon. whew h7 h ^ '"'* ^^ «'°«« »<» the letter. °*^'' "* '"^uoe Drs. Taylor and Walfni^i l Omir. a. Owh,rd, clerk o. tk. . ""P of S..„,„^. .^j •*;' 'h« town, -o-or, „r. „„.„ .„ ;7 ™o„.., pruoner owned no l.nH . h T "" ~unt^, the Crown dl'ltt"; '" "* owL^tt-jdrrctr-*-"'*- •mined « to ih. .. '°»°' ""• «■ «..* there w^*t™'T*"'"""'°''«' fcotween theeel,.'. .'.l' r*. "" "•" froet. ' ""■ oMMion.1 held th.pruonT."^'"F.t'«';'>«''.-w «heh«lide„t;fle^^'l";*';,^-'«'Wn. "plied that he h.d ..jT °°^'- He •0 within. !:^orTR"u: '"''>•"■ 'rom whioh pZitj""" *" "^-^ '«» hin, enclo" „; ^^^T'T " ""« lo«« of hi. bag Jf ," °J^" '" *• » B« -u-ersee, owner of m- where the body w«« t ^ ® "''•"P he had met the pZn ^"^' ''"'^^^ 'h»' -..-nownasTnor'''''"^*"^' the prisoner was w«n '""'' *"** *=hat -wampandlolit;tT;:r "^'^ '"• ing there ^' *' ^® ""^^ ^0*0 .hoot- THE MT7RDVR OF BBITWILL. wh«r« B«nw«iri bodlj wm Afterwards found. Chief Oonitable Toang, of the Falls, tflititied to having arrested the prisoner, to having found the keys of deceased's trunk! in the prisoner's possession, and to hsring found in prisoner's pocket a gold pencil-caae, afterwards identified as having belonged to Benwell. Conductor W. H. Poole, Brakesman Goorge Hayes, News Agent James Duffy, Elizabeth Lockhart, and Hannah Ohoate proved that on the morning of the 17th of February the prisoner and deceased travelled on a G.T.B. train from the Falls to Hamilton and from Hamilton to East- wood, where they alighted. Alfred Hay ward, John Orosby, Ellen Fallon, and others testified to having seen tho prisoner and deceased at different points between Eastwood and the swamp, and Charles Buck and other residents testified to having seen the prisoner re- turn to Eastwood alone. Alice Smith, one of the Orown's most important wit- nesses, told how she had met the prisoner on the afternoon of the 17th of February after his return from the swamp, and explained that at the time he spoke to her he i<«f erred to events that had oo ' curred the year before, so that she was positive M to his identification. When she m.v him his trousers were rolled up, and he looiced as if he had been walking a considerable distance. Mr. Blackstock made a vigorous effort to shake the testi- mony of this witness, but failed, her evi- dence being corroborated by half a dozen witnesses who were at the station when Birchall took the train back t4> the Falls. A number of telegrams were put in which it was shown the prisoner had sent to himself for the purpose of misleading Pelly and others as to the whereabouts of deceased. By evidence that woulA not be ahaken the prisoner and deceased were traced from the time they left Buffalo m. to within I ^If a mile of the swamp, and Hirchall's move- ments were made clear from the time he was seen walking from the swamp to East- wood until his arrival at the Falls on the night of the day on which Benwell was murdered. An immense amount of testimony was put in to fill in the details of the Grown case, nearly all of it circumstantial, but the whole formed such a perfect chain that the defence failed complet^^ely to break a single link. In behalf of the prisoner, testimony ALIOS SMITH. was submitted to show that the evidence of the identity of either the prisoner or deceased was insuflScient, and Mr. Black- stock, in a four hours' address, endeav- oured to convince the jury that there was a doubt as to whether Birchall was ever seen at Eastwood or in the vicinity of the "Swamp of Death." One of the most remarkable features of this most remarkable case was Mr. Osier's address to the jury. He followed the movements of the prisoner aud deceased from the time they became acquainted in England until Birohall'e arreat, and in \'- Ij': xxn hAd t »f"oner and the motive he THE JUDa,-'s CHARGE. .nf" ^"^"'"P ^'^'f*" his address at T ^ •nd m opening remarked that th * ' n-^w drawing to the dose Tl ^ ''"'" important case. a. To th '"*'" '"^ ^ . AS lo the question of THE M ITRDER OP BEimELL. JCDGK MAOMAHOK. punishment, neither H,« • ''adanythin^todoV'hrTr''""^^ "lent for such case- Jl '® ^""'^h- Peopleto whom hevT -'T^*^'*^ ^^ ^^e threshold of the cafe r^" "-'^- ^" '^e <^»abu,e therm" tr"^'^''-- they may have r^ad in thl ^^ "*''"^«"' «d them as a soWn I ^'''"'' *"^ ^'^■ -hat they had r ad ^.H ^ ^ '" ^«^«^«^« 'heirminLaCnrwritr;"'^^^^^ :»ive the evidence given L" " ' '" '" °"h. In this case r "" ""^«'' evidence oi "2 ^ ^^. ""r "" '^'-'•«<^' ^thercrimes/r .,,;'':• "^^ -".V ■Howea great de- Pnvity. He pointed oat th» aut ence between direct An!i ^'®"" *[*! evidence, sh " ^g/"'. rr'^" *hat the Jatter when tncLtetrf' more reliable. In this case thl -lied upon to consider thVevdir "*' cording to the rules he had iaTd ! ' *" «uch cases Th« n '*'^''" '" satisfy the iuJl ''^ ""^'^^'^"'^ ^^ thepLneriuhet'^'^?'^^ '"*"'''»' ThA « ? [ ® ***•" murdered Ben well 'toned „„t It """""^ '"<• Bo""!! noyoia not .lop at the farm th«v ,„„w return shortly, w. I... ■. . ""'"""W tiMt Birchall h.„ /' " "• ""<">" therefor^ ,L""°.'«™, " »"«.«. ".»-».«:::„;:,;»;'"'"'■'"=- ™, Ba«iv sTa«r ™o„ Bcmw. T% left Buffiiio at . n„ „,. . for some reaaon k. « ™ "J' "O" ' before . ix"cLl 7" '^"'^ "''' " "■ Wingthehotr J "' """'"■<"" "tate, Ihat two ;■ J , '""" "">« Bridge "•«thepri.o„,rrdtr,r:e'"T "en who u«ed up, and thaTsho. T"''^^' ^" ^-th. The theoyote""' '""•"' another shot was IJ f ^'°^" « that C-wnasksth:-;f;/^pr'^'*"^'^« -ere the same shote IJfT^ '^"^ '^^^ ^^^^^enburg, and ^h":1'^ ^^ "^'». «Poke of the weafchi . "^^ "^t 'h« condition o7l"b^*\-«^'*nd ««re, showing that ^h^^, '*''" *'P«- ^^edeceasedw'asf!:^L;t,f ^-tof day night, it ^^. '" '«« on Thur.- that every mark in ^J *, "^^'fi^nt fact --ved/anf hi h\ '^-^ had been l-een found Benwell'*!, T''^°^^«^ «<>« •"--y« remained a " "'^ ^°"^^ ^ave ^f-tubofa'tarTr-.^^-^-- showing deceased was smnt ''^''^^^^^r, "^ death, or had h "'^ '^^ '=^« time H« Wdship tie'ed" r" ^^^^--^^ '««'^t« to CunstabL w^ "'''* «tate. Cox, none of wh !u °"' ^""' ^^^d ^^«t was his oS ?r' ^" •^^^i^- thesestatements?^ ' ^"' '° "taking ^hese different storzes iT ''*" '^"^°« ^^-eintopossessionoftleb " ''^'^ ^'^ then it was verv " ^''•*^8^*Se checks, --d that he dfd 3oT ^"'^"- to hi; these checks by aom« ; ° '^^ Possession of Ben^iihad™;:":*"""-"- » tione to forward ffc. I ' ""o "ml d«o. ^'>"'' cerr„""t;:::„^t„c THE MURDER OF BEITWXLL. Ion th«t aug. « all the pri. of che body and he asked to them that 'g disproved f^t deceased of plunder? f the body >g. that the »rafi[ging the 5r. Welford have been t-collar was ced instant own is that rd, and the that these liacdonald, fie next ^eek, and [■om expo- : foot of on Than- »nt fact had been dder not uld have here was holder, the time iviously, state- ull, and detail. making telling ow he 'hecks, to his Bion of M. If dirao- New tel*. ii he gok his baggage at an he must get it in New York. ^ In speaking tif the telegram, he said if the jury was satisfied that Birchall sent a telegram at Buffalo to himself at Niagara, then it was of the gravest moment to the prisoner. When it became known that the cigar-case was found, his Lordship thought prisoner's conduct very strong presumptive BVIOENOB OF HIS OUtLT. prisoner was in Woodstock on that day. When the evidence was not only of a cir> cumstantial nature, but of a strong con- vincing character, then it was stronger than direct evidence. The duty rested with the jury to pass upon the evidence, and theirs was a solemn one. With the punishment they have nothing to do. At ten o'clock the jury retired, knd an hour and a half later they returned a ver- dict of guilty. When the verdict was given mss sicrrH undbb If the prisoner sent these telegrams, it was evidence of the strongest character against the prisoner. He did not purpose to go into [the medical testimony for ob- vious reasons, but passed on to the evi- dence of Old Man Babb and others for the defence. Two witnesses speak of tracks they saw, and the defence ask the jury to believe that the body was carried there, while the Crown deny this theojf . The evidence of Millman and MacQueen was offered you to show how easily tatively which is far from the truth, and is no doubt the outcoms of some fertile and ima- ginative brain, which, in the hdat of compe- tition among the various papers for supre- macy in che matter of giving what purported to be the fullest accounts and the most ro- mantic details, has yielded to ttaoje power- ful faculties of genius and imaginatidn which newspaper writers alone possess. The public taste must be satisfied — a desira for the sensational is all prevalent at such a time as when I was arrested — and therefore it behooves thasa knights of tha panoil to d9 BIROHALL'8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. their ntmott to ouUlrip thvir rivals, •nd Kain the moat imoortant detail* without loaa oi tinttt ; and what they cannot finrl out as fact, their imagination is largely drawn upon to supply the deficiency. Of that all necessary qualitioation for a writer, namely, the power of imagination, these gentlemen apparently possess an uufailiof^ supply : and in my own case it has on more than one occasion stood them \n good stead. In no way wouid I our- tail the power of the press. It does maoh good, and I firmly believe oanr^ot be overesti- mated in its benefloial effect upon the publio SB a body ; bat some little allowance must be blade for an individual mumber of that body if he raise a feeble voice to protest against the substitution of imagination for facts when the laster cannot be obtained. I may quote one or two instanoei which have a spsoiai bearing on what 1 have just slluded to. In this work I have gone into my career as a theatrical manager. I wan^ as I have said, at Burton, England, in that capacity. Two or three days after my arrest I saw in the paper that I was at one time manager of WaDack's theatre. New York, stated as a positive fact A alight mistake, truly, but doubtless originated by the idea that I was in a theatrical enterprise somewhere, and Wallack's theatre was as good for the public as any other theatre. One thing that has been stated over and over again in the press that I have a great love for notoriety, and, to qaote the words of that strange and misKuided specimen of humanity, Dr. Bessey, " I am vainglorious as any peacock." Of the aforesaid gentleman I will say but little, save that from seeing me through the bars for one minute be went away and wrote two columns in the Olobe on his "Psychological Examination of Biroball." Wonderful man I How lost and hidden under a bushel his oandle is ! How cac the Domin- ion any longer ignore this ooble mind ! Well may I apply to him the words used in refer- ence to Ml'. Gladstone by the late Lord Beaconsdeld, and nay that " truly he is in- toxicated with toe exuberance of his own verbosity." A DIFFJCKKNOE WHICH IS ALSO A DISTINCTION. To return, however, to the love of notoriety, I emphatically deny that I love notoriety ; and whatsoever notoriety I have gained has been thrust upon me in connection with my case. These tlaring reports now for the first time find their way into print, and reminis- cences of the days gone by have been hunted up by enterprising press men which were practically dead for ever. In all my doings at Oxford I sought no notoriety in any one way ; it was thrnit upon me by my utterly foolish acts and escapades, which M much differed fronr the ordinary pursuits of the average 'Varsity man that they became talk- ed of in many circles simply on account of their strangeness and unique standing. I did these things and enjoyed them at the time, and in aoing them my idea was that of en- joyment in its true sense, which occurs not in the same way to two persons alike. It isn't the love of notoriety that prompts a man to enjoy life. It is only when a cer- tain class or people take upon themselves to take exception to and criticise the manner in which a tellow- being occupies his tims and treats his surroundings that thev, finding ideas of life to differ widely from theirs, fail- ing to imi}resi upon him the desirability of following in their footsteps, immediately stamp him with that strange word " notori- ous. ' Any man who steps flagrantly out of the beaten traok becomea notorious, but not necessarily for love of notoriety, and unless we know personsUy the subject of discussion and the feelings that prompt strange acts in life, then it is not incumbent upon us to dis* cuss these actions at all. ^ There are in this world many exoellent maxims 4hat our fathers have handed down to us, and which we are, sad to relate, for- getting day by day, but there is one that is not aitiicalt %o remember if we try very hard to do so, and I would therefore com- mend it to all who may happen to read these pages- { allude to that grand old maxim and unfailing piece of good advice, namely, " Mind your own biisiness." Call my acts the result of inborn or contracted folly if you like, but not love of notoriety. The ways of men are hard to understand, as they are also narrow, and the acts of one jar the nerves of another. Due allowance should in every case be made. It my small contribution to the free spiriits of the time be as great as the accounts would lead the publio to believe, and it they accept without reserve the statement that appears in these pages, cut from the Canadian press, that " my wild ways were notorious through- out the length and breadth of the univer- aity,"what, then, shall be said of those mem^ bers in by-gone days, by bue side of whose acts and ways mine sink into utter ignominy and oontempt ? What term shall be applied to them? Can the word "notorious be applied to them ? Truly it falls short of the mark. What old Oxford man has not heard of the doings of the Hell Fire Club at Brase- nose College, at whose meetings an empty chair was alwnys left for his Satanic Majesty to occupy in invisible form ? Who remembers not the "Town and Oown " fighta of the days gone by, which are almost thiugi of the past ? The outrage- 'M . BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOOBAPHT. u ons mU perpetrated by the free epirite of long aKo, aoa the prKotioal jokeit then prac- tiled by our fathers 7 Go to aoy coUeKe porter of any long stand- ing, to any hotelkeeper who can date back twenty or thirty years, or to the old in- habitants of the neighbourhood, and to those who lived when the Bullingdon Club was in its prime, and ask them to tell you their experience and recollection of the " free spirits " of their time ; and then you will see iuto what utter inaignitioance and shade ' any of my so-called "wild ways" will sink. If I could only give you the names of tome who occur to me as I write I could give yon many amusing and startling details, but the present position of the participants prevents me from so doing. Bat enough of this. I am not writiug a book of excuses, only facts for your consider- ation and perusal. It is not necessary for me to remind some of my readers of the old saying, that when a man is down then tram ule on him. If proof of the saying be wanting to any, then I step forward and offer myself as a brilliant example. Since so many and various reports have been circulated by the piess of and about my doings, I shall endeavour to give you a true picture of all these, without varnish or ad- dition to the actual fact. Oxford ways and cust^'"' are unique, and can only be correct- ly understood by those who have had prac- tical experience of them ; but from my ac- count I shall hope to aid the reader in trying to discern some of the mysteries of the an- cient seat of learning. SOHB NOTABLE BXCEPTI0N8. In concluding this somewhat lengthy ex- planation I shall be forgiven 1 hope if I pay a passing tribute to The Toronto Mail and sta£f and the >lew York Herald as exceptions to my somewhat harsh criticism by the press. Since my arrest, during my incarceration here and during the trid I have been privi- leged to meet several gentlemen connected with these publications. 'I his work of mine will be their exclusive property, and I desire to express to them through the medium of their own columns my sincere thankr^ and gratitude for the many kindnesses rks, " Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you," and in these few words I used to find much spurious comfort. I was likewise a warm supporter of the distorted adage which stys, " Never do to- day what you can do to-morrow," and when- ever anything conid be left undone that ought to be done, I think the former result generally applied. Of coarse when about ten years of age I began to receive tuition in Latin and Greek from my father, and under a stern regime made considerable progress with the study and knowledge of those ancient languages, and added to a general acquaintance of those elementary facts which go to form the modern schoolboy's stock in trade. At the age of twelve 1 was pronounced ready for school which in my case proved to be the preliminary canter for the race furnished by the university later on. MAKING HIS PLACE AMONG THE isOTS. After much argument anent the different schools, it was at length decided that I should be sent to Rosaail, a large Public school close to that far-famed seaside resort, Blackpool, in Lancashire. My father had an interest in the school, and hence the choice. It was a beautiful spot, close to the sea, with about twenty-two acres of playgrounds and line buildings. 1 think the number of boys in my time was about three hundred, or a few more. The headmaster was the Rev. H. H. James, B.D., now headmaster of Cheltenham College, England. This was in the year 1878. I entered the house of Captain B. M. Ormsby, one of the junior masters, and after a somewhat searching interview and ex- amination by one of the other masters I was placed m the first form. There was •ne fo| but I estate, good ad brought abes aporecif ail" wet asked how ok be was,! all thesJ returnel my iath anil as meeting uensurel would ausi>ici< effect a spect ai these fl usual fi| kinds, proving quished BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. •ne form itill lower, I may mention, but I was not relegated to that low eiiate. Of course, beaidea a great deal of good advice from my pareota and others, I brousht with me the usual supply of eat- ab es which schoolboys alone iinow how to appreciate in their leisure hours. For a time all went well. I had the usual qoestionr asked of me that are pat to every new boy- how old I was, how old my father was, what be was, why he v/ad, and if so why not ? To all these would-be thirsters for Itnowlodge I returned the stern and boasttul reply that niy father was a life governor of the school, and as such would be present at the annual meeting, and to all who were deserving of censure, in my opinion, to those justice would be promptly meted out on that auspicious day. These tactics had good effect and secured for me consider.ihM re- spect among my fellows. Notwithstanding these flowery pretensions I experienced the usual fights for supremacy in matters of all kinds, with varying success, sometimes proving victorious, sometimes being van- quished very ignominiously. AN IRKEPAHABLE LOSS. I had oniy been at school a little over one month when I received the sad and terrible news that my fa'.her had died very suddenly, and that my presence was immediately re- quired at home. I was completely heart- broken at the time, and hardly knew what to do or say. My father was the best and kindest of fathers to me, humoring my every whim, and ever ready to help, please, or grant me anything within his power. He had endeared himself to me so completely in BO many ways that I may truthfully say that I felt then the truest and most sincere grief that I have ever felt, save for my past mis- spent life and the disgrace I have brought upon my family, and for my broken-hearted wife, who has stood by me through good and evil report (to quote the words of my able advocate, Mr. O. T. Blackstock, Q.C.,) with closest clinffing and through darkest storm. Uf this and other matters I shall, however, speak later. I arrived home shortly after the news of my father's death had reached me, and found all my relatives assembled at the old home. The funeral was a public one, as my father was so widely known and respected. He wa6 a Freemason, and belonged to other oriiers also. All were fully represented upon that memorable occasion, and many of the inhabitants of the town remember yet vivid- ly the'details. My elder brothers and I were chief mourners, and I myself well remember the Sdd occasion. After assembling together to hear ocr father's w.ll read, and after beins informed that we were well provided for, wo prepared to go our Tarious ways again whence we haid come together for thif pur- pose. FOND OF ATHLETIO 8P0RT8. I returned to school again, and spent the remainder of that term in a very moody and miserable frame of mind, rarely associating with anyone at all aava at the houra when lessons were going on. I ased to wander off alone to the seashore and there spend many lonely hours. After a somewhat dull vacation of five weeks I returned, a good deal better both in body snd >nind, and prepared to go in strong- ly for athletic pursuits, for which I had a strong taste. The scnool was divided into seven clubs for cricket and football, and I was placed in the fifth olub, which was composed of some thirty or forty knembers. We played the Assooiaiion g«iiie as at present known, and had a very good ground allotted to as. I soon rose to be captain of "ihis club, a pro- motion much envied by others, and steadily made progress onward in the line ot sporta and pastimes. UUUD AT SCIENC"! AND SONO. In work I kept on pretty steadily, and soon was promoted to the third form, but this was a veritable slough of despond ; out of it I could not set, and! remained a fixture for a long time. Finding myself unable to emerge from this form, owing to the superior classical work of those above me, I set to work to study science, and with such success that I carried off the divisioa prize fur that subject at the end of the Christmas term in IbSU, being a long way ahead of any other competitor, and very proud I was to see my name heading the published liat with a total of 147 marks out of a possible 200. 1 also i'oined the choir in the school chapel, and, leing then possessed ot a v^ry fair treble voice, I sang much at concei'ts, etc., with some success, my nerve standing me iu good stead, and often leading to success where others failed from sheer nervousness, a very common failing among schoolboys. During this period at Kossall I got into • good many scrapes, but was somewhat lucky in escaping detection on more than one occa- sion when I was deserving of punishment. I was pursued by farmers when in search of birds' egK8, chased by irate gamekeepers in the most flagrant acts of trespass, and though constantly suspected for various untimely events that happened, 1 escaped many times without my deserts, the anjuintntum ad homiiiem l)eing generally used instead of the more effective argumentum ad posterionm, so much in Toguo in schools at the present time. Early in 1881 my guardians thought fit to remoTo me from Kossall iust wnen I waf i BIBOnALL'S AUTOBIOORAPHT. Retting OD nioAly, . uxA had emerged from that dreadful third form into the fourth, and very nearly gained the fitth, giving aa their reaaon that it waa too far north, aince they lived in the aouth, for me to come and go, and that they had decided to send me for the future to Reading in Berkshire, Knglaud. 1 took all this with very bad grace, and it was with the sreattfac regret that I bade adieu to my old kchool friends, with whom I had Srown so tamiliar and spent so many happy aya iu their company. When 1 look back over the list of tnosA who were there with me, even in this short space of time, they are vastly changed. Many are dead, some of those I knew best ; one of my best friends there was drowned, and many have gone out toto the world as clergymen, ineinbers of different professions, and a few, I am sorry to aay, have followed the idler's path. THB UKUINMNO OF MIS01iIh:F. Having bade adieu to Ross: '1 1 then arrived on the scene at R^^drng. It was a large school, standing on fine ground and sur- rounded by the fine town which has made a name in English history for its seeds and biscuits. I woa placed in the head master's house, and very aooa discovered that be- tween the discipline of the two schools there was a big difference, the standard at Reading being fifty per cent, lower in favour ot the pupil than it was at Rossall. This 1 was not •low to appreciate, and very soon began a turn in affairs which laid the foundation of my wasted and riotous career at Oxford. I was placed in the fourth form and found myself away ahead of those in it lu many ways, the standard at the other school being very much higher than here : so 1 had a good deal of spare time on my hands. We each bad a separate bed-room, and I was privileged to work in my own room in the evening instead of down stairs with the crowd. Along with a few other privileged ones I used to hold a kind of "at home" from seven till Dine, and wa used to meet regularly to con- lume such eatables as cannot be easily per- ceived either by remains or savoury odour. I must also say that we went to the length of providing intoxicating liquors, which one ot ua procured irom a neigtibouring "pub" which we sometimes frequented during for- bidden hours. Thus our work was allowed to slide, and we generally trusted to luck or to some one else having to construe the one hundred lines of Virgil or Greek author that happened to be on the tapis. Luck seneraliy favoured ns, however, and hardly ever did we suffer physically for our carousala KXPERT I'OKAGERS. At nine o'clock p. m. we used to aasenihle in the diniog-hall for a hymn and prayen, after that supper, consisting of bread and cheese and one glass of b-er (the word beer is not to be taker literally here — it was too bad for that), and then to bed, except thoae who were allowed to ait up an4 work (?). Toe masters had their supper after we did, and on many occasions the mysterious disappearance of a leg of mutton or a pie and other articles declared necessary by schoolboys has been to those poor masters au unsolved problem. Oftentimes the choice viands prepared for tha pedagogues have gone to supply the wants of buuKry souls for which they were never in- tended. However, we coula often give the masters a start and a beating in the matter of suppers, for we held them on a graud scale in defiance of all rules and regulations, and late into the night we revelled safe from observa- tion. BAD COMPANY OONVKNIENT. I was appointed a monitor by the hsad master, and tbia conferred the privileges of using a walking stick and going to town whenever one liked : and this suited me well. I also rose to prominence in the athletio de- partment, and was awarded a place on both the cricket and football teams, and was also appointed the secretary of the Games Com* mittee, which potition I held up till the time 1 left We had many matches with the col- leges at Oxford, which was only thirty-seven miles away ; and we were also near the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and a certain army tutor's establishment (which shall be nameless), which was the terror of the neigh- bourhood. Tbia latter place and the members who composed it had peculiar fascinations for me. Toeir style, loud and horsey ; their assumption of bogus anthority, and their practical jokes, carried sometimes to startling reality, were very much to my taste, and I immediately strove to get acquainted tvith some of tbem, which I did in tht wllowiog way: Being secretary ot the games I osed gener- ally to make up the list of players together with the captain, who usv.i generally to take my advice on all matters of this kind ; and I thought it advisable to procure some ex- traneous help when necessary, and therefore I wrote to the tutor's establishment to ask some of them to come over when we wanted thesn to help us, and they very readily as- sented to do BO ; we often asked them and I was very pleased indeed when they came, as they imparted considerable life to the games, and their manners were very taking with those of us who were inclined to be rowdy. They encouraged us in making fan of the master, in smoking and the like, things thai were strictly against the rules of the scuool, and when the college teams used to com* down they only added to these desirss, and I BIRCHALL'S AUTOBlOUilAPHT. formed a very itrong impreuion that the lifa tbey led was very uaoioating and jolly. This quite eettle i my mind that I mutl go to Oxford : UDtil then I had been undecided about it When we went away from * the aohool to play any match we were generally trusted to take care of ouraeives, and we in- variably betraved that trust reposed in us iu » multitude of ditterent ways. We were no sooner out of sisht of the sohool than we began to smoke, having laid in a supply of material for that pernicious habit in boys, and eeneraily we indulged in some intoaioat* ioL' drink, sang songs, and generally mis- behaved ourselves. ToKetber with this grew a spirit of insubordination toward the mas- ters, which eventually culminated in open rebellion and broughc on the downfall of that school irom its former high position to its present low ebb. Long after we left and went to Oxford meetines were held by trustees to enquire into the state ot tilings, the headmaster was called upon to resign and almost every master and boy left. If only they bad sent for us we could have explained the whole thing in very few words. I was sent for, and so fur as I could I took the part of the staff against the trustees, but it made no difference ; we had ruined the place, and they knew it only too well when too late. Openly we used to refuse to obey the dictum of the masters and they were powerless to do anything. FKIZES AND PRANKS. I carried off a number of prizes during my stay of some three years — several science prizes, and one prize for public recitation on prize day was a prize I valued much. I won also athletic prizes of different kinds for run* nine, tennis, etc. We were strictly forbidden to go down to the River Thames, which was not far distant, but nevertheless upon Sundays, despite the disadvantages of Sunday clothes aud . plug hats which we were compelled to wear on that day. we managed to Dave many enjoy- able days on the river, generally free from detection of any kind, actual or inferred. In fact, whauoever was against the rules and whatsoever was redolent of lawloasness and disorder, in that we found especial de- light. 1 say Wo, because I had a small coterie of friends who Leartily joined in with all these escapades, wnioh, as I remarked before, were only the stepping stone to the further opportunities offer<^d to us for the continuance of more advanced disorder within the walls of the great uni /ersf.ty. •* NON SATIS " AT OXFOKO. Daring the last few weeks of my itay at Reading I was prc-r>\r:ng, in a measure, for passing the entrance examination at Oxford —not a very serious matter, bat still one in which accuracy aud detail played important parts; I en:irely underustimated the stand- ard, and upon my appearint; previous to my entering upon residence in Oxford 1 was pro< uounced *' nonaatin," which is to say, not up to the mark. At this time I was preparing to enter Jesus College, br* being warned by friends not to do so on account of its bad standing iu the 'Varsity, 1 tbsrefore retired gracefully into the country to gain the re- quisite knowledge for the examination before mentioned, A SOLEMN WAKNINO TO BOT& This brings me to what will be the longest part of my narrative, and perhaps the most interesting to my readers. Before I eo any further let me beg of any of my readers who are about to enter upon a university career, no matter where, to recognize the truth of the warning that will be found in my uni- versity career, and to weigh with the utmost care and deliberation and to abjure as they woula poison the two following acts, .which are bound to lead to folly, sin, and ruin : — First, never gat into debt. Second, never borrow money. If you can't get what yoa want and pay for it then and there it is better far to go without it. Debts accumulate be- fore you are aware of it, and then the borrow- icg of money is gradually resorted to to pre- vent legal redress for debtor to keep the know- ledge of the fajts from sorrowing parents. I could quote many instances of loving parents who have stinted themselves of almost the bare necessities of life to keep their sons at Oxiord, and how have their sons repaid them? By squandering the hardly earned means of the parents in idle dissipation and riotous living ; in betting— that curse of mankind — may be on cards, or other forms of gamblina; Co which they may be prone. I do not speak alone or unsupported in my testimony of this fact. There are thousands who will add their experience to mine in this way. And where does the fault lie ? With the undergraduate ? Not altogether. Let me tell you why, and let me show you the temptations. CN LIMITED CREDIT. A man goes ap to Oxford. He enters college, be it which it may. He no sooner enters his rooms, which have been set apart for him, than be finds his table covered with letters from tradesmen who vie with each other for the honour of supplying him with ail manner of things, necessary and unneces- sary ; and letters, even at this early stage of the proceedings, from money-lenders offering him any amount on his note of hand simply, some of them living perhaps in the adjoining street. He can get credit nnlimited from the wine merchant, the grocer, cigar mer* t. I 1 1 BIROHALL'S AUf >BIOailAPHT. ohant, who deemi it a pcrional favour to b« privilf>)!ad to knitp id coniiition a dozen l)Oxea o^ the be*t Havana! for hia uie ; the tailor, from whom he will afterward borrow many a five pound note and sea it put down in the bill as clothei ; the ahoemaker, the book •tore, the Italian wurchouie inon, the rei«- taurants, and if he be a huntini^ or driving mail and does not keep his own horieii, then bis bill* will be larsely augmented by his stable account, which will reach a length and amount ia a short time such as only Oxtard men are used to the li^ht of. B'rom all these and a hoii of others he can get almost unlimited credit, and when his credit tails with one he then o»u transfer his orders and custom i<> another man who deals in the same class of (roods. Mow you see the temptation. A man eoes up from school or home into a sea of lite. There is practically nothing he sees there he wishes for he cannot have. His credit unlimited ; he is hU own Ditister ; life and liberty to do his pleasure are hin. What greater temptation than these can be set out before a man starting life? And to me as I sit writing in my prison cell, I know that had it not been for these and other means of luring a man from the riubt path when startine lite I should not be sitting here to-night. Let me beg ot all those, then, as they read this tale of misery, to take warning themselves and to warn others of thH fate that surely awaits all those who fall into these snares. There are instances, it is true, in which men have extricated themselves from the mass of debt which they have incurred, but how lone has it taken them, and to what extent kept them down and in want in life! It is in the commencement that a start must be mude against debt, and by the man him- self. Temptation is very strong, and for a time he will not notice any evil consequences, but wait a little longer and see the result of yielding. SOME NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS. A very well known tailor it; Oxford once told me that he had just received £5 from a clergyman on account of his bill contracted when he waa at Oxford many years before, and that he was constantly receiving sums due on accounts of ten and fifteen years' standing. Of course this ability to give such credit is due to several reasons. In the first place the tradesman is an old-establish- ed capitalist. He can afford to wait. In the second he charges enormous prices for his goods, so that those who do pay make up largely for those who do not. It is often •aid that if the tradesmen get half the amount of their claims they are well paid. I know of a man who is said to have gone to Poole, the great tailor, and thinking to get Poole's out withont such a frightful prio«« took his own cloth with him ami asked hiri to have it made up for him. He was duly measured, thf juit completed and sent boma, the bill amounting to precisely the same ai if I'oole hud puppliea the cloth. Heing angry he went to the shop and demanded the reason of the bill. The great Pool* answered cynically : — " My dear sir, we never charge for the cloth : it is only the style we charge for." Such are the men with whom you have to deal, and there are many of them, unfor- tunately. I once had a friend whose tailor was grow- ing very importunate, and he knew not how to keep the man at bay. At last the tailor put the matter into the hands of the proctor, and my friend was bound to take action of some sort. He went therefore to S . who was president of an important club iu which were noblemen and others who dealt largely with the tailor in ((uestion, and paid him well. 8 went to the tailor and laid : — " Vou are suing Mr. 8o-and-8o for hia bill T" " Yes, sir," said the tailor. "Then," said 8 , "lam sorry to in- form you that we shall all withdraw our cus- tom from you and shall have to let it be known that you have behaved so badly to my friend that we have had to leave you alto- pether." "I beg of you not to do that, sir," said the tailor. " The bill shall not be sued for or sent in again till the gentleman oalla or sends for it." " in that case," said S ■ — , "I may re- consider my decision," which of course he did. I might quote many instances of this kind of thing. MONEY LENDERS AKE WOR.SV. So much, then, for the tradesmen. Now a word about the money-lenders, into whoso hands the tradesmen mostly play. Thesa gentlemen are a very numerous class, and can easily be approached. Tiie modus operanai at Oxford used to be the following : — If you wauted say £50 pretty quiokiy, go to the lender you happen to know of, who was generally some accountant acting in the interest of some one else. Tell bim your home and college and state your wants. He immediately satisfies himself of your identity by consulting the college list, and if he has any debts to collect against you, which is generally the case, he then writes unt a pro- missory note for the amount, to which the interest is added. I know ot no case where less than thirty per cent was charged, and often more. He bids you go and get certain of your friends to add their names as security, and if you do so, and call again in tha even- I^IROHALL'S AUT(^BimRAPHT. itfal prk*, kikad hiri I wu duly lent bom*, le tamo m >h. Heine damandad r«iat Pool* ga for the refer." u have to im, unfor- waa (^row- r not how ; the tftilor le prootnr, I Motion of I . who b iu which alt largely paid him id said : — } for bia rry to in- n our oua- let it be ftdly to my 9 you alto- air," aaid e aued for n oalla or I may re- courie he lea of tLia Now • ito whoaa Tbeae a, and can optranai iiokiy, so of, wLo ig in the iim your inta. Ue r identity iofr, the money ii there for you. So far, ao guod. but wait a little while and aee the leijuel. Vou have borrowed I.'jO. He then tinda out WHO your tradeimen are, with whom you deal, and tallia the matter over with th»ni. "Mr. X haa to-day borrowed £6a" "That looks bad," aaya the tradesman. "Yea," nays the shark, "yon had better give me your blil to collect for you," and tbia la done by othera alao. Then the itbark writea to the unauspeoting idiot who haa borrowed the i;>')0 savinu that the bills have been placed in hia hands for collection and must be paid by a uertain date. Tbeie are two ooaraes open— the one pleaaing to the shark — i,f., to ooo- tinue borrowing— or the other, which ie by far the best in the end, provided you only do it once and there let it end. ia to make a clean hreaat of your ditlicultiea to your par> ents and get them to advise yon ; only don't impose upon them if tney happen to help you once. Of oourae there are London aharka who try to get you into their net by all man* ner of schemea ; only theae wretchea alwaya find out your aooiul statue and your father's meana, etc., betore they ever communicate with you at all. I myaelf once borrowed £100 with a friend to ^0 to Aacot racea with. We paid £30 for the uaeof it for a abort time, and £1 aa the man's charge for making the transaction ! TUB PARTINO OF TUB WAYS. With theae two referencta to tradeamen and money lendera I will paas ou to my entrance at the porial of Aima Mater, and shall notice benetits and evils side by side aa we pass along. If the atudent or would-be student be like the writer, and enter in the apiru that he did, then would 1 aay : Abandon hope all ye who enter here. But if with a right apirit and determina- tion, then there ia much that ia good bafora him, and we may well aay of him, in the words of Virgii, " Mncte virtute puer." The careers of many who have done so well are well known and need no reference. There- fore, mine may be interesting from another atandpoint. ENTERING OXFORD. Having caat about for a aaitable college to enter. Fate wbiapered in my ear that Lincoln College was to be the oboaen one, and Lincoln it was. I presented myself at the entrance examination at that inatitntion in the apring or rather late winter of 1885. I paaaed the examination creditably and became a resiuent of the college two daya later. On arriving my firat act wm to get my cap Mid gown, necessary adjiinota for all atudenta. I waa then ahown my rooms, which wer>* very com. fortable and well furnished, and on my tuhle 1 found the class of correspo-tiis. .\oc • bit of it ! Hardiy anyone who met hiin in the town did not know him, and not only did they generally take some notice of him, but '■'t^mt^m, » thay often went out of their way to p«t and feed him. I do not deny that there may have been a certain feeling of respect for him existing at that time. I think myself that there was. Rut of course bulldogs are fero- cious-looking beasts, and we cannot expect everybody to fondie them as they would a toy terrier. At any rate his actioas were much exaggerated by the press. THE GIRLS AT OXFORD. Before going further I may as well mention the different classes of companion^ and the society with which we ~ associate at Oxford, be- ginning with the fair s^x. Of society in Oxford with- out the college walls there is a great variety. If a man have friends among the towna-people he may spend some pleati ant hours in their houses. JSaturally the lair sex play an importand part here as elsewhere; and the uaNcxng OIRU it is a rare thing to enter a man's rooms without tinr^ini; i >wv. selected photographs of those nearest and dearest to them. I say a "few," for hearts at the 'Varsity are tickle and changing iudeed. Man's love is like the restless wayas, £ver at rise and fail ; The only love a woman craves, It must be all in all. But at Oxford I fancy it was pretty evenly divided. The girls you heard most of were " other fellows' sisters,' and the speech often Mr BULLDOG. AN OXKOKD GIRL AT Tin, sKA.SIDE. heard after a heavy supper, while intent upon the cigars and port wine, was in some such strain as this : — " Bai Jove, deah boy, did you see that sister of A.'s ? " " Yes, isu t she wipping— must get intro- duced to her. " •• Was wbot 1 " says Lord X. " That girl BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 13 io the pluk dwesi ? I didn't think mncb of her." "Go way ! " thont all. " You are jealous of C'a Kitting an introduction," and so forth. Much time u apent in idle diacussion of this kind. ALL SOBTS AND CONDITIONS OF WOMEN. There are many types of the fair sex— the boating eirl, the dancing girl, the girl one meets out at dinner, the girl who studies and is very learned, the simple cousin from the country, and the girl you don't care to meec anywhere. I append illustrations of ttie most interesting of these types. The fair sex are, bow- ever, necessary and pleasant adjuncts to picnics, balls, dinners, parties, and on all occa- sions when on pleasure bent, especially during the weeks of the races, commemoration, and the summer term in general. Some of the girls you meet are awfully funny. I remember hearing of two of these at the Eton and Harrow match. One said to the other : — "Gertrude, dear, can you tell me which side is batting — Eton or Harrow? ' ' Don't you know that, dear? ' quoth her ooippanion. *' W e 1 1, Eton is in at one end And Harrow at the other." Another misguided rosebud asked the per- tinent question, " Which are they playing— Kugby or Association ? " Another gir', whose brother was captain of the Harrow team, by name Jackson, when asked if she had seen Mr. Gladstone, who was standing near, said, " No ; but have you seen Jackson ? " How fleeting is popularity ! Reader, have you any sisters ? If so, be- fore you take them to a cricket match instruct them in a few terms used in the game, and then their simple remarks will not afterward be served up as dainty dishes in the oomio papers of the day. I have often heard the old lines spoken in Oxford that THE GIRL YOU MEET OUT AT DINNER. Who loves not woman, wine, and song, Remains a fool his whole life loni;. For the truth of this I cannot vouch. I leave it with you to decide. Another saying I used otten to hear when in the neighbourine hotels, when the jovial hour of the evenins drew on apuce, that the thiues which would bring a man to ruin the quickest were — Women, wine, and horses, fieer, baccy, and billiards. This is partly a contradiction of the former couplet. I leave the reader to pass judgment on this also. NO GIRLS IN SCHOOL. With life in college the female sex have little or nothing to do, save an occusiooal visit with an aunt or some other ancient fossil to do duty as a chaperon, to rartake of tea in some friend's rooms. In many rooms may the hauu of a loving mother or sister be traced in the handi- work that women excel so much in — the work- ed slippers, thu border on the mantel shelf, and other bits of bric- a- brae. At times the college hall is turned into a ballroom by express /^ coquettk. permission of the dons, and the gardens, ar- ranged with festoons of Chinese and other liehts, present a particularly pretty usp< ct and form the basis of many innocent flirta- tions, often preconceived and specially ar- ranged. I was always fond of dancing, and took part in many of the larger festivities held in my time. We were always pleuseti to see our own si&ters, but we were still more pleased to see any other fellow's sisters. Strange, but true. Having explained en pa!>sant our relations with the fair sex in the town and from the country I ^ass on to other topics. VARIOUS EXPERIENCES. LARKS AND LOVE AT OXFORD— A WONDERFUL WEDDING— RELIGIOUS MEM OF V*RIOCS KINDS. With regard to the " places of call" that were frequented in the university I will say a few words. There were many places where we used to pass away a few careless hours, and where we could meet without being in- terrupted by the ruthless rule and eye of LJUL'J 14 BmCTHALL'S AUTOBIOORAPHY. the grim and grasping prootort. Much haa been said about my fondness for card-play- tnj7, bat this is a mistake. True, I gener- ally took a hand in a game of nap, whist, or (^carte when I had a party on, but I was not a systematic card player by any means. I usually found that it look up too much time, and anless one played for pretty high •takes— which I never did— th«re was very little inducement to spend 60 much time in ■uuh a pursuit, and especially for me, who preferred something with more move- ment and "so" in it, and I think that of all the games that are played and resorted to in order to find en- joyment, or as the French have it, simply pour pasner le temps, card playing was the least popular. In order to make a dinner or " gaudy " successful it was necessary to invite so many diH'erent people, and all these with different qualifications araong them. For instance, if yon are going to invite a fftw just to spend a social evening you must get one ot two who can talk well and on almost any sporting subject (that is, of course, if you are a sporting character yourself) ; also one or two who can perform upon some musical instruments other tbau the piano — upon which latter iustrumeut most men at Oxford could do a little vamping which served as the unlearned accompaniment to a comic song— or the noisy banjo. Not that the songs were all comic by any means ; far from it, for I have heard iu my own rooms some very excellent ballad and other songs which fipfd a high place in the musical world, and very well sung they were, too. I have suoken previously of thi^ number of theatri- cal artists I used to entertain, and from many of them we heard capital operatic and other songs, and I had many friends who could take their place in the concert room and do credit to themselves and to their university. ^ A MYSTERY EXPLAINED. Much was said some time ago about a party of men calling themselves the " mysterious musicians," who, disguised in dominos and long black cloaks, after the manner suggested by the characters in "Les Manteaux Noirs," appeared at several seaside resorts singing upon the parades in the evening to the ac- companiment of a piano, which was carried upon a cart drawn by a pony. They were evidently of good birth, so said the public, from their manner and voice ; but who were they ? Ah ! there was the mystery. I can tell them ; they were three undergraduates well known in Uxford, who started out thus in order to get funds (by passing round the hat) for some charitable object ; and such a furor did they create that funds did flow into their coffi rs very freely. Alas ! the frailty of human na are 1 We all know that charity begins at 1 }me— and so did the " mysterioua musicians, and they acted upon that most excellent of precepts, so that I fear the charit- able object turned oat to be only tbemselves. A FECDLIAR CHABACTKR. Some of the friends that I had were pos- sessed of very peculiar traits of character. I knew ou^ man especially who attracted a good deal ot jotioe by bis eccentric habita. He was so well ku^wn, though, that we gene* rally took little or no notice of what he aaid and did. He had one favourite dodge, how- ever, which is worth relating. Ha often ran short of cash — • most necessary commodity among Oxford men— and, knowing that he was always borrowing from ns, felt a little ashamed to come boldly and seek the pro- verdial " fiver " or even the modest quid, so resorted to artifice ; be would dress himself in black, with silk hat and gloves to match, and hie himself to the nearest friend's rooms, and with a plaintive note commence • tale of woe, wi'.h a very woebegone face, generally that he had had a telegram saying that his Bister was dead and thit he had no mioney to go down to the funeral with. Such an ap- Elication could not possibly be refused, and e always met with success at first. He then went to each in turn and made the same request. Sometimes we might not happen to compare notes, and he generally kept out of the way at the time for a day or two. But his sister died too Oi'ten— sometimes onne a f( rtnight— and then followed in rapid succes- sion the death of his father, motber, aunt, and other relatives, which naturally led to suspicion, and mutual explanations and roars of laughter, in which he heartily joined. FLAYING PROCTOR. -» Upon one occasion this interesting indi- vidual dressed up as the proctor, with soma of us as " bulldogs," and paraded the quiet streets of Oxford lata in the evening, and pounced upon several nnsuspecting freshmen, whom ha directed to call upon the real proc- tor at ten o'clock the following morning, a proceeding which caused that worthy official a good deal of surprise and an loyance on the morrow when he found a train of freshron calling upon him whom be had never met and knew not why they came. He had a knack of appearing in very strange disguises. I have seen him driving m a cab, quite intoxi- cated, dressed as a bachelor of music in the blue silk gown significant of that degree ; I have seen nim as a clergyman in a music hall in London, as a don parading the streets in a gown he had no right to wear at ail, and half a dozen ditferent styles. He had a penchant for the society of cabman, and 1 bava often fH BmOHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 15 •een the elite of tne 'Varsity cabmen at his table as though they ^ere 'Varsity men them- selveii, eating his choicest viands and smok- intr his tinest Havanas. One thine about him often caused great admiration, and that was bis goodness to the poor. Open-handed as the day, many a poor and starved wayfarer has gone on his way rejoicing at the aims re- ceived, and many a aorrowfal and heavy heart has been rendered light and happy for a time by the ready help and generous re- sponse to his appeal for aid in distress. OOUD-HKAUTRD FELLOWS ALL. Indeed, I saw much of this kind of thing. It is a rare thing not to be able to find some gentle trait or good point in any man's char- acter. We are all prone to err, and we are toid that charity covereth a multitude of sins, and I had no friend, I may truly say, who would not readily share hia last shilling with a poor soul in distress. Though I say it myself (and I know those who knev me best will bear me out), I never refused to heip a man or woman in want, and I have often given the money I needed myself to help another out of difficulties. 1 do not wish to appear anxious to make myself out a saint, far from it ; but I do beg in this book to oiler a most emphatic protest against those wtao have stamped me as mean and selhsb. I was alwayp ready to help a friend in need as they were always ready to help me ; and if I had only kept all the money I lent and squandered recklessly to give my friends pleasure I shouid be very well otf indeed now. I was fond of giving a good dinner, I own, and nothing gave me more pleasure than to see my guests thoroughly enjoying themselves in my rooms, be it dinner, wine or meeting, and at all times of the dtCy, to the disadvantage of my work, I extended a cordial welcome to those who came, and to those who know the term I simply say that " my oak was never sported," which is to say my heavy outer door was never barred on the inside as is the custom of reading men. I often played billiards, and at the English game was a fair player — i, e., 1 could run up thirty or ao in a break. I hardly ever played pool or pyramids ; I never eave them much attention, and the class of men who did play these games were generally « low lot. Unfortunately we had no billiard rooms in college, and had to go out to some of the public or pseado private rooms kept by outsiders, and into these the loafers of the town used to congregate, together with a few betting sharps and others whose tame sav- oured of the back yard, stable, and kennel. Occasionally, however, w« had a quiet game and enjoyed it innch. 9 A friend of mine, who shall be nameless as he it new dead, oaoe went to play a game of billiards in the public rooms, and finding his companion who bad promised to turn up fail to do so, looked about for a player to try his skill with. He oerceived an unknown man standing by the nre, and asked him if he played. « " A little," replied the stranger. ** Will you have a game with me T' said my friend. "I wiii try," said the stranger, taking up a cue, " but you must give me some start. ' " Marker !" said my friend, addressing the boy, sharply, "give thif gencleraan iO in 20O." The boy grinned and obeyed. My friend broke the bails. The stranger replied with 150, unfinished. With an affable amile he said to my now dumbfounded friend : "Allow me to introduce myself. I am John Roberts, champion billiard player of the world." My friend told me he has always fought very shy ever since of inviting a stranger to join him in a game since that somewhat novel and startling experience. One of the most contemptible of persons ia vhe billiard sharp. He lies in wait to catch the unwary, and very often does so. He pretends he caunot play and lets his dupe win for a time till he has a good stake on, and then of course he shows iiia true form and runs right away, both with the game and the dupe's money. Thete is ouly one effective way of dealing with this unwelcome personage and that is to " punch his head," and nard, too. It will have a beneticial effect. It is said of Donnybrook fair in Ire- land that the rule laid down for the guidance of those attending that somewhat noisy sathering was, " When you see a head — hit it,'* and hit it they did. An old Irishman naively remarked to me that there was " no fun at all " there now, that the old custom of cracking the skulls had sone out This treatment is good for the billiard sharp when you can catch him. Talking of a fair, there was an old and time-honoured fair held in Oxford every year known as "St. Giles' Fair," and a very rowdy affair it was, too— all the usual crowd of shows and paraphernalia of a show ground. We used to go down and take it ail in, rido on roundabouts, go into shows, and " do the thing up properj" as the saying ia. AN AMKRICAN SHOWMAN. I once went into a show with a friend, the attraction of which was »ii "American knife throwing " business aud a few other diver- tissements. We were very much struck by the young fellows, who threw the knives splendidly, their sister standing up agamst a board while they threw the knives all around her and each aide of her outatretobed arms. 16 BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. We waited until tbe show was over, and then introduced ourselves to the showman, whom we found to be a typical American. We in- viced him to a hotel and broke a bottle of wine with him. After some preliminary talk he oilered to introduce us to the company, and so we sent to invite ttiem around to a private room in the hoteL They came, and oh ! what a surprise ! Such a transformation us we ^ould never have believed ; with the exceptio'^ of the eldest son, who was a very good-look.og fellow with a rather cowboylike appearauce. they ^re awiul — the ladies es- pecially. From bemi^ smartly dressed, chii: iookiug dfamsels, they were now old hags, and our estimation of them dropped cent per cent on the spot. However, we got a lot of good jokes and anecdotes out of tne father, and we invited the sons to go fishing with ua next day, which they did, and in the evening we again patronized tho snow, my friend standing up to be thrown at wliii trreat success. We spent the evec'ug at the hotel, and on the following morning we ap- peased the old lady of the show with a bou- quet of tiowers, us she was extremely wroth with her husband tor his having yielded to the seductive powers of the "old port" on the previous evening. We heard her swearing away outside the window a good deal, and we took notice of her ; hence our reparation in the morning. The bait took, and we were agaiu tirmiy established in the old fifiri's favour. They showed us all over ttie caravans, and we promised to go on to the next town with thum, which we did, and being well known we boomed their show up iitty per cent. We stood on the platform in ironc ot the show. My friend sang and played the banjo, .id many who knew me asked if I was running tne show 1 This got too strong for us, and we left them on the following day with some degree of satisfaction at the way in which show iife is conducted, and the insight we gained, al- though very expensive in the matter of drinks and cigars, was always with as a •omewhat pleasant and amusing experience. I never met with them again, althougti I met a man who used to be with them, ana we re- newed our acquaintance in the usual way. ■^ 'varsity mashers and mashes. When we bad nothing better to do we used often to stroll down to the Great West- ern station, and spend the afternoon in the refreshment room. Many trains passed through in a day, and there was generally a lively scene on the arrival of eaon train. There was a very jolly old mana?eress there, in my time, to wnom on the occasion of her wedding we gave a handsome present among us for favours received at her hands in the ■bape of admittanoe on Sundays, sundry hot- A BEADINO GIRL. ties of extra good wine and other little atten- tions of the fair sex who looked after the wants of the general pul)lio behind the bar. These girls varied niuch, and vied much with each other in se< curing the 'Varsity men for a " mash, "and countless silk haodker* chiefs, flowers, and other such like small and early tokens of atfection found their way stationward. It was very amusinf to see a few townsmen trying to put on the appearance of the 'Var* sity style and endea- vouring to make the running with the ladies at the bar. But short lived was their chance when any of the real Johnnies appeared ; exit townsmen in ra- pid confusion. A friend of mine got engaged to one of the girls behind the bar, and really became very fond of her. I think she was a very nice kind of girl, but by no means fit for him, and so thought his father, but eventually he relented and gave consent. I am in no way opposed to marriages of this kind, where both parties are of hone^^t inten- tion. There is tar too much said about marrying for position or for money nowadays. I say let a man please himself. I know of another instance where a collegeman married a girl of rather low estate, but which mar- riage tuined out all right in the end, as he had the girl educated at a good school, and quite altered her manners and bearing, which previously were very boorish and crude. Some of his engagement letters from her were very funny. She would commence, **Mv own darling," and end up with, " Yours respectfully, ' and all of it execrably spelled. In spite of all his riends did to dissuade him from such a step he insisted upon it, and I am very glad it has turned out so well. A MIXED MARBIAOE. '^ The weddiag ceremony, however, deserves a passing notice. I cannot give names of course, but the girl's parents were engaged in that salubrious and lucrative merchandise — namtdy, rags and bones— and naturally they were pleased with their son-in-law. The ar- rangements for the weddins were carried out by a friend of mine, and very well too. He ar- ranged ail about going to the church and get- ting suitable dresse» for the bridesmaids and the old mother and father, the former of BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 17 erves les of (edin iie — they e ar- d oat leftr- «et- and ■er of whom, previous to the wedding day, avowod her intention of looiiiag lilce a " blooming daohcse." She was arrayed in violent cou- traits of colours, having been intrusted with the money wherewith to rig herself out be- 6tcing the occasion. The father whs plainly but suitably olad, and both of them had im* bibed pretty freely of whiskey before they made their appearance. The appearance of the party at the church was vei v grotesque, but the service was suocesstully consum- mated, desoite the protest oi one man, who offered to fight the parson for as much money as he could put up, and the party adjourned to the wedding brealcfait, which was laid at the nearest hotel. Words fail me to express to my readers any idea of that weading breakfast and its guests. The happy pair, the old mother, who was growing very noisy, and drank, not only out of her uwn glass, but that of tier neighbour also ; the aged father, who ere long disappeared under the table in- toxicated with succesfl and whiskey ; the local butcher and costermongor, who sat cheek by jowl with the sons of au aristocratic family, and the ^lite of the 'Varsity. THE WEDDINO BREAKFAST. Ihe breakfast was elaborate, and from the way in which occasionally a phalanx of loiks and spoons and hands would descend upon some particular dish was proof of its giving thorough satisfaction. Whiskey and soda water was the chief drink, for of course the palate required lubrication, and the invita- tion to "'Ave a glass along wi' me ?" was frequently mooted. Champagne they cared not for— thought it was "rot." Give them the good old Scotch, said they— and Scotch they had. <» I think the climax was reached when the father was called upon to make a speech. He could not be found, however, for a time, as he had fallen asleep under the tal)le, over* come completely by his wealth of bliss. He was at length dragged forth and propped up, and endeavoured to express himself. He re- marked that he " wasn't gomg home till morning," and that he was "jolly good fel- losh " ; he also gave out that "Britains never would be slaves.'and amidloud and prolonged applause he save emphasis to his remarks by brntringdown his hand with a terrible smack upon the bald head of an ancient tishmoneer who eat next him. The latter protested strongly and rose to order. " Sit down, you bald-headed old pirate ! " said the father in sonorous and commanding tones, as the worthy fishmonger passed his hand anxiously over the giant roc's eeg to see if any damage was done. The father then called open the mother for a song, and 4isappe&recl with a crash agkin bene^tb the table amid loud applause. The old girl spoke a few words, and made a touching allusion to her own get-up, saying, " Lor blimey, if this get-up won't fetch 'em I'd like to know wot will?" and theng sang with touching pathos that beautiful ballad so full of a mother B tenderest love, yoblpt, " £ Breathed on Tnem Gently, and They Died," ai>d we believed it, too. A DISTDRBINO ELEMENT. All was going very amicably when one man, on the sti Hrous grace that could blot all my sins out and save me, and now he helps me to lead a new life (Titus, ii.. 11, 12). "Ah, wherefore, sinner, die? Why to hell's lake descend ) The love of God, so deep, so high. Doth unto tbfco extend. His whosoever (Joha, iii.. 15) meaneth thee, The fllthy and polluted thee, Uneodly thee and me." Yes, Birohall, God loves yon, and though you have sinned against him, not only in this last and monstrous deed, but (if you con- sider) how many times before. He willeth not that you should perish. (II. Peter, iii., 9), but offers you forgiveness (Acts, v., 31 ; xiii., 38 ; xvi., 18). He can do this right- eously because Jesus died and made atone- ment for the sins of the world ^Rom., iiL, 25, 26). .-• Oh, consider what an awful thing sin is in the sight of God ; think bow utterly vile and loathsome the sinner is in the sight of a thrice holy God, and then consider His iniinite love, when we deserved His righteous wrath, in sending His holy son Jesus to die that shameful death on the cross ; and oh, turn to Him (Luke, xv.), tell Him that you have sinned against Him, let JJi-< goodness melt your proud heart, and lead you to repen- tance. Your sins are great, but God's meroy is greater. You are vile, but the blood of Jesus Christ. God's son, oleanseth from all sin (I, John, i., 7). " Where sin abounded grace did much more abound," Uh, do not turn a deaf ear to auch love ; believe it and rejoice. You have only • short time to live, and then eternity begins for you. Where will you spend it, in heaven or hell f If yoa reject infinite marcy and love, nothi.ig're- maina but infinite wrath. Let not 8»taB delude you that all is well. Yours most sincerely, Arthdh W. FBLX>nu I had inde^c' a large number of friends at Oxford, and almost all of them stay by me even now, which showe the true friendship they had with me and tor me. A good many times I came across men of the religious type by accident or otherwise, and I had oa« slight experience of these m^n. CBICKET AS BELIOIOCS BAIT. I was staying in Scarborough, a fashion- able seaside resort in the norto of England, and having noticed in the looal paper an announcement that members of the univer- sity were cordially invited to make use of a cricket ground there on application to • Mr. Arrowsmith, whose address was given, I sent around my card and duly received a ticket for the ground. I went op and took part in the game. So far so good. Imme- diately the game was over I was packing my cricket bag preparatory to going away again^ when I was buttonholed by the gentleman ia question, who asked me where I intended to spend the evening. "At the theatre," re- plied I promptly. " Won't you be there ?" " No," said he solemnly. "I shall be at my mission room, and I want you to be there, too." I immediately saw that the crickes ground was the mit held out to catch tish for the mission room to ao and hear him hold forth. After some argument he, finding that I still held to the theatre, then made me promise to be present at a service on the sands the next morning. I duly apoeared and at once a number of hymn sheets were thrust into my hand to give round to the by- standers. I handed them to another chap and quietly sloped. I felt bound to so after having used the cricket ground, which was offered certainly under false pretences, and I am of opinion that it you can't ^et people to listen to religion or religions teaching for the sake of itaeif, then it ia not right to try and entrap them, a bait for the preaching later on. I left off going to the criuket ground and pursued the somewhat uneven tenor of my way. The gentlemen who were holding this mission were mostly Oxford men, whom I knew something of up at the 'Varsity. I have met so many religious humbugs (in the truest sense of the word), men whom I know are utterly unfit for the calling they occupy as would-be teachers of matters per- il t BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. tkining to the tool, that I alwayi fight shy of aoyone who preaoLea religion in that atyle ao well known in all theae livins ezampiea of Dr, Jeykll and Mr. Hyde, ana who adjure you carefully to follow their preoeuta and life, instead of beiog like the honest and aportink' parson ao dear to the daya gone by who aaid : — " Brethren, do aa I tell yon, and not aa I do myself 1" OXFORD NOT A SUNDAY SOHOOL. During the whole of my time at Oxford I never heard a word of religious teaching Have when I went to ohapel, which 1 waa compelled to do at least once every Sunday. FROM A PEN-AND-INK SKETCH BY BIRCHALL, MADE IN PRISON. No woi of kindly advice from anyone is given gratuitously ; no kind of intercBt in the spiritual welfare of the student. I well re- member the case of a young fellow who waa about to enter Sandhurst as a university can- didate for the army examination. He was a guileless youth nhen he came up to tbe 'Varsity, but did not remain so long, and when he went home in the vacation his good and loving mother noticed with sadness the change that so short an absence from home had worked upon him. She wrote to his tutor and oomplained that he bad contracted the bad habit of swearing and other (Il8gr*'<4fn1 manners, and asked why it should be nt suk.'r. an ancient and dignified institution. The tutor made reply :— " Mcidam, I undertook to get your son's body into Sur.dhorst and not his soul I" This speaks for itselt. PERHONAL OPINION OV FAITH AND CNBELIKF. I went several times to the Roman Catholic ohapel in Oxford, prompted ohieHy by curiosity and encouraged by a friend who had been converted (ao he said) by the priest. The service aopeared to me to be constantly hovering upon the border line between the sublimH and tbe ridiculous, and the somewhat lengt&y discourse of the priest, who. by emit- ting a cloud of words, sought to conceal his ignorance of the subject of which he was at- tempting to treat, waa somewhat tiring. Perhaps I am prejudiced against Roman Catholics, especially tbe priests. Since my imurisonment here I received a few visits from these men, who came to me like wolves in sheep's clothing, as I afterwaids found out from their conversation about me outside the gaol. It has been stated that I am an atheist. Not a bit of it. I may have, to all intents and purposes, been leading the life of a prac- tical atheist to a great extent, but I hold no faith in atheistic doctrine whatsoever. To define an atheist is a somewnat hard thing, as there are so many different classes of them. But I am not here to write a religious dis- sertation. THE AOTHOR'S PHRENOLOQIOAL CHART. I have met occasionally with professors of the phrenological art. Several there were in Oxford, and tbe Litest that I have met is Professor Cavanaeh, of Toronto, a gentleman well known in scientitic circles. 1 append the resume of his examination of my cranium. If there be any trutn in phrenology, then I have at least one or two goois over * in clas- sics and who speaks in measured tones — with him I had but little 10 common ; the would-be poet, at whom it is kind- ness to throw a brick ; the athletic man, who is generally a good fellow, wno often combines a fair amount of work with a great deal more play ; thesmuff, whospends his time in uppish thou({ht and bides himself by day within the shelter ol ' his rooms, emerging like an owl atnignt to prowl around, the rowing man, wedded to the river ; the religious man, he of many tracts and much preaching ; the hunting man, the driv- ing man, and the gen- eral all-round man, who combines a little of everything — and this latter the most numerous. A YODNO UVUX. '%sa is by far IMPORTANT COBB It has been said that I passed no examina- tion when at Oxford. This is erroneous. I passed three— matricu- lation, the first public examination, and Holy Scripture — the certifi- cates of which can be 'een in the 'Varsity oooks to this day. This is by way of cor- rection. With all these dif- ferent companions to choose from, a man need not complain of being unable to suit his rastp. Of course there ire some awful cads at A DUUKs .M(i.,n: s .--the 'Varsity, whose READS TUK PAiKKs people are low-born, TO KILL TIME. out perhaps wealthy. I give yon the remark of one of these on the occasion of his entrance examination. Quoth he: "By sad, it, I shall shortly appear in a gown of such dimensions as will make the old vice-chancellor bust himself." The Tioe« chancellor taas not " tnst " himself up to date •f writing. He oame from an ignorant place, UmoHALL'S AUTOBIOORAPHT. S3 7 M the following anecdota will ahow : In tbo country town aOreek play by Hophoclea was acted. Tb« audiano* waa very well pleaaed, and when finally the ourtaln waa rang down on the laat aoc the nudienoe unanimuualy petrated in Hrasenose College. In the quad- rangle of that college was a statr.d of Heroulea on a lofty pedestal. The college colours were black and yellow. On the occasion of oele- bratins the aucceaa of the college boat in the racpB, ie oocured to aome was that Heroulea ahould alao take part in the honour which had fallen to hia oollege. A supply, therefore, of yellow and blaon paints waa soon secured, and in the night time the statue waa duly painted with broad black and yellow stripea, which in the morning presented a moat ludicroua appearance. The paint was re* moved by the antboritiea atter a great deal of trouble ; bat the oulprita were never dia- covered. *^ One man i Knew in Queen's College had the flag of the Salvation Army auspeuded in bis rooms after the manner of a trophy. It was captnred from that organization after a aomewhat sharp encounter without the gates of the college. The drum waa also captured and taken within the college, where the ends were burst in and all who aasiated in its cap- ture arawled through both ends as a sign of ▼iotorj. The Army sought no converts in Qaooa'saftor Ibis. JDBILII DAT riSTIVITIKfl. I even remember the festivities in Oxford on the Jubilee day and night in 1887. It was unuuimously resolved to "do the thing in good atyle,'' and we organized apeoial le- tachmenta of men to carry into effect various ideas formed beforehand of showing loyalty, etc. I myself was in charge of a party whose duty was to dispense free drinks to anyone who would come up into our rooms and partake of our hospitality, and I laid in a large supply of ti reoraok ers, rockets, e t o . , which we let off, from the w i n- dowa among the crowd cauaing no amall amount of consternation a- mong the by- atandera. ^^ • brought oot all the old wine cases and wood that we could find and lit an extensive bonfiro in the street. Despite the pro- tests of the police and the author- ities, we soon had an immense fire burning, and all the men who lived in that WATEh-cuLoca bketoh part brought made in i'KIson. something to throw on the fire, if it waa only •■ few of the landlord's ohaira or tablea. It lit up the whole street, and burned all nisht. One ot our frienda drove a four-iu-hand and coach through all the Btreeta of the town in very good style, taking into oonKideration ithe dittioult nature ot such an exploit. We poured water oopioualy upon the passers- by, aqd, indeed, anything that oouid be thrown out of the window was thrown out. Free fights were very plentiful, and the streets were literally strewn with hats which had jeitn sadly 'jent and other- wise used for purpwers, and they are otten useful, to qor-.e the well-lcnowB song : — If you want to get a drink. Ask a policeman : He will manave it, I think, W ill a txriiceman. If the " pubs " are closed or not He'll produce the merry pot; He can open all the lot- Ask a policeman. BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 86 Likewise : — If you want to learn to ran. Ask a policeman ; How to tly. tho' eighteen atone, Ask a policeman. Watch a bobby in a flRht ; In a irice he's out of aight— For advice on rapid flight. Ask a policeman. But with all their faults we were often indebted to the *• men in blue " for many things. The "ith of November, popularly known as (luy Fawkes day, is now to a certain extent iind formerly was a great day in Oxford and Uambridge, Ihe fights known as the "Town an 1 (iown " fights came off on that auspi- cious day. Hands of Varsity men parade tne streets anxious to provoke a row with the townsmen, and many bitter and prolonged tietits take place in the public streets. I myself took part in these organized rows, and although there is absolutely no sense or reason in keeping up such an entirely ab. surd custom ; nevertheless, it is such an an- cient tradition that we held it as sacred ai the many old customs that time will never ertace. I must say that we always beat the townspeople where fists came in— aye, and sticks, chair legs, and other instruments came in. 1 remember myself doing considerable execution with a skeleton leg of a man, which 1 borrowed from » local doctor by way of a novelty. We generally made a few wild charges throujrh the people and tried to clear the streets. The majority of the townspeople liked to set upon a sinale college man if they could iiud one, and great were the rescues we took part in. often recapturing our friends even from the precincts of the police station iiaelf. rhis custom is gradually dying out now, I think. SOME SOTABLE' COONTKRFEIT PBE8KNTM NTS, I once attended a fancy dress supper given in a irieud's rooms, and was much concerned how to appear. I tried to secure the dress obtained the dress of • pantaloon, M a friend was going as a clown, and I ihousht we should match very well. We arrived in a cab, amid the jeers of a crowd which had collected to watch us enter. A strange and motley crew we were. A couole of clowns, a Franciscan mouk, » jockey, a oba."qb digni- AYL18B UY STEEPLECHASES — "THE STONE w A Li- as worn by the Bishop of Oxford, with white wig, etc., bat as I coald not get it in time I I'ROF. CAVANAOH, PREN0L0OI81!. tary, aeveral old English costumes, about Queen Anne's time, a toreador, myself a pantaloon, a Roman Emperor, Buffalo Bill, a Romish prie^^t, and several others. At the start we looked very well, and as the evening wore on we looked still better. I sat next to my friend the clowu, who had been sur- reptitiously putting into the huge pockets of his trousers such curious articles as chickens, lobster salads, bottles of wine, etc.. and causing thereby a good deal of laughter. After the supper we began a kind of smokins concert. I presided at t'le piano, the monk sang a comic song, and the Komish priest executed a fine big boot dance and the church dignitary played the banjo. Ail took part, and some very weird and comical sights were witnessed during the late hours of the even- ing, especially at the close of the gathering, when we ail sang " Auld Lang Syne " with joined hands, ana then the well-known ditty, it ^g won't eo home till inornintr," in which the clerically-attired gentleman heartily joined. I walked home with the monk, regardless of the public eye — my face being painted so that they could not well recognize me — and we stayed a short time on the way at one of the hotels and conversed with our friends, much to their amusement, jOnly one of us got into trouble ; the clown, on returning to coUeee, met the Dean in the porch, who simply requested him to call upon 16 BraOHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. bim (the Dean) next morning, when be fined him £5 for what the respected Dean termed his inconceivable height of folly and idiocy. FUN IN THE DININO HALL. ^n old custom to which I often fell an easy prey waa the forbidding of ioko making at the hall dinner, which took .ace every even- ing at half past six. Anyining partaking of the nature of a pun, or if one swore or used any bad language, was immediately punished by a sconce, which in other words meant that the offender had to stand "drinks all round. ' I often did this, and when we wanted a drink extra and above our owd, the easiest way was to prick our neighhour, just where his jacket leaves off, in a sharp manner, and ho generally made use of a stranea little word of four letters which has almost become a dictionary word by force of habit. To quote the words of Vice-Chaucellor Benjamin Jowett, " That little twopenny damn " is a very expensive little word 1 Strange state- siderable sums if causht We had varlons ways of egress and ingress which were known to the select few, but which were not always available to as — " owing to » variety of circumstances over which we had no con- trol." A FIOHT IN "botany BAT." On one occasion I was invited, together with a party of friends, to dine with an ont- college friend, whose rooms were not far away. This man was unpopular with hia college for the simple reason that he was too good for them, and hence they cook all pos- sible steps to make things objectionable for him. We all assembled at dinner, and we were a pretty strong lot, and certainly when they edsayed to sit on us they reckoned without their host After dinner we were singing songs and choruses. When sitting near the door I heard a strange sqaeaking sound that I knew so well meant that those curious men were screwing up the door on A CLOSE FIVTSH. nent for so learned a philosopher to give Ltterence to, strange indeed, but true. We were supposed to go thirty-two times to chapel daring every eight weeks, or, if we liked it better, to go to roll call, which was its equivalent. A slute was placed in the library for us to write our names on to show we were there, and we used to arrange to write each other's names, taking turn in this matter.' I would do it one week and then someone else would do it the nexc, so thut really it was no inconvenience for us to get up one week in the term and do our share. Uufortunately this dodge came to an untimely end, for one morning the Dean found the same name written down three times and demanded an explanation, which was not considered satisfactory by any means, and resulted in a different system oeing invented which was better for the college and worco for us. We were supposed to be in college by t/iid- oight ; after that hour we were finect cod- the outside. Keeping the fact to myself, I told the party to ieep on singing and took • hasty survey of the warlike resources of the room. A few old old swords, plenty of bot- tles (good sized ones, too), and fire-irons and a few good sticks were about all I could notice of any use to smash in the door with, which had to be done before wa could pro- ceed to deal with those on the outside. I then whiipered to the others what I suspect* ed was going on, and they quickly prepared themselves for the fray. Dress coats were hastily discarded and sleeves rolled up, and we made a combined rush with all our weapons on the panels of the door, which flew in all directions. We dashed upon thetn and fell upon the unsuspecting crowd with a vengeance, scattering them in all directions. However, like the cowards they were, they failed to show fight, and so we gave up the chase. I may mention that this took place in Worcester College, commonly called " Botany Bay,*' from iu BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 27 remote position and the set of smugs which composed its inhabitants, the one exception (0 which was my friend Fox, who will not miod allusioD to his name, I know, and who will long be remembered by the Worcester men as an example whom many of them might have followed with advantage. I took part in many similar scenes too numerous to mention, auci I just give passing examples to give the reader an idea ot some of the doines which we participated in. One eacapado which brought in its train serious trouble to many was the following. A VOLUNTEER FIRE BBIUADK. We were strolling round the college one night about twelve o'clock, and I espied the college ladder leaning against the wail of the kitchen ; I immediately thought of the idea of " fire !" and we took down the ladder and immediately placed it against a window on the second floor, calling loudly "Fire! fire !" One man broke the window with his mortar board and opened ic, crawled in, and I followed, all the while shouting loudly at the top of our voices. The man to whom the rooms belonged got out of bed and pro- tested strongly against our arrival on the scene without knocking at the door (although we had knocked hard enough on the window to oreak it), and declared most emphatically that there was no fire there ; to this we re- plied that we would soon make one, and immediately set some papers, etc., atire. By this time a crowd of college men had assem- bled at the foot of the ladder, and we dis- played burning pspers, eta, at the top of the ladder, and called on them to ascend the ladder and come to us. In a moment they swarmed on to the ladder, and we at the top poured streams of water upon them and on those below, and tbrew down everything upon the crowd that would go out of the window. Men kept on arriving at the top of the ladder like drowned rats, and running down the stairs and up the ladder aeain ana again. The place was a perfect pandemonium. VVe moved our quarters and attended similar fires in different parts of the college, the modw operandi being the same in every case. 8ETTLIMO THE DAMAGES. In the morning, however, we found a note on our table reqnestintr us to be in college at a certain time, as we were wanted to see the dean. We understood, and presented out- selves before the tutors and the dean, who were arrayed in full war paint The dean questioned me as to being captain of a fire brigade of whose previous organization nothing seemed to be known. I endeavoured to explain the necessity of having a fire drill, but the dean thought otherwise, and sagely remarked that midnight was not the most suitable time to carry on such operations. In scathing tones, at which I could hardly refrain from laughing, he pronounced sentence upon me, which was fortunately • very ligbt one indeed, merely to go into lodgings for the rest of the term and be out of college by ten o'clock every night. This I didn't mind at all, but several of the others got it pretty hot, one being sent away for a term, which made his stern parent very wroth against him for a long time. Tlius ended the prematurely formed fire brigade, which, however, did good service fnr one night, especially the salvage corps, who re- moved articles of furniture from the scene of the fire, which it took the owner a long time to restore again to their wonted places in his rooms. MY CONNECTION WITH THE STAGE. FACTS ABODT THE AUTUUK's DBAMATIO CABEES AND ABODT THE STAGE GENERALLY. I was always, from • youngster upward, attracted by the glare and glimmer of tho footlights, and consequently was a constant frequenter of the theatre upon all occasiona when I was able to give effect to that pleasurable occupation. I was tond of ama- teur actine, and this propensity was ({radually developed b y acting in small farces at home and at certain entertainments given for charity before I weut to Oxford. While there I cultivat- ed the acciuaint- ance of all thea- trical persons thAt 1 could set within reach of,^ by asking them, as a rule, to an extensive supper in my rooms, of which invitation they generally availed them- selves. In this way I sathered a certain antount o f theatrical knowledge, and used to follow the companies from place Mf* place. A club was started in the 'Varsitj yclept tho " Oxford University Histrionio TBE VOCALIST. BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Club," K^med for the purpoie of acting and carrying on the amateur performance of playa for charitable purposes. One of our tir^t performances was given io Tenby, South Wales, for the benetit of the Royal Lifeboat Fund, under the patronage of the Mayor of that town. We arrived in the town, about a dozen of us, with the aid of some lady friends, and rehearsed fully for the piece. We were well up in our parts and had a pro- fessional wigster to assist us in our makiutt up. I played the part of an irate old man — a somewhat unsuitable part for me, but I yielded the " fat " parts to my comrades, V7ho were more :>uitaljle for them than 1. We Dorfor.ned on the whole creditably, and we were eulogized by the press aud public, only I believe a supper we held bad a good deal to do with the favourable criticism. We played a couple of nights here with success, and then went on elsewhere, with varying success, till the very heavy expense of ama- teur acting caused us to conclude our tour — the effect, however, was left upon me. THE AUTHOK BECOMES A MANAGER. I ever afterwards hankered after the stage, not SO muoh as an actual participator in the characters of the play, but as an accessory in any way to a theatrical company. In the long vacation of 1SS7 my wish was gratified, and I became acting manager by paying a preminm to Mr. Edgar Colona, a well-known tragedian, who was travelling with his com- E>auy in the provinces. He played '* Ham- et," "Othello," " Richard III.," and other plays belonging to what actors called the "legitimate drama." We travelled through the urovinces with varying success, duruig which time, under his able guidanct^, I be- came familiar with the details of manage- ment in all its branches. At times when by accident or sickness any member of the comoany failed to put in an'appearance, I con- sented to fill the bill ; but hold is the ignor- ant amateur who can face the musio sur- rounded by professional brethren if he be without experience. However, 1 was not above taking hints from the older members of the company, and eventually got so far as to essay the part of George Peyton in that immortal drama the "Octoroon," and got through it without any hostile demonstration on the pan of the audience, and without being the honoured recipient of a bouquet of rotten ecgs. However, I kept strictly to the manage ment after this, and as Mr. (jolona was lessee and manager of a theatre in the mid- lands and was unable to personally superin- tend this part of his business he appointed ■le manager of that theatre, to reside in the town in which the theatre was, and It was A BALLET GIRL. not long before I acquicad from him the rights and lease of the place for myself. KNEW WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTEK I entered upon the managerial duties under somewhat pleasant luspices, as I found that in the town in which I was situated (Burton on-Trent) there was a fair number of old 'Varsity accjuaintances, who were learning brewing at the fine establishments of that class there. They soon found me out at my new po^t, as I made no secret of my name, and we used to meet every niebt and have great times. I catered for the public taste as I judged best. Generally we had a light show, a burlesque, or a musio hall kind of entertainmciit, which was best suited to the tastes of the young men there, on whom I cbieHy depended to fill the house, and which was entirely in accord- ance with my own idea ot what best suited the public. I certaiuly made a wise choice, and succeeded far bet- ter with this light and airy entertainment than with the deen and cumbersome drama, which the more staid playgoers preferred. I met aud formed the acquaintance of many well known actors, and others who have risen into prominence since tnen, and I must say of actors, as a class, that a better-hearted, more generous-minded, brntlierly class of men I have never chanced to meet with in the whole of my wanderings. As a rule they are poorly paid, and seldom rewarded save by the plaudits of an admiring public, but they are ever i.jid always ready to help a friend in distress or rive their services and time for any charitable purpose whioh is worthy their good offices. A .CBNE IX A PENNY THEATBti:. I have visited, I think I may say, all the theatres and musio halls of any note in Lon< don and the provinces, some of them on many occasions. Of course my being a man • ager myself procured for me a free seat in any one of them, and courtesy at the hands of the respective managers. « I well remember, in a common cravelling theatre to whioh the admission was, I think, only a peony, on a show ground, a very un- rehearsed effect taking place. The adver- tised play was " Hiohard III.," and the players were every ons of them cockneys, with that very strong accent of speech so common to that class. The King was a gorgeously drened specimen, with all tbf SraOHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 99 clothes of all hue* and colours that he could possibly crowd upon the surface of his some- what extensive body. Where the sneecb comes in, "My lord, we've captured Buck- ingham !" and the Kin;; should reply, "OtF with his head !" • friehtfully-acceated cock- ney rushed on to the stage and shouted out, *'My lord, my lord, we've captured Buckini;- ham, and we off with his head !" (all in cock- ney accent, of course), I'he Kin;;, not at nil Disturbed, replied (also in the same accent), " Oh ! you have, have you ; then you've beba and spoilt the whole bloomins piece, and we shall ali have to go out and begin again ! ! !" Having asked the indulgence of the public, they oommecced afresh, and fin- ished the piece without any further mishap. SOME TRICKS OF THB TRADE. I should not from my experience advise the stage as a profession. Eisner sterling merit or intiuence is required to enable a young actor to rise, and tbe profession is entirely overcrowded. In the provincial towns this is especially the case. Ot course anyune who has ever been on a stage calls himself an actor, and you often see such announceinepta as the following, which are very misleading to the uninitiated : — THEATRE ROYAL. WOODSTOCK, TO-NIGHT, at 7. the talented actor. Mr. DE LITTLE BUNCO. from Drury Lane Theatre. London, and all tht principal theatres, assisted by the popular and emotional actress, AT ADAME SHOWALEGSKl. from the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden, Mpiropolitan Opera House. New York, &o., &c When we come to find oat who these per- sons really are we find that the talented actor, iVir. De Little Bunco, on several oo- oasions played the hind legs of an elepant in a pantomime at the house named, and for a small consideration was knocked down night- ^^ ly by the clown in the same pertorn.- ance. himiia>' we fiud that Mnie. Showalegski played with great success the part of a sleep- inig uyniph in the transforma tion scene, or else assist- ed some lady of dis- tinction upon the stage to dress for the performance in wh.ch she was en- gaged. Verily, 'tis not tine feathers make fine birds ! And tothose who are about to enter upon I w«ald suggMt to them to pause upon the threshold and to gaze at the sign which meets their eyes on every hand, and the truth of which no one will for a moment deny— namely, " All is not gold tbatglittera." UKVOTED TO HOKSE RACING. On the subject of horse racing I could write forever, I believe, but auffioient for ma irjy '■'III w\k. tADY OF THE CHOKr.-. |he itag« aa a profusion SKETCH BT BIRCHALU will be to just outline my connection with tuis Kingly sport, and to give my readers this piece of very, very stale intormation, that racing ofiers the best means of being able to lose a very large amount of money in the very shortest time if so disposed. Wbei. I was at Oxford there was no actual uieeticg there. When we spoke of the races we meant boat races. There were a few private sweepstakes got up from time to time by enterprising individuals, but not many. Our great meeting was at Aylesbury, a place easily reached by road or rail. Latterly tbe authori- ties have attempted in any way they could to Eut a stop to all 'Varsity men going there, ut mostly without eflect. Many are the good times we hid in connection with this time-honoured meeting. I append a couple of illustrations of steeplechasing at Ayles- bury. Oi courae we were enabled by the efficient train service of rhe G. W. R. to get to any of the metropolitan race meetings and back again the same night, also to other pro- vincial meetings in a similar way, and we wero ao« rlow to take advaotago of ttiia 90 BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. benefit. There were several resident book- makers in Oxford, so ihat we could invest our money without going to the races them- selves if we so wished — a convenience chat many appreciated machly. There was lots of betting — much more than was ever known — pnd many men used to bet who could not afford to lose anything in reality, and when they did lose only planged the more heavily in> to debt to try and recoup their loss. This was a bad state of things. As a matter o. fact I always had pretty good lack at it myself, and generally came oat on top, bat not so with many others that I knew of, who lost all they had and borrowed also frequently to repay other debts, c;etting deeper and deeper into the mire. Sometimea u>rtune would smile, bat oftener not FBAUTICAL ADVICE TO ORBBNHORNS. My advice to yoang men like myself after my experience of good anO bad luck in my- self and hundreds of others is, don't bet at as a rule to get the country. The last race I rode in was in August o& last year. I append the cutting from the English Sporting Life showing the aocourt of the race :— [Copy.] (From the London Sportsman, August 17, 1889 ) STAINES RACES. 1.30 P.M.— Match for £20 a side, owners to ride. St. Lba. Mr. Reg. Bircball's b); mare Pinky.... IP 7 1 Mr. I. F. Lynoh's b. d are The Kiddis.. 11 7 2 Bettinsr, 6— i on Pinky. The pair ran together for a mile, where the favourite drew out; near- inK home, however, the non-favourite drew up, but Pinky Roing on won easily by ten lengths. I have done a little bookmaking, which is a far more profitable busiucse than backing horses. I have been on almost all the race courses iu England of any note, and seen the important races run. We used always to drive down to Ascot races when at Oxford, Ascot being the most fashionable meeting we have in Enshnd. We drove down in good style in a we' tippoiated ooaoh, iour-in-hand. ATIiESBUBT BTEKFLEOUASKS— lUK FAVOURITE FALLS. alL But if yoa mast and will do so, and you like to see your money in the air, then let me also give you a word of advice. Don't bet on every race — you are sure to lose in the long run— and don't bet according to any of the so-called systems ; they are absolute rubbish. Wait tor the good shing and then plank it down when it comes. Of course there are a hundred and one different systems which are all useless. Another thins— don't listen to touts and people who offer yoo cheap infor- mution. They know nothing at all about the matter. Unless young men have lots of spare cash and they want to lose it or to transfer it over to other hands without much trouble, I heart- ily advise them not to go racing. I used to ride a good deal myself, and I have been told am a good horMman, both on the flat and •cross country. ^ I have generally done very well deapit* Aiaw Moidanta} X hava managed got up regardless of expense in the regalation dress — grey frock coats and white plug hat«, lavender gloves, &c., &a— and we generally had a very select party with us. It was great fun, and we always managed to dodge the authorities quite safely. After we left Oxford we used to make a point of meeting in Lon- don, and going down from some point \a the road where we all met. ^ A GOOD WORD FOR BAOINO MEN. Among the rncing men I met there were certainly some of tne kindest-hearted and most generous men that it was ever my lot to meet, and I have never seen any reason sufficiently strong or sound for the phalanx of bitter words that are so often poured forth against racing men as a class by their nar- row-minded brethren. Of course tiiere are dishonest men in this branch of sport, as in •very 0th«r j thia moati aafertunntalj, ba Ad* BIKOHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 81 mittad ; but the majority, and a very lar^a majority, of sporting men are away ahead in houeaty and lionoorHbla conduce when you compare them with many other indepandeot olassea. It ill bacomea me in my present position to mention names, but I have met a larj^e num< ber of our ieadinu sportsmen from time to time, and I could Mil a great many very laughable anecdotes of soma of them, but being devoid of names they would be like- wise devoid of ioteresti I followed racing mora or lass for about four or five years, and never got tired of is in any way. The more you see, 1 believe, the more you want to lea, and the fascination grows upon yon mora and more. I know it did upon ma, and others have told me the same. FARM LIFE IN CANADA. THE AUTHOR FAYS A PREMIUM TO 8TUD7 FARMING, A LITTLE OF WHICH WAS EN0170B. In the autnmn of 1888 I oommnnioatad with Ford & Ratbbone, of London, whose names are well known in these parts. From my own experience I sh old say that Fraud k Rathbone would be a more fittin;; descrip- tion of that firm. I had several times pre- viously corresponded with them under the name of Birchall, and received replies con- cerning Canadian farming and living. I called upon them, and they assured me of the comfort and ease of the farmer's life, and of the quantity of sport of all kinds and the absence of much work. I was taken with the idea, and aw«r my marriage, as I had some money to s >are, I thought it preseuted a good o^cninfr in life. It was then that I decided to mks li e naiua of Somerset out here, not thar. I had 'jOt used the came before in England, f.T I bad, and it was on no account that I desired people to think me a lord or anything of the kina, but for a private reason and connection which I am not at liberty to make public here. When questioned as to whether I was Lord Somer- set I always returnea a negative answer, and Ford & Rathbone introduced me as plain Mr. Somerset. After signing a contract with the above firm to live on a farm and in a house (a photograph of whioh was shown me), which never existed at all, save in their fertile imagination (the photoj|raph being simply of some very fine and rich man's bonsa and nothing like a farmhouse oat here), I de- posited wdth them £500 and sailed for Wood- stock on November 21, 1888. After apend- ing a few days in New York I arrived here Mid abode in tha hoiua af Mr. William Mo- Donald, who is far too well known all l rer Canada to need any introauction from me. 1 found him kind and ready to give at all times most valuable advice, and that "what he said was true." He said he was afraid I should find things a little rough, and I began to grow suspicious. After remaining a few days with him ha took me out upon a farm in oompany with a very talkative man named Moffatt,who told nie much concerning himself —of his triumphs in the sporting arena, especially at Sheepsheud Bay, where he had electrified the spectators by some marve!lonp feats of ridins and driving. However, despite all these hindrances, we arrived at the Wilcox farm in Durham township. QDICKLY lildENCHANTKU. Words fail me r itirely, deur reader, to f;^ve yon any idea of my impressions of farm ife in Canada conducted in the style in which I saw it I think the bonus of $1'25 which accrued to tha farmer was the thing foremost in his mind. A dirty house, dirty children, a filthy bedi'oom, a bed that even the commonest gaol beds would give points to, were not calculatedto increase one's faith in Fraud & Uathbone's gilded statements. So on the following day I left ibis human pig sty and returned to Woodstock, and de- manded an escplanation of Mr. McDonald. He explained the matter by saying he did not understand what I wanted, and that what he said was true, as usual. I very soon decided that farming was " off," and very much "o£" However, as I had until the followina May on my hands I set to work to make the best of it, A VALUED OLD ACQUAINTANCE. Beit here said to Mr. William McDonald's credit that, despite any unpleasantness that arose from that gentleman's strange and ecoantrio habits and the mysterious manner he used to put on when there was no mystery at all, he was always kind-hearted, and made me welcome whenever I called at his house, and the fault lay not at bis door, but at that of th£ firm who employed hirs. He did his best and couldn't do more, and there were many points about " Billy" Macdonald that made him at once a srenial and friendly character. Good old Billy ! Many an amus- ing hour have yon helped to while away and many a joke have we had at your expense, but yon always took it well and in good part. There was one specially noticeable feature nboat Mr. McDonald— namely, that his body }emad possessed of the power of abiqnity. AN EMPHATIC DENIAL. My time here I spent ohiofly in driving about different parts, and while I mention thli I wish to state most amphatically that ss BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. on no oeoMion whatioever, whether hunting, driving, ridine, or fishing, or what not, waa I ever within the swamp whera the murder is said to have been comniiited. I was at I'ine Fond always in the company of friends, and beyond beine there and knowing one way to get there I never had the slightest knowledge of Mud lake or the swamp or their where- abouts, and there is not a man who can truthfully come forth and say that I did. £ never was out buntins alone, and those who went with me on any of my hunting excur- sions will ail be able to testify to the truth of what 1 say. Anyone, therefore, who stated thnti had knowledee of Mud lake or was ever there toid a wilful and corrnpt lie. AMATEnB FKISON INSPECTION. But to return to my subject. I stayed here u itil May, 1889, during which time I lived in the home of the late Mrs. John Mo- Kay, on Brock street, where also lived a counie of youny Knirli^hinen, by name Dud- tribat« to the two local sheets yfcept th« Standard and the Stntind-Ilcv'nw. To these I have nothina to be grateful for, but I think they ought to thank me for the incieuse of circulation which I caused them. Compara- tively unknown until tliis rase cume up, they had doubtless managed to eke out a precarious living upon th> streora of Woodstock, and they ought really to be grateful for the addi- tional circulation that my case gave rise to. Doubtless now they will again recurn to their pristine stale and moribund condition, emerg- ing only from the gloom of obscurity when some sensational and imaginative topic fills the bill, a period so dear to all such examples of journalistic excrescence. There is one paper, howevar, in the town which bears upon its face the hall mark of respectability. Old established, it has kept its head above the waves of the journaliscic sea and still rides on steadily, and, I believe, |)ro8perous- ly. I allude, of course, to the Woodstock 7 /we.-. HIS WEDDI ley and Overweg, both very gentlemanly fellows, and with whom I made firm friends ; both these gentlemen were I 'rand & Rath bone's prot^g s. The only money I recovered from F. & R was $125 — the bonus which the poor farmer did not get after all — and when I returned home the firm had " busted up," as I always thoueht it wonld. I met many very nice folks in Woodstock and carried away pleasant memories of the place, but when on one occasion I went as a visitor throueh the gaol and was conducted on a tour of inspec- tion throueh that strange building by that most excellent of men, Mr. James Forbes, I little thought that in so short a time I should be a prisoner there. ■>* A TRIBUTE TO THB LOCAL PRESS. I do not say much of my doings in Wood- stock ; they were pretty well known, and those who knew me here will best know how to deal with the reports that appeared in the papers thereon. I may here pity a passing .so OA UU. As I have said, I left Woodstirck in Ma ir, 18S9, and returned to £nsland shortly after* ward. Thus ended my short experience of Canadian life during that period, and when I left I certainly left with the firm conviction resting upon my mind that I would never re- turn again. In this I proved to be wrong, as the sequel will show. EXPERIENCES AS A PHOTOGRAPHER. THB AUTHOR " HUSTLES " FOR DESIRABLE CAMERA SUBJECTS AND ALWAYS GETS THEM. When I returned home from Canada to England I did nothing particular except go to races for about a month. I lived in the house of Mr. David Stevenson, Bainbridge, Maberley road. Upper Norwood, S,K, whose name has been much brought into the press in connection with this case, being my wife's father. I have throughout refrained from mentioning my wife in any way whatsoever, save to refer to the fact of my marriage and BTROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 83 to koknowledge the faithful and lovina way lu whiuh (to uae the words of my eminent couDBel, Mr. BUckstook) iihe has atood by me throueh good and evil report like » beautiful garland round my neck, with cloaeat clingiug and through darkest storm, and to acknow* led^e ihe true comfort that she has been to me iu my sorrow, and the utter sorrow and grief 1 feel for having blighted her life as I have. She knew no dishonest or diahouonrable so- tiou of mine, nor had she share or part in any of such actions, and had I followed her blameless life I should not have been here to- day. But I cannot bear to speak on this very tenderest subject. My readers will understand my feelings and spare me speak- ing; on a subject which arouses is ^me such complete sudering and pain. HIS FATHEK-IN-LAW. With regard to Mr. Stevenson, maoh has been put forward as his views about me and my marriage. I append a letter from him wbich I received shortly after my marriage. He was well aware that the marriage might take place any day, as he knew I had the license, but did not know the actual day until the afternoon of the day upon which I was married, and from the tone of the letter my readers may judge for themselves how he took the matter. This may correct many erroneous impressions that have been formed. I may say of the gentlemau in question that he is somewhat eccentric and erratic, and that much of what he says in excitement he would not sive utterance to in his sober moments. He is a genial ola fellow in society, with an unfailing supply of anec- dotes and spirited jokes, and is, in fact, a type of the almost extinct " thred- bottle" men, referred to by me in a previous chapter. He is general trafiio superintendent of the Lon- don and Nortb- Western Railway Company in England, and is considered one of the old- eat and best authorities on railway matters. A book will shortly be published by him in England and the States entitled, "Fifty Ysars with the London and North- Western Railway Company," which 1 ha.e read and found full of interesting matter, and which will, no donist, find a ready sale. Something has been said of his predicting n unhap- py end for his daughter, bat thete i' 'qo word of truth in any of it. We were always on the best of terms, and our correspondence and dealings show it OCXS INTO FHOTOORAPHT. But to return. I lived in his house, occupy- ing a part of it with my wife. Growing tired of doing nothing, I had the offer of a position of advertising agent to a fashionable firm of Shotographers in London — May all tc Co., 0. 164 Mew Bond street, London. W. The name of Mayall is well known in connection T:,ith the photographic word. Mr. Mayall, itowever, after amassing a c msiderable for- tune, lost it by speculatioi, and sold his business, which he had carried on so very successfully for many years, to a limited liability company, the directors of which bought nearly all the shares themselves. Mr. William J. Wright, of the well-known firm of H. S. King & Co., bankers, in Lon- don, was the managing diiector of the busi- ness. To the uninitiated a pbotoerapher's business presents a wide field for learning, and many things that had surprised me in the outer mazes of ignorance belittled them- selves on acqnaintance with the intricate art. A fashionable photographer ditlers greatly from an ordinary camera-slinger-take-you- just-a«-yon-are-price-25c. sort of au indi- vidual. The F. P. only takes the tip top people — the nobility, gentry, and the first- class artistes who are invited for the sake of advertisement. Mayall & Co. photographed her Majesty the Queen upon several occa> sions, and a group of all the royal family was also taken by royal command. We had albums of photographs ot all the celebrities of the day, both in a good sense and a bad sense. When I speak of the tip-top society belles and swells of course I allude to them without their character, which matters little to P. P. THE SOBT or WORK HB DID. If there came a cafise celebre, a divorce case in which the pnblic intet .dted them- selves, a new play, an accident, a great tight, a death of any eminent man or wontan, a boom in any parson's preaching, a public meeting of any note, • marriage in high life, a darhing soubrette, a tragic actress, an a;stberio fop, a well-known painter, a finan« cial king, a fair debutante, a scandal, if any of them crossed the path of the F. P. then it became my dnty to secure photoeraphs of the principal actors in the comedy or tragedy, as the case might be, and they were generally secured, and in a few days the photographs would be on sale in all the fashionable resorts in the West End. After the drawing-rooms or levees held by the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales, we generally had a crowd of the ^lite who came straight from the ceremony to be photographed just as they were, in full dress. Pardon me, dear reader, for using the word dress ; it hardly covers the meaning — at least, it hardly covers the subject. To quote the words of the eminent comedian Arthur Roberts, when he says of a ludy who sat next to him at a dinner, that her clothing consisted of 's Shoulder straps, belt, and voluminous sJcirt% And the r«tt ot her dress, it waa otfl Very much off I I n 34 BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 8ucb was .he caie with mioy of those who invited us — and the geotlemea who bad ohftrge of the ftotual production of the pictures often told me how itrAngely these scions of gentility used to behave. Stranse- ly indeed ; aba lor tbose who say that the lower classes should look up to the nobility I How many escutcheons of noble rank are now without some soc:al stain ? Few in* deed, and they will be fewer stilL Among the celebrities I myself had to do with were Mr. Fred Leslie, the great comedian of the Gaiety tbeKtre ; Miss Nellie Farren, who is too well known to need any mention ; Mr. E. S. Wiliard, the great actor whose name will be remembered in "Jim the Penman" and Uter great successes ; Mr. Marmaduke Wood, en* ot the three benighted dudes who tossed THB BOBV 07 FIOTCRB WB LIKB TO TAKE. • coin to see who should marry the now celebrated Lady Dunlo (nie Bella Bilton); Lady Monckton, W. S. Penley, Edward Terry, Mr. and Mrs. Kendal, whose photo- raphe are always popular with the public ; 'r. Gladstone, also very popular, and a host of others. I append some letters received by me in the course of business, which may be interesting : — RO8EDALB Abbet, 1 PiCKKHINO, YORKSHIRB, > Saturday. Auir. 17. ) Lady Monckton will be in town for a few days about the end of the flr.-t week in September, and will write Mr. Birchall appointixg a siitinK. Strand Thbatre, Aug. 23, 188a I shall be very pleased to give you a sitting for a portrait as requested. Any day next week after Tuesday would suit me. Tours trnly . _ May Whitlt. R. Birchall. Esq. Dear Sir,— Thank vou very much for the en- largement. If you will send It to the theatre at once they have their instructions to place It In a conspicuous position. Yours very truly, Fhbd'k Lkslik. Gaiety Theatre, W.C, 5-13.'89. Tbrrt'8 Tubatrb. Strand, W.C., Sept. 27, 1889. Dbar Sir,— I am engaged each day until the 0th proz.; after that date I shall be pleased to give yon a itttinK. Sincerely yours. ANNIE Iribu. To R. BlrchAll. Esq. Empire Theatre, August 22. Miss Starrett Vernon regrets delay in answer- ing Mr. Blrchnll's letter, and is sorry slie cannot give a sitting at present, but will be pleased to make an airangemont with him for next Xnias at an early date in her pantomime dresses, whun her photon will be then even In more demand than they are Just now. PENMANSHIP AND PHTSIOONOMT. Ai » rule the handwriting of the stage is ▼erv bad, but there are, of course, exceptions to the rule. This latter class are by far the hardest to please ; even when they have a face that would break a camera and wrinkles so long that you would nave to enlarge the frame to take them in, they uxpeot to appear in duplicate as beautiful as though they 'vere sweet seventeen and fairy-like in stature and Appearance. We had many of th«se, unfor- tunately. We didn't get many ugly, pccrfsli Eeople ; our prices kept us clear of these, ^ut we got a lot of ugl^ dowagers and staid matrons who sorely tried the patience of the operators. Faces like a pumpkin with three ■lits in it apaide down and sack-like are ex- footed to appear alike beautiful and young, ancy yooth and beauty prodnced from some old crackpot for £2 2s. • do/en ! It wouldn't pay at the price. At any rate there is much to interest one in the bnsinesa of an F. P., and anyone could do worse than go in for ic. It is without doubt a paying basiness, and if worked the right way is generally a very profitable concern. I had a very easy time, and was sorry when my agreement with the company ex- pired, which it did at the end of the year, owing to depression in trade. My connection with this business took me much to the theatre, so that I might judge of those whom I thought best for selling purpose, and I generally managed to pick oat the public favourite. I was often pestered greatly by miserable dudes who, knowing that I had the entree behind the scenes, were anxious to get there too or to make me means of communi cation between them and their favoarite ••mash." > I met many and various theatrical people, and always found them in this way similar to the description which I have given in my chapter on the ■tagc. BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 8S and if WOODSTOCK OAOL. A WAUOaa YKT UNrOPCLAR IIOSTKLRY IN WHIDH TBI AtlTUOK IS HI'EKDINQ THR SEA- BON. And now I ooma to » •ornewhat interesting •iperienua— nameiy, my incarceration in the common (imol of Wooditosk, havine beuii committed for trial by Magistrate Bill ut Niavura Falle on the 13th day of March, lN!i(>. In company with several menial otiiceri of the Crowu, a crowd of buogry press men, aud the usual complement of spectators prompieil by some spirit of morbid curiosity, I arrived safely at the ancieut ((aol of Woodstock, and wns soun snugly ensconced in a cell in the west wing of the building. Words fail me to accurately describe to the reader or to give anything like an ade()nate detail of this stranse and weird institution, which is popularly kno«n to the denizens of the town as "Castle Cameron." This name origioates no doubt from the name of the Bovernor of the gaol, Mr. John Cameron, who, aided by his trusty lieutenant, Mr. James Forbes, dispenses with lavish hand the hospitality of the Cruwn to all their visitors. Of the two gentlemen I shall have occasion to speak at Ignath later on, as also I shall of the other officiuls connected with the domestic affairs and ruling of the place. TRADITI0S8 OP CASTLK CAMERON. Of the origin of the dilapidated mass of fabric known to the public under the style of Woodstock Gaol, little appears to be kuown ; there are many theories anent its existence in the days gone by. Some 8 IS ALSO THB F00RH0U8K. There is no poorhouse in t.he town or county, which appears a very strange thing ; with such a lilieral-minded council, composed as it is of patriotic and noble-minded men, whose desire is for the good of their town and county, and who never hesitate to vote money for any good object, saying with the fioet, " Our good intent ia all for your de- ight ;" it is the more strange that there ■ht. ..J be no such institutions. They are common in civilized countries, and no doubt some of these great-souled men may in the future leave their town and county a handsome legacy wherewith to provide the much-needed poorhouse, And then may he truly say oi himself : — Tis not In mortals to command success. But I've done more. :;»empruniua ; I've de> served it. Until some such place be provided, the aged poor of the district must make Castle Came- ron their headquarters and spend their latter days in ignominy and disgrace. Poverty, indeed, is no crime, and why in Heaven'i name should these poor old men be branded as gaolbirds simply because they are poor ? Shame on the authorities who allow thia atate of things to continue ! Shame on the mock economy and cringing meanness of those wno oppose a poorhouse I And, verily, echo answers, shame ! VAGRANTS AND LUNATICS. Of these men the gaol generally has a regular supply, most of them old and worn out and in a fossilized stage of life, to whom com' orta other than they can get here are absolutely necessary for the prolongation of life. They inhabit the eaat wing of the gaol BIRCHALL'8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 87 for the moil part, and among tham are loma rare aud antii|ue ipeuliiieni oihuinaQity, Thar* are genarallr • faw ouuupanta who •re, to uia a viang axpreuioo, aiightly *' otf their baaa." Thea«« ditfer very much ona from tha other, and their doioi'i aod eayingi, apart from the lerroua natuie of their atata, are extreinelyr funny. (Jeaerally quiet at tint, they becoma noisy, aud virf iwrxn, until they are removed to the asylum in London, where they remain until cured. Other in- mates comprise tho«e who have done some- thing " contrary to the acatuta provided," and a grand rule in this town and county appears to Lie, "When m doiibc, prefer u charge of vaarancy." If you oun't get a man convicted of anything else tiiat will do — va- grancy covers a very wide field. There are not many ladies staying here at the time of writing. They evidently prefer some other fashionable resort. Even were there any, they are far removed from the curious eye of man, and therbfore of their arrangements 1 know nothing. KKl.IOIOUH aEKVIOK IN WOUDSTdOK UAOL. There beius no properly appointed gaol chaplain in VVoodstuck giol, it becomes necessary to fall baok itpou other extianeoua luurjea for the religious instruction of the lumatea. On the morning of each Sunday the gaol ia attacked by a strong force of the Salvation Army, who, by firing aatrong salvo of Gospel shots, and by tha undying and pitiful expression that some poor ignorant wretch, beguiled by r,he glamour of the acar- let jersey and glittering drosa which aur- rounds the banls aud banners of this strange body, have succeeded in converting one pris- oner for the lengthy period of three daya ! A strange, yet ominous looking document is thrust upon the prisoners, alike to youag and old, which is found to be a paper called the War Cry. Who can read this belligerent or|{an or gaze upon the weird pictures it con- tuiuB without a feeling of wonder, bewilder- ment, and pity? Who does not pause with bated breath at the " terridc onaliiught and capture of two souls " by Captain Mary Jane LoDgwind, at Woodstock, and tbe faithful way theae infatuated souls follow their lead- er, " Le brav General," through weal and woe ? It is olaimed for the S. A. that they do much good. That may or may not be so. Certain it ia that their ministrations within the gaol are quite ineffectual. I know not the reason of this, and I may add that no collection is taken up at the olose of the service. « Aft«ir discassing the doctrine of the Salva- tion Army, which as a r%le calls forth a good deal of ridicule among tibe prisoners, prepara- tions are going on for a second and more extenaive attack io the afternoon. About MR. a 8. PIRRY, DAT GUARD. half-pMt two the bella begin to ring and per* fona arrive in order, both male and female, to help oonduct the afternoon is ue. So far aa 1 can make out the Sunday afternoon service at the gaol ia merely a peg on which to hang a rehearsal of the very limited rhetorical powers of a few young students whom it is positively painful to hear playing with such a good subject, assisted by a couple of old pedagogues who sro alike out of date and place. This unhappy combination are those who take upua themselves the iipiritual wel- fare of the prisonela. I have listened care- fully to their difOdOrse, much as it jarred upon my nervei, and I must say it is nothing more nor less than a down- right farce. Alike with- out basis or support, these tiedslings pro- pound theories whiohi immediately land themj to inextricable mazea of ditiiuuity. Then the Eedagoguea come in ; u^ their ignorance la at manifest, and their teashing so hollow, that it ia altosether useless to go into it here. I have heard it said on all sides, and by every olass of prisoner : — ** Why oan'fi we have a decent parson on'« every Sunday ?" And why cannot they have one? The sooner the Government aeea to this tbo better. OOTKRNOR OAlfBRON. " Chief among those with whom my gaol life baa brought me in contaot, Mr. .John Cam- eron, governor of the Woodstock gaoi, atandi foremost. An t^lderly gentleman, of long ex- perience, having held sway here for some twenty-three years, he ia eminently fitted for the post which he occupies. Mr. Cameron has taken part in the administration of local matters, having been a magistrate and reeve of NissourL His keen penetration and powers of discipline, allied as they are with a kind heart and considerate nature, at once stamp bim as the right man in the rittht place. Mr. Cameron bas at all times warmly advocated the claims of prison reform, especially in the matter of the gaols being under complete control of the Government, including the ap- pointment of gaol officers, and indeed he seems likely to have his ideas carried into effect by the Priaon Commission lately held. From what I have observed myself I should say that everybody else thinks they have a right to run the gaol except the proper otlicer. There exists in VVoodstock a strange combina* BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. tion of bombut ^nd bonei, who, althoagb ha hai nothing whatever to do with the manage- ment of the gaol, apt>.ara to be constantly in- terfcrin? in some way or other, and especially iii ;::y case has this been noticeable. Not con- tent with doing hia utmost against me with- out the giol, this pampered menial of the Crown sought to make me as unconrifortable as possible'within, issuing from bis throne an order to have the carpet of my cell taken up twiob t; day ; to have all my pictures removed ; that I should only be allowed a lead spoon ; that no one chould be admitted into the cell, and such like idiotic ideas. Forlunately for me this empty braggart has no •'ule within the gaol, where commoDuense and humanity, 1*8 represente*^ by Gaoler Cameron, take the place of hi.i miserable and contemptible nature. UAOLKH AND FKIKND. Isc.;t I come to Mr. Cameron's trusty lieutenant — Mr. James Forbes. Of this gen- tiemau I saw more than of any oue else in authoriiiy, and, indeed, the kindness and courtesy I received at his hands have left an impression upon my memory tuat will never lie etfaced. Fortunately for me I was ac- 'luainted with this gentleman when 1 was foi ;rarly in Woodstock, and spent many very pleaaanl uiid bappy houra in bis cotnpAny. There are many points about Mr. Forbes which at once strike the keen observer very forcibly. His straightforward, honest look and bearint;, his kind and humane expres- sion, and his pleasant smile are all traits of the powerful nature within. During the whole of the time I knew him be was the same to me, and when, instead of meetint^ me outside, he met me as his prisoner, even tiiat faii'^d to eQect a change, and the mamy and genei'ouA- hearted way in which he has helped to allnvit.:e my sorrow and the necessary ills of oonfinenent, so far as lay in his power, his ever-ready kind word and genial disposi- tion will live ir my memory when ail else is forgotten. I cannot pass on without taking this opportunity of tendering my warmest gratitude to both himself and his good wife, Mrs. Forbes, for their unbound- ed kindness to my dear wife iu every way. Aiwayti cariying out the letter of the regulations and instructions laid down, Mr. Forbes was never olticious in the least, hut courteously and firmly carried out all these in snch a way as to at onoe command the respoct and esteem of every prisoner who had the good fortune to be under his charge. All spoke well of him, young and old, good and bad, like and indifferent. Mr. Forbes is most highly respected aUa without the gaol, and has held positions .a municipal matters and was one of the founders of the Brookr- daleohMie factory, » c osperous institotiotw Ha was formerly a farmer oat in Zorra, and a successful one, too ; and the popularity which he enjoyed, and the esteem in whicH he was bed by those around him, may be vouched for by the statement which I have inspected in the Embro t'uuricr of October 2-N, 1885, which gives an account of a pre- sentation of handsome gifts to himselr and his worthy wife on their retirement from the farmine arena to come into town. Mr. Forbes was for three years a member of the Township Council of West Zorra. He is also a member of the Canton of Oddfellows in this country, and in many ways a useful public man. To sum him up briefly, I would say that Mr. Forbes is a true friend, tried and trusted comrade, and a credit to the country which owns him. A GOOD PHYSICIAN. I have bad periodical visits from Dr. Rioe, the gaol surgeon, to whom I have made pass- ing allusion before. The gaol is not a very happy hunting ground for the sawbones, but nevertheless, at times the need of a medical adviser is found to be essential, and there- fore such is provided. Dr. Rice is a Cana* dian born and bred, and a liighly educated and sound practical man, going straight to the point and not beating round the bush like many of the faddy and lapdog doctors that we meet with day by day. I always found this ofncer genial and courteous, and owe much to him for the comfort in which I have lived during my sojourn in Woodstock gaol. THK sh;;aiff. Occasional visits are paid to the gaol by Sheriff Perry, who, unfortanately for all c(>n- cerned, is getting somewhat old and infirm. He IS, nevertheless, at his post in times oi duty, and deserves great credit for the prompt and etiioient way in which he discharges his many and various duties, which are in many cases alike arduous and painful. I have re- ceived very many kindnesses from him and am grateful to him iu consequence of the same. Sheriff Perry is aided in his official capacity by hia worthy and substantial son, Mr. John Perry, whose genial face and hearty laugh are too well known almost to be spoken of. Always jolly, the cares of this gentleman (if he has any) sit lightly withal, and affect him in no manner peroep- tible. The very easeuce of kindness, he is a firm and old established favourite with everybody, and the unanimous opinion most undoubtedly is thai John Perry is a "good sort.' AN UI>tWELCOMR OUAUD. Next in order of the genus Perry comes George of that ilk, who was appointed day gaard in the plaoe of one Magee, a ourioaa BmOHALUS AUTOBIOGRAPHT. Zorra, Md popularity ID in whioK m, may be iich I have of October nt of a pre- limseli and nt from the own. Mr. nber of the 'ra. He ia dfellows in ft a useful 1y, I would riend, tried edit to the ri Dr. Rioe, made pau- not a very IT bones, but a medical and thera- 3 is a Cana* y educated straight to d the bush OH doctora I always rteous, and in wbiob I Woodstocit he gaol by for all c(inted day a cturioua and elderly prodaction, whose forte aeemed to be Kcnmbling and growling at everybody save himself. Ho far as I could ascertain he was Irish, and settled originally in Hamilton, from which place the batf-breeds fled at bis approach. I can quit<> imagine it. He left me in a buff, and I wad g\aA of it. Of Mr. George Perry I have nothine but the warm- est praise. Like hia grandfather and father, kiuduass in him predominates, and I shall ever remember him with mingled feelings of gratitude and affection. ONB OF A DIFFERENT KIKD. During the night time during my imprison* ment and before the trial Mr. John Ent- whistle occupied a coucb near my door, and kept me company during the dusky hours. He was a genial and amusing companion, full f wit with a keen sense of humour, and we rhiled away many an hour in couversatioo that would otherwise have hung heavily upon our hands. He was most kind and atten- tive to me, and 1 had in bim » good and traaty friend. OTUKB WELCOMB OOBIPANY. After the trial Mr. Entwhistle left to take a holiday, and there appeared upon the scene Colour-Sergeant Midgely, of the Twenty- second Battalion, Oxford Rifles, who is well known by all around as a warm supporter of all matters military and legal, being also » constable for the County of Oxford. I found out tb..>t Mr. Midgely was an Englishman, which ac once struck a familiar chord in me, ami very soon we were the beat of friends. During the long hours of the night, when I was writing this history, Mr. Midgely and my black oat were my sole companions. Al- wavs cheerfnl, with an inexhauetiblu fund of anecdotes and hamour, wo got on admirably together, and the slow hours of the night seemed abrr^, aided in their flight by the fenial companionship of this worthy ofKoer. 'rom Mr. Midgley I learned much of the military life in Canada, for hia long experience enabled him to treat largely of this subject. Mr. Midgely is largely known and highly respeoted by all who know him and I beg most heartily to endono their good opinion. I may here make pasb og mention of that most excellent of men, M>-. James Anderson, chairman of the Gaol ComoMttee, who showed me many acts of courtesy and kio^ness, and I am only sorry 1 did o«« ^ee more of this worthy official. Likewiie I wonld pay a tribe « to Mr John Coalson, of Welland gaol, who treated me most kindly and with the utmMt oonnid- eration daring my brief stay with him at Wel- land. I VIRITOR8, BAD AND OOOD. Dnriag my atty in the gaol here I hava been visited by many peraona, acme of them old friends, some of them friends who sym- pathised with an unfortunate, many merely prompted by i.'>nrbid curiosity, and a few pharisaio humbugs, who might well have stopped away. Chief among the latter olaaa was a Roman Catholic priest, sleek and with oat-like appearance, who would fain have oast his slim net around me, but raturally failed. When I heard of his remarks about me afterward I felt indeed glad that no such canting hypocrite should be able to say that I had in any way listened to hia miserable dictation. There were others of this class, but generally inofTeusive and mild in speech, so capable of toleration. Soma few came la • kindly spirit, and I was very glad to see them, and they left pleasant thoughts and memories upon my mind. Chief amoi:5r these was Mr. John Francis Watera, of Otta.va. This L'entleman is an eminent essarist nvd scientist, and after leaving me wrote a i-er/ able article in the publio press contradicting from his own observation much of the worth* less trash written by paeudo 8peci.>! ing as his reason that it was not for him to forestall the clergy in their work of religious instruction. He thought them quito cap- able, and I would that others had thought so too. He was quite right liADIKS, TOO. A few ladies ventured to penetrate the gloom of Castle Cameron and wend their way up the winding staircase to my cell : they were indeed plucky and deserved credit for braving the foul air and gloomy aspect of this miserahle structure. A few clergymen also came, but only one who wait always welcoio'j to me, the Rev. Rural Deau Wade, of whom I shall speak fully in the last chapter ot my book. Severcl eminent and dittinguished gentlemen and rnlers of the Dominion and province came also to perceive tL>e strange prisoner. I was likewise " inspeoted " out in the yard by a few curious critics whose opinions varied greatly upon me. I alwaya found it true of these that " Ihoae who know tho most in re':.lity know nothing," and f;euerally they showed this trait very quick- y. Old friendd were alwaya welcome at all times, and they came whenever permitted. The " old familiar faces" were always dear to me. It has been asserted in speaking of frienc** that " a friend in need is a frien.J in- deed." This ia true enough, and I would say also that a " friend in Woodstock gaol is a friend indeed." 40 BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. THB TEST OF FRIENDSHIP. Few peopie know the value of a kind word till they need it, and when but few are ready to speak it. If there be any of mv ruadera who have experienced this feelini; then truly can tney say — " Ilnid iijnarun mail niinrrin ■■iu carnri' fered a detective employed by me |10U to get him retained on the defence. The detective tried nia best, bnt it waa no go. What woDCPrs money will do ! What power does the an « ty dollar poaaeas ! Now, there are aome wlw will do anything for money. My caae was productive of profit to a good many people, and especially to a certain ** Toronto private detective," I presume, tor I do not Buppoae bf gave the papers be had of mine to the Glob', and they were given with my own hand into his at hia request, and were articles written to follow out certain theories advanced by him, and beins a very unlearned man he was unable to write save pot hooka, and likewiae could not spell, ao all the writ- ing devolved upon myaelf and a clerk. Ue will no doubt explain thia ere these pages are in Erint. If he does not then I do so for him ere, and apologize to detectives as a body for their brother's meanness and breach of confidence which he haa ao flagrantly com- mitted. Bat I am digreaaing. A LOYAL FAMILY, I received a larse number of letters from eld ft :uds, relations, and otht?r acquaint- ances. My p or, ''ear mother wrote by every mail a long an loving letter of comfort wnich only a mot. ^ tenderest love can give, and nothing but her clter heiplessnea? into which the shock of my arrest and triat threw her prevented her from ueing with me in my troubles. She waa alwavs the kimieai and best of mothers to me, and I cannot for one moment attempt to express my feelings with regard to her in this^ work. I have retrained from bringine my iamdy into this worK aa much as poaaible, but as ber name was mentioned in the iocai press as coming out after the trial, 1 give xhu tssM vauoo of her absence — the sane mhmhb afviiM to others. My urotber anu ■aat«r« «rrote regu- larly, and >id < 'xford friends ana others kept mo well piMied in the latest news, and with the aid oi tne papers 1 bad plenty of reading mattar to fail baok jpoa. MEMENTO HUNTERS. I received a great many letters from cranks fall of schemes and idiotic notions. As soon as the fact leaked out (and isn't it wonder- ful how these things get about ?) that I was employing my spare time in sketching, I re- ceived a number oi letters sympathizing (of course) with me and winding up with a re- quest for a sketch as a memento of me. I received a letter from Al Kmmett Foster, the well-known American actor aud collector of cariosities, asking me te aend him an au- tograph letter and a sketch. I did so, and he sent me 13 in a registered letter by retarn post Evidently he thought he wasn't on the "free list." Not so the majority. T« use a somewhat ungrammatical phrase, " All they sees they wants and all they wants they seizes. " Pardon the bad pan and play npoa words. I must bring in a few somewhere, yoa know. A 'varsity "ghost." Several old friends wrote whom I had not heard of for years, and from most outlandish places, toa Mr. Arthur R. Leatham, formerly of Queen's College, Oxford (and who gives me full permission to give his name and refer to him in any way I like here), wrote to me from Montreal, where he is now re- siding. He was called " the Ghost " at the 'Varsity, and was a great friend of mine there, as he has proved himself to be here. He wrote me many times, and never ohaneed in any way his tone. Even after the trial he waa unshaken, as were all who knew me beat, eapeciaily my own family. It waa some yeara aiuce I had heard anything of him, and I was glad to find the dear old chap again. He is a true type of an Oxford man, a fine fellow in every way, and thoroughly English in his ways. The song says : — Tbe things that we do. and the things that we Are English, 70U know, quite English, 70a know; To dash, and to mash, and to go on tbe spree. Are Englub. quite Jingliab, you know, A good many things may also be " Cana- dian, yoa bet," bot I would have none of them. AKONTHOrS LETTERS. A large number of people wrote anooymons* \y, and these I took very little notice of. If anyone is ashamed to put his name to r, letter of religious or sympathetic nature he is ashamed to own to others that he is 10, and therefore the missive loses its value. G ive me those who speak ont boldly in defiance )f that wretched and hollow barrier, " Public Opin- ion. ' Why snould we be afraid to speak our honest conviction * Why should we fear the wrath that immediately deaoenda upon ns from wicteaftl Truly, there sboald b« •• 42 BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. ■uch fear. But, nevertbeiess, it exists. Of those people's effusions, then, I took but little notice, generally relegatins them to the waste paper basliet— the proper place for them, THB OMMIPRKSENT TRACTS. Tracts I sometimes read, and handed over to Mr. Cameron to give to the prisoners oa Sunday to serve as a aide diah to the War Cry. Whether they relished them or not I do not know. I read a f!Ood number alto* gether. But ao many are the same story dished up anew, like » round of beef, boiled for dinner, hashed for supper, stewed up again for breakfast, fried for dinner next day, and finally made into potted meat. Tbe average tract is like the average drama on the Btafte. The hero or heroine, the aged father and mother, the villain (who is even- tually converted), and the village parson, all find places in this multum in parvo style of tract. Some of them are more extensive. I had one letter from a Koman Catholic, who told me to be sure and send for the priest, as that was my only chance ot salvation. H« also said :—" Always tell the priest aesrets ; be can keep them, because he isa't married. If you teli them to the clergyman he wiil tell his wife I" This strange individual, whom I afterwards ascertained wu a local man, also sent a book, which appearea, so far as I was able to judge from the cover, lo be a popish discourse. The cover waa aa far as I got. Poor fellow 1 he i« to be pitied greatly. SAID THKT KIIiSD BENWKLL. A large number of earrei^iondents knew, so they said, of the doiufs of Mr. Benwell, and quite a few had kili>ed him themselves, so they said. Some of zneae letters were very curious and interesting, a few being from women. One says :— " I hired a fast horse in Buffalo in the early momiDg and arrived at tbe swamp about nooc.' rather a lengthy ride for a morning b ga.-op. Sbe aays 3he and Beuwell were lovers in Engiasd, that H« dsserted her, etc., etc., and aha came after bim, and so forth. Evidently a lonatic. Another woman says : — " There are some nice men on the Hamilton police force. When I arrived here I was ao unnerved at shooting Benwell that I had to ask the name ot the street where I lived." Plenty of men make similar statements. One man writing from Hamilton on a post card remarks :— " You have shown a great deal of grit in this case, •nd I hope you will fool them yet, but if not, when they go to put the black cap over your eyes to hang you, sing out, ' Down went McOinty.' " This gentlt^man takes the Erize without competition. Some write 8«y- ig they have found it absolutely necessary fee do so (sweat orMturts) at I couldn't get on unless they did so. I hav« always heard it said that it you cannot get on you must get off. Perhsps they didn°t know tnis. One man wrote saying I must remember him at college in 1881 (a year when I was at school), •nd says that our mutual friend McLeod ran away to "make a mash" on some young ladies. He then signs the letter " Yoars respectfully, your greatest chum, William Coooer." The "youn respectfully" was quit* ■afficient. Fancy an " oldest ohuro" signing bis name like that 1 THB PELLTS — FATHER AND 80IT. I received, mtraftt7e efictu, a very kind letter from the Rev. R. P. Pelly, father of Douglas, of that ilk. It is said that Pelly wrote A portion of one of the bamorous books about me ; I cannot say for whom, but at Niagara Falls he had a lady typewriter at work night and day for a long time writing up a tale abuut me. I received the information from the party herself, with reference to the tale, but I do not think Pelly seeks literary hon- ours. I mention this en passant. Many re* ligioos books and papers have come to me since the trial from England, America, and Canada, several from a lady (from her hand- writing) who signs herself Agape, the Greek word tor " love." Some pat their names on and some did not. Some one sent a hymn- book. Many have sent flowers, fruit, etc., eta, very kindly. One man wrote from Con- gleton, in Cheshire, England, enclosing a poem, which be requested me to have inserted in every paper in America and Canada— a rather large order. I might truly be called a man of ' ' letters " since my arrival here. My wife has received, I might almost say, tons of letters of synipsthy from all parts. Poor, dear girl, she deserves them, too, in the truest sense of the word. Mr. Blackstock has likewise been the recipient of many letters from cranks, which have caused him some amusement and surprise. Many of the lettere were very lengthy, reaching nine or ten pagea at times, and even Ioniser than that HIS CORRESPONDBNCB IN DEMAND. 1 may add that many dodges have been re- sorted to to get hold of these letters by un- scrupulous newspaper men, and even my guards have complained of bribes being offered them to steal my papers and manuscripts, as much as $700 being an offer for twenty-five pases. Fortunately for me my guards are neither of them " Toronto private detectives," so my MSS. will be sure to reach the right hands. Of course, all my correspondence waa examined by the gaol aothoritiea before receiving it, as also was all my correspondence going out, so it was impossible to write and post a letter without the authorities being aware of the fact The longest letter I wrote BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 43 WM, I think, thirteen abeeta long to an old fnend, and some nearly •• long to my wi 3 before she came up to Woodstock to taHe up her residence during the time of my im- prisonment here. During the time of my arrest a number of letter* and papers were stoieii frcm my boze-* while in posBesainn of the Crown, so I am unable to append nidny that I should have liked to. "TO RAISE THE WIND." DEALINas IN BNOLAND FBEPAKATOBV TO COMING TO CANADA TUB SECOND TIMR. Having no occupation in view after Christ* mas, 18b9, 1 had been thinking about what I should do, and being somewhat tired of the subordinate position 1 was then holding, and liltely to hold, I cast about for some new idea which miffht help me, and, after a eood deal of thought, planned out a great scheme which I thoucnt would land me safely upon the shore of comparative afi.uence and com- fort. I spoke of it to others, who agreed and entered into it warmly. This scneme was, in short, to make a piie of money out of the Kngliah Derby, which would he run in 1890, and about which we had certain information that would have put us right, and as the race turned out we should have landed a big com; . But none of us had sutticient ready capital tu work the scheme, arid the ques- tion came up how were we to get it ? After a good deal of thinking my former experience with Ford & Rathbone came np in my mind, and I thought there was a chance in this way. Of course I could not work the thing single handed, and so I arranged with others to " stand in," as the saying is. I then put an advertisement in the Daily I'lieiiiajih, which is here appended, for a man with £500 for a partnership in a Cana- dian farm :-— > r^ANADA-UNIVERSlTY MAN. HAVING \j farm, wishes to MEET GENTLEMAN S SON 10 live with him, and loarn busineas, with a view to partnership ; must invest £500 to ex- tend stock; board, lodKing, and Ave per cent. Interest till partnerahip ; highest references. Address OXON. Glen's. 379A, Strand, W.C. • TAIB TALENT, We intepded to get the money from one or two men, an,d then in Canada nothing could be said to ns, as we could not be held in Can- ada tor fraud committed in England, and Wait until we had brouftht off our coup and then repay the men with something over to appease them, and say farewell to them in good part. It was a poor fraud, without doubt, but I thought so long as we repaid them afterwards it covered the fraud to a large extent, so far as my conscience, at any rate, was conoerued. I may here state most emphatically, with all the force tha.> my poor nature is capable of, that the idea of murder was never for a moment thought of or plan- ned, and that it was a pure and simple fraud for the lime being. If it failed, it tailed on its own merits, said we, but as we had the thine down pretty tine it wasn't likely to do thatT TUK FIRST BITE. On the morning after the day I iuserted the advertisement I called at the J)aily Telegraph otlice in London to ask if any answers had been received for me. The clerk handed me a letter marked " im- mediate," and I hastened tu break it open and read it. It was to the effect that tne writer, whose name was T. G. Mellersh, wished to get a partnership such as I offered, and desired ine to call upon him at his club, the " National Union," in Albemarle street, Piccadilly. I may here mention that the Crown took possession of all the correspond- ence they could find between myseli and Mellersh, and much of it which showed that he knew of fraudulent transactions was suppressed by the Crown in order to shield him from the public indignation. I append, however, one of a few letters that I have in my possession pertaining to this man :— 2 SOITTHFIELD ViLT.AB, Chkltknham, Jan. 31. UiW. Dear Birchall,— Flease write to U. TKvlor. Esq.. care R. Taylor. Esq.. F.G.S., Clovelund house, Marshe by the Sea. YorKs. He wishes lu Ko as a pupil to Canada, and is twenty-two years of ai{e. i heard from him this morning, re ad- veniaement. When do you think of sailing;, and have you booked through Mr. iSquarey. 57 CharinR cross, yet» I am just off to Cheltenham. Very sorry you did not turn up at 4 Dash place to lunch yester- day. Youra sincerely, T. G. MELLEi.yH. P. S.— Have you seen or heard of any of the pupils ? T. U. M. melleksh'3 business. I went to his club, and met him there, and he at once told me that he didn't want the partnership for himself but for a friend, and that he was a party who brought other par- ties together, and said that if I would give htm €50 he would get a man to pay nu £iJOO on the conditions named. He told me ha advertised constantly in a similar way and got replies, and then waited until he knew of anyone with a businessor who wanted a part- ner, and then put the two into communica* tion. He told me that he knew of some very good men, aud we got pretty confidential on such matters and talked over the thing well. I told him of my experiences with Ford & Rathbone, and he laughed heartily thereat. He then produced a bag, which was full of applications from men wanting to invest money in such a business as mine purported 44 BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. to be, and asked me to ehoost oot lome for myself. THE FIRST APPEARANOK OP BEN WILL. I chose oat aboat foar, and among these Mr. Benwell and Mr. Pelly. Mr. Benwell evidently had money and had, as be after- ward told me, intended at one time to pay £1,500 for a business, or rather a share of a business. Mellersh recommended him, as he ■aid he knew all about his father, who lived in Cheltenham, where Mellersh himself also lived, and said he would he a good man, and the fact of both Colonel Benwell and Mel- lersh living; at Cheltenham, where the latter'a brother was a respectable solicitor, would be a good point in facilitating matters. Mel- lersh then dictated to me a couple ot letters, one to Peliy and one to Benwell, couohed in Eretty much th' same terms. Of course I ad no idea of « bat they would say in reply at all. 1 went r ray, arranging to see Niel- lersh, who sai^ lie would meet me again wnen I got replies. I heard from both, ask- ing me to meet them, Pelly at his home in Satfron Wulden, and Colonel Benwell at his club in London, the Army and Navy, in Pall MalL THE BEN WELLS, FATHER AND SDK. I went to r;all upon the latter first, and the moment I saw him 1 perceived that he was like a good many other old military men- simple and credulous on bnsinesa mattera. 1 had a long interview, in which he asked me many questions, and I cold him many lies, which apparently satisfied him ao much that in a couple of days I had a letter from P. C. Benwell making an appointment at his club — the National Couservative— to talk mattera over. I duly went and convinced him jnsc as easily as bis father before him, and be de- cided to go with me and pay the £500. Much as I would like to speak on the character and points that atrnok me aboat F. C. Benwell, I must perforce refrain, remembering that de mortuis nil nisi bonum mast be my guidmg ftrinciple here. He told me of the vary hard ife he had in Australia, where he woraed upon a sheep walk, and had actually Icilled abeep himself and done all manner of dirty work for very little pay. He seemed keen to get away, and he was most decidedly afraid of hia father, hardly daring to otter any opinion in bis (the father's) preaense, and the latter several times rebuked him sharply in my presence. I arranged to call again,' and then returned to Mellersh with the news. He was pleased, but told me to make Benwell deposit £.')0 aa n guarantee of good fuitb, and we would have £25 each. I said I didn't like to ask him for that yet, so the matter dropped, but I promised to pay him hia £50 so soon aa I got CBe money. I than journeyed dowa to Saffron Waldron, A aomeislial antiqaatod little village in Easex, with liouaea bail! ia » very ancient atyle, THE AVTUOR MRETS PELLT. I waa met at the atation by Pelly, who drove me to hia father'a house, a fine estab- lishment, which waa redolent of atHnenoe and prosperity. He told me that hia father had lately inherited aome money, which had made a great difference to him and his mode of living, which was certainly rather high for a minister of such a countrified place. He kept butler and footman, oarriage and pair, hacks and hunters, men and doga— a collection which very few of our English clergy can lay claim to. However, that did not matter to me. The Pelly family enter- tained me hospitably, and I found the father, like most country clergymen, simple and confiding. I arranged to write Pelly with a definite offer, which I afterwards did, by which he paid me £170 for certain considera- tions. Pelly himself had bees to Harrow school for a time, but was taken in and had to leave. He went afterwards to college at Cambridge and took the degree of tiAjtlj. He was aiao a prominent member of the local volunteer corpa and had a local reputa- tion. Being the only eligible yonng man in the place, and possessed of comfortable aurroundings, the local belles and aimple lassies looked upon him with soulful oyea and blushing coantenances aa a "good oatoik" IN famot's eti. Hence, no doubt, the "enthusiastic ro« turn " of my so-called " victim " that we read of in the local press. I can well picture the Bcene— the little village en fete, the rnatio ■wains, the village maidens, the great and only Mrs. Bellingnam, wbo, we are told, illuminated her house without and within for this festive occaaion, the local band, with grating strain of ancient music, the triumphal arch stretched serosa the noble atreet of this benighted village— all stand forth in bold re- lief as we gaze in fancy npon the acene. fie* hold the hero of a biindred fighta and hair- breadth 'acapes, borne along by the rejoicing crowd towards his ancestral home. The return of the wanderer, laden with spoil and witness tees, the sole and distinguished object of land and honour, truly in the minda of this noble band of peasants a thing of 'beauty and a joy forever— onward they go, with banners waving and crash of loudest oraying from the village band, the hero bowing to tlie crowd, the oarriage drawn not by horaea or ao ele- phunt, but by the willing and demented power of these horny-liandad aona of toil, nagerly vying with each other for the tiigarette enda thrown tbem from bis Ezoel- leacy's carriage. Tiie one Ihonght upon thai BIRORALL'S AUTOnOORAPHT. m»t-toQle FLATIDw I went away promising to write Pelly pretty soon, whiuh I did, and I also went again to see Mellersh, who was very pleaqsd, and suffgested sharing with me, which I didn't see in the same light I then wrote Peliy to meet me in London, which he did ; and I invited him down to Upper Norwood, and introduced bim to my wife. I likewise did the same by Benwell ; and we discussed various matters relating to the day we should sail, and the steamer we should sail in. Ben* well went baok to Cheltenham, previoas to which, however, I was invited to and went to iunoh with Colonel Benwell in bis London house, where we talked over a few general matters, my last agreement being with the fatlier not to aend any money until he had been fully satisfied by the son as to his having seen and examined the business spoken o^ and also by a respectable solicitor who should draw up the necessary papers relating to the matter. Colonel Benwell also proposed to ffive his son introductions to several other friends, who would look up his son. Of course it must be distinctly understood by the read- er that the scheme was all prearranged, and that of course it had been necessary to arr^iugii to be able to show Benwell some property to satisfy him, and to execute a fraudulent deed upon, so that ho should believe and be led to believe that it waa mine, and mine alone. I cannot mention any names, unfortunately, here, and if I did it would do no good, as the parties to the fraud, so far as lending their property was oonoarned, need never be expos- ed. »- The public have formed their opinion in their inmost minds on this matter,- 1 fancy. Peliy we didn't oare a straw aboul I was bound by the agreement to pay his board, lodging, and washing, which I did, and was prepared to d« at th« rat* of |6 a week. Tmly not a bad parceatace fn itself for the 9800 he invested— sometnfog like thirty per cent, per annum and a littlo over. I wonder what more he expected. We intended to keep him doing sometning until we )(ot the other money out, and if he wanted to work he could work in the capacity of my secretary, but at any rate I should not have pressed him to do so, but paid him a few small 'ums as profits supposed to be accruing to me, and which my manager forwarded me from time to time. Benweil was to go with my manager until the money came out. and during the short time that it would take to consummate the deal they were to travel about attending sales of horses, etc., tor show, and of course not finding any suitable for my purpose. This would have obviated the necessity of taking up residence upon a farm which I arranged to do first of all. We were after the money by fraudulent means, but not by fsul means, and there is a great and wide distinction here. It was never necessary for me for one moment ever to entertain a fraudulent scheme ; for bad I appealed to my people to help me they would doubtless have done so if they saw me in need, as they are all in good positions. I had, however, received such kindness at my brother's hands that I forebore to bother him for sucb a sum as we required, and hence the alternative which I took. The scheme was well laid, both in England and Canada, and was ouly entirely frustrated by the untimely death of F. a BenwolL niS WIFB NOT Air AOCOMPLIOE. The details having been fixed, we decided upon the day of sailing. And before I em- bark with my readers on board the steamer there is another matter that I wish to see set right once and for ail beyond all possible human dunbt. I allude to what baa been said by Peliy and by the general public of the knowledge that my wife had of the transactions I speak of. I had told my wife previoas to my marriage that I owned pro- perty in Canada in the neighbourhood of the Fails, but that it was let to and looked after by others acting in my interest. I never told her the nature of my dealings with Ford ft Bathbone, and when I went on to the farm when I first oame to Canada I told her that it was with a view to get hold of just a few particulars in order to be able to manage my own property ; and when I had money sent from England through Ford k Rathbune I told her that it was money accruing from the j^rnperty in questtjn. This she be> Uevea and never aonbted, and though she « often questioned me closely on the matter, I generally out her off in some way or another snooossfuily. I had also mentioned this to Mveral othen la England, inolnding her 46 BIROHALL'B AUTOBIOGRAPHY. father, and they, too, believed my state- meuts at the ti i e. I received oomtnunioa- tioDs trom time to time relating to Canadian matcera and tneie helped to lend colour to my statemeota, ao that it became quite easy when I was leaving home to say that I waa at length going to maoa^^e my own property, •nd DO one doubted but that it was so. A LA CLADDK MELNOTTK. Often I gnve my wife full and graphio de< ■criptions of this property, whiuh existed only in my fertile imuginution, and hence her ideas to Felly en wQat it was like and the things she intended to get for the house. The poor dear girl was building bar hopes on a comfortable home and having it got up to her own liking, and hence vhat she may have said was entirely misconstrued into a guilty knowledge of my fraudulent doings. She knew absolutely nothing of tbe fraad, of Its inception, nature, or surroundings, and was just as mu.n deceived as Felly or Benwell, and the surprise has been just as genuine and just as terrible to her as to anyone ; and it is positively cruel, inhuman, and fiendish that a totally innocent and good woman, as my dear wife undoubtedly is, should have been so spoken of, and that iilminded and despicable hounds, as such people are, should have sought to add to her broken-hearted grief by adducing any such ideas, which are both impossible, false, and utterly wicked. AN EAKNEST DEFBNCE OF MRS. BIKCH'LL. 8he has been a true, loving, and laithful wife to me, and if proof of that were wanting I merely call to the public eye and mind the noble, uenerous, and true loving way in which she has lingered near me here in gaol to minister to my wants and to ciing to me, despite the public senriment and even of the sentence passed upon me, and to offer in these last hours such loving words of truest de« votion and wholly faithful trust, such as only 80 guiloless and pure a being and loving angel as she is can give to a man situated as I am av present Can anyone for one mo- ment doubt the truth of these words respect- ing my wife ? Do not tho facta speak tor themselves ? Who shall dare to contradict them in the face of such overwhelming testi- mony as this mighty phalanx of invulnerable facts presents ? Nay, not one. On every band the base and cowardly insinuations of Pelly and his few adherents have been crushed and mangled beyond power of recog- nition. Were it not for the fact that there are some few people existing whose crass ignorance and bitter bigotry lead them into fol owing the inane theory of three brazen and systematio would-be detractors of the fair fame of a good and hoaeat woman, who simply beoauM alon* and % itrang- er, and unable to fight her own battle against inch abamefal alander, think that they can sow broadoaat their miserab.e and contemptible atatementi and theories on the publio mind. Oh, truly human vipers, for men ye cannot be I How shall it be with you anon ? Truly yoar day of reckoning will come, when for anoh vile and dastardly action you shall give aoconnt. Is is utterly inconceivable to the educated mind that such creatures can exist, and it is the more shameful and humiliating to the peo* pie of Canada that they should and do exist. All honour to those who have taken her part ! All honour to those who openly and in defiance of publio sentiment ground down to finest powder and exploded these pitiful notions ! Verily, they will have their re- ward. Having said this I have greatly relieved my mind. It is not necessary for me, then, to follow my wife's arrest in dealing with my case nor to refer at any length to her in* human and brntal treatment at the hands of Defective Murray and his heUhounds. These are matters of history, and a lasting atain upon the administration of the country. DEPARTURE FOR CANADA. . TUK ADTHOR AND HIS WIFE, WITH BENWELL AND FELLT, LBAVR BNQLANO FOB " THB FARM." I now take my readera dcwn with me to Liverpool. My wife, myself, and Felly left London togetner for Liverpool, and having arrived there, took up our ((uartcrs as the Railway Terminus hotel. We had prbvjous- ly taken passage on board the White Star steamer Britannic — a very good boat. 1 had sent on Beriweli's ticket before to him, y Ford and Uathbone. I append a card of introduction to Mr. Buck- ley. Tbat of Mr. Maloney I gave to him and he introduced me personally to Mr. Buckley, so I didn't uee(t the card. That was how I reRoi2ni/.ed Mr, Maloney, and I am g ad to be able co give this explanation. I may also mention that the New York hank, which 1 fancy is called the First National or son.ething like that, is close by tbe Erie othce, on which Ford and Kathbone used to draw their American cheques. Having no- ticed Mr. Maloney I went up to him and shook hands. He appeared to recocnize me, and I at unue asked nis help and influence, which he very readily gave. In fact, a more courteous otlicial 1 never had the pleasure to meet. We then went to the Metropolitan hotel on Broadway, where I had stayed twice previously, and we registered our names there in the ordinary way, Felly and Benwell having separate rooms. I saw a couple of persons in the hotel, whose namea I shall not mention, whom I recogni/ed, OFF FOR CANADA. We bad dinner and then went to Niblo's theatre. My wife retired early, and I went out during the middle of the piece to consum- mate a few arrangement.:) upon which so much depended, and having done this I re- turned to tbe theatre and saw tbe end of tbe performance. Felly, Benwell, and myself then tool, a stroll, and they then returned to the hotel and retired for the night. I did not retire, having other arrangements wbicb kept me till a late hour. I retired ind told my wife of my determination to a'.art tbe next day up country ; but an appointment in the early morning prevented my leaving until night, and aa Benwell and Felly botn had calls to pay in New York we all agreed upon the night train to Batl'alo, which we took. We had sleeping berths, and we alept till morning, when we arrived in Buffalo and i ut up at the Stafford house on Sunday morning. We spent Sunday in strolling around Buffalo and in the hotel and after dinner and a cigar Felly retired, and 1 and Benwell were left together. THAT *• CONNY " PEN. I may refer, however, to the incident that took place in the afternoon about writing each ocber'a signature, which the Crown in- geniously tried to make out a point against me. Benwell was writing out some ac- counts, and he alluded to the way he made a B. I wrote two or three B'a, and he aaid at any rata hia aignatare waa very diffioalt BmOHALUS AUTOBIOGRAPHY. to imitaU. W« w*r« uiog th« pan »nd fBooil oMe marked "Ck>Dny, N.Y." which e showed me with pride, aud we fell to tryina to imitate eaub other'e writing. Peily oame in and joined in what wae described at the trial a very "silly " occupation, and alio tried to sacceistully imitate Beuwell's writ- ing. Felly's writina: was so bad as to render it a veryditticulttusk toattempt anything like it, aud we aignaliy failed to do so. 1 bor- rowed the '* Conny " pen to write some Eapers, and the Crown would have people eiieve that 1 stole it off the dead man's body. I knew of the marks upon it ; 1 saw it frequently. THE TRIAL RI0OLLXCTION8 CONCKUNIMO COUNSEL, OKTBO TIVKS, WITNE83KS, AND JUHYMKN, WITH SOUS nNANCIAL STATSHKNTH. Previous to this great ordeal through which I had to pass I had retained the serviues of Mr. Uellmuih, of London, whom I have mentioned beiore. As be felt unable to give enough time to the case and from his inex- perience iu criminal oases he thought it necessary to secure further advice, I retained Messrs. Finlcle, McKay <& McMnileo t< ;t upon my behAlf in Wuodstock, aud certu ly all the work that was done iu the se was done by these three gentlemen. Mr. Uell> muth had engaged Detective Bluett, of Toronto, to work up the case, and though ho came apparently well recommended I never had any faith in him, and my opinion that I formed was afterward fully justiHed. 1 com- plained about him to Mr. Uellmuth, and ■aid we were wasting good money on him. But Mr. Helitnnth thoueut the worid of bim. I wonder if he does so now ! Mr. Hellmuth wanted to retain Mr. E. Meredith, ot Lonaon, for the counsel, but I wanted either Mr. Blake or Mr. Blackstock, and after a great deal of nnneoessary delay I retaiued Mr. Blackstock myself at the last minute. WHERE THE MONEY CAUK mOM. A good deal has been said about the funds used lor the trial, and I give ttiem, as it may interest the public to know what funds 1 used and whence I derived them. From my brother 1 received £100, from my sister £210, from my ancle £50, from an old Ox- ford friend, Mr. Lynch, £45 ; from Mr. Stevenson £45, from my aunt £10, from an old Lancashire friend £30, besides other amall aums, all of which waa entrusted to Messrs. Hellmuth & Ivey for the defence, making up a total of about £500. Mr. Black- atock very kindly accepted the modest fee of £100, and the remainder waa paid to Messrs. fiallmatb dt Ivey. Se the publio may judge of tha costs of my part of tha business. A farther sum of £'M) was sent by my brother to defray the cost cf the petition hers. I should like before I go any fuither to make my readers understand a little more clearly than many of them who have not experienced it themselves understand it now the way in which money goes in law, and with that end in view I will just give them an exanioie of a lawyer s bill. At the time of writing Messrs. Finkle, McKay ft MoMulleu have not been settled witn, as their bill is over and above the balance of £400 which Messrs. Uellmuth ft Ivey had, out of which they paid bluett some i^2J0 and a few witness' fees. Hy the time this is printed I expect Messrs. Finkle ft Co.'s account will have been paid. They never bothered me for money at all. They made that quite a secondary consideration, and all honour and credit be to them for doing so. riNANCIAL STATEMENT Or LKOAL IXPENSES. But all lawyers are not built that way. What do my readers think of the following as • fair example of whai some lawyers charge :~ To railroad fares coming to see you f 10 Cabtogaol 6 OettinHT into and out of cab 6 Eutennggaol ft Going upstairs 10 Speaking to you fiO Hearing you speak to me . N Telling you what 1 heard some one say in Toronto A Knowing bow to tell you 10 Shakinith nds with you i 8hai(inK bands with gaoler ft Shaking hands with turnkey ft >\histling to cabman ft Whiskey for cabman (not wishing lo appear mean).. ft Clirar for self ft Thinking of your case while smoking 10 Total(for one visit) |190 This is just by way of warning those who have not yet had any experience in such matters. Beware of the law. It is very an- aavoury. DIFnODLTIXS or THX CASE. The above uamcJ gentlemen then set to work upon the case, which we found very difficult from the prejudice which had every- where taken firm root No one would give us any information if he could possibly help it, and this hanaicapped ns greatly. The only man who volunteered any inrormation was Constable Watson, of Princeton, who said he could give us some valuable informa- tion if we would pay his expenses np to Lon- don and give him $10 besides. We did so, and he said certain things, but withdrew them afterward. He also called upon my wife, professing great anxiety on tny behalf, iike a wolf in s&eep's olethiog. We war* BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY (rMtlj hainp«r«d for tht want of a ffoed d*. teotivfl, bat having got Bluett at the atart we couldn't «ery well change and oooldn't afford » couple. None of the witneaiea woald give Its their atory aa they told it i''' the trial. They generally prevaricated in aome way or other, and natnrally their imagination grew lar((ely aa the 'iaits of Detective Murray toolc place, whioh happened about once a week. We kept on applying for oopiea of evidence, etc., but were met with delay every time. And in ao far aa the L'rowu could harasa na in any way before the trial by throwing obeta'-ies in oar way they did so with a will -Why I oannot tell : bat it leem- ed to ua anything but a spirit of fair play. So with all these difficulties to contend with A OARICATDBS BY THK ADTHOE. my lot in working op the case was not an easy one by any means. Bluett would turn up with wonderful report! about the evi- dence he was getting, which, of course, ex* ploded when touched, and such like bom* bastio conduct, which was very misleading, Mr. McKay worke. and I believed it was, and no one was morn thoroughly anrpria«d al many of the Crown witnesses than I was. Of course men like Klias nnd Pigott, who deliberately ctme forward and swore to having seen me at a time when I wasn't in the country at all, it was oulv natural to be a little aorprised at this : and others who, to put it mildly, were "mistaken;" it was somewhat galliug ta see and hear these good people telling their fairy -like tales with a pace and ease that would do credit to able counsel himself. !Iad I known or been in any way prepared for these productions I misht have produced some testimony to show tbeir " mistakes." With regard to the jury, I do not wish to say they were prejudiced, but I can tell my readers that out of the panel of aeventy*two jurors called to serve over forty had expressed tbemtelves prejudiced beforehand. So that may be taken as a criterion of the state of thinga existinir. Some of them were honest enough to come to us a/ l say they were pre- judiced themselves. A> d if, as the local press sought to make out, there waa no pre- judice, why call seventy-two jurors? — a much larger number than is usually called for an assize 7 From what I have said previ- ously about my journey to Eaetwooa my readers can judge pretty well of what wit- nessea were reliable and tbone who were noc FORECASTING THE RESULT. With the verdict, of course, I did not agree, and all alone I had lelt conddent of success, but when I saw the array of wit- nesses and heard their embellished evidence, I began to foresee the end. I did not feel al all nervous during the trial, my good nerve standing me in excellent stead, and even in Mr. Osier's fierce address to the jury I kept, I consider, remarkably quiet. I had fully intended to make a statement to the jury, but I was advised that if they were prejudiced, aa it appeared likely they would be, they would seek to make me an accessory, and, there- fore, I should be no better off than if I made no statement. 1 think I should have done it all the same. COnRT-RCiOM SCENES. I was somewhat impressed with the court- room, such as it was. Part theatre, part court, it8 appearance v, as very grotesque to anyone who has been used to the judicial majesty of the English courts of justice. The motley crew of constables, their fairy wands, their withered garb, and their entire inability to cope with the crowd, likewise their total incapacity to receive any orders, were circumstanoes unknown to a respectable court-house. Another thing which greatly Btrock me waa the very onseemlj behaviour 10 BTRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. of th« women present, many of whom ihould have known better. I.uuuhincc aaii jokiDt;ia a court where a man ii on trial lor hie life la a very leriout mutter, and, aa the judge him- •i If remarked, waa highly dii^racetul. What brought such a crowd of women to bear tuch a caia I cannot conceive. Snme eaid that Pelly wa» the attraction ; others that there were so many female witiieases. But this mystery is yet unsolved. The urruogenients tor the trial were a dicfirace to any civili/ed country : curaina:, puaning, and elbowing at the doors were fre(|ueut. A(imitt«uco beinf{ by ticket, of course only the favoured few were uliowed the («/;f(. Women, and even children, and fiieuds of the ottuials were politely ushered into the iiesi seats, while c itHide the door stood thousands of sturdy yeomen ■>( Oxford county, who pay their rates and help support their town of Woodstock Doblv, who were unable to gain admittance. Whose fault was this 7 I wonder the people stood it at all. UIFFKKE.NCBS IN WITNESS KEE9. In the matter of witness fees Pelly got f'iof), lienwell ^20.'), for their testimony and attendance. In addition to which Pelly was allowed 1^50 a month pocket money by the Government dorine his stny in ('anada before the trial. Another witness, S. B. Fuller, goi $'J8 tor the few words he had to say, whereas many of the witnesaes who were Bubpiinaed by the Crown, on going to be paid tiieir due, found nothing for them, and in some cases only a miserable iiittance. Why should the value or testimony be priced liKe this '! It certainly calls for explanation from those in charge of the matter ; that is, of course, unless the witnesses are willing that tish be made of some, fowl of others, as the saying is. J A SERIOUS LACK AT TUK START. I have gone into the evidence pretty fully before this, so that there is not very much more to be saia on that head. I was not represented at either the imiuest or po i- vntitnv examination, a piece of gross neglect which proved irreparable, and hence some of my ditticulties arose in this way, as on ail the preliminary investigations save one day I was unrepresented by any legal adviser, which handioiipped me very much indeed, as 1 did not feel capable of cross-examining the wit- nesses myself. I thoueht Mr. Hlackstock'a speech in my behalt a wonderful eflbrt, and I truly appreciated hia touching allusions to my dear wife, which were more than fully de- served. Indeed, his whole conduct of the case, considering bow he only came into it at the lojit minute, reflected the greatest credit upon Dim. I thoDght Mr. Osier handled the Crowm case in • wonderful manner, and hia address to th« jury wm a vary fin« sffort indeed. TIIK FA'^aL JOURNEY. TUK AUTHUB AND BKNWBLL PROCEED rROM NIACAP4 PALLS TO TUB HWAMP. Long bei'oro wa left Kngland I had mada arrangements for satisfying Benwell as to a farm lieiug in existence and being mine ; and now that 1 have been sentenced irrevocably, it is not incumbent on ine in any way to go into the detiils of this scheme. Let me say, however, that the farm in aueation was not a hundred miles away fror. Pine Pond ; and there are a couple of worthy persons who, if they would kindly come forward, could ex< plain fully .'. great deal of what still remains unexplained. They were in the neighhour- hood on the 17th of February, but I haven's seen them since, and shall probably never do BO again. It was fully arranged in New Vork that Benwell was to go with me to Kaatwood on the 17tn of February to this place, which I beg moat emptiaticaily to state once more was not Mud Lake, which place I did not know of; and of course having been shown the farm the letter would be forthcoming as arranued. We left Budalo in the early morning for Niagara Ful s, where we got tickets for Eastwood, and proceeded to Hamilton. Ben- well was under the impression that i owned two farms— an ordinary one near Pine Pond and a horse farm at Niagara. At Hamilton we had some time to wait, and went into the refreshment room to gee some breakfast, which we had, consisting of ham sandwiches, oo;!ee, and some kind of pie, and then start- ed on for Eastwood by the slow train. We were uot the only passengers who got ott' at Eastwood that morning. I saw Mr. Mat. Virtue on the train ; he came for a minute into the smoking car where we were sitting, and he went out again. We were in the smoking car, and how those extraordinary mortals, Miss Lock hart and Miss Choate, came to see us sitting in front of them 1 don't know at all. They were certainly mistaken in what they professed to have seen and heard. However, we arrived there and got off. I think I remember Condactor Poola'a pletisant face on the train. ARRIVAL AT EASTWOOD. It was about 11.14 when we arrived, and we alighted on the north side of tbe train right on to the track, so Miss Look hart's bril- liant idea of us going along the platform waa also very much at fault. I may here mention that this woman told a friend of hers in town that Benwell was a "fair" man with a larse fair moustache. Wa want through tha litua BmOHALL'8 AUTOBIOGRAPHT. f[kto, ool maatioK anyoat kt all ; throagh tba ane, and on to tba (iOTeroor'a Road. Old man Hajrward carMioly waa not naar anongb to aaa #ho wt war*, and wban in tba gaol for tba purpoa* of idtntifyiog ma, ba a»id ha ooulan't ba at all aura ; y«t al tha trial bit mamory locrauad ao mucb aa to awaar poii- lively that 1 waa tba man. Bat I don't tbink anybody baliaved bim, ao that didn't inat- tar. II ba failed to racognize bii old friend Tom Midgaly at 20 yurda oS— a man wbom ba had known for twenty years— it was hardly likely that ba oould recognise me, wbom ha bad only seen once, orer 'iOU feet otf. "Distance lends enchant- ment to the view," I am told ; evidently ne is a believer in that noted maxim. We went along down the (iovernor's road to the place of appointment, a little beyond the black- smith's shop, and proceeded to walk on straight eaat on the road upon which I had always gone to Pine Pond. We met no one after leaving the corner near the blacksmith s shop until about a mile further on, when we met an old man driving a team and a younger man driving a heavy-looking aulky. Of this pair neither appeared at the trial or for the purpose of identification. I walked myself as far as I could so as to give me plenty of time to get back to catch the train going east, as I bad said I should be back that nisht. I left the party where tbe road crosaea from the straight road leading to Pine Pond, and came back to Eastwood. Locao I never saw had be never saw me. Buck 1 did aea but not where be swore to. I saw bim close to Eastwood. Mrs. Ferguson was of course mistaken in us ; at least I don't think she protessed to be very certain about wbom she saw and when she saw them. Crosbv I am not sure about ; I don't remember him. I arrived back at the station al Eastwood shortly after three ; the roada were awful, and I was up to my ankles in mad all the time. I saw Miss Smith some way otf und immediately went up aud made myself known to her ; in tact I had thought of calling tiiere when I found I bad time to do sa There were all aorta and oonditiona oi! women at tbe station ; a selection of which gave evidence at the trial. Dunn, the atatiou.master, I had a long talk with, but I suppose be forgot my face. As for tbe track aooross the field theory and tbe bunkum of the manDAvis.C. E., probably tbe Pellows and Perrys and others made them themselves ; no doubt the effects of the cheese meeting had some- thing to do with it, or could it be Dake 8 ball, that historical landmark that will always be so dear to the hearts of Crown witnesses ? It would be well to hoid thia ceremony about four times a year in order to give anoertain witnesses a chance to fix dates io tbair minds bafora thay ooma into courl* , Hay and DutTy I saw on tbe train, bat I am* pbatically deny tolling Duffy that my nam* waa SmIUi. I am not in the habit of growing ao friendly with tba news agent on tha train aa to tall him my name, lei alona to lay claim to the noble patronymio of Smi'orhint, since I cannot ge*. the papers fro a ^he Crown, but as near as i can ran emt>er I received a letter on the Thursday after we anived at tne Falls, which was emin- ently ansau^factory, althougli nothing was <«id about any such thing ar murder. How- ever, 1 took little notice of this ; and later, not hearing further, I telegraphed at Polly's suggestion to the .'Staflbrd House to sse if there was any message there for me. There was, and the answer came to say so, and that (bare waa a letter too. The letter at the Stafford House was merely the aame •■ that 1 received at the Falls. I told them to re- repeat the message, which they did not do, and I thought I would go and see after it. AN IMPORTANT LETTER. However, I received another letter, which ! nave previously referred to, which at once told me that there was something wrong. I determined to go to Buffalo to keep an ap- pointment that was made, and therefore went to Uutlalo the next day, as Felly wanted to go to St. Catharines to pay a call. I found out all pariicijlars when in Buffalo, and my readers can well imagine the position in which I was placed. I was at a loss what to do, but I was bidden to have no fear about the matter ; and I said that I couldn't very well send away ail Benwell's things without some aathority to show Felly, the result of which was the telegram signed " Statlord," which everybody has seen. This teleeram the Crown sought ineffectually to prove was in my handwriting by means of so-called ex- Eerts. If I was the sender why did they not ring up the clerk who received it to identify me ? For I was in the office upwards of twenty minutes, and had a considerable dis- cussion about a telegram that had been lose in transmission ; and the man could easily have recognized me, for he asRed me my name, etc. This didn't suit the Crown, how- ever ; they would rather pay experts to try and convince the jury on this point. DETERMJNKO TO STAND HIS GROCND. However, having settled al! that, I returned to the Falls, fully d^lermined to stand my ground, and feeling sure that whatever might take place wuld in no way affect me, save in the matter oi the fraud. Of course in the previous week I had written the letter to Col. Benweil, who had directed me to write so soon as bis son should havoseen the place, and in accordance with previous arrangements I wrote the flowery letter which has been given forth to the world. Speaking of the words of the Crown counsel that " the man who wrote that letter knew Benweil waa de&d ;" this was an outrageous assertion, for tf Benweil was to be shown a farm that was aaid to be mine, why should he not write to his father and say there was a farm and a good one too, and well stocked and well kept, the half of which would be dirt cheap at £000 7 Would he not rftther jump at this upparentlv excellent and rare bargain ? Of course he would ; and I wrote off immediate- ly, intending that bulh letters should go by the same mail to England as arranged. THE TYPEWRITER. With regard to th<) sentence in the letter about the typewriter, of which so much was made, it wa« a remark prompted by the fact BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHt. 63 th*t ra- t do, ic «^ that Col. Ben wall would think it basineis- like, and klso the printed paper, and Benweli «nd I went to a shop in New Vork to buyr one (ft typewriter). Peily was wich us. and Benweli tried the mftchine there in the shop. It was contended that I was going to type- write ft letter t^ the father and forge the name of the son. I did not even know what way the son signed himself or addressed his father in oorresponding ; and how was I going to keep up a correspondence with the mother, sisters, brothers, etc. ? With reeard to the words, " Please add i ess Messrs. i irch- all & Benweli," when I wrote the letter I did not mean to m^ke the draft payable to *'Birchail & Benweli " ; for I was unaware that partners can draw sums made out to the jdint order without the sifi^Datures of both being identified. But the letter was turned and twisted to the satisfaction of the jury. I shall speak, however, later of some of these thingi), I then went down to the ( ustoms and told a man to come up and fetch Ben- well't,- baggage down to tl.K; 'station for me to ship to the Fifth Avenue hotdl, New York, and they promised to do so on tbe morrow, as it was then evenini;. In the morning I went down to see to this, and I went into the Imperial hotel and picked up the paper to see the news, when I perceived the name of " F. C Beuwell " in a colamn, and at once started to read it with interest. THB AWFUL FACT. I had previously read in one or two papers about a man being found murdered at Wood- stock, but of course 1 did not pay much at- tention to it at the time. However, I was r'Qrt now, and v at Princeton. So I went back and told m; wife who, with her dear loving nature, refused to let me go without her. I wanted her to stay b^^ihiad, but she would not do so. FBLLY KVIDENTLT BDSFIOIOCS. Pelly at length appeared scared, and wanted to go and look for Benweli in New York, and bothered me so much not to go to Princeton that I said he could go to New York if he liked beat, which he did. He told ft o«ok*aad-baU itory ftbout my trying to push him over the Falls and sundry other idiotic and childish ideas, which, of course, were without a shadow ot the truth. He went off to New York and 1 to Paris. Having arrived there I at once hired a carriage and drove to Princeton ; it was getting late in the afternoon, and the roads were simply awful, and it was a matter of great difficulty to get along at all. However, I got there eventu- ally, and asked for the locil constable. I wus toid he was uway (as most constables trenerally are when they are wanted), but that Mr. Swartz, the undertaker, would give me all the information that I w mted. I was taken to this person's estabMshment ami found him seated in the midst of an admir- ing crowd, spinning fairy-like yarns to them, as he did at the trial. I introduced myseif, and he showed ft woodcut of the man found, which wassiich a wretched thing that no one could tell who it was meant for. I enifuired about his clothes, and when I heard the description I said at once I am afraid it is he. Swartz told me that the body had been buried that day, but that I could see it on the following day if I would stay all night. He offered me a bedroom in his house. He told ine how well he had buried Benweli, and added that he hoped he would be well paid by Benwell's friends for so doing. He said of course " being an Englishman he saw that he was of wei>lthy parents by his clothes, and ought to be .. ;-ied in good style;" whereas at tne inquest he swore that he saw the dead man in Drumbo singin ^ Indian war songs and sell- ing jewellery. Consistency waa not Mr. Swartz's strong point. ^ CONSTABLE WATSON APPEABS. While we were talking. Constable Watson came in, having been rummaged up from some hotel or other, looking very wise, and after a lengthy introduction of bimselt, in which he said he was a detective from the States, a Canadian constable, a tradesman, and other occupations, he said he had charge of the case. Swartz told him a!! I had said, and Watson immediately ftsked if thore was any chance of a reward. I told him that if the man was my friend when I saw tbe body in the moruing, I would pay his expenses, etc., to track out the business. At that time I was undecided whether to tell the truth ab'^'it being at Eastwood and confide in Wat- son a..-oat the fraud, and put him on che right track. But on second thought I decided to let them find out everything for themselves, as they were evidently a pair of numbskulls, and the theories they advanced respecting his death would hare filled a volume. Certain it was, said they, that he was not killed OB Monday tor many raaaona ; chiaf BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Kmon(( which wm that a man waa ou the spot OD Monday afternoon, and the body was not there. His name was Maguire, and after the visit of Murray to him the vMme was strangely changed to Mon- day morning. They also made a great deal out of the shirt being so clean, and also the boots, showing that he had not walked through mud ; also of the bruises which the judue and counsel sought to belittle at the trial ; but which were never shaken for one minute by any of the evidence given. I grew tired of hearing these wise men and returned to tbe hotel, where I had Bui)per and then avreed to return the next day to identify the body. I did so, driving home again through a blinding storm oi 8>.ow and sleet, and ar- rived back very l&te at the hotel in Pans. I retired and rose early in the morniue and drove up again to Prircetoo, where I was met by all the grandees of the village. 1 had a few words with those good and tiutbful men, Drs. Staples and Taylor, who forgot so much of what they told me at the trial. All along before the trial Dr. Staples professed to be such a good friend to me, and told Detective Bluett of wha'b good evidence he would give for me. knowing all the time that he intended to do the opposite, and even refused to give my lawyers the particulars of his poHt-mortem examination. Ihis was his idea of fair play. They, when they first met me, said there was no doubt " that t^e man was put there about Wednesday," two days before be was found ; and in fact so said all. HE IDKNTIFIES THE BODY. I went up to the cemetery and identified the body, and I was almost stnniieci when I saw poor Benwell dead, and I broke down and cried bitterly, Watson taking my arm kindly and assuring me that he would do all he could for me. I then went back to the hotel and told Watson to notify the coroner by telegraph, which he did^ and also the detective department in Toronto. He said that there was a Government detective hang- ing around by the name of Murray, but he was no use, and that if there was nny money into it, he wanted to get it, so he told me to try and keep Murray out of the case, I said we ought to let them know about it, so he telegraphed to a friend of hi&, a detective, to meet him in London that night, and he said he should disguise himself in a beard and go into the principal hotels in that city 1 What the use of that was I don't exactly know. When 1 got back to Pans I told my wife, who was naturally terribly distressed and fearful lest the blame be laid on me in any way. Even ahe did not know that I cacaa further west than the Falls with Benwell. DETECTIVE MORRAr ON THE SCENE. After aeeiag my wife I met Deteotive Joba Murray, to whom Wataon !:;'.roduoe4 me. I had some conversation with them both, and Murray sent Wat-on away, saying he wasn't wanted. I ther nad a long talk with Murray, in which he told me there was no doubt that lienwell was placed in the swamp on Wed- nesday, and many other theories. I gave him my address, etc., and he left, promising to call and 'iee me shortly afterwards. We should no doubt have had the substance of my interview had the Crown dared to subjest Murray to the crooaexamiuation of Mr. Blackstock, but this of course they dared not do. So the public were spared a treat. I then returned to the Falls, where I waa im- mediately accosted by interviewera eager to get all the news. Hardly knowing what beat to say, I make it up as I went along, and hence a good many of the con:licting state' ments I made. CHIEF YODNO ON THE SCENT, That night Chief Young, of tbe Falls, came up to the nouse before Pelly returned from New York, and set a watch on the premises, and I became aware that I should be arrested. All this time I kept the baggage check, keys, and pencil m my possession, and made no attempt to destroy them. If I had been the cunning villain that the Crown would have people believe, was it likely I should have kept these things for which I should be called to account? No, it is not In the morning then I was arrested while in bed by Chief Young and Constable MoMickiog on a warrant issued by Police Magistrate Hill, and taken to the lock-up, where I remained all Sunday and the next day or two. THE LOCK-UP AT NIAGABA FALLS. It was a very cold, damp, narrow cell, dark, and with just a board in it to lie on. Nowhere to wash, and a very little dirty water to drink, and no air, amellinj; foully and thick with dirt. Such was the abode I enjoyed until they took me to Wetland. When Murray came down to tbe Falls he and Chief Young ca-ne down to the cell and endeavoured by all tbe means they possibly could to extract some infoi .^lation from me. Neither of them cautioned me at ail. Mur- ray was very angry with me and kicked the bars of the cell, and aaid he would make me speak, but I merely remarked that my ooun- jel had advised me to say nothing, and noth- ing it should be. In the evening Constable McMicking came down and said he had a great many questions to ask me, which he did with pencil and paper ; I stuffed thia poor man full of the most ridiculous non- sense you ever heard, all of which he put down on paper and uook away. Chief 'i oung told me that be (McMicking) went to him (Youog) with all thu inlormaUoo. and BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOQRAPHT. « state- Murray and he had % good long laugh over it THK ARBIC3T Ul> MRS. BIRCH ALU They then went to arrest my wife, and of the way in which she was treated I cauDoc speak in terms adeijiiate to express my horror and indignation. Tneir treatment of her was brutal. Tney gave her morphine to stupify her. She was grossly iusuited by the otSoers, and placed in a cold room upon the ground floor, having to sleep with the door open, and an otfioer outside to prevent her escaping ! I cannot go into all the details here ; my blood bcils over as I write ; and the way she suffered at tneir hands is a bloc oa the administration of Canadian justice. COaNSKt. RKTAIKKD. I retained Mr. Uellmuth, of the firm of Hellmuth & Ivey, of London, Ontario, to conduct my defence ac the preliminary in- vestigation ; but be failed to turn up upon the opening day, when he was must wanted, and I was left to the tender mercies of the prose- cution— a fatal mistake for which I all through suffered. At the preliminary investi- gation the evidence offered was taken down in writing by Police Magistrate Hill, assisted by Murray and Young, the former telling the witnesses what to say. There was a great buzz of expectation and ex- citement when Mr. Wm. McDonald appeared apon the scene, and the disapDointment was just as great when he said very little and not to tne point. I fancy, however, that he and an old friend wore oat for the day to- gether. I need not go into the preliminary inves- tigation as I shall treat of the evidence at the trial. Suffice it to say that I was committed for trial to Woodstock, whither I arrived, as 1 have stated elsewhere, on the 13th March, 1890. THE AUTHOR A MAN OF BOOKS. MENTION OP SOME AUTHORS WHOM HE HAS READ AND GREATLY ENJOYED. A good deal has been said about my " want of education," "scant reading," ets., by such eminent authorities and hair-splitting cavillers as Dr. Bessey and the Olobe, but I may lay claim to havintt read pretty widely /or my age. To pass any examination at Oxford necessi- tated a moderate acquaintance with a few Latin and Greek authors, not to mention the early introduction to such objectionable (to schoolboys) persons as Virgil, Homer, Livy, Pliny, Plautus, ^schylus, Thucydides, and other of the ancient fraternity, whose sole ob- ject appe irs to have been to lay the foundation of stumblina blocks and ditficulties of every MOttsivAblfl kind uid m»ansr for ths benefit of the strugffiing schoolboj j who are forced to acknowledge the disagreeable existence of these worthy gentlemen. I myself had a lair knowledge of the above and read also many other classical writers and took some stooic of ancient and modern history. It has been held up as a strange fact that I passed an examination in Holy Scriptures, but a fact, nevertheless ; having successfully coped with the Old Testament and the Novum Tesiamentum in Greek. FOND OK ABLE BOOKS. I was fond of good writers as a change from the ordinary yellow back or 25-cent shocker, sometimes finding interest in RusKin, De Quincy, Farrar (not to be con- founded with Farrer of the Gloh/'), and many poets of whose works I knew at least a fair synopsis. I have been fond of light reading, aud espeoially during my confinement in the gaoi. i have read some hundred odd works, chiefly by Charlotte hraeine, better known as the author of ''Dora Thorne," Hawley Smart, and Mrs. Kennard, two excellent sportiue writers and lovers of the field ; Rider Haggard, with his weird productions, and " The Confessions of an Opium Eater," in which I took a deep interest ; once and only once did I try the effect of this strange and potent drug, bat without much effect of any specific nature. Mrs. Alexander, too, I have perused and found some of her works very interest- ing. My favourite book of light reading, or rather my two favourite books of reading, are ••A Glorious Gallop," by Mrs. Kennard, and " From Post to Finish," by Hawley Smart. I have read such works as the " Pilgrim's Progress," but without much interest at the time I read them, and the same may be said of a somewhat ineffectual attempt to read "Arnold's Rugby Sermons." At times, especially at Oxford, one had quiet hoars, and these were best whiled away by a few hours ot reading. There is no time for read- ing, in my idea, like the nisht time, and the stiileit hour ot p.Ii seems that which imme- diately precedes the dawn, and I have seen this hoar arrive in the sky perhaps oftener than most men oi my age — a good deal too often, in fac!:. A BELIEVER IN "LUCK." I am in no way superstitions, bat 1 bare always had a strange idea of the true mean- ing ot the word "luck," be it good or bad. The way some folks seem to get a long streak of luok and others just the opposite seems very strange, and one naturally hunts about for some explanation of the circumstances which attend or govern the " luok" of some people. In books one readi of this word "luck" so often that it is onljr nataral to in- 56 BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. qairewhatU "lack," and whence originac* ing ? Or, •nin, is there any suoti thing as "luck?" I followed a controversy in the Enfltlish Daily Ttligraph, that valuable me- dium of all vexed questions, concerning ** luck," some aukuowledginii; its existence, others scoutins the term as vain and impos- sible. I should like to see the matter settled one way or the other, but 1 shall never h ive the 'Muck ' to bee that, and so I will say that my belief eoes with the faction who support luck as an existent motor and a powerful one to sucoest. STBANOE SIGHTS. I have seen some very strange and un- canny sights and heard some weird noises, wh^cb appeared at the time I saw them to call for some explanation which was not then forthcoming. Especially do these thingn occur out driving very late at night, and things such as a tox orossins almost beneath the horse's feet in the moonlight, or a patoh of glowworms suddenly appearing in thu damp grass, often lend • touch of weird- nesa to the scene. My readers will say, doubtless the "old port" again, or the result of a carouse which often produces a double focus, but it was not so always when I had the driving of a party, I nearly always made a point of being able to cry, " Hold, eaougb !' on those particular occa- sions. Not so, as a rale, with the party in- side the vehicle, however. "JONES IS MISSING." I well remember one drive when, return- ing pretty late in the eveuinit, many uf the party were overcome by the iuQuenue of the "Dew of Ben Nevis" and sat huddled to- gether in the brake, singing snatches of •• We'll All Go a-Hunting To-Duy," and such like inspiriting stanzas, when, ou nearing Oxford, one of the party in a coafidential tone whispered, "Jones is missing," and so he was. He had fallen out of tne brake an- observed by anyone, and on re&jrning to look for him be was discovered lying in the road, more shaken up than hurt. He re- joined the party and the return journey was resumed. Instances like this wer«> somewhat freqoeut, I am sorry to say, bat generally free from any serions accident, so far as we were concerned, but often in the case of other luckless wights things did not pan out so well, and broken bones and contused heads were not so rare. ORBAT HEADS IN ENGLAND. The " great head " which is spoken of so much in connection with tnis country was not with as considered to be the mark of learning and dignity, but of a very different calibre ; and those of as who had to ope a ■hoeborn to eaable as ti> get inside our bat generally knew that the enlargement of their top piece was the result of a protracted spree upon the (s) previous evening (forgive the joke, if it IS one). It is said that " ureasy lies the bead that wears a crown," bet it is also true that uneasy lies the head whose owner has been on too much of a spree. However, a bottle of soda water or two, a cold bath and morning gallop generally al- layed these symptoiiia of " greatness " until they returned again on a subsequent occasion. THE AOTMOK'S TKMPBRANOK SP&EOH AT OX- FORD. There is a debating society in each college at Oxford where "the great heads" (a la Canada) can diffuse their hidden and stored up knowledse to the more i):norant, and very good debates often tock place. I took very little interest in these save to cry out " order " and interrupt some speaker on some point that happened to strike me as being out ot reason or rule. I only made a speech one"' and then made rather a mass of it. The debate was on the subject of temperance I^inding almost everybody in the room <* i in tsvour of that excellent scheme, I fe. obliged to say a few words, and after hearing the honourable mover of the question, a little ntumped for words and facta in favour of temperance, I arose amid ironi- cal jeers and expounded the subject, giv- ing ioi th a phalanx of statistics and cold facts about temperance which I obtained from a rabid temperance paper which I had caught sight of a few minutes previously. My speaking in favour of eranue seemed after a time to bring a jocui aling into the com- pany and they began to change thei'' opinion. A WORD OV THE OTHER SIDE. The next speakers, who were opposed to temperance, made capital speeohej, and I felt 1 was going to be loft in the minority- So I turned round and rose again, and said I had been com inced by their powerful rhetoric, and I made a short but pathetic appeal on behalf of Bacchus, quoting many inb.ances in favour of the ancient god. The anti- temper- ance party carried the day and auo carried the chief speaker in the debate home that night. That was my first and last attempt at speaking in debate, although I attended many others in the capacity of a listener. I have been in the House of Commons to he^r one great statesman speak, and I enjoyed it muchly, and I have attended many public meetings at which we were required to ap- plaud or otherwise, as the case required- A SERIOUS COMPLAINT. One thing I wish to mention in this work is the utterly unfair spirit with which the Crown treated me from start to finish. They took all my pap f^' ^.^^d '^sfused to allow BraOHALL'S AUTOBIOORAPHT. of their ted spree ■five the ureaay |nt It ia id whoae ■• spree. jr two, a [rally ai. •a " until I occasioo. AT ox- !h oolleffe {n la id atored rt, and I tooii cry out iaker on e me as f made a r a mass ubjeot of . body in excellent ords, and er of the and facta nid ironi- ect, giv- and cold obtained ich I had »'nly. My ined after the com- ' opinion. E. poaed to li, and I ninority. Qd said" I rhetoric, ppeul on '.ance3 in ■temper- carried )me that attempt ftttended ener. I 1 to he^r joyed it f public to «p- red i« work iich the I. Tiicy » Alloir anyone to tea tbem : not even my lawyara. These were most important to me, and Mr. Murray knew it. too. So the papers were missini;. Detective Bluett obtained leave from the Sheritt udou one occasion to come u^ and see me privately, which he did, but so soon lis Mr. nail heard of thia he atopped it, and I was not allowed to aee him any more, while the Crown employed the very best men they could get all over the place. However, it did not matter after all, seemg the shameful way Bluett behaved, and had we known what he waa we ahould never have employed him at %\ . The Crown wanted to inspect all letten between myself and my solicitors, and gave a* order that only one lawyer (Mr. Hellmnth) was to be admitted. We applied a dozen timea for an order tc see Benwell'a clothes, but were put off each time, and when permission was given were nut allowed to have 8 detective with Mr. McKay, although Detective Murray waa there on behalf of the Crown. These are only examples of the way in which they sought to make everything as hard as possible for as, and to raise every obstacle that was possible in our way. They had two men coiis^'-^tly on the watch in Woodstock, who foilt .d my wire and her sister ail over the place and made themselves objectionable. 1 am not going to reason the matter out fully, I am tired of it, but many of the points that have been adduced for my defence will be proven by-and-bye. How to account foi Benweli's boots I am utterly at a loss ; t'le booia at the trial certainly were not the ones he had on when he was with me. Of his belougingSg I have no knowledge of their hiding place. No doabt they will be found some d^y if not destroyed. I fully expected something to turn up to help me all summer, but nothing came. Once, and only once, did a herring cross the scent, but we could trace it no further. My revolver I threw away when I beard of the murder, as I did not know what calibre the bullets were found to be in his head, and I wan afraid that whatever calibre my revolver was they might be said to be that oai'bre. had no buUetn, however, in my possession, and as matters turned out I might very well have kept my revolver, as it would not have helped the Crown at all. It was an English make, and carried a .'MO cartridire. The bullets in Beitweils head were said to bt .820— Smith and Wesson revolver bullets. Benwell had a revolver himbelf, but I don't know of what calibre it was or of what make. It the matter of my revolver had beu a broi'jj;ht up I should have produced an athuavit train th« shop where I bought it. But it was only mentioned en pesmiit. I suppose the swamp waa thoroughly aearubsd all round far eny aooh thing aa a revolrer or aoytbing eUe. Howaver, aa I have aaid, doubilesa these mit- aing things will appear later on, and it will be interesting to know whence, for I do not for one minate believe they have been destroyed. NO '* SEN.SATIOirAL CONFESSION." I have just given » rough outline of the journey on the 17tb. It baa been alleged by many papers, and I have been offered by vari- ous persons large aams to write up • " Sen> aational Confession " for them about the murder. I pleaded "cot guilty " at the trial and I meant it aa I said before ; and I du not intend tor any sum of n'oney to make up any such tale aa people might like to pay tor and find satiafaction in reading. I havr made up quite enough in my life time and it ia high time to stop now, and to stop I intend. No doubt after I am dead there will be many so-called confessions published — but I have taken the precaution to leare behind me properly attested dooumenta to the effect that NO CONFESSION whatso- ever of the murder that may be published or scattered abroad by anyone came from me, and ia th^retore utterly and entirely fictitioui. THB " colonel's" LETTEHS. With resrard to the letters aiened "Colonel,** about which so much fubs haa been made, they never came from me, nor were they in my handwriting. I endeavoured to find the sender of them. ' failed to locate him in Jackson, Michi^ I received a post card aoon after in the same handwriting from the same place. I have written nothing for any other paper save The Mail, and I have been faithful to my agreement with them. Daring the last fev days of my life the officials, not satisfied with my life, have sought to mike me as uncomfortable as possible. THE NEW BEQCLATtOSS. Crown Attorney Ball and Inspector Chria- tie descended upon the gaol with great vio- lence, and made many new regulations : that I was not to have the papers to read. Fancy being deprived of the Senlind Review I Alas . woe is ms ! Alack, I am undone ; that 1 am not to have any letters except through F. R. Bail, and since I could not rely upon that genvieman I ordered Postmaster McLenaghan t ) hand 'til my mail to my wife. This latter change vas a gross reflection upon Mr. Cam- eron, who has been the tried and trusted servant of the Government of the last twenty-three years. Tney ordered all the pictures to be taken down off my walls, and a flower-pot that remained came in for special censure. My wife has been rigorously kept away from me at thia of all timea when abe shoald be near me ; 68 BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOORAPHT. «nd tboy sought to stop my writing any p»rl 0( this manuscript, or banding it out to the publishers. Why all these restrictions I know not. All through the piece I have bad one sort of order from the Inspector, and I tben cowplaic jd, and then anotiier set came down forthwith. What are the officials to do ? They cannot keep on rememberiog their many and changing orders. Confusion must ensue. The late Dr. O'Reilly kept on having letters from Mr. Ball complaining of indulgeuce being granted to me ; aud now that that good man is dead, I miss the firm hand which dealt with such meanness and narrow-minded conduct. What littleness have we in our midst ! Truly may we say with the poet, "iu Ttnui Labor." I should have thougnt my life was a sufficient penalty to pay for anything, let alone being kept from my poor, iuuooeot, and sud'ering wife, who needs all the comfort that I or any other can give her. DBAVVINO TO A CONOIiUSIOM. And now I am rapidly drawing to a oonola- sioo the short and solemn warning given in these few pages. I have, I am glad to say, Iseen able to see about half of it in print, and am very glad, indeed, to hear that it has found a ready sale. I have been accused of undue sarcasm at the expense of those who deserved it not. But my poor pen could never scathe the objects of 'my feeble railing? with force sufficient to show them their con* temptibility of bloated self-esteem. Natur- ally the looal press have found great difficulty in deciphering much of my Oxford doings, as their knowledge of such an institution must be bat slight, and their papers are better suited to the usual small-talk controversy which generally takes a bold part in their columns as between the Sentinel-Rtview and the Hamilton Spectator. However, I have discussed most points that have suggested themselves to me, and I append at the end a number of very interest- ing letters from old friends and others, in- cluding my old nurse, whom I have not seeu ior very many years. I have spoken on most T,' the people that I have come in contact witli : certainly I have not blamed anyone too much ; but I fear 1 have fallen utterly short in my praiso of others, especially the gaol officials, who have b::en pestered to death by local reporters and others ; and their names dragged into breeches of duty which never occurred, and such like petty anaoyancns. All those who have sent me a kind word, or have in any way contributed to the comfort of my dear wife by their word or deed, I beg to thank most respectfully and (gratefully. Those who m«y have wronged me (and there are many) in thoaght, word, or deed, I most cordially forgive and forget, ard having ■aid this I am about finished. DOEn NOT KKAR DEATH. Ai resardi nt i>ook. I am now npon the evi of Death, 'nioh, let me say, I do not feai'. For mv puur wife and my relatives, the idea of the disgrace I brins npoo them ia heavy to bear ; indeed it is Mways bard to part. HM 8PIBITCAL ADVISKB. Still, guided through the darkened hoan by that kindest and most excellent of men, the Rev. Rural Dean Wade, of Woodstock, and counselled by his faithful teaching I know there are better things in store for mo than there have been in the past. Unceasing in his religions duties, and ever ready to help or guide when in doubt or difllcnlty, he has indeed become a dear friend and a wei* come visitor. Alone of all the clergymen here, he came to s»4 ma after my arrest, and I appreciated the spirit in which he came ; he has an open, frank, and pleasing manner— none of your canting, hypocritical, sly parsons, of whom I have seen so muclk Mr. Wade tells you what he thinks right out, and isn't afraid to do so, either. Bnt then ha is an Englishman ; that aids in his attraction to me also. We have had many talks and thoughts of which the public know nothing, and I have learned much from the good min- istfcr. Alone, of any that I saw, he spoke his mind, and never attempted to pat one on the l:?ck as do so msny of our modern parsons; and for all his goodness to me and my dear wife, no words of mine oan ever suffice to give dao meed of gratitude. He will receive his due reward, however, from a Higher Power than mortals posadss. So having come to the end of this book, which I trust has been a source of interest, and perhaps in places of slight amusement, and on the whole to me a terri- bly sorrowful experience to go through, I now continue to "set my house in order" to go on that journey— to the "bourne whence no traveller returns." So unto Death I do commend my spirit. And time which is In lea((ue with Death, that they May hold in trust and see my kin inherit All of me that is not clay ; Embalm my voice and keen it from decay. Then I will not ask to stay. Nay. rather start at onoe upon the way Cheered by tha faith that at our mortal birth For some hiuh reason lieyond Uoason's ken We are put out to nurse on this strange earth Until Death comes to take us home again. And to Mr. Wade I wonld say :— But thouKh wo two be severed qulle Your holy words will sound between Our lives, like streams one hears at night, Louder because it is not seen. BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. n And now I aay, Farewell ! And in conola- ■ion I beg to thank my good friends, Mr. C. VV. Bunting and Mr. John Habberton, and other* of Tkk Mail and New York Herald, for their kindnea* to me and for the ready way in whicn they uocepted my work. If tbie little work haa done no good it cannot do any harm, and at any rate those who have read it may warn their children in time and season to beware of the lollies and sin that led to the writing of this book and the untimely fate of the writer. REGINALD BIRCHALU Woodstock Gaol, No/. 12, 18»0. THE EXECUTION. Woodstock, Nov. 13.— As the hour for the execution draws near Birchall still con- tinues to m>iintain his wonderful composure. He is a riddle to his gaolers, a wonder to his friends, and an enigma to the publia With Ruch wonderful nerve, with such composed demeanour, and with a lace cold und unirn- passioned as the sphinx, he has spent six mouths in gaol and no one as yet has fathomed the depths of bis mind His character has two aspects. Viewed on one side, it is re- garded by many well-constituted inicds with disapprobation. Seen on tha other, it irre- sistibly extorts applause. As the ooudemued murderer of Benwell, be appears despicalle. As a man calmly smokins and uttering his jests on what he well knows to be his last day on earth, he cannot be contemplated without a certain degree of admiration. / HIS SPIRITUAL ADVISBBS. Rural Dean Wade, his spiritual adviser, spent the greater portion of last uight with him in bis cell. It was about two o'oook in the morning wheu Mr. Wade left the gnol. Ihe prisoner then smoked a cigar, chatted awhile with his death watch, and calmly retired. He slept as quietly and peacefully as a child. It was cue o'clock this afternoon when he woke up, dressed himself with care, and breakfasted the same as usual. After finishiug his repast, the Bishop of Huron (Mr. Baldwin) und Rev. Dean Wade had a long interview with him, iu the course of which there was prayer, Bible reading, and spiritual consolation from Bishop Baldwin, one of the most eloouent divines in the Canadian Kpiacopal Church. Birctiall ex- pressed himself as very highly pleased to see the fiishop, and paid a great deal of attention to what he had to say. To-day the weather was hriehtand warm, and the sun flooded the corridors of the gloomy prison with a sea of golden light. It is Indian summer, and tbe prisoner spent a lon^ time at his window gazing upon the l.inited horizon and the cold, blue Canadian sky overhead, drinking in the sights of nature which he could discern through the small- barred window almost for the last time. He sattbus until disturbed by the entrance of one of his guards, who asked him some ijues- tions about the clothing he desired to wear to-morrow. TUK OALLOWa. It was a busy day about the gaoL The sheriff s otiioers were astir early in the morn- ing completing the preparations for the exe- cution and superintending the erection of the scaffold. Tbis work was completed in the after- noon. The reporter of Thk Mail was admitted to the gaol yard by the hangman in the after- noon to witness the test made of the scaffold after it had been completely finished. The scaffold is erected in the north-west corner of the gaol yard. It consists of three pieces of timber, six by six inches. The uprights are seventeen feet lon^, and are planted three feet iu the soil and about four feet from the wall, on the spot where Birchall and his guard used to Bit basking in the sunlight during the summer days before the trial. The cross piece is about fourteen feet long, and one end ia morticed into the wall of the gaol. Biaces from the gaol wall steady the nprishts. The rope was dangling through a hole in the centre of the cross bar and down between the uprights, which are planted about six feet apart. The rope then passes up over • pulley through a mortice to another pulley, which is located over a hole in the extendins arm of the cross bar. Down throu(s death by dropping. " I was always good at mathematical problema," he continued, ** and I am endeavouring to find out if that weight is sufficient to cause dislo- cation. How far did you say the weight will drop ?'* The guard stared in amazement at the doomed man, wondering if his apparent indifference waa real or feigned. The prison- er pleasantly repeated bis question, and upon receiving an answer, went on working out tne problem. In a few minutea he threw his pencil down impatiently, exclaiming, " I would sooner have my breakfast than work at figures : but I do hope the machine will work satisfactorily. It's a weird-looking ' affair anyhow." While speaking, the prisoner walked again to the cell window, and after gazing down into the yard a mcment, tarned BIROHALL'B AUTOBIOORAPBY. •1 at »od inolined on hit •• Lord ce, and iichant ave his dreaa lay of ised al town. el shirt so«ne, ra, so a lie. He od tie. im this Hannel on one. e /aiigh- worr I that it •nddenly to fthe gaard. ** 8mj, old follow, come here. Is that the professor T" " What professor?'' eoonired the puzzled guard, walking to the window. " Why, (he hangmas, of ooursa. He is a itraDge-looicing being, to be sure. One would think he was a man from out West or a Mexican. I hope he has plenty of nerve, and won't n>ake a bungle of the job." At this moment brealifast was broueht into the cell, and Biruhall sat down and inade a hearty meal, partaking af ham and eggs liind fruit with evident relish. His appetite ap- peared to be as good as it was before his trial, and this afternoon his spirits were as light as they have been since nis incarcera- tion. He spoke freely to the guard of bis •pprouching doom, and showed not the ■lightest trace of nervousness. lu reply to a question, he said : — "No, I shall not speak from the scaffold. I have told all I have to say in my autobiography, published in Tub Mail I have left notbiDK uusaid, so that I have nothing more to tell." A MRS9AGK FUOM OLD CHOMS. The prisoner bus: ad himself this afternoon in writing his autograph on photos, which will b^ sent to ftiitaiia, the irhile humming over (he notes of a popular opera. While engaged in this work there was handed to him this cablegrsfri /r^m i.ondon, Kog "Confide//«s unabated, f/nable to write. Goodbye. (Hlnutii) Edward and Johnny." " Poor fellows," excisjwsd the prisoner as he threw the despatch ou lii» table. ' * They were old chums of mine at Oxford when I was at college. They evidently t>elieve in me. God bless them." n!:;cDsaioN on criminal kxkoction. In the evening Dr. Ric?, of Woodstock, called and had a long discussion with Bir- chall, the topic being *' criminal execution." The Linsoner was more than a listener, and gave an intelligent expression ot opinion, nnturally arguing against capital punishment, and concluding by expresp^ug the hope that the executioner knew hu Lusiness ana that the atiuir of the morrow would not be bungled. A GLOOMY CONVERSATION. A reporter of The Mail saw Deputy Sheriff Perry this evening. He said : — "I saw Birchail this afternoon and he ap- peured to be quite cheerful. Speaking of the hani^man Birchail said : — ' He is » smart looking fellow.' 'Yes,' I replied, 'and they say that he is quite an enthusiast in the business.' ' So I am told,' was BirchalPs cooi response. After a moment's pause, the man who had but » few boars to live went on, ' But does IhU fsUow make muiy mistakes f * Vm told not,' I said. 'At Belleville they say he did not do a very good job, but the man himself denies tliis.' * Well. I hope he will be successtul with me,' said Biruhall, ' and I guess he will from what I've heard of him. Does he uull a lever ?' ' No, he pulls a rope.' Then the discussion turned on the question of capital punishment as compared with life impri>onment. At tint Birchail seemed to favour, as between the two, the latter evil, and attentively listened to the views of his attendant. 'It's like this, Birchail,' said I, 'as long as there is life there is hope.' The doomed man quickly oausht the idea, and his (aoe lighted up with a bright smile. 'Yes; and after you are in prison for a time the trne facts of the 'jase will become known and you will get reprieved, or by good behaviour yon would get out in 10 or 15 yeara.' *I would not care,' Birchail replied, ' to take chances on that. If I were guilty I would rather hang.' As I was about to leave BirchuU grasped me warmly by the hand. ' (tood-bye, old man, I wi' see you in the inorninff ; but before you no let me present you with this memento,' and Birchail drew out from his pocket a photo of himself, on which he wrote in one corner, ' To John Perry, deputy sheriff. Oxford n- inty.' On the opposite corner were the words ' From Keginp(« Hifihtll, Nov. 13, 18:tO.' " A HEARTY SUFFEIU At 6.20 Henry Whitehead, the special tiij'tf engaged to prepare Birchall's meals, brouglit his supper up to him and passed it into nis ceJ, The meal was a very hearty one, and was tuoitgh to sharpen the appetite of an Epicurean It conttsced of a bowl of oysters, a large steak of venison, potatoes, bread, and two cups of coffee. Bircoali seemed to have a ravenous appetite, and ate everything before him while he conversed jviih hie attendan's. The venison he thought was too young, r.till he seemed to enjoy it It was supplied by Mr. Joe Thompson, woo recently returned from a hunting expedition at Long Point. THE FINAL INTERVIKW. Early this morning Mrs. Birchail was given a sleeping potion, and slept until about uoon. As soon as she got up she began frettini; and expressed a strong desire to see her husband again tor a abort while. Her friends endeavoured to dissuade her, but she would not be denied, and about eight o'clock this evening, she was driven in a close cab to the gaol along with Mrs. WpstJones and Mr. Leetnam. They stoyed there with the pris- oner until oloM npon midnigbt. TIm inter- , t. . - . - . t -. T _ .■ 69 BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. .f' 9 i i * view WM touohintr in the flxtreme, Kod largely • repntition of the oou Imc nighb Wheo the party drove up to the hotel after midDitiht aome peuple were •tanding about the door. Mrs. Birchall ■aw them loolcing ourioutly at her, and in the midat of her tears slie exclaimed, " How oaa you look at a womau in luoh diitreia aa I am ?" She ia utterly proatrated, and be< came byaterical upon reaching her room, and ■everal medical men had to be lent for. Short* ly before she left the gaol a mesienger came ruabii>3 into the hotel where Deputy Sheriff Ferry ia stopping, and they both started for the gaol on a run. It waa anrmiaed that the prisoner und his wife had committed auicide, and there waa considerable excitement for aome time. I called at the gaol at once, and found that the hangman, who was drunk, waa threateninff to "clean out " the institu- tion, and the deputy sheriff, who is about the aize of J. L. Sullivan, had to be called to quiet him. THF LAST SORNE. WooDSTOOK, Nov. 11.— This morning, at twenty-nine minutes after eight, the sentence of death pronounced upon Reginald Birchall by Judge MacMahon for the murder of Frederick (J. Benwell in the Swamp of Death, in Blenheim township, waa exenuted in the presence of about two hundred specta- tors. The execution was very impressive, and was carried out thoroushly in every de- Uil. The prisoner was one of the most noted criminals in the annals of crime iu this country. The murder of which he was found guilty was of a terrible character, and the web of circumstantial evidence woven by the Crown was complete and inexorable, and bis execution this morning in the presence of the representatives of the press was a fitting close of an ill-spent life. Ever since the day of his arrest the prisoner exhibited a nerve that is the wonder of everyone. Not once did he falter during the period when he waa first undergoing examination, not a tremor did he show during the long and painful trial : and wheu word was received from the Minister of Justice that all hope was at an end he was cheerful and composed, and he met his fate this morning with a smile and without the faintest trace of emotion. The spbcracle of a man in the interval between his trial and execution sitting down calmly to write a history of his life is unique and impressive, and stamps Ilegiu- ald Birchall as a man who, he was cowardly enough to shoot F. C. Benwell in the back, as the Crown proved to the oertainly brave enough to face death in Its most humiliating form uniiinohingly. Throughout the trial aad final days poople maintained that be would broa ; down. Those who saw him and spoke to nim knew better, lie was not an ordiiary man. He was a bundle of paradoxes, and never did anything like other men. Ke was surtling- ly original in everything ; in his life at ool- lege and as a boy this trait of bis character is disclose^l, and he kept up his originality to the end, only the manner of his execution was not dillerent in its aspects from that of other criminals. A man with his talents and with the energy and ambition he dis- played at the end might have made his mark in the world. But indolence and a taste for wild life and dissipations ruined him and be becamn an adventurer. Ouce entered upon the downward path the descent is easy, and in his case be has atoned for his es* capades and sins. TIIK MORNING HOORS. As stated in to-day's Maii^ it was one o'clock in the morning when Mrs. Birchall left her doomed husoand. When she was taken to the gaol she asked her sister, Mrs. West-Jones, and Mr. Arthur Leelham, who accompanied her in a cab, to return at eleven o'clock. They were on hand prompt* ly at the appointed time, but the wife did not wish to leave just then, and they entered and took seats in Qioler Cameron's private office. She had not been very long there when Mrs. West-Jones onught sight of the long snaky black rope to be used at the ex- ecution laying coiled in a corner. She sick- ened at the sight and almost filiated. " Take me out of here," she faltered, and she was led to Turnkey Forbes' room, where she passed the rest of the taid he would carry out his instruc- tions to the letter, and the P. £. could go and sleep in a dry goods box for ail he Mtisfaotiea of twslve of bis peers, be wtioared, bat be would not be admitted without BIRCHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 6> orA^Tt, The bnrly htnginan raved ftod rlp- oed nutontbii bi2 eauuKii to ihaka » ateeple, bat Midgley beid the fort and the drawbridga waa up. " Lemme ia I tell you, or I'll go right back to Toronto and leave the job toao amateur," he ahouled, aa lie rattled the irou barre/i door 11 ntil the ouiie echoea and r€- echoed throui/h the dim corridora. arousing the priionera *nd creating a tremendoua ex- citenient among them, many ot them thinking that Kirohall had made a desperate attempt •Dd l)rokeu gaol. Finally Deputy Sheritf John Perry, who had been aent for, arrived on the scene. He gave Midgley the order to admit the hangman, and that iuuividual, mutterin/, curses entered the gloomy walls. Once inside the gaol, quarters were provided for the estimable judicial functionary, and he spent the rest of the night snoring and puthng lilie a donkey eugine. THK FINAL FARKWKLL. A short time after Mrs. Birchall waa ad- mitted into birchaU'a cell. Rev. Dean Wade waa ushered in. He spent the remainder of the night with the prisoner. The parting between husband and wife waa very touching. As Mrs. Birchall was being led out on the kindly arm of Mr, Arthur Leetham, she burst into a terrible fit of weeping and moaning aloud, and would insist upon returning ana >>i»"-uk ,i last look at her husband through the door. Birohall atood at the door, gazing long and lovingly down upon her, and, as she turned back, waved hia hand and said, "Good-bye, Flo. Don't take it too hard. God bless you." Rev. Dean Wade remained with hiiu in conversation until about four o'clock, when the prisoner expressed a strong desire to see Turnkey Forbes. Mr. Forbes went to hia cell, and Mr. Wade retired for a short time. The prisoner had quite a chat with Forbes, who waa very much affected, iind left some orders for him aa one of his truatees, to be carried out. While the interview waa going on Birchall appeared at the cell door and called to Sergt. Mideley, the night guard, with whom he waa very intimate, and told him that he wna going to bequeath to him a aword, which will be sent from Eng- land, and a gold pencil for Mr. Midgley'a son Fred. • Birchall ordered a light luncheon at mid* Bight, but aa hia wife waa then with him he did not eat anything. At aix o'clook in the morning the oook, Mr. Whitehead, broaght the prisoner hia breakfaat " Good morning," said Birchall with a forced smile. The meal consisted of three poached eggs, some toaat, some blackberry preserves, and a cup of coffee. He ate the eggs aud some toast, but he did not touch the preserves. At aeven o'clock the barker arriTad aod ahaved the priioaer. Hia frienda were then admitted to bio him farewell. A HHIVIRINO CKOWD. Ont in the gaol yard in the cool froety morninir half a hundred reportera moved restlessly about, aomedreadmg the approach- inflr ordeal and othera eagerly waiting to Haah the news across two contin>*uta, and conclude iheir work on the most sensational assign- ment for which they were ever detailed. Twice BM many ordinary spectatora, drawn thither principally from a morbid feeling of curiosity, wandered aimlessly about the yard, with palo facoa and nervous movement, dreading what was to romt, and yetauxixua to witness what they would naturally term % vindication of the majesty of the law. Few were there whose hearts were not beat- ing fast as the t e approached for the eie> cutioD, and uou> were there whose nervei w<" ^ not strung to their utmost. It may have been the cold that made the wiiole concourse shiver, and atartnet ouh.^ every time the gaol yard door was opened, but the chanite ot colour in the faces and the long-drawn breathi aeemed to indicate that the nerves had more to do with the tremors than thu cold thin air and the white frost that withered the grass on which the doomed man was wont to tread during the past four weeka. In a corner ot the yard loomed up the awful machine of death, and, as Birchall yesterday remarked, it was indeed a crude- looking aflFair, a machine auch as science would never suggeat for the aucri- fice of life, and one that a person might eaaily imagine would have been uaed when a acaffold was first introduced. But it did its work we'l. A GLOOMY SPOT. The scaffold, which had already been de- scribed in TuK Mail, was fixed with cross- pieces againat the north-west corner of the gaol building— in the Kloon>i*st corner of • gloomy yard— and appeared to be as simple in contrivance as an ordinary awing. This apot the sun seldom reached, and, aa a conae- quence, the earth ahowed up dark and damp, the absence of grass, which grew abundantly elsewhere, suggesting that preparations for the grave had already been commenued. The ground waa uneven, and the night'a froat, already melting under the beat of the day, rendered a foothold insecure and walking un- pleaaant. Twenty yards to the west of the scaffold two operatora of the Commeroiai Cable Co. stood leaning against the wall with instru* ments in hand, ready to wire to England the moment the drop fell, while inside* the building operatora of the Great North- western sat with fingera on keya ready to tell the continent how Birchall died. Half • dezen cooatAbUi* armed with long polea, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 !f« I.I so M >.2 1^ 1^ H: i4£ mil 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ., 6" ► P^ <^ /2 7 /^ o / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 £■ «!, t< 64 BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. formed • oordoD round the scaffold, and in •mgthered words, ao that they might not reach the ears of the victim, ordered the crowd backwards until there was an unin- terrupted space for the use of the solemn procession so shortly expected. Birchall must have been well liked during his con- finement, because oorstablea and guards, with yebrs cf experience and hardened by constant intercourse with oriminftls, moved softly in and out of the corridor with heads bent and tear-stamed cheeks, and none of them lost an oppo:- tunity to say a favourable word for the doomed felon. In the strength of their sympathy tbey forgot the Dismal Swamp and the cold. da»d body of Fred. Ben well, in whose brain was imbedded the bullets of the man who voluntarily sacrificed his soul to his greed for gold. And it seemed well that the prisoner was able to draw from the hearts of these long-experienced representa- tives of the law a little of the milk of human kindness, because in his agonizing distress he sorely needed all the sympatby, all the affection, and all the teuderness and care that could be shown him. He was on the brink of eternity with the guilt of an awful crime upon his soul, and those who wept and prayed for him showed but a natural in- stinct to Bucsur atellow-beingin sore distress. MORBID CDRIOSITV. It may seem strange to newspaper readers, but not so to the reporter who has the misfortune to be detailed to write up an execution, to read that outside of the saol walls there was congregated a great crowd, nearly all clamouring for admission, and many of those who were refused climbed up into the neighbouring trees and viewed the terrrible sight from a distance. The roofs of neighbouring buildinits were also utilized un- hiD ered by vhe police, although from such a distance the imagination had to lend assist- ance to the eyes. Those on the trees and on the house-tops could see )he scaffold, couid see the executioner making the final prepara- tions, and could see the mournful procession as it filed from the prison,but none could hear the sad and solemn words of the clergyman as be sobbed ouS the solemn words of the last prayer for the dead ; they could not hear the appeal or see the expression oi distress on the face of the minister, or read the agony in the tones of his voice as he broke aown •sain and again in his eflbrts to encourage the prisoner by maintaining bis composure ; and they could not hear the half-muttered rospoBsas of the doomed man as he walked towards the instrument of death with a step that was bold, and a demeanour that was re- flective rather than defian , boastful, or de* ieotad, so tnat the lesson of the scene must have been lost upon them, except that it had been given to them to see a human life sacrificed without understandins or ap- preciating the solemnity with which the awful event was surrounded. Alongside that part of the ground close to the wall where Birchall was in the habit of taking daily exercise the grass was worn away, and as the sun's rays skirted the gloomy building and fell among the blades that were still ereen and yet white tipped witl: frost, the narrow foot-path looked lone- some in its very suggestiveneas. One could easily see Birchall in imagination as he tramped round the yard with his ever-watch- fnl guard by his side, and his favourite dog licking the prisoner's hand as he followed at heeL THE EXECUTIONER. When Radclive, the haneman, appeared upon the scene there was a momentary hush, and then a score of notebooks flashed from pockets and a score of pencils were set busily at work. Radclivo looked better than he did last night, and had not the appear- ance of a dissipated man. As he adjusted the ropes, arrauged the pulley, and got tno ponderous weight into position he apoeared as cool as if he was handling a hod, for which occupation he seems fitted ; bis hand was steady and his eye clear and true, showing no traces of the liquor he had consumed the night before, and his manner of going to work .'ndicated that he was thoroughly competent to complete the contract he had made with the sheriff. When the ropes were adjusted Jaoier Cam- eron and three constables stepped forward, and with the puiley raised t'le 350-ponnd weisht into position about tea feet from the ground, leaviuR the rope with the noose at its end dangling some tive feet from the ground. From the corridor of the gaol came an incessant murmur telling of the efforts of those outsiee to get within and of the refusal of the guards to admit any but *jhose who held the magical autograph of the sheriff. 8tand* ing at the foot of the winding staircase, and holding in bis hand a belt-sbapud leathern strap, was the executioner waiting for the signal which would give him absolute con- trol over the body of Reginald Birch- all. After seeing that the scaffold was in readiness for its victim Rad- clive quietly proceeded to the main cor- ridor, where he informed Gaoler Cameron that he was prepared to execute his commis- sion. The executioner has by no means the appearance of a callous ruffian, but ho evi- dently believes that his mission is that of a Eoblic executioner. Coolly and deliberately e explained what steps he intended to take, and when at last the signal was given he BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 66 ■lipped noiBelessly np th« winding ataira and atood qaietly in the corridor, to await the concluaion of a prayer that waa then being offered up by Rural Dean Wade. THE SUMMONS. While be waa waiting, Deputy Sheriff Perry, Dr. Chamberlain, the new Prison In* Bpector, and ex-Chief of Police Stewart, of Ilamilton, entered the ceil, and the inapector beckoned to the priaoner. "Biroball," he aaked, "do yon intend to aay anything on the acaffold ; it ao an oppor- tunity will be given you to apeak ?" " No," replied the priaoner. " I have aaid in my autobiogiaphy in Tus Mail all that I have to eay, and will have nothing ;:o tt^ll on the acaffold." Rev. ^. Wade, who had apent the whole night with the prisoner, arose and touching Birchall on the shouider invited him to the door. The prisoner turned with a amile to his spiritual adv:'Ber, and . after taking a couple of atepa forward turned, and walking quickly backward, betrayed a alight feeling' of emotion as he grasped the hand of hia old college ohum and trustee Mr. Leetham, and bending bis bead quickly kiaand him on the cheek. The action was ao rapidly executed and ao unlooked-for that Mr. Loetham for a moment atared dumbly at the prisonar, and then erasping him by the hand shook it warmly, the tear« in quick auocession coura- ing down hia cheeka. Recovering as quickly aa he had been afTected, Birchall turned and with a ateady and unsupported atep walked to the door. By the expreaaion in his eyes and by the ghastly pallor in his face it waa clear that he knew what awaited him in the corridor, but he never faltered for a moment, walking with even steps through the iron- bound entrance into the corridor. He paused a moment as he reached the threshold, and then, turning silently to his execu- tioner, he bowed his head and dumb- ly held out bis hands. Radclive quietly alipped behind him, and grasping both elbows drew them sharply back. In another instant the leathsrn strap waa passed over the doomed man's Lrma, and he waa aecured in anch a manner that he could freely move his arma from hia elbowa down, but above those the limba were powerleaa. BIRCHALL's COOtNBSS. While this work waa in progreaa Birchall betrayed no emotion except that of curiosity. He leaned backward, and turning hia bead aidewiae watched the hangman^i nimble fingera with a curioua expression on his face. As the hangman moved so moved the prison* •r'a head from aide to aide, watch- ing each movement over hia right aad hia Uft ahonlder latently, •■ if he waa desirous of masterins the secret of the executiuuer's work. His large full eyas, with pupils somewhat dilated, lollowed every move, and when Radclive atrrightened np he wheeled round and caat a mute and appeal- ing elance to hia old-time chum. "Yes," aaid the Deputy Sheriff, reading the elance. '* You c:.a take his arm, Mr. Leetham, and remain with him to the end if you wish." "Yes." aaid Birchall, •< take hold of my arm, old man, and walk with me aa we oaed to do in the old days together." Rev. Mr. Wad>. 'ca I came up to see him. I am not sorry for it now. I had several touching interviews with bitn. 1 saw him last night and spoke to him, while his wife was there, but I had the parting interview with him this morning. He asked me to aot ( as trustee to his will, and I agreed to do so, and then ha •xpr«satid it aa his ifimg wish that I should be present at bis execution. Although the idea wai very revolting to me, still to gratify his wish I consented. I reached the gaol about 7.46 o'clock this morning, and was with him for some time. Mr. Wade was present with na for a while. We had a long chat about his friends in England, and he left a number of meisages with me to his rela- tives. He asked me to assure them that he appreciated their confidence in him, and told me to tell them to think kindly of him. When Mr. Wade entered the scene was very arecting, and Birchall appeared to be touched. We repeated the "Uloria in Exceisis," and offered up prayer. He then naid it was a sreat pleasure to have me with him during the final scene, and gave me his photograph as a student at Oxford to remind me of old times. On the photograph he had written the following inscription in Latin and in En dish : — "Arthur R. Leetham, from his old and dear friend R. Birchall. " " Duo amioi qui temporibus prseteritis sempiternum helium contra, Universitatis Oxoniensis regula gesserunt, ao usque ad finem fide maxim^ et proximu socii, nunqnam se diviserunt, nee vita nee morte. Cordibus junetis, alteri legis et consilii decus, alteri pra^mium amicitiiB detur." ' ' To thee alone of all the old firm who wai by my side when parting for the bourne from whence no traveller returns, I give this card to remind you of my heart, which was yours alike in life and deaih, and which you will think on kindly in the days to come. " Take care of yourseii, und remember the old, old firm. Thine ever, •• Rex." " At the last moment he wished me to look after his wife, Mrs. West-Jones, and his sister. Ho then shook me by the band and said, 'Good bye, old chap, see you again." As the euard took him by the arm to lead him out he looked at me as much as appeal- ing to me to take the other. Deputy Sheriff Perry, who saw the look, was touched, and intuitively surmised his wish, and asked me to take his arm. He was then led to the scaQbld, and the service there was very painful to me indeed. Quite a number of gentlemen present were visibly affected." INTERVIEW WITH THE NIGHT OCABI). This evening a reporter of The Mail had a lon^ interview with Sergt. Midgley, Birchali's night guard. All through the case Midgley has had very little to say, but now that the thing is over he conversed freely. Midgley is the soul of honour, an.i a military man imbued with a strong sense ol duty. He aoon became the friend and confidant of his BIROHALL'S AUTOBIOGEAPHT. ioutioo. to me, I ted. I )ck this time. while. frieods I number rela- im that la him, indly of Je acene ■eared to (lori« ia JHe tbea |me with me hie remind V i I ward, whose sense of human nature did not take him long to fiaii out what kind of stuff his guard waa made of. Midgloy said :— " Birchall was a wonderful man ; one of the strangest characters I ever met. Although everyone's hand appeared to be against him, still I could not help liking him." "How did he spend the time ? " ** Well, we were never tired of each other's company. You kuow I took charge of him at night after Entwhistle was dischs rged, and I have spent every night with aim ever since. " " How did he spend the time? " '* Well, we would chat for a wb'Ie about military and other matters. He \''as well posted in military affairs and would have made a grand soldier. About eleven o'clock, when all was still, he would sit down and write for an hour at the autobioeraphy which is appearing in The Mail. Then he would tilt his chair back; light a clear, and read the stuff over to me. Then we would chat again for a while, and after passing about an hour this way he would go to work again, and I would sit by bim and read. After writing about an hour the same thing would be repeated. He would keep this ap until about five o'clock m the morning ; then be would retire." birchall's frater. "Do you think Birohali was at all reli- gious ?" " Well, I know this, and I alone knew of it, and never mentioned it to anybody. Ever since he gave up all hope of a commutation of his sentence every morning before retiring he would kneel at his bedside and pray. Some- times for half an hour. He bad a dread of being looked upon as a canting hypocrite, but knew that although I saw him perform his devotions I would respect his confidence. When others were around he would assume a gay and heartless manner, and they never dreamt of the internal strugKie goine on in the man and his prayers and appeals to the throne of grace. Even the Rev. Dean Wade thought him a triSe irreligious, but such was not the case. I did not wish to give food for newspaper sensations, so I keep my tongue sti.l about bim. I would not dream of violating the secret of his heat t, but now that he is dead there is no harm in the world knowing that after all Birr^hall was not as black as he was painted." " During the time youwere with him did be ever hint or let fall anything to you in the way of confession ?" " No ; not to me directly in any way. On one occasion I remember Rev. Dean Wade was exhorting him to confess the crime and ask for forgiveness. Birchall after a while asked him very solemnly It hc> confessed to his Ocd alone would he be forgiven, and the kind- hearted Dean said, " Yes, certainly, confess to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask forgiveness for your sins, and in His blood you will find an atonembnt' After the dean had left he broueht the conversation around about this and asked my opinion on the subject. I said that the dean had spoken truly as far as his lieht would go." " Was this the only thing he ever dropped to you on the subject ?" " Yes, that was the only thing." ** Did he leave you any meuiento?" "Yes, he is to have a sword seut to me from England and a gold pen to my buy. I never asked him for anything. I might have got lots of things from bim and d'ciposed of them to relic-hunters for big figares, but I would not think of doing such a thing." " Did Birchall seem to take much Interest in the story of his life ?" " Yes, he would have liked very much to have seen it in book form, but he knew that his time was too short. He kept his word with TiiK Mail, and was very mnch afraid that some of the manuscript would cro astray. A great deal of pressure was brougHt npon him to break faith with Thr Mail, but he resolutely set his face aeainst such a transaction, and wouid hear notbing of it, although it would have been money in hie pocket." " What is yoar general opinion of Bir- chall ?■' *' Well, I think he was not a bad fellow after all, and whatever crimes he has com* mitted he has amply atoned for them." The hangman to-night came into town feel* ing rather nilarious. He was sober when he performed his hateful task, and as he stood in the corridor after the hanging while the doctors were performing the autopsy he was very nervous, and trembled like a leaf. Whether it was caused by the mental strain he had undergone or from the efifeota of bad whiskey imbibed the previous night ic is bard to say, but in the evening he braced np with strong doses of whiskey, and when be left on the evening train he was very noisy. This evening Mrs. Birchall was mnoh more composed, and is to some extent recoverin(( from the efifects of the great mental strain which she has undergone, NO CONFESSION. ?roir to bis death Birchall made the foU Ic .ring statement : ••Woodstock Gaol, Nov. 10, 1890t "AU Rights Reserved. " If after my death there shall appear in the press or in any other manner wbataoevef irfc-* 70 BIEOHALL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. any confeniion that I had any hand ia the murder of Mr. F. C. Benwall, or any per- ■onui knowlodge of said murder, with intent or malice aforethousht, or o ./ personal con- nection with the murder on the 17th Febru- ary, or other day, or any knowledge that any such murder was likely to be committed, or any statement fur- ther than any ttiut I may have made public previous to this date, I hand this statement to the care of Mr. George Peny of Woodstock, Ontario, that he may know that any confessions or partial con- fessions are entirely fictitious, and in no way were ever written by me, neither emanated from me, m any way whatsoever, to any person, and the whole are tictitious and with- out a word of truth. This likewise applies to my story in 'I'iik Mail in which I havo made no sueh confessions or partial confession. This holds good throughout. (Signed), " ItEG. BiRCHALL." MRS. BIRCHALL's WRITING. The following letter is a facsimile one of written by Mrs. Birchall to a representative of the press, who addressed an enquiry to ber regarding her husband's autobiography : iiXu h^^-^^kjUuJ^i^ 'tcLlAA.c^li^Oty{e. ^'Uu^ VOTES. A good deal has been published in the papers abouc Bircball's conoeotion with the Masonic fraternity. His friends and all those in a position to know say that ha is not a member of the craft and give the story the lie straight. ^ A Toronvo paper published a paragraph this morning stating that the Attorney- (icneral had given his consent to all of Bircball's friendv^ having a final intetview with him tO'day. All the afternoon the street leadins to the gaol was black with people wanting to have a final talk with him. Even the roads leading from the country were black with farmers coming in on this errand, as such news travels fast. The gaol was ba> sieged, and the gaoler had to muffle the bell and have a man at the gaol door to explain that visitors were not admitted. The manner in which Birchall behaved throughout was in remarkable keeping with the phrenological description given of him by Prof. Cavunagh. Those who ware curions to read trie professor's chart could not help being impressed with the coincidence between the traits of Bircball's character, as shown in hia singular career, and the propensities noted by the phrenologist. This matter received some attention when, as the fatal day drew near, the condemned man showed uo signs of wavering, and ic will not be surprising it one of the efi'ects of that interest will be found in » craze hereafter phrenological examinations. Determination, combativeness, and destruo- tivenesa were largely developed in the nnfor* tunate man, and all authorities on the subject state these faculties to be those which, if con* spicuous, lead to an exhibition of fearlessness, coolness, and smu) frold, of which Bircball's conduct was a striking illastration. The service given by the Great Xorth- Western Telegraph Company at Woodstock during the past few days was the best that town bas over experienced, and the fifty newspaper reporters who worket night and day feel greatly indebt|id, not only to the company, but to the operators themselves, for the expeditious manner in which their de- spatches were wired to their respective papers. A special staff of experienced opt rators were kept constantly at work from daylight in the morning until four the next horn- ing, and , in not a single instance was the reporter disappointed or the despatch delayed. It seemed surprising that such a large amount of writing could be bandied in ■uch a short space of time, and it sneaks well for the company as well as for the operatora. The G. N. W. Telegraph Company had % special wire laid to the gaol, ard in less than three minutes after the fall of th weight the Xjtvtfe «a& lujictir lands and all ehos« that he ia not a '• the etory the Jie 'bed a paragraph ' the Attorney. on«ent to all of final inteiriew ternoon the atreet >iaok with people with him. Even ouatry were black jn this errand, aa he gaol waa be- muffle the bell 1 door to explain ted. Jirohall behaved ■b'e keeping with •given of him by no ware oariona t could not help iciJence between 'ter, as shown in ropenai ties noted matter received fatal day drew owed Lo signs of Jurprisijg it one wiJl be found in al examinations. *". and destruo' ed in the unfor> « on the subject e which, if con- ' of fearlessness, "hich Birchall's Uion. Great North- tt Woodstock the best that and the fifty ke I night and ' only to the themselves, for I'ch their de- peciive papers. P^rators were n daylight in next morn- gle instance • the despatch that such a 'e handled in t bpeaks well he operatora. 'pany had • ' in less than weight the gl«od and in y/y/oy WILL » « you ffJiVET THI MAIL Is Qiving Away Nf»ntf> •ome and Valuabia Presents to friends who worlu Read over ths list I BUSINESS lOUOATION Por lOOiubsoribers to The Weakly Mall t»i Dollar each Tra Xin. will pr ea e nt a rnU (• month*) Soholarship la the OanaclieR Collese of Commerce, Toraata Sk* sMk value of thla flohOtanUp U •4S.Mi THE BEST SEWINQ MAOHINB For M subaemwri to The Weakly Mall a* OM Dollar each, aa Improan Sowlns il«ehliMl> ThemostpopularauwUnelattiemarfcali. Alllh* latest Improvemenia. 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A and winder, and keapa good tloM. tor money (flOOl, aad are apolMa aC thoae who are wearing thaai. thay ■■• of a venlent alae and shapes aad pnaaataaaat aaoe. 80NQ AND MU8IO BOOKS Vor S aabaortbara to The Weekly Mail at Dollar each, Two Bmdu eC favorlto Oons ftollOi TKm. ImAt, Ing 158 of the lateat aad moat mnalo, oomplalab Wepsepaythe THE LEATHER8TOOKINQ TALBB For 9 Buibaerlbeta to The Weekly Mall at Cm Dollar each, Tho LaatharatooMn^ TalM. J. Fealmon Oooper'a great Btortaa e( tiw n< Mwa aad the ptoaeer, tall of iaoldeat, lataMMlr lata» •sting VThe OMralayer," "the Pathfiatfer,'* •"the Last of the Mohieme,'* "The Pioaeerg,** **Tlto Prairie," Ave graad hooka beoad at Ml «* VHB KV.PERIAI. MU8I0 BOOK. 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KewYeeriy aM>> aartpaeaa flor Tha Dally Mall at |BJM < •goal to toar Weekly aobaerlpttaaai prepaid ea aDi itoaay addreealaoaaadai 1 to aay pMitoatoe ki a*M» Sittiat or Ml lattedStatah *» limit TK MAIL, Tmm. tea \ :;f^ . ■.! 'U f-'-^ ^'#, \ •V \ . .. THB .,..- , LEATHERSTOCKING TALES By James Fenimore Cooper Which Will be Sent With a Year's Subscription to the ,^ TORONTO WEEKLY MAIL For Only SI.20 Tho first and KrqatGst of American novelists was James Fonimoro Cooper. " His popxilar- ity," says a writer m the Century Mayaeine, "was oosniopolitan. He was almost a* widely read in France, in Germany, and in Italy as in Great llritain and the United States. Ouly one American book has ever since attained tlie international success of thesoof Coopers— 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' and only one American author. Poe, has since gained a name at all commentiu- rate with Cooper's abroad . " The great auth. r is dead, but hlA charming romances still live to deliRht now generations of readoi-s. 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