George St. George Julian, the Prince

Front matter

' 'V^J^j? THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES or GEORGE ST. JULIAN, ®bt l$ximt of £foin&kr$. Bl HENRY COCKTON, tbe author or " vaj^ntine vox ' WITH TWENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE, 36, SOHO SQUARE. 1844. C. WHITINC, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND. ARRANGEMENT OF THE PLATES. PAGE The Will 4 Julia discarded 18 Soup Association 21 The Awkward Position of Jones 34 The Beauty displaying his Antiques 42 George visits the Cazique of Poyais 45 Tynte in Search of a Plaintiff 66 The Rich Cheese 81 His Highness Gregor the First on his Return 95 Mr. Cavendish amazed 108 George meets with the Poetical Shepherd 119 The Warm Reception at the Cottage 122 George extracting the Ink 135 The Natives refuse the Poyaisian Bank Notes 150 Preparing to open the Bank 155 The Visit 168 The Charge of Forgery 186 The Recognition 190 Cavendish Toe-lined 196 The Last Appeal Rejected 209 The Trial 212 The Basil 227 The Capture of Tynte 233 Joseph and Tynte at the Inn 247 The Beauty and his Beast '..

Preface

. The chief objects proposed in this work are to put the in experienced on their guard against the specious designs of in genious knaves, and to show that, however firmly a man may adhere to an honerable course, however well armed he may be against contamination, an association with disreputable men teems with so much peril, that he may at any hour have his reputation destroyed and his prospects in life for ever blasted. To what extent a work of this kind may tend to promote these objects, the public will judge ; but if the feelings which prompted its publication be found to have been clearly con veyed, it must have its effect ; it must, by showing how thou sands have been ruined, prevent the ruin of thousands more ; for not only do money-lending wretches still flourish, but in numerable " Banks," " Associations," " Societies," and " Com- VI

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. panies" of every description, are now in existence, and daily increasing in number, which have all the appearance of sta bility, but of which the foundations are utterly rotten. There are, however, two or three points upon which it will be correct to offer some explanation. It may, for example, be objected that the tendency of the chapter which contains the case of bigamy is pernicious, inasmuch as it may stimulate others to the pursuit of the same course. But if that case be taken in all its bearings, it wiU be seen that, although primd facie correct, such view is extremely superficial and unsound. The design has been not only to guard those, and the friends of those, who will not have patience, against contracting hasty marriages, or indeed against contracting them at all without far more caution than is generaUy in such cases used, but to show the state of the law on the subject, which, as it is at present administered, affords every facility for the achievement of the infamous object proposed.

No man should be acquitted of a charge of this description and thus placed for ever beyond the reach of the law, in the absence of either of the wives. They should both be present at the trial : they should both appear in court and be distinctly identified in order to show that the case is real — that the indictment has not been collusive. A.s it is, any, man may cause himself to be indicted for bigamy and acquitted. For example : an adventurer marries, and when the fortune — for which alone he most probably mar-

PREFACE.

. VII ried — is gone, he marries again, his former wife of course being still alive : he obtains possession of the object for which he in this case married also, — namely, property, and no sooner does he obtain it than — unknown to either of tbe wives — he causes himself to be indicted for bigamy: he is tried on this indict ment — perhaps in avery few hours after having been committed : a flaming speech is made by the counsel for the prosecution, and the minds of the jury prepared for a cruel case : the witnesses are called, but no witnesses appear ! He is held at once to be a persecuted man : he is acquitted : that acquittal is on the record : he cannot be tried a second time for the same offence ; and there he is, a free man, in possession of the property of his victim, whose affections he has blighted, whose hopes he has withered, and whom he has in all probabibty reduced to a state of utter destitution — free to pursue the same villanous course, with equal impunity, whenever another opportunity may offer.

The exposition of so cruel a practice with a view to its pre vention, surely cannot be improper ; and as it may be prevented with the utmost ease, it is incumbent upon those who have the power, to adopt at once the course suggested, or some other which may be equally effectual; for that this monstrous species of villany has been practised within the last ten years frequently, is capable of the most direct proof, although if even it could not be proved so clearly as it can, the very fact of its being easily practicable ought alone to be sufficient to induce the adoption of some plan by which its impracticability may be secured.

PREFACE.

. During the progress of this work, it has been suggested that incredulity prevails to a great extent on the subject of discharging the ink from a written document, and then either restor ing it, or so preparing the surface of the paper, that it will bear to be written upon again without a shadow of the original writing being perceptible. Such being the case, the author will undertake with pleasure to convince any man of known respectability, that it can be done, and to explain how it may be discovered. It would be well, however, if incredulity diverging from this point, were to extend to the whole of those practices by which they who live by dishonour are enabled to prey upon society. Men are much too prone to believe the apparently frank professions of a swindler: they are much too vain not to believe — if they even suspect him to be a swindler — in the impossibility of his being able to swindle them.

As far as swindling is concerned, they are amazingly credulous : loving as they do pure disinterested friendship, they bebeve, they admire, they idolize the man who professes to have their dear interests at heart, and hence the extremely flourishing state of the profession. It is computed tbat in London alone, there have never, since the panic of 1825, been less than five thousand men living by unequivocal swindbng — the term unequivocal being adopted here to distinguish those by whom it is practised from the low attorneys — those legal vermin, who batten upon the necessities of the unfortunate — the swell-mob people, and the

PREFACE.

. IX creatures who are retained at the metropolitan hells. There are, at least, five thousand in London now, the majority of whom six months in the year live in a style of real splendour* while on few mornings during the other six months are they able to form theremotest idea as to where they shall dine. But whether in prosperity or adversity, a professional swindler may easily be known. He never dresses like any other man ; he never speaks like any other man ; he is con stantly endeavouring to dazzle you by the display of apparent wealth when prosperous ; constantly labouring to inspire you with a high appreciation of his honesty when poor. If sovereigns had sense — the coin of the realm only is alluded to — they could illustrate this to perfection ; they could show that many counterfeits come amongst them which they cannot kick out of society, and by which they are eclipsed, so much does the brightness of those counterfeits surpass theirs; and that while they, dull fellows, are examined, turned over, and knocked about with most unwarrantable suspicion, the counter feits themselves are not suspected for a moment, seeing that none, on a superficial view, look so much like good ones as bad ones.

A swindler is, morally and physically, all glitter. His object being to deceive, he studies well the art of deception — the only one of the fine arts with which he is conversant ; and as his ingenuity not only keeps pace with, but outstrips the progress X

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. of civilization, we may rationally infer that in after ages his definition, according to the lexicographers, will stand thus : — " Swindler, s. An ingenious man." But a liberal man is a swindler ! Should he make to-day five thousand pounds, he will begin to live to-morrow at the rate of ten thousand a year. He must have at once one of the largest houses in London, a suite of servants, and a couple of carriages at least, until there are "no effects" at his bankers when he sells his carriages for which he has given a bill, and his furniture for which he has given a bill also, swindles his servants out of their wages, and the landlord out of his rent, and then retires into private life until an opportunity offers of making five thousand pounds more. His Serene Highness Gregor Mac Gregor, the sovereign prince of Poyais, however, carried the thing to a greater extent.

He could not even dream of going out with anything less than a carriage and six, with two couriers and two grooms; but although they cannot all do what he did — namely, live at the rate of fifty thousand a year, if they could they would, if it were but for a week, and they were certain of being without sixpence the next. The greater part of their present revenue, however, is derived from bills of exchange; and it really is amazing that men should be so blind, so idiotic, as to intrust their acceptances to persons of whom they have not the slightest knowledge. Of course, a man who has money tc lend, is welcome in every

PREFACE.

. XI sphere of society ; but a man who professes to lend money, either has it to lend or he has not ; if he has, let him pro duce it, and exchange it for the bills ; if he will not do this, it is perfectly clear that he has none to produce. This is the only secure way to test a professional money lender's means ; and yet in ninety cases at least out of a hundred, this simple test is not applied. Conceive the monstrous folly of a man giving, for instance, blank acceptances to a stranger ! He has engagements to meet at a certain time : he sees a money-lending advertisement in the paper : he answers that advertisement, and a wretch appears, who producing stamps, requires his acceptance ; the acceptance is given, the fellow leaves with a promise to bring the money at a certain time, and no more is heard of the matter until the bills become due, when of course the acceptor is called upon to pay them.

It is amazing that such folly should exist ; it is indeed almost incredible : and yet the thing is constantly done. Many a man has borrowed five shiUings in order to advertise money to lend. It is a mistake to suppose that because Coster, Minter Hart, Kinnear, and a few others, who obtained notoriety in their day, have been transported, that swindling is on the decline. It was never so flourishing as now. Folly keeps in advance of the march of intellect, with the apparent determi nation of going, as the Americans say, right ahead. It is, however, to be hoped that the particular species FREFACE. of folly to which allusion has been made, will be henceforth materially checked, and that men will no longer insist upon having their own experience in the matter to guide them. CONT E N T S.

Ir which the History is drought to a Conclusion GEORGE ST. GEORGE JULIAN, THE PRINCE.

Chapter I. In Which The Hero And His Affectionate Family Aee Introduced

Archibald Julian, the grandfather of George — who hy virtue of his surpassing ingenuity acquired the aristocratic sobriquet of The Prince — was, in a commercial point of view, a remarkably successful, and therefore a highly respectable man. He married early and was then extremely poor, but his marriage, which then appeared to be most improvident, laid the foundation of that fortune which it prompted him to raise, and which, had it not been for that stimulus, would probably never have been raised by him at all. Having acquired by experience a practical knowledge of the value of money, he proposed to himself at starting to realize ten thousand pounds, correctly calculating that it would yield five hundred a year, upon which he might live in a comfortable state of independence. The possession of ten thousand pounds formed, then, the very acme of his am bition.

He wanted no more : he cared to realize no more : if he could but make that he would retire and gather happiness, not only from affluence per se, but from acts of benevolence to which at that period his heart very strongly inclined. With this laudable object in view, he accordingly, soon after his mar riage, borrowed the sum of fifty pounds, and commenced on his own account. He was zealous, indefatigable, up at it early and late, and as he continued to adhere to those economic principles of which early adversity had taught him the worth, the effects of his zeal soon began to appear ; and as the whole of his speculations were signally successful, he in a few years became a ten-thousand-pound man. While, however, this sum was being realized, his views on the subject materially changed ; the ladder of his ambition grew higher ; it had another step, which he did not see before, but which he saw then dis tinctly, and to gain which he perceived the possession of twenty thouu GEORGE -feT.

GEORGE JULIAN, sand pounds to be essential. He therefore again set to work : he made twenty thousand pounds, and then another appeared prescribing fifty thousand pounds : he worked his way up to that, and then discovered another, which on being reached enabled him to see still another ! — in short, the ladder grew with the growth of his wealth, keeping always one step in advance. This was not however the only effect of his journey : when he arrived at the point he had first proposed, he lived at the rate of four hundred a year ; on arriving at the second he brought his private expenditure down to three hundred ; on reaching the third he reduced it to two ; when the fourth was attained he brought it to one ; and thus diminished his " extravagances" — for that character then domestic comforts assumed — until he denied himself even the common necessaries of life.

In the early part of his career he was blessed with two sons, for whom he had tlie most ardent affection, and whom in due time he esta blished in business, and endeavoured to impress upon their minds the necessity for depending upon their own individual exertions alone. But this was a lesson they never could learn : the necessity contended for, they could not perceive ; they cherished diametrically opposite opinions upon this important point, and wanted to know why they should trouble their heads about business when the governor had plenty of money in store, and had no one to whom he could leave it but them ; and it is an extraordinary and a most distressing fact, that when young men thus situated want to know this, there is no man who can satisfactorily tell them. It was beyond dispute proved in this case : they were con sequently reckless and improvident ; married penniless flirts in opposition to the will of the governor ; neglected their business, and must have failed twenty times, had he not, for the sake of his own reputation, sustained them.

The thought of his having extravagant sons was a source of perpetual annoyance to him, of course ; but that which more than all tended to alienate his fond affection from them was the bitter fact of their being extremely anxious to follow him as nominal mourners to the grave. They made no attempt whatever to disguise their feelings on tliis point. It was manifested daily. They did not, it is true, give expression to this generous sentiment before him ; but they made their impatience known to all with whom he was connected, and through them it soon reached his ears. At first the old gentleman felt very wretched, for he had then the affectionate feelings of a father ; but when those feelings had been, by the indignities they constantly lavished upon him, destroyed, bitterness succeeded, and after a time even that was commingled with mirth.

" You wish me dead !" the old man would exclaim with a chuckle whenever they gave him fresh cause of annoyance. " I am a long time dying, am I not ? I keep you both out of the property, don't I ? You are impatient to squander it ! — to squander it ! — to gamble ! — to make it fly ! — to five a life of extravagance and aristocratic profligacy ! to trick out your wives like dolls at a fair ;— to keep your carriages and THE PRINCE. your hunters ! All in good time, my affectionate sons ! I shall go by and-by, and when I do — you'll know more !" " What do you mean ?" they would fiercely inquire. " Live and learn," the old man would reply : " Live and learn." And then he would ehuckle again, as if he cherished some conception from which he derived inexpressible pleasure. As he clung with greater tenacity to life, the nearer death approached him, and as he had been warned again and again that his devotion to business had a tendency to shorten its duration, he, on reaching the age of sixty, retired, and died on the following day.

The real cause of his mirth then appeared. He had not left either of his sons a single shilling ; — the whole of his property was bequeathed to the children of the one — whichever it might be — who died first. This came hTce a thunderbolt upon them. It confused all their fa culties. What could they do ? They had not even a life-interest in the estate. They had nothing ! They could not wish for each other's death ; nor could either wish for his own And yet, the property ! Each, of course, wished to secure it to his own children ; but then they both wished to live ! This placed them in a position of which they did not approve. They thought deeply upon the matter, very deeply : and as neither seemed to relish the idea of a premature death, they conceived various schemes for getting possession of the estate without anything occurring of a character so unpleasant.

Among the rest it was suggested that one of them should counterfeit death, and then divide the estate fairly between them ; but on carefully perusing the will, they discovered that the ex ecutors were expressly directed to view the body ! — which they thought very hard. At this period George had reached the age of fourteen, and was a fine, tall, shrewd, handsome boy, who had from infancy developed a strong desire to understand all that occurred within his cognizance ; and the first time he heard his father and uncle lamenting the peculiar per plexity of the position in which they stood, he started up and exclaimed, " Father, let me see the will." " For what, George ?" inquired his father, smiling. " You appear to be in some sort of difficulty about this affair : I want to see if it cannot be in any way got over."

Both his father and his uncle laughed loudly at this, and patted him playfully upon the head. " Why do you laugh ?" said George, gravely ; for he felt most indignant. " If you do not wish to get yourselves out of it, why that's another thing ; but if you do, you will let me see the will." The brothers, although they still smiled, were amazed ; and a copy of the will was produced and perused by George with an expression of the most intense thought. At length, placing his finger upon a particular line, he cried, " That's the point : just what I imagined." Again the brothers laughed most heartily ; and George, having looked at them for a moment as if he felt himself insulted, rolled up b2 GEORGE ST. GEORGE JULIAN', 4 the will with the utmost deliberation, and told them they might find it out themselves.

" Nay, George," said his uncle, encouragingly ; " come, show us the point." " What do you laugh at me for ?'' demanded George ; " I don't hke to be laughed at." " Well, well : we'll not laugh. Come : now then ; what is it ?" " Why look here," said George, again unrolling the will. " It says the executors must view the body. Now just suppose that you were to be drowned and never discovered : in that case how could they view the body ?" " Well done, Georgy !" cried his uncle ; " certainly if the body were not found they could not view it." " Very well, then : but don't call me Georgy ; I don't like ' Georgy ;' it sounds as if I were a child." " To be sure it does," said his father ; " and you're getting a man now. But what has drowning to do with it, George ? Would you recommend your uncle to drown himself?"

" No, I don't care much about that ; but suppose he were reported to be drowned, wouldn't that do as well ?" " Bravo, George !" exclaimed his uncle. " Capital !" cried his father, who was in raptures with his boy, whom he naturally thought the finest fellow in the world. " Or if that will not do," added George, " there is yet another thing. I was reading it only the other day : stop ; I'll find it." He hereupon went to the bookcase and brought down a volume of Shakspeare, and having hastily turned over the leaves, found and read the following passage : — " And when thou art alone take thou this phial, And this distilled liquor ; drink them off ; When presently through all thy veins shall run A cold and drowsy humour, which shall seize Each vital spirit ; for no pulse shall keep His natural progress, but surcease to beat.

No warmth, no breath shall testify thou liv's . The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade To paly ashes ; And in this borrowed likeness of shrunk deatl Thou shalt continue two and forty hours, And then awake as from a pleasant sleep." " Now," said George, having read this passage with great deliberation and point, " I should just like to know what this sleepy stuff was ; be cause that, you know, would be the very thing ! Do you not think that the chemists coidd tell?" " I fear not," said his father ; " no, the other is the plan, if well managed." " I Hke that best myself," observed George. " You or uncle could easily go out of the way, and be reported as drowned ; and it isn't to De supposed, although they are instructed to view the body, that if TIIE PRINCE. 5 either of you really were drowned, they would keep this estate until the body could be found, and if never found, for ever."

Again George was highly applauded, not only by the brothers, but by his mother and aunt ; neither of whom for one moment considered that they were applauding him for suggesting a falsehood. As the plan seemed easy of accomplishment, the brothers consulted together privately, and the result was that they determined that the uncle of George should suddenly disappear ; that the estate should be claimed for his children who were of age ; that when the property had been securely made over, it should be equally divided, and that in the event of any stir they should proceed to America together. The preparations were therefore made, and the uncle vanished ; when a fellow, who had been employed for the purpose, reported, that while on his barge, he saw a gentleman struggling in the river, and ultimately sink ; and as this report was raised simultaneously with that of the uncle's mysterious disappearance, it was at once inferred that he was that gentleman, of course.

The river was accordingly dragged with due zeal every day for a week, but no body could be found. He was advertised in all the local papers, for the purpose of making all sure ; but as of course they received no answer to these advertisements, it was taken for granted that he was the man. The whole family in conse quence went into mourning, and there was a great show of grief, and in the due course of time an appHcation was made to the executors for the transfer of the property to the children of the deceased. The executors, who were honourable, straight-forward persons themselves, entertained no suspicion of the ruse ; and therefore having heard the evidence of the person who gave an accurate description of the unfortunate individual, they felt certain that he was the man, and therefore did not feel justified in resisting the claim.

Just, however, as the business was about to be completed, the fellow who was to have been rewarded with five hundred pounds, communicated his great good fortune to his wife in strict confidence ; and she being a very clever woman, was so delighted, that she told her sister, in confidence, and her sister confidentiaOy told her husband, and the true state of the case confidentially flew from one to another, until the executors were told in strict confidence themselves ; which had a very great effect, for the estate was withheld, and the departed, feeling quite sure then that it was useless for him to keep any longer out of the way, took an early opportunity of returning to his wretched, disconsolate widow, of course in due form. The failure of this scheme much affected the whole family ; so much were they despised, that their business gradually dwindled away, until they thought it expedient to fail.

A quarrel then ensued about the divi sion of the property they had concealed. They became bitter enemies. They hated each other with a most cordial hate ; yet neither could wish the other dead ! Reconcifiation was quite out of the question ; they never could be re conciled ; they lived in a state of enmity for nearly eight years, when the uncle died — a circumstance which his brother so sincerely regretted, that in less than a week he died himself. This wounded the feehngs of George deeply. If his father had but dropped off a week before, what a fortunate thing it would have been ! Had he outHved his brother five years, or even one year, or even six months, it would not have been half such a pity ; but the idea of his dying within a little week, was held by both George and his mother to be very distressing indeed.

Chapter II. In Which George Takes His First Important Step

As all that his mother had now to procure the means of existence was an annuity of a miserable amount, George saw that it was time for him to begin to do something for himself. He had calculated, with a feeling of certainty, upon having his grandfather's property. He felt sure that his uncle would outfive his father, not only because bis uncle was older, but because he was far more abstemious and less passionate. The fact of his being left penniless was therefore a heavy blow, especially as he had no resource, no friend, no profession to fly to. He was an excellent commercial scholar, and a good linguist ; he had read much, and could write a clear and expeditious hand ; and as he thought that although there might be thousands equally accomplished unem ployed, if he came up to London he should be certain to meet with something.

He therefore decided at once upon leaving home. But, the day before that on which he intended to start, while passing the house of Sir Richard RoughaU — who had been knighted for some signal services he had rendered during a riot, while serving the office of mayor of the town — he saw his daughter JuHa playing on the lawn ; and although he had seen her before, he had never experienced those feelings with which she inspired him then. On that occasion, he bowed and raised his hat, which she deemed a most extraordinary occurrence, and, ceasing to play with her spaniel, blushed deeply, and timidly drew near her maid. Having passed, George immediately proceeded home to analyze the feelings which then possessed him, and to perfect the scheme which he had on the instant conceived, while JuHa was discussing the merits of the case with her maid, who was the only creature near her in whom she could confide.