The Living Link | Page 7

conspiracy against an innocent man. It was argued that Mr. Henderson did not write it at
all; and efforts were made to prove that the wound in his head must have caused
instantaneous death. He himself, therefore, could not have written it, but it must have
been the work of some one who was plotting against Dalton, or who was eager to divert
suspicion from himself.
The testimony of the Maltese cross was met by counter-testimony to the effect that
Dalton had never worn such an ornament. His servants all swore that they had never seen
it before. Mr. Henderson's clerks also swore that Mr. Dalton wore no pin at all on that
morning of the interview.
And, finally, an effort was made to prove an alibi. It was shown that Dalton's occupation
of his time during that evening could be accounted for with the exception of one hour.
Witnesses were produced from the hotel where he put up who swore that he had been
there until eight o'clock in the evening, when he left, returning at nine. An hour, therefore,
remained to be accounted for. As to this hour--on the one hand, it seemed hardly
sufficient for the deed, but yet it was certainly possible for him to have done it within that
time; and thus it remained for the defense to account for that hour. For this purpose a note
was produced, which was scribbled in pencil and addressed to John Wiggins, Esq.
It was as follows:
"Dear Wiggins,--I have been here ever since eight, and am tired of waiting. Come to my
room as soon as you get back. I'll be there.
Yours, F. DALTON."

Mr. John Wiggins testified that he had made an appointment to meet Dalton at the hour
mentioned in the note, but had been detained on business until late. He had found this on
his return thrust under the office door. On going to see him the following morning he had
learned of his arrest.
This note and the testimony of Wiggins were felt to bear strongly in Dalton's favor. If the
accused had really been waiting at the office, as the note stated, then clearly he could not
have followed on Mr. Henderson's track to Everton. The force of this weighed more than
any thing else with the court; the summing up of the judge also bore strongly toward an
acquittal; and, consequently, Dalton was declared not guilty.
But the acquittal on this first charge did not at all secure the escape of Dalton from
danger. Another charge, which had been interwoven with the first, still impended over
him, and no sooner was he declared free of murder than he was arrested on the charge of
forgery, and remanded to prison to await his trial on that accusation.
Now during the whole course of the trial the public mind had been intensely excited; all
men were eager than vengeance should fall on some one, and at the outset had made up
their minds that Dalton was guilty. The verdict of acquittal created deep and widespread
dissatisfaction, for it seemed as though justice had been cheated of a victim. When,
therefore, the trial for forgery came on, there weighed against Dalton all the infamy that
had been accumulating against him during the trial for murder. Had this trial stood alone,
the prisoner's counsel might have successfully pleaded his high character, as well as his
wealth, against this charge, and shown that it was false because it was morally impossible.
But this was no longer of avail, and in the public mind Frederick Dalton was deemed
only a desperate murderer, whose good reputation was merely the result of life-long
hypocrisy, and whose character was but an empty name.
And so in this trial it was shown that Dalton had first put forth the forged check, and
afterward learning that it was discovered prematurely, had hurried to Liverpool so as to
get it back from Mr. Henderson. His asserted wealth was not believed in. Efforts were
made to show that he had been connected with men of desperate fortunes, and had
himself been perhaps betting heavily; and all this arts which ate usually employed by
unscrupulous or excited advocates to crush an accused man were freely put forth. Experts
were brought from London to examine Dalton's handwriting, and compare it with that of
the forged check; and these men yielding to the common prejudice, gave it as their
opinion that he was, or _might have been_(!), the author of the forgery.
But all this was as nothing when compared with the injury which Dalton himself did to
his own cause by the course which he chose to adopt. Contenting himself with the simple
assertion of his innocence, he refused to give the name of the guilty