Kansas Physician Confirms Howard Report

[Mayerling]

From Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould's Book

The following is the chapter that I mentioned:

"The Murder of Nevill Norway"

"Mr. Nevill Norway was a timber and general merchant residing at Wadebridge. he was the second son of William Norway, of Court Place, Egloshayle, who died in 1819, and Nevil was baptized at Eloshayle Church on November 5th, 1801.

In the course of his business he travelled about the country and especially attended markets, and he went to one at Bodmin on the 8th of February, on horseback.

About 4 o'clock in the afternoon he was transacting some little affair in the market-place, and had his purse in his hand, opened it and turned out some gold and silver, and from the sum picked out what he wanted and paid the man with whom he was doing business. Standing close by and watching him was a young man named William Lightfoot, who lived at Burlorn, in Egloshayle, and whom he knew well enough by sight.

Mr. Norway did not leave Bodmin till shortly before ten o'clock, and he had got about nine miles to ride before he would reach his house. The road was lonely and led past the Dunmeer Woods and that of Pencarrow.

He was riding a grey horse, and he had a companion, who proceeded with him along the road for three miles and then took his leave and branched off in another direction.

[p. 117]

A farmer returning from market somewhat later to Wadebridge saw a grey horse in the road, saddled and bridled, but without a rider. He tried at first to overtake it, but the horse struck into a gallop and he gave up the chase; his curiosity was, however, excited, and upon meeting some men on the road, and making inquiry, they told him they thought the grey horse that had just gone by them belonged to Mr. Norway. This induced him to call at the house of that gentleman, and he found the grey steed standing at the stable gate. The servants were called out, and spots of blood were found upon the saddle. A surgeon was immediately summoned, and two of the domestics sallied forth on the Bodmin road, in quest of their master. The search was not successful that night, but later, one of the searchers perceiving something white in the little stream of water that runs besides the highway and enters the river Allen at Pendavey Bridge, they examined it, and found the body of their unfortunate master, lying on his back in the stream, with his feet towards the road, and what they had seen glimmering in the uncertain light saw his shirt frill. He was quite dead.

The body was at once placed on the horse and conveyed home, where the surgeon, named Tickell, proceeded to examine it. He found that the deceased had received injuries about the face and head, produced by heavy and repeated blows from some blunt instrument, which had undoubtedly been the cause of death. A wound was discovered under the chin, into which it appeared as if some powder had been carried; and the bones of the nose, the forehead, the left side of the head and the back of the skull were frightfully fractured.

An immediate examination of the spot ensured when the body had been found, and on the left-hand side of

[p. 118 - the picture of Mr. Nevill Norway appears at this point between 118 and 119]

the road was seen a pool of blood, from which in the rivulet opposite was a track produced by the drawing of a heavy body across the way, and footsteps were observed as of more than one person in the mud, and it was further noticed that the boots of those there impressed must have been heavy. There had apparently been a desperate scuffle before Mr. Norway had been killed.

There was further evidence. Two sets of footmarks could be traced of men pacing up and down behind a hedge in an orchard attached to an uninhabited house hard by; apparently men on the watch for their intended victim.

At a short distance from the pool of blood was found the hammer of a pistol that had been but recently broken off.

Upon the pockets of the deceased being examined, it became obvious that robbery had been the object of the attack made upon him, for his purse and a tablet and bunch of keys had been carried off.

Every exertion was made to discover the perpetrators of the crime, and large rewards were offered for evidence that should tend to point them out. Jackson, a constable from London, was sent for, and mainly by his exertions the murderers were tracked down. A man named Harris, a shoemaker, deposed that he had seen the two brothers, James and William Lightfoot, of Burlorn, in Egloshayle, loitering about the deserted cottage late at night after the Bodmin fair; and a man named Ayres, who lived next door to James Lightfoot, stated that he had heard his neighbor enter his cottage at a very late hour on the night in question, and say something to his wife and child, upon which they began to weep. What he had said he could not hear, thought the partition between the cottages was thin.

[119]

This led to an examination of the house of James Lightfoot on February 14th, when a pistol was found without a lock, concealed in a hole in a beam that ran across the ceiling. As the manner of Lightfoot was suspicious, he was taken into custody.

On the 17th his brother William was arrested in consequence of a remark to a man named Vercoe that he was in it as well as James. he was examined before a magistrate and made the following confession: -
"I went to Bodmin last Saturday week, the 8th instant, and on returning I met my brother James at the head of Dunmeer Hill. It was just come dimlike. My brother had been to Burlorn, Egloshayle, to buy potatoes. Something had been said about meeting; but I was not certain about that. My brother was not in Bodmin on that day. Mr. Vercoe overtook us between Mount Charles Turnpike Gate at the top of Dunmeer Hill and a place called Lane End. We came on the turnpike road all the way till we came to the house near the spot where the murder was committed. We did not go into the house, but hid ourselves in a field. My brother knocked Mr. Norway down; he snapped a pistol at him twice, and it did not go off. Then he knocked him down with the pistol. He was struck whilst on horseback. It was on the turnpike road between Pencarrow Mill and the directing-post toward Wadebridge. I cannot say at what time of the night it was. We left the body in the water on the left side of the road coming to Wadebridge. We took money in a purse, but I do not know how much it was. It was a brownish purse. There were some papers which my brother took and pitched away in a field on the left-hand side of the road, into some browse or furze. The purse was bid by me in my garden, and afterwards I threw it over Pendavey Bridge. My brother drew

[p. 120]

the body across the road to the water. We did not know whom we stopped till when my brother snapped the pistol at him. Mr. Norway said, 'I know what you are about. I see you.' We went home across the fields. We were not disturbed by any one. The pistol belonged to my brother. I don't know whether it was soiled in blood; I never saw it afterwards; and I do not know what became of it. I don't know whether it was soiled with blood. I did not see any blood on my brother's clothes. We returned together, crossing the river at Pendavey Bridge and the Treraren fields to Burlorn village. My brother then went to his house and I to mine. I think it was handy about eleven o'clock. I saw my brother again on the Sunday morning. He came to my house. There was nobody there but my own family. He said, 'Dear me, Mr. Norway was killed.' I did not make reply."

The prisoner upon this was remanded to Bodmin gaol, where his brother was already confined, and on the way he pointed out the furze bush in which the tablet and the keys of the deceased were found. James Lightfoot, in the meantime, had also made a confession, in which he threw the guilt of the murder upon his brother William.

This latter, when in prison, admitted that his confession had not been altogether true. He and his brother had met by appointment, with full purpose to rob the Rev. W. Molesworth, of S. Breock, returning from Bodmin market, and when James had snapped his pistol twice at Mr. Norway, he, William, had struck him with a stick on the back of his head and felled him from his horse, whereupon James had battered his head and face with a pistol.

The two wretched men were tried at Bodmin on March 30th, 1840, before Mr. Justice Coltman, and the

[p.121]

jury returned a verdict of "Guilty"; they were accordingly both sentenced to death, and received the sentence with great stolidity.

Up to this time the brothers had been allowed an opportunity for communication, and the discrepancy in their stories distinctly enough showed that the object of each was to screen himself and to secure the conviction of the other.

After the passing of the sentence on them, they were conveyed to the same cell, and were now, for the first time, allowed to approach each other. They had scarcely met before, in the most hardened manner, they broke out into mutual recrimination, using the most horrible and abusive language of each other, and not content with this, they flew at each other's throat, so that the gaolers were obliged to interfere and separate them, and confine them in separate apartments.

On April 7th their families were admitted to bid them farewell, and the scene was most distressing. On Monday morning, April 13th, they were both executed, and it was said that upwards of ten thousand persons had assembled to witness their end.

As Mr. Norway's family was left in most straitened circumstances, a collection was made for them in Cornwall, and the sum of 3500 pounds was raised on their behalf.

William Lightfoot was aged thirty-six and James thirty-three when hanged at Bodmin.

There is a monument to the memory of Mr. Norway in Egloshayle Church.

In the CORNWALL GAZETTE, 17th April, 1840, the portraits of the murderers were given. Mention is made of the tragedy in C. Carlyon's "Early Years", 1843. He gives the following story. At the time of the murder, Edmund Norway, the brother of Nevill, was in command of a merchant vessel, the "Orient", on hisvoyage from Manilla to Cadiz. He wrote on the same day as the murder: -
"About 7.30 p.m. the island of S. Helena, N.N.W., distant about seven miles, shortened sail and rounded to, with the ship's head to the eastward; at eight; set the watch and went below -- wrote a letter to my brother Nevell Norway. About twenty minutes or a quarter before ten o'clock went to bed -- fell asleep, and dreamt I saw two men attack my brother and murder him. One caught the horse by the bridle and snapped a pistol twice, but I heard no report; he then struck him a blow, and he fell off the horse. They struck several blows, and dragged him by the shoulders across the road and left him. In my dream there was a house on the left-hand side of the road. At five o'clock I was called, and went on deck to take charge of the ship. I told the second officer, Mr. Henry Wren, that I had had a dreadful dream, and dreamt that my brother Nevell was murdered by two men on the road from S. Columb to Wadebridge; but I was sure it could not be there, as the house there would have been on the right-hand side of the road, but it must have been somewhere else. He replied, 'Don't think anything about it; you West-country people are superstitious; you will make yourself miserable the remainder of the passage. He then left the general ofders and went below. It was one continued dream from the time I fell asleep until I was called, at five o'clock in the morning."
"Edmund Norway,
"Chief Officer, Ship "Orient""

There are some difficulties about this account. It is

[p.123]

dated, as may be seen, February 8th, but it must have been written on February 9th, after Mr. Norway had the dream, and the date must refer to the letter written to his brother and to the dream, and not to the time when the account was penned.

From the Cape of Good Hope to S. Helena the course would be N.N. W., and with a fair wind the ship would cover about eighty or ninety miles in eight hours. So that at noon of the day February 8th she would be about one hundred miles S.S.E. of S. Helena, i.e. in about 5' W. longitude, as nearly as possible. The ship's clock would then be set and they would keep that time for letter-writing purposes, meals, ship routine, etc.

Ship, long. - - - - 5 degrees 0 ' 0" W
Bodmin " - - - - 4 deg. 40' 0" W
Difference - - 20' 0"

This difference would be twenty minutes of longitude and the difference in time between the two places one degree apart is four minutes. Reduce this to seconds:--

4 x 60 x 20
= 80 sec., i.e. 1 min. 20 sec.
60

Therefore, if the murder was committed, say, at 10h. 30m. p.m., Bodmin time, the time on the ship's clock would be 10h. 28 m. 40s. p.m. An inconsiderable difference.

The log-bood of Edmund Norway is said to be still in existence.

One very remarkable point deserves notice. In his dream Mr. Edmund Nowray saw the house on the right hand of the road, and as he remembered, on waking, that the cottage was on the left hand, he consoled himself with the thought that if the dream was incorrect in one

[p.124]

point it might be in the whole. But he was unaware that during his absence from England the road from Bodmin to Wadebridge had been altered, and that it had been carried so that the position of the house was precisely as he saw it in his dream, and the reverse of what he had remembered it to be.

Another point to be mentioned is that one of the murderers wore on that occasion a coat which Mr. Norway had given him a few weeks before, out of charity.

Both brothers protested that they had not purposed the murder of Mr. Norway but of the Rev. Mr. Molesworth, parson of S. Breock, who they supposed was returning with tithe in his pocket. This, however, did not agree with the evidence that William Lightfoot had watched him counting his money at Bodmin, and then had made off.

On the occasion of the discovery of the murder, Sir William Molesworth sent his bloodhounds to track the murderers, but because they ran in a direction opposed to that which the constables supposed was the right one they were recalled. The hounds were right, the constables wrong.

[p.125]

[Mayerling]

Thanks, Jeff.

Some cold water from the Society for Psychical Research:

Phantasms of the Living, Volume 1 (London: Trubner & Co., 1886), Page 161
by Edmund Gurney, Frederic William Henry Myers, Frank Podmore

First-hand evidence, where the witness cannot be cross-questioned, is at once invalidated by any doubt as to the case that may have been felt by persons who were more immediately cognisant of it. The well-known Norway story is an instance. In Early Years and Late Reflections, by Clement Carlyon, M.D., there is a signed account by Mr. Edmund Norway of a vision of his brother's murder that he had while in command of the Orient, on a voyage from Manilla to Cadiz. Mr. Arthur S. Norway, son of the murdered man and nephew of Mr. Edmund Norway, tells us that the account was taken down by Dr. Carlyon from his uncle, at the latter's house; he himself also has heard it from his uncle's own lips. It describes with some detail how in a vision, on the night of February 8th, 1840, Mr. Edmund Norway saw his brother set upon and killed by two assailants at a particular spot on the road between St. Columb and Wadebridge: and how he immediately mentioned the vision to the second officer, Mr. Henry Wren. The brother was actually murdered by two men at that spot, on that night, and the details—-as given in the confession of one of the murderers, William Lightfoot—-agree with those of the vision. But Mr. Arthur Norway further tells us that another of his uncles and the late Sir William Molesworth "investigated the dream at the time. Both were clever men, and they were at that time searching deeply and experimenting in mesmerism—be that they were well fitted to form an opinion. They arrived at the conclusion that the dream was imagined." Mr. Arthur Norway has also heard Mr. Wren speak of the voyage, but without any allusion to the dream. This is just a case, therefore, where we may justly suspect that detail and precision have been retrospectively introduced into the percipient s experience.

It almost goes without saying, in a case like this, that sooner or later we shall be told that the vision was inscribed in the ship's log; and Mr. Dale Owen duly tells us so. Mr. Arthur Norway expressly contradicts the fact.

---end

I have to admit I don't know what to think of the denial by the Society of Psychical Research. That group, despite their best intentions for giving a scientific basis for psychic and occult phenomenon, was so frequently fooled it is hard to take serious a case they denounce as a fraud.

Why did Edmund Norway insist that he had this experience if his other siblings claimed he couldn't have? Where are the papers of Sir William Molesworth showing his investigation into the alleged dream of Edmund Norway? The Society seems to be taking the word of various people to a point that is far beyond their actual value - unless something in their records exists that is more meaty about this.

Also it crosses my mind that Arthur Norway ( the son of Nevill or Nevell - the spelling seems to vary) may not have been close to his uncle Edmund. If you remember Baring-Gould states that the murder victim left his family in straightened circumstances (by the way, how did that happen - he was a wealthy timber merchant with a house with a stable and servants!). A collection is taken that gets them 3,500 pounds. Did Edmund fail to contribute to it perhaps?

By the way, why was Edmund writing a letter to his brother? - something is missing in the account - where did he intend to post the letter so that Nevill would get it before Edmund came home (possibly St. Helena, or maybe the Azores or Gibraltar)?

Another reason for Arthur to be sore about Uncle Edmund comes to mind too - Edmund apparently loved telling this sad psychic story, and every time he did (within the hearing of Arthur and other family members) it reminded them that Nevill had been murdered by the Lightfoots on February 8, 1840. That was hardly a way to win popularity within one's family (I have fortunately never had a close family member or friend killed violently like the Norways did, but from my experience at the Crime Victims Board families and friends of homicide victims need closure - not reopening due to some fool who loves to recite an interesting personal anecdote!).

Altogether a curious and odd tale. I wonder if the Society for Psychic Research would have believed it more if another current murder (that Edmund would have been unaware of) had been the subject of the dream. I believe Courvoisier's killing of Lord William Russell was in January or February of 1840, and had that been the subject of the dream the Norway family would have been shocked, but would not have been annoyed by it.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

A Curious Coincidence between Norway and a story relator

Due to the importance to the Society of Psychic Research (in rejecting the story regarding Edmund Norway's dream on the "Orient" the same day (or thereabouts) that his brother Nevill/Nevell was murdered by the Lightfoots) of his researches, I looked up Sir William Molesworth in the Wikipedia. Incredibly this gentleman had an important political career.

Sir William Molesworth was the 8th Baronet of Pencarrow, and succeeded to the title in 1823. He was a Whig and a supporter of the 1832 Reform Act. That year he was the M.P. for East Cornwall, a seat he held until 1837. From 1837 to 1841 he was the M.P. for Leeds. This was at the time of the murder of Mr. Norway. Defeated in the Tory sweep of 1841, Molesworth became High Sheriff of Cornwall that year. In 1845 he returned to Parliament as M.P. for Southwark. In 1853 he first reached Cabinet rank as First commissioner of Works (1853 - 1855). In April 1855 he reached his high point, as Secretary of State for the Colonies in the Lord Aberdeen coalition. Unfortunately he died in October 1855 while still in that post. His son succeeded to the title. Apparently he did not shake things up too much. When Queen Victoria, noting that Molesworth had been a Whig supporter of the 1832 reforms, voiced concern of how he might shake things up in the Cabinet, Lord Palmerston reassured her that men like Molesworth, once they achieve office, tend to quiet down. He had done so, and that was why he was advanced as he was.

As he served as High Sheriff of his county for awhile, one can imagine he did have opportunity to look into that matter of Edmund Norway's dream and how true it was. Perhaps he even made a small report of his findings. Note too that his holding the Sheriff's position actually occurred only two years after the murder occurred.

Now comes the interesting part. I mentioned Molesworth died in harness, still Colonial Secretary in the Aberline coalition (by the way, that was the same idiotic government that dragged Britain into the Crimean War). When he died in October 1855 he was succeeded in the post of Colonial Secretary by Mr. Henry Labouchere (1798 -1869). This gentleman had no sons, but his heir (to his weathy estate) was his namesake, the Henry Labouchere who was a Liberal M.P. and the publisher of "Truth". This latter Labouchere was the one who mentioned the story about the Norway Murder Case of 1840 in his newspaper "Truth", and one wonders how he originally heard of it.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

In John Roland's book, "A Century of Murder" (New York: Roy Publishers, 1950), Chapter 1 is about the "James and William Lightfoot (1840)" (p. 12 - 22) but it basically repeats the same information of the other sources (especially Baring-Gould), and discusses the dream story. Rowland does comment about it, but apparently did not know that the Society of Psychic Research had discussed the dream.


Jeff

[TradeName]

Thanks for posting the chapter from Baring-Gould's book, Jeff.

This discussion has reminded me of this account of the murder of actor William Terriss and a dream his understudy had the night before. (I found this because there was a mention of Terriss in The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper.)

Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Volume 14 (1898-1899), Pages 309-316

Coincidences
by Alice Johnson

Appendix II
Examinations of a Premonitroy Case

Mr. Lane's Dream of the Death of Mr. Terriss

This is a case which has attained some notoriety on account of its association with the well-known actor, William Terriss. Mr. Frederick Lane, his "under-study," dreamt the night before the murder that he saw Mr. Terriss lying unconscious in a certain part of the Adelphi Theatre where he actually saw him the following evening. The narrative shows that Mr. Lane had apparently no reason for expecting the event. But it is also clear that the premonition might be explained as a clairvoyant or telepathic perception of the result of the intentions of the unfortunate man who committed the murder.

The preliminary statements were obtained by Mr. Podmore, who writes on January 4th, 1898:—-

I enclose accounts of a dream of Terriss's death.

(I.) By Mr. Lane, the dreamer.

(2.) By Miss Haygate, the first person to whom the dream was told.

(3.) By Mr. Carter Bligh, one of several to whom the dream was told at the theatre, in the early afternoon of the 16th: Terriss was stabbed at 7.20 on the 16th.

Mr. Lane and Miss Haygate were understudies for Terriss and Miss Millwaid respectively.

Miss Haygate is a connection by marriage of a friend of mine, Mr. Ronald Hepburn. Mrs. Hepburn was dining with the D-----'s on the evening of the 16th when Miss Haygate came in and told them of the murder and of the dream which she had heard a few hours before.

Mrs. Hepburn told me this the next day, and arranged a meeting for me on the 18th.

The accounts are as follow:

1. From Mr. Frederick Lane.

Adelphi Theatre, December 20th, 1897.

In the early morning of the 16th December, 1897, I dreamt that I saw the late Mr. Terriss lying in a state of delirium or unconsciousness on the stairs leading to the dressing rooms in the Adelphi Theatre. He was surrounded by people engaged at the theatre, amongst whom were Miss Millward and one of the footmen who attend the curtain, both of whom I actually saw a few hours later at the death scene. His chest was bare and clothes torn aside. Everybody who was around him was trying to do something for his good. This dream was in the shape of a picture. I saw it like a tableau on which the curtain would rise and fall. I immediately after dreamt that we did not open at the Adelphi Theatre that evening. I was in my dressing room in the dream, but this latter part was somewhat incoherent. The next morning on going down to the theatre for rehearsal, the first member of the Company I met was Miss Olive Haygate, to whom I mentioned this dream. On arriving at the theatre I also mentioned it to several other members of the Company, including Messrs. Creagh Henry, Buxton, Carter Bligh, etc. This dream, though it made such an impression upon me as to cause me to relate it to my fellow artists, did not give me the idea of any coming disaster. I may state that I have dreamt formerly of deaths of relatives, and other matters which have impressed me, but the dreams have never impressed me sufficiently to make me repeat them the following morning, and have never been verified. My dream of the present occasion was the most vivid I have ever experienced; in fact, life-like, and exactly represented the scene as I saw it at night.

Frederick Lane.

Mr. Podmore appends the following note:—-

January 4th, 1898. At a meeting on the 20th December Mr. Lane gave me first a vivâ voce account of his experience, and then wrote it down, as above. He explained that he was in the neighbourhood of the theatre when Mr. Terriss was stabbed on the evening of Thursday the 16th December, 1897, and ran to the Charing Cross Hospital for a doctor. On his return he looked in at the private entrance, and saw Mr. Terriss lying on the stairs as in the dream.

F.P.

2. From Miss Haygate.

Adelphi Theatre, December 18th, 1897.

On Thursday morning about twelve o'clock I went into Rule's, Maiden Lane, and there found Mr. Lane with Mr. Wade. In the course of conversation after Mr. Wade had left, Mr. Lane said that he had had a curious dream the night before, the effects of which he still felt. It was to this effect: he had seen Terriss on the stairs, inside the Maiden Lane door (the spot where Terriss died), and that he was surrounded by a crowd of people, and that he was raving, but he (Mr. Lane) couldn't exactly tell what was the matter. I remember laughing about this, and then we went to rehearsal.

0live Haygate.

3. From Mr. Carter Bligh.

Adelphi Theatre, W.C., January 4th, 1898.

Dear Sir,—- ... I have much pleasure in being able to state that Mr. Fred Lane, on the morning of the 16th ult., at rehearsal at the Adelphi Theatre, told me among others in a jocular and chaffing way (not believing in it for an instant), how he probably would be called upon to play Captain Thomas, that night, as he had dreamt that something serious had happened to Terriss. I forget now, and therefore do not attempt to repeat, the exact words Mr. Lane used as to the reason (in the dream) why Mr. Terriss would not appear that night, but I have a distinct recollection of him saying that he (Terriss) could not do so, because of his having dreamt that something had happened. It was all passed over very lightly in the same spirit in which it was given, i.e., in the spirit of unbelieving banter. . . .

H. Carter Bligh.

In reply to further inquiries, Mr. Podmore received the following letter from Mr. S. Creagh Henry:—-

5, Milborne Grove, The Boltons, S.W., January 20th.

Dear Sir,—-With reference to your letter concerning Mr. Lane's dream, he mentioned it to me at rehearsal during the morning of the day which proved fatal to poor Terriss. The description he gave me was that he saw Mr. Terriss on the staircase (upon the landing where he died) surrounded by several people who were supporting him in what appeared to be a fit.

Something serious seemed to have happened, and no performance took place that evening,—-another fact which was verified. As far as I recollect this was all Mr. Lane mentioned.—-I remain, yours faithfully,

S. Oreagh Henry.

Mr. Terriss, whose real name was William Charles James Lewin, was murdered by a man named Richard Archer Prince (Archer being apparently his family name and Prince his professional name), an actor out of employment, who was afterwards proved to be insane at the time.

The value of this case as evidence of supernormal perception of a future event of course depends primarily on whether Mr. Lane had any reason for anxiety on Mr. Terriss's behalf. The account of the murder given in the Times of the next day shows that Archer was known by some persons to have a grudge against Mr. Terriss, but it seems clear that very little attention was paid to this and that no one had any suspicion of the length to which he was prepared to go. And the evidence given later seems to show that this account exaggerated the suspicious incidents, in accordance with the common and natural tendency to imagine, after an event, that one has noticed some indications of it, if one did not actually expect the thing itself. The evidence further shows that, though Archer had expressed hostility to Terriss, he seems to have avoided doing so to persons in any way connected with the Adelphi Theatre; also that there were several other persons besides Terriss whom he had a grudge against, on account of their fancied ill-usage of him. Mr. Lane did not know him, except perhaps by sight, and had only heard of him as previously connected with the theatre and that he had the night before asked for Terriss. To this very common incident he could hardly be supposed to attach any importance.

I do not think, therefore, that anxiety about Terriss could have had any share in causing the dream; but it seems desirable to give the evidence for and against this view, and I therefore quote the account in the Times of Friday, December 17th, and give an abstract of all the evidence given in the Times reports of the inquest, the examination before the magistrate, and the trial, which seems to me to have any bearing on the point. (See Times of December 18th, 20th, 21st, and 30th, 1897, and January 14th, 1898).

The evidence shows further the close correspondence of the events of the death with Mr. Lane's dream.

From the Times of Friday, December 17th, 1897.

Last evening, Mr. William Terriss, one of the most popular actors on the London stage, was assassinated at the private entrance to the Adelphi Theatre in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. He had spent the afternoon with some friends, and had gone home to dinner at about 5 o'clock. Subsequently, he proceeded as usual to the theatre, where he was taking the chief part in Secret Service, and on reaching the private entrance he was suddenly attacked by a man between 30 and 40 years of age, who stabbed him in the region of the heart and again in the back. The weapon employed is described as a long, thin-bladed knife. Mr. Terriss at once fell to the ground, exclaiming: "He has stabbed me, arrest him." The assassin, after a struggle, was captured, and straightway conveyed to Bow Street Police-station. Mr. Terriss, meanwhile, was carried inside the theatre and medical aid was at once summoned from Charing Cross Hospital and obtained. It was not possible, however, to convey him further than the foot of the stairs leading to his dressing-room, and here, after lying in a state of semi-consciousness for about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, he died. . . .

The assassin is known by the name of William Archer, or William Archer Flint. Some years ago he was employed as a supernumerary at the Adelphi, one of the pieces in which he appeared being In the Ranks. It is understood that he had frequently applied to Mr. Terriss and other members of the company for help, and a great deal had been done for him by them. Recently, however, he had become so importunate in his demands that Mr. Terriss refused to do anything more for him, but referred him to the Actors' Benevolent Fund, from which association he received a grant. For several nights past, Archer had been noticed hanging about the private entrance to the theatre, and on Wednesday night, it is reported, he made an enquiry of the stage-door keeper as to Mr. Terriss's whereabouts. He is said to have been known in the theatre as "Mad Archer," but the stage-door keeper and others last night expressed a doubt as to whether he is insane. ... In reply to the charge of murder, he is reported to have said: "He has done me out of the Benevolent Fund this morning, and I am out of it for life."

Mr. Frederick Lane, who "understudies" Mr. Terriss in the part of Captain Thorne, had a peculiar story to tell. He said:—-

"I dreamt about this very thing last night, and when I came to the theatre this morning for the rehearsal, I told all the 'boys' about it. I dreamt I saw Mr. Terriss lying in the landing, surrounded by a crowd, and that he was raving. I seemed to see it all and then it all seemed to fade away. It was a horrible dream, and I could not tell what it meant. I tried to forget it during the day, but to-night again, when I came to the theatre, I was going down Bedford Street, when something seemed to say, 'Do not go there.' I then went round to Maiden Lane, and there I saw this villain. I had heard of him as being an old super, and I knew he was asking for Mr. Terriss last night. His appearance struck me as peculiar. He wore a big cloak and a slouch hat. I, however, do not know him, and he said nothing to me. I walked on, and then a few minutes afterwards I heard a great noise and found that he had stabbed Mr. Terriss. I rushed back and saw Mr. Terriss taken indoors. If it had not been for the police, I believe the man would have been lynched. He was a fellow of average height, had a dark moustache and a somewhat foreign appearance. I can suggest no motive whatever for the crime. The man may possibly have been refused money. I cannot tell, though; and it is at any rate certain he had no reason to go to such an awful extreme. Mr. Terriss was the kindest of men, and we loved him both on and off the stage. He was, indeed, 'one of the best.'"

Another member of the Adelphi company further corroborated the statements previously made in reference to the personality of Mr. Terriss's assailant, mentioning that at the theatre he was generally known as "Mad Archer." When seen by Mr. Nicholls on the previous evening and told that he could not see Mr. Terriss, he is stated to have gone away murmuring "Not yet." . . . Archer is alleged to have nursed a grievance against Mr. Terriss even before he left the employ of the Adelphi, and is reported to have more than once stood in the wings and made sarcastic remarks at the expense of the deceased actor. One of his remarks is quoted as an instance of this: "Fools often succeed in life where men of genius fail."

Abstract Of Evidence Given In "times'" Reports.

Mr. J. H. Graves said that he spent Thursday afternoon with Mr. Terriss and at about 7 o'clock drove with him to Adelphi Theatre—-driving to corner of Maiden Lane, Strand, where they both alighted and walked to the private entrance a few yards up the lane. This entrance was only used by Mr. Terriss and one or two others. As he was putting his key into the lock, the prisoner rushed forward from across the lane and stabbed him. Mr. Terriss fell and Mr. Graves seized the prisoner and gave him in charge to a constable, whom he accompanied to Bow Street. He went back to the theatre and found Mr. Terriss lying at the foot of the stairs a few paces from the door, attended by a doctor and several others. He died a few minutes later.

The prisoner said to him that Mr. Terriss had kept him out of employment for ten years, and he had either to die in the streets or take his revenge on him. The truth was that Mr. Terriss had often helped him and had recommended him to the Actors' Benevolent Fund, from which he had got help many times. He had called at the office of the fund on that day, and had been told that the Committee could not meet then to reconsider his case. He had for some time been almost a weekly applicant there.

Sub-Divisional-Inspector William French was at Bow Street when the prisoner was brought in and returned with Mr. Graves to Adelphi Theatre, entered private door in Maiden Lane, and found Mr. Terriss lying in the passage. He was unconscious and remained so until his death. Three doctors were present, and Miss Millward was supporting his head. She asked him if he knew her. He made no reply to her, but shouted out several times: "Get away, get away."

Mr. Bragg, Police-Constable, who arrested the prisoner, said the latter had been asked by Graves on the way to Bow Street why he did it, and he answered: "In revenge. He has blackmailed me for ten years. I gave him due warning. I should either have had to die in the streets or have my revenge."

Inspector Wood, before whom he was brought at Bow Street, said he gave same answer to him. To Inspector Croxton he said that his sister was in league with Terriss in blackmailing him.

At the trial, Mr. Gill, the Counsel for the Crown, said there could be no question but that the prisoner had some years ago conceived a violent hatred for Mr. Terriss, and would appear to be under the impression that Mr. Terriss was in some way preventing him from getting on in his profession. That was shown by statements made at different times to persons to whom he complained that Mr. Terriss was preventing him from getting employment and was blackmailing him. As far as could be ascertained that was a complete delusion on his part; Mr. Terriss had, on the contrary, assisted him to obtain charitable relief and employment. The point at which the evidence commenced was in October last, when the prisoner came into contact with Mr. Croydon, a theatrical manager at Newcastle. About the end of October he came to London and purchased a knife (probably the one with which the murder was committed). It was during the period between this time and the murder that he was getting assistance from the Actors' Benevolent Fund. On .November 9th he obtained a letter of recommendation to them from Terriss, on the strength of which he received various small sums from the fund.

After being arrested, prisoner said to the Inspector about the knife, "That is what I stabbed him with. He had due warning, and if he is dead, he knows what he has to expect."

It was clear that he was acting with the greatest deliberation and that, cherishing a feeling of hatred against Mr. Terriss, he was uttering threats as to what he proposed to do. During the time he was in London at the end of October, he was obviously contemplating the crime, because they found him purchasing the knife and uttering the threats against Mr. Terriss.

Mr. R. Croydon, theatrical manager, had engaged the prisoner in October last to take a part in his company at Newcastle. The prisoner told him he had only left the Adelphi through one man, and might have starved but for the Actors' Benevolent Fund, and that he would be even with this man some day. He did not learn his part and behaved very strangely, and consequently was discharged next day. He said he had then two enemies, and on being asked who the other was, said it was Terriss. Mrs. Croydon said "You are mad;" and he replied, "Yes, and the world will ring with my madness." He then left and they had not seen him again.

Mr. Denton, theatrical manager, of Maiden Lane, said he had known the prisoner for some time, and had then lost sight of him till October or November last, when he called nearly every day at his office for employment. He tried to get him employment and offered him a week's engagement, which he would not accept. On the afternoon of December 16th, prisoner called to ask if he had got him any employment and he said he had not. Cross-examined, said the prisoner did not appear to have any particular animosity against Mr. Terriss; was peculiar, and could easily be put into a temper by chaff—-he seemed to think he ought to play more important parts than were given him.

Mr. Colson, Secretary to the Actors' Benevolent Fund, said that help had been given to the prisoner on the recommendation of Terriss in his letter of November 9th. He read seven letters from the prisoner to the managers of the Fund asking for help, saying that he was in great trouble, on account of having lost an engagement "through no fault of my own," but not complaining of any one otherwise than in that phrase, and expressing great gratitude for what they had done for him.

Mrs. Darby, his landlady, had seen the knife in his room upon more than one occasion before the murder, but she never saw him use it for anything. She had seen marks on it as if it had been used for cutting bread. She knew he was in trouble for want of money, as he could not pay his rent.

G. Lorberg, cutler, Brompton Road, said in October he had knives for sale similar to one produced, price 9d., and one evening in October, a tall, shabbily-dressed man bought one. (Evidence at police-court made it almost certain that this was the knife with which the murder was committed.)

Mr. Thomas Terriss, son of the deceased, said he never knew him to be threatened at all, did not know he had an enemy in the world. "He had not to his knowledge ever seen the man who was charged with his murder until he saw him at Bow Street on Friday morning, when he found he was not a man whom he had previously known as 'Mad Archie.'"

Henry Spratt, stage door keeper to the Adelphi, said he first saw the prisoner about two months ago, when he brought a letter for Mr. Terriss to the stage door and waited for an answer. Half an hour later a message came down, "All right." A few nights after this Mr. Terriss spoke to witness about messages. Witness saw the prisoner about half a dozen times after this. He would wait outside the door for half an hour or so and then go away without saying anything, except on December 15th, which was the last time witness saw him, when he asked if Mr. Terriss came out that way, meaning by the stage door. Witness replied that he did, which was not the fact; but he said it in consequence of what Mr. Terriss had said to him, in order to keep the man away from the private entrance in Maiden Lane. Cross-examined, said it was not an uncommon thing for persons who had been employed at the theatre to wait about the stage door, nor was it an uncommon thing for persons to come there and enquire in regard to others.

W. Alger, dresser to Mr. Terriss, said that he did not know the prisoner. On the night of December 15th he saw the prisoner at about 8.30 watching the people coming out of the stage door, but did not speak to him.

The Defence was directed towards proving insanity. Evidence was given that the prisoner had had many delusions of persecution, thought his mother and others had put poison into his food; that Mr. Arthur, the "theatre-master" at Dundee, "blackmailed" him. He had also worked as a labourer and thought his fellow workmen and others had tried to keep him out of work, had violent fits of passion, thought his brother was in league with Mr. Arthur in blackmailing him and had attacked his brother several times, once with a knife and poker. Two of his brothers had been insane.

R. Beveridge, attendant at the Dundee Theatre, gave evidence of his thinking himself a great actor and badly used in general. Once he wanted to "go for" an actor named Stewart, and when Beveridge turned him out, prisoner pulled out a revolver from his pocket and threatened him.

A. Husband, foreman at Wallace Foundry, in Dundee, said prisoner worked there in 1896 (in the intervals of his being employed as an actor), and said Mr. Terriss blackmailed him. He showed him a letter from Terriss saying that he should be glad to hear of his getting an engagement, and that he might give his name as a reference. The prisoner had asked Mr. Terriss for a character, and he thought that letter not sufficient, and called it blackmailing. He said the same thing about Mr. Elliston, who, he said, was in league with Mr. Terriss.

Mr. Elliston, theatrical manager, who had employed prisoner, said since prisoner had left him, he had received a number of letters and postcards from him stating that he had not given him a reference, that he had blackmailed him and tried to prevent his getting employment, which was not true.

Dr. Bastian gave opinion that he was insane, and his mind saturated with delusions of persecution. He did not attach any importance to purchase of knife; did not think prisoner contemplated doing the murder a month before he did it. If he had premeditated it, he might have been insane all the same, but he did not believe he had. Did not believe prisoner went to theatre with intention of committing the act, but that he wanted to speak to Mr. Terriss, and as Mr. Terriss did not speak to him, he struck him, having the knife in his hand.

Two other medical experts gave very decided opinions as to his insanity, but said nothing as to whether the act was premeditated or not.

The verdict given was to the effect that the prisoner was guilty of wilful murder—-that he knew what he was doing and to whom he was doing it, but, on the medical evidence, that he was not responsible for his actions.

---end

[Mayerling]

Terriss' murder

First an interesting minor point - the play being shown that Terris was appearing in at the time he was murdered was "Secret Service", a play written by William Gillette, who would also write the play "Sherlock Holmes" and would eventually be associated in his generation with his own portrayal of that detective.

Secondly, it was later widely suspected that Richard Archer Prince benefitted from the prejudices of society that were affecting the judiciary of the time. Prince was sentenced to Broadmoor, where he would remain until his death in the 1930s. The fact was, although his being paranoid and eccentric was established they really did not prove his killing of Terriss was due to a mental condition - he was acting with seeming premeditation.

The first one to put his finger on Prince's "luck" in getting his sentence was Sir Henry Irving, the first actor to be knighted (in 1895). Irving had a glimmer of how far the acting profession was regarded by the public in 1895 when he got knighted - the day of his knighthood was the same date that Oscar Wilde was sentenced to prison. Irving thought it was planned that way, as a kind of bone thrown out to the acting profession when one of it's leading figures was so disgraced. When he heard of the arrest of Prince for Terriss' murder two years later, Irving predicted Prince (despite his fully apparent guilt and motive) would not be condemned to death, because (as Irving put it) Terriss was an actor, not anything else. Prince did not have a bad time of it in Broadmoor. He was the head of the inmate's orchestra (it was totally out of control, everyone playing their instruments with any tune or manner they desired). But he enjoyed his rank as conductor. Prince really never was punished much for the cold blooded murder he committed.

3) The Podmore mentioned is Frederick Podmore, a leading member of the Society of Psychic Research.

[Mayerling]

More on the Molesworths, and a connection between them and the Norways

This is from Boase's "Modern English Biography" (originally published about 1900). It's found in most good reference libraries. It contains hundreds of biographical squibs in detail about men and women who died between 1851 and 1900 in the British Isles, and also refers to hundreds of others who died before them. It is published in six volumes, three of which are addendum.

The first two are from volume 2. The pages are divided into two large columns that are numbered at the top.

Col. 916:

MOLESWORTH, Sir William, 8 Baronet (eldest son of sir Arscott Ourry Molesworth, 7 Baronet 1788 - 1823). b. Upper Brook st., London, 23 May 1810; entered at Trin. coll. Camb., expelled for challenge to his tutor to fight a duel; finished his education at univ. of Edinb., M.P. East Cornwall 1832 - 7l projected the London Review April 1835, which he transferred to J.S. Mill 1837; on the first committee at the Reform club 1836; obtained a parliamentary committee to inquire into the system of transportation in 1837 and wrote the report; M.P. Leeds 1837 - 41; M.P. Southwark 1845 to death; sheriff of Cornwall 1842; P.C. 28 Dec. 1852; first comm. of the board of works 5 Jany. 1833 to 2 July 1855; colonial secretary 21 July 1855 to death; F.R.S. 26 Nov. 1835; edited The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury 11 vols (1839 - 45) also Hobbes's Latin works 5 vols 1839 - 45, which cost him 6,000 pounds. d. 87 Eaton place, London 22 Oct. 1855. bur. Kensal Green cemet. 27 Oct. "The philosophical radicals of 1832 comprising the life of Sir W. Molesworth, etc. By Mrs. Grote (1866); Bate's Maclise portrait gallery (1883) 416 - 19, portrait, I.L.N. xviii 341, 342 (portrait, xxvii, 489, 490 (1855) portrait.

NOTE: - Je ,/ Ki;u 1944 Andalusia, only daughter of James Bruce Carstairs of county Kinrosa. She had m. (1) Tamle West of Mathon Lodge, Wormite, who d. 13 April 1839. She made her debut as a singer at Drury Lane as Diane Vernon in Rob Roy 5 Oct. 1827 under the stage name of Andalusia Grant. Her last appearance was as Hyman in 'As you like it' at Drury Lane in 1841. She entertained literary men and others in London and Pencarrow in Cornwall for many years. d. 87 Eaton Place, London 16 May 1888.

["I.L.N." means "Illustrated London News", and "Mrs. Grote" was the widow of Sir George Grote, the historian of ancient Greece - who was a fellow radical of 1832 with Sir William and John Stuart Mill, and a close friend.]

MOLESWORTH, William Nassau (eld. son of John Edward Nassau Molesworth 1790 - 1877). b. Millbrook near Southampton 8 Nov. 1816; ed. at King's sch. Canterbury and St. John's and Pembroke colleges, Cambridge; B.A. 1839, M.A. 1842; LLD Glasgow 1883; C of Rochdale 1839-41l P.C. t St. Andrew's Ch. Ancots, Manchester, 1841 - 4; V. of St. Clement, Spotland near Rochdale 1841-89; hon. canon of Manchester cath. 1881; author

[col. 917]

of Secular education an important element of religious education 1857, Essay on the French alliance 1860, Plain lectures on astronomy 1862; Prize essay on the great importance of an improved system of education for the upper and middle classes 1867; The history of England from 1830. 3 vols 1871-3, 5th thousand 1874; History of the church of England from 1660, 1882; edited with his father Common Sense 1842-3. d. Rochdale 19 Dec. 1890. b. Spotland. Biography, vi. 82 - 4 (1881); I.L.N. 3 Jany. 1891. p. 4 portrait.

[I believe this is the Rev. Molesworth that the Lightfoot brothers may have originally planned to rob when they came upon Mr. Norway.]

Boase: Vol. 5

Col. 1182

NORWAY, William King (son of William Norway, merchant, Wadebridge 1774 - 1819). b. court place, Eloshayle, Cornwall 25 Sept. 1799; educ, from 1811, King's scholer 1813, Soliciter at Wadebridge, Cornwall 1822 - 31; private sec. to Sir William Molesworth, bart; sec. to Reform club, Pall Mall, London July 1852; author of A lecture on total abstinence from intoxicating drink 1842. d. suddenly in his room at the Reform club 31 Jany 1857. bur. Kensal Green 5 Feb.

[He was the brother of both Edmund and Nevil Norway, as the father of Nevil is given by Baring - Gould to be William Norway, merchant, who died in 1819. But it seems he became Sir William's personal secretary, and thus another link between the Molesworth and Norway families. And another possible way for Sir William to have heard of the odd dream or to question it. It is also rather curious that for all their interest in the strange dream neither Baring - Gould nor Conan Doyle learned of this connection. They probably did not think to check for possible connections between the two families.]

Jeff

[TradeName]

Thanks for the additional information, Jeff.

I found a sketch of the aftermath of the attack on Terriss from 1907.

The Scrap Book, Volume 4, July, 1907, Page 40

Unrehearsed Stage Tragedies

by Acton Davies






One of the Parnell forgeries that Labouchere compared to the "Dear Boss" letter.

Parnellism and Crime (London: George Edward Wright, 1887), link





An anecdote about Labouchere and JtR:

A Stepson of Fortune; The Memories, Confessions, and Opinions of Henry Murray (New York: Baker & Taylor, 1910), link

Pages 155-156

[John] Reid, knowing that I had more or less acquaintance
with a fair number of British celebrities,
developed a habit of sending me out to collect
opinions regarding any interesting "mystery" of
the day. That lurid and ever-vanishing nightmare
of criminality, "Jack the Ripper," was then pervading
the Whitechapel district, and I inspected
his last victim, lying on the slab of the mortuary.
Reid suggested that I should go forth and interview
any celebrities I could find regarding the identity
of the criminal. I called on Walter Besant, Robert
Buchanan, James Payn, and Henry Labouchere.
I was—-or flattered myself that I was-—a bit of a
favourite with Mr. Labouchere, whom I had interviewed
on similarly curious themes on several other
occasions. He received me with the query, "Well,
young man, what's the imbecility this time?" "I
have come," I said, " to ask you if you have any
theory regarding the identity of 'Jack the Ripper'?"
"Well," he said, rolling the eternal cigarette in his
mouth--I never saw him without the cigarette,
except on one occasion, when I caught a glimpse
of him in his place in the House of Commons-—"I
don't know that I've formed any theory. But
I suppose you'd like one?" I replied that I should
be greatly obliged if he could evolve one for the
occasion." Then," said he, "I'll tell you what.
Say it's me. Lots of people will believe it, and I
promise you I won't contradict it." The New York
Herald issued a special placard next day, bearing
the inscription, "Identity of Jack the Ripper-—
Astounding Confession!" And for once, at least,
the public read the Herald

---end

[Mayerling]

Thanks for the additional information, Jeff.


An anecdote about Labouchere and JtR:

A Stepson of Fortune; The Memories, Confessions, and Opinions of Henry Murray (New York: Baker & Taylor, 1910), link

Pages 155-156

[John] Reid, knowing that I had more or less acquaintance
with a fair number of British celebrities,
developed a habit of sending me out to collect
opinions regarding any interesting "mystery" of
the day. That lurid and ever-vanishing nightmare
of criminality, "Jack the Ripper," was then pervading
the Whitechapel district, and I inspected
his last victim, lying on the slab of the mortuary.
Reid suggested that I should go forth and interview
any celebrities I could find regarding the identity
of the criminal. I called on Walter Besant, Robert
Buchanan, James Payn, and Henry Labouchere.
I was—-or flattered myself that I was-—a bit of a
favourite with Mr. Labouchere, whom I had interviewed
on similarly curious themes on several other
occasions. He received me with the query, "Well,
young man, what's the imbecility this time?" "I
have come," I said, " to ask you if you have any
theory regarding the identity of 'Jack the Ripper'?"
"Well," he said, rolling the eternal cigarette in his
mouth--I never saw him without the cigarette,
except on one occasion, when I caught a glimpse
of him in his place in the House of Commons-—"I
don't know that I've formed any theory. But
I suppose you'd like one?" I replied that I should
be greatly obliged if he could evolve one for the
occasion." Then," said he, "I'll tell you what.
Say it's me. Lots of people will believe it, and I
promise you I won't contradict it." The New York
Herald issued a special placard next day, bearing
the inscription, "Identity of Jack the Ripper-—
Astounding Confession!" And for once, at least,
the public read the Herald

---end

Well, now we know. We may consider case closed and to close down this and similar web sites. It was Labouchere!

The illustration you submitted is a good one of the immediate aftermath. There is an illustration of Prince's actual stabbing attack that I have seen.

By the way I was looking at the list of celebrities Murray interviewed besides Labouchere. Walter Besant was a prominent writer and social reformer, who had been critical of the response of Warren and the police during the Trafalgar Square riots in 1887. Buchanan (I believe - I'm on shaky ground here) was a poet of that period. Payn was a novelist, now chiefly remembered for a feud he had with Sir Richard Burton regarding their rival translations of "The Arabian Nights". Payn's was admired for being more felicious in his use of language and more proper for Victorian households. Burton's of course (which is the one everyone remembers) was more accurate in descriptions of sexual and non-sexual customs (notes were included).

Jeff

[TradeName]

Thanks, Jeff, you reminded me that I have in my notes an analysis of JtR from a grouchy rant written by Robert Buchanan.


The Eclectic Magazine: Foreign Literature, Volume 49; Volume 112, May, 1889, Pages 663-675

The Modern Young Man as Critic
by Robert Buchanan

Pages 672-673

One word, before I proceed, on a point suggested by the growth in art of that diabolic love of the Horrible which is to be found among the class of realists so much admired by Mr. Archer and his friends. To those who imagine, as I do, that the world has been growing too cruel and cynical to exist in any sort or moral comfort, there is more than mere social significance in the occurrence of such hideous catastrophes as Whitechapel murders and other epidemics of murder and mutilation; for they show at least that our social philosophy of nescience has reached a cataclysm. and that the world, in its despair, may be driven back at last to some saner and diviner creed. The lurid and ever-vanishing apparition known in the newspapers as "Jack the Ripper" is to our lower social life what Schopenhauer is to philosophy, what Zola and his tribe are to literature, and what Van Beers is to art: the diabolic adumbration of a disease which is slowly but surely destroying moral sentiment, and threatening to corrupt human nature altogether. “Jack the Ripper," indeed, is a factor to be reckoned with everywhere nowadays. and it behoves us, therefore, to study him carefully. To begin with, he is an instructed, not a merely ignorant, person. He is acquainted with at least the superficialities of science. His contempt for human nature, his delight in the abominable. his calm and calculating though savage cruelty, his selection of his victims from among the socially helpless and morally corrupt, his devilish ingenuity. his supernatural pitilessness, are all indications by which we may know him as typical, whether in literature or in the slums, in art or among the lanes of Whitechapel. Most characteristic of all is his irreverence for the human form divine, and his cynical contempt for the weaker sex. As the unknown murderer of the East End, he desecrates and mutilates his poor street-walking victims. As Zola or De Goncourt, he seizes a living woman, and vivisects her nerve by nerve, for our instruction or our amusement. To him and to his class there are no sanctities, physical or moral or social; no mysteries, human or superhuman. He believes that life is cankered through and through. And as he is, let it be clearly understood, so is the typical, the average, pessimist of the present moment. Everywhere in society we are confronted with the instructed person for whom there are no gods, no holy of holies, no purity, and above all, no feminine ideals. Contemporaneous with modern pessimism has arisen the cruel disdain of Woman, the disbelief in that divine Ewigweibliche, or Eternal Feminine, which of old created heroes, lovers, and believers; and this disdain and unbelief, this cruel and brutal scorn, descends with the violence of horror on the unfortunate and the feeble. on the class called "fallen," which in nobler times supplied to humanity, to literature, and to art. the piteous type of the Magdalen. To understand the revolution in human sentiment which has taken place even within the generation, contrast poor Mimi once more with even Madame Bovary! With the decay of masculine faith and chivalry, with the belief that women are essentially corrupt and fit subjects for mere vivisection, has come a corresponding decline in the feminine character itself; for just as pure and beautiful women made men chivalrous and noble, so did the chivalry and nobility of men keep women safe, in the prerogative of their beauty and their purity.

---end

[Mayerling]

Thank you for posting that stuffy commentary by Robert Buchanan regarding the Ripper and modern culture. He associates the Ripper's activities and choice of victims among the most "depraved" of society's women with Emile Zola's school of "naturalism" and the similar view of the brothers Goncourt and their criticism. As for Archer, he is referring to William Archer the critic, who was trying to push the theater going public in Britain to appreciate the realism of Ibsen and Strindberg as opposed to the sentimentality and melodrama of native drama, Archer's cause was soon abetted by that ablest of British dramatists George Bernard Shaw, with some assistance from Arthur Wing Pinero and Henry Arthur Jones. Buchanan apparently believed in putting women on imaginary pedestals.

But his opinion must have been known to have attracted that reporter's attention so as to be sought out as one of the interviewees. So must have been Labouchere's actual opinion, which he decided not to tell.

Jeff

[TradeName]

I may have found a version of the article that Henry Murray mentioned in his memoir, and it appears that he was incorrect when he said Labouchere jokingly confessed to being JtR.

The Salt Lake Herald, July 19, 1889, Page 1, Column 1

London's Puzzle

Views of Leading Englishmen On Jack the Ripper

[Special to THE HERALD--Examiner Dispatch]

LONDON July 18 [By special cable to the New York Herald.]--Mr Robert
Buchanan while engaged at a rehearsal at the Haymarket theatre said: "I do not
think Jack the Ripper committed the murder; it seems to lack the atrocious skill
displayed by him; there is none of the really distinctive handiwork of the original
fiend. He is probably an imitator, some weak-brained creature rendered crazy by
gloating over the details of the horrible affairs of last year. Of course that is very
loose guess work, but the evidence at present is so slight."


Mr. Buchanan had not heard the latest details when he spoke.

Mr. George Moore was engaged in correcting the manuscript of his forthcoming
novel. He thought the murderer to be Jack. Could he imagine a motive? "Very
easily. I have made up a theory almost from the first and 1 still believe in it. The
absence of the motives which generally lie at the root of a murder is very remarkable.
for these crimes are not committed for gain; that at least is certain. They are not, I
think, committed out of revenge. My theory is that they are the work of some weak-brained
zealot of the purity class. Perhaps this unspeakable wretch thinks that by
creating a panic among the poor women of the class he preys on, he may frighten them
from their profession. It is an insane idea, of course, but a conceivable one. He is the
loathsome outcome of the puritanism of the day. That is my idea."

Dr Wells, the author of "Fatal Physic," thought that the murderer was Jack; he
could not believe there were two such hunters.

The novelist James Payn had no theory. To have a theory in such a case was a
policeman's duty.

"It is obvious," said Mr Walter Besant, "that he is a criminal of a low class. That,
I think, is proved by the status of his victims. It is also obvious that he has at least
a rough and ready knowledge of anatomy; also he would seem to be a bird of passage.
It's hardly conceivable that with that horrible lust of blood constantly torturing him
and spurring him on to commit fresh outrages, he would have remained in London
so long without it mastering him. Here, then, we have three considerations: lowness
of class, knowledge of anatomy and nomadic life. These traits would be untried [?]
in a ship's butcher. Not many ships carry live cattle for slaughter nowadays,
and the great lines are all provided with ice rooms: but there are still to be found
ships without these conveniences. I have made a voyage around the Cape in a ship
on which we slaughtered our cattle for the table.

"A doctor who is a friend of mine made a suggestion at the time when Jack the
Ripper was busy in Whitechapel last year that in a certain class of disorders which
sometimes turns to homicide, the mania for it is especially directed against women, and
it might be worth while to make inquiries at the hospitals as to whether any man
with symptoms of such a disorder was discharged at about that date."

Mr Henry Labouchere said: "It does not seem possible to form a theory which will
hold water. I have seen and heard a score but never one without a hole in it. In fact
most of them were all holes.

"As to whether Jack the Ripper is one person or more; well, even that is doubtful.
I should say that he lives or they live at a distance from Whitechapel. The man
must have some hiding place in which to conceal his clothes which can hardly
escape the stains of blood. In that district everybody would see such stains, and be so
on the qui vive that he could not have found such secresy [sic] as was needful.

"Is he mad? Well, no. I should say he was conspicuously sane. I have seen
something of mad people and they all talk; they can't keep a secret. Of course this
man has very particular reasons for keeping his tongue between his teeth. If he
were caught, a Whitechapel mob would make short work of him. But still his
silence speaks for his sanity.

"Then again he is clever enough to laugh at the police though, that doesn't
take any great amount of genius. The police have bungled the affair terribly, but
I don't see anything apart from the individual points of the case which incline me
to think the man is insane, or why a murderer, even such a murderer, need be mad.
It is a taste like any other. The fellow committed the first murder, perhaps, if he
only knew it, from some personal motive. He was not caught, the taste developed,
and he went on."

[Mayerling]

Fascinating column. Now that I see that Buchanan was into work with British theatre (probably a stage director), it explains his vitriolic comments about William Archer's advanced ideas.

Interesting new name added - George Moore (1852 to 1933) who is one of Ireland's greatest novelists, and the one called the first modern novelist. He is best recalled for the 1894 novel (still in print) "Esther Waters" about a servant girl who is made pregnant by a footman, and then deserted by him.
Moore was deeply influenced by the "Naturalism" school of Emile Zola, and he got into serious problems in the 1880 as his fiction was too realistic for the lending libraries (such as W.H. Smith) for them to circulate of sell his works. His publisher was Henry Vizatelly, who also was fascinated by modern French realism and pushed Zola and his school. In 1888 a bunch of self-proclaimed purists called the National Vigilance Committee, had Vizatelly arrested for obscene libel (meaning he was publishing what they felt were impure, dirty books). In particular "La Terre" ("The Earth") by Zola. In September 1888 Vizatelly's trial came up. Moore wrote a letter to the public suggesting that instead of a 12 man regular jury Vizatelly should have his case decided by a three man panel of well read individuals. Vizatelly was found guilty an fined 100 pounds. In the following year Vizatelly republished all of Zola's novels, and was brought to trial again. Except now he was found guilty, fined 200 pounds, and sentenced to three months in prison.

Interestingly enough, this group of self-righteous censors had created their group in August 1885, after the publications of the "Modern Tribute of Babylon" series in the Pall Mall Gazette by W. T. Stead. Stead was a member of the National Vigilance Association's councils.

All of this information was from information in Wikipedia articles on Moore, Vizatelly, and the National Vigilance Association.

Jeff

[TradeName]

Thanks, Jeff.

According to Henry Murray, if he may be trusted, Robert Buchanan rose to the defense of Vizetelly and Zola in 1889.

Robert Buchanan: A Critical Appreciation, and Other Essays (London: Phiip Wellby, 1901), link
by Henry Murray

Pages 14-15

But, when any great principle was at stake, no man was less hidebound by preconceptions than Buchanan. Much as he loved, and fiercely as he defended, certain minor dogmas, he would forego their interests where major interests were concerned, as he proved by his warm defence of Emile Zola, long before that great writer—-and greater Man—-had won the suffrage of every honest man alive by his splendidly heroic defence and rescue of the unfortunate Dreyfus, and when he was at the very nadir of English public opinion.

Everybody will remember how, in 1889, the veteran publicist and historian, Mr. Henry Vizetelly, was condemned, through the action of a clique of pestilent busybodies known as the 'National Vigilance Association,' to a term of imprisonment for publishing translations of Zola's novels. The Press for the most part applauded the foolish and tyrannical proceeding, and Buchanan was the one English man of letters of any weight or position who resented the barefaced outrage on literature and liberty. He addressed an open letter, in the form of a pamphlet, to Mr. Henry Matthews, then Home Secretary, praying, in the interests of justice and humanity, for Mr. Vizetelly's release. English officialism could, of course, take no note of so irregular a plea, however well supported by logic and eloquence; but 'On Descending into Hell' (the pamphlet in question) deserves to take its place by Milton's 'Areopagitica' and John Mill's 'Essay on Liberty' as an irrefutable argument on the side of freedom of thought and expression. Had Shakespeare or Victor Hugo been the insulted author instead of the writer of'Pot-Bouille' and 'La Terre,' this 'speech for the defence' could not have been conducted with closer reasoning or more generous fervour. 'I affirm,' wrote Buchanan, 'that Emile Zola was bound to be printed, translated, read. Little as I sympathise with his views of life, greatly as I loathe his pictures of human vice and depravity, I have learned much from him, and others may learn much; and had I been unable to read French, these translations would have been to me an intellectual help and boon. I like to have the Devil's case thoroughly stated, because I know it refutes itself As an artist, Zola is unjustifiable; as a moralist, he is answerable; but as a free man, a man of letters, he can decline to accept the fiat of a criminal tribunal.' [...]

---end

Buchanan's pamphlet.

On Descending Into Hell: A Letter Addressed to the Right Hon. Henry Matthews, Q. C., Home Secretary (London: George Redway, 1889), link
by Robert Williams Buchanan


Report of the International Council of Women (D.C., 1888), Volume 1, Pages 289-291
By International Council of Women

mention of Mormon


National Vigilance Association,
267 Strand, London, W. C, March, 1888.

To the Women's Congress, Washington, U. S. A.

Ladies: The National Vigilance Association desire to offer you their congratulations on the important Congress which you have this year assembled. They recognize the teaching of history that the position of women is the touchstone of civilization, and trust the outcome of your labors will be to give great impulse to the many movements for the elevation of women, on both sides of the Atlantic.

This association was formed nearly three years ago, and has for its principal object the protection of the virtue of young girls from force and fraud. It also suppresses houses of ill-fame, checks the fraudulent export and import of girls, watches registry offices and generally gives gratuitous advice and assistance to all comers within the scope of its objects. The work of its Organizing, Legal, Parliamentary, Rescue and Preventive, Literature, Foreign Traffic, and Finance Sub-Committees, needs no detailing here.

Such being its general scope, the association commends its work to the attention of the Congress as one specially engaging to women. It seeks the relief of large numbers of young women from a practical slavery, into which they are betrayed by persons who take shameful advantage of their inexperience, and only too often use an actual force worthy only of savage and barbarous countries.

In particular, the Rescue and Preventive, and the Foreign Traffic Sub-Committees of the Association desire to bring before the Congress several special topics on which interchange of thought and concerted action between American and English societies seem desirable, and with that view submit separate memoranda which are appended.

Signed on behalf of the National Vigilance Association,

Percy William Bunting, Chairman of Executive Committee.

NATIONAL VIGILANCE ASSOCIATION.

We desire to express our warm sympathy with the members of the Women's International Council, about to meet in Washington, in their various and earnest efforts to promote the amelioration of the condition of women. We feel that by intercommunication of the two nations, much mutual assistance can be given.

For some time past we have been seriously considering the condition of children in theaters, pantomimes, and music halls. We are informed that English children are every year taken to America and other countries, in traveling companies, to perform in the great towns, and that their moral surroundings are fraught with the gravest peril. We understand that it is contrary to the law of the United States that children of very tender years, should be thus employed. But owing to the short time that the companies remain in each locality, and to the cumbrous nature of legal institutions, these companies have made their harvest and are off, before any proceedings can be taken. We should be glad to rouse the attention of the Council to this subject.

We believe that already much care is taken by the emigration authorities as to the safety of girls arriving at the ports, but that there is still a large amount of leakage. This, perhaps, is not wholly avoidable, but still we think that too much care can not be taken, to ensure that these newly-arriving emigrants, who might be so profitable as servants, and in other capacities, to those in whose country they come to reside, should not, on first coming, fall into such evil hands as shall make them forever afterward worthless to society, and probably a heavy pecuniary burden on it. The case of Mormon girls and women is a serious one. They go over, unobserved, from our country as ordinary emigrants, but are really in the hands of those who, under various pretexts, get them away to Utah. Some inquiry having been made on the arrival of suspected parties in New York, we understand they now go by another route, so that detection is difficult.

We should be glad to know if there is any aim in the various States to raise to uniformity the age of protection of young girls. We understand that it ranges from twelve to twenty-one in the different States. We should like to know the opinion of the Congress as to the age to which it should be raised. We in England are anxious that it should be raised to at least eighteen. By our act of 1885 it was raised to sixteen.

We should like to know what regulations are in force in the United States, as to the provision of female police officers for the supervision of the women arrested and temporarily confined in police cells. At present in this country, although no male warders, etc., are allowed on the female side of our prisons, no similar precaution is observed in police cells, where men only are employed. We are endeavoring to get this altered, and we should be very glad to be in possession of the experience of other countries on the subject.

Finally, we should be glad to know the views of the Council on the question of the occupation of girls rescued from a life of vice; what their opinion is as to homes, and the length of time to be spent there; also, whether they think the greater freedom of girls in all classes in America tends to a higher tone of morality or to its relaxation.

Signed on behalf of the Preventive and Rescue Sub-Committee,

Millicent Garret Fawcett. Annette Bear, National Vigilance Association.

The Foreign Traffic Sub-Committee is using its best powers to prevent young women being induced by fraud to go abroad into houses of ill-fame, or into occupations of evil character, or which would lead to their ruin. The main labors of this committee have been directed to the continent of Europe, but they take this opportunity of laying before the women of America this important matter, and of asking whether they will co-operate with this Association, in securing proper supervision in immigrant vessels on the ocean, and in preventing those who trade in the vice of others in the United States, either from importing women by fraud from abroad, or in getting hold of them at the immigration depots in New York and elsewhere.

Signed on behalf of the committee for the Suppression of Foreign Traffic,

Elizabeth S. Lidgett.

---end



Manual of Vigilance Law (London: National Vigilance Association, 1888), link
by Wyndham Anstis Bewes


Pernicious literature: Debate in the House of Commons (London: National Vigilance Association, 1889), link
by National Vigilance Association (Great Britain), Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons


A link to another verison of the Henry Murray article, with some textual variations ("butchers" for "hunters"; "united in a ship's butcher" for "untried ...")

Montreal Daily Witness, July 19, 1889, Page 8

The Whitechapel Murders
Arrest of the Supposed Fiend

Theories Regarding the Murderer

[Mayerling]

At the moment all I can say is that they were a self-righteous bunch of hypocrites. If Stead was a member of their councils, he was notorious (despite his "Maiden Tribute" series against child prostitution) for liking to kiss and slightly fondle women visitors or women who saw him on news business in the course of a work day. Yet he was an honored member. One wonders about the others.

Jeff