The Purcell Papers, vol 2 | Page 6

I was putting up his note at the time, he dropped
something slyly into it, no doubt to sweeten it; but I saw it all, and,
when he handed it to me, I said, with an emphasis which he might or
might not understand:
' "There is some sediment in this; I'll not drink it."
' "Is there?" said he, and at the same time snatched it from my hand and
threw it into the fire. What do you think of that? have I not a tender

chicken to manage? Win or lose, I will not play beyond five thousand
to-night, and to- morrow sees me safe out of the reach of Sir Arthur's
champagne. So, all things considered, I think you must allow that you
are not the last who have found a knowing boy in 'Yours to command,
'HUGH TISDALL.'
Of the authenticity of this document I never heard my father express a
doubt; and I am satisfied that, owing to his strong conviction in favour
of his brother, he would not have admitted it without sufficient inquiry,
inasmuch as it tended to confirm the suspicions which already existed
to his prejudice.
Now, the only point in this letter which made strongly against my uncle,
was the mention of the 'double-clasped pocket- book' as the receptacle
of the papers likely to involve him, for this pocket-book was not
forthcoming, nor anywhere to be found, nor had any papers referring to
his gaming transactions been found upon the dead man. However,
whatever might have been the original intention of this Collis, neither
my uncle nor my father ever heard more of him; but he published the
letter in Faulkner's newspaper, which was shortly afterwards made the
vehicle of a much more mysterious attack. The passage in that
periodical to which I allude, occurred about four years afterwards, and
while the fatal occurrence was still fresh in public recollection. It
commenced by a rambling preface, stating that 'a CERTAIN PERSON
whom CERTAIN persons thought to be dead, was not so, but living,
and in full possession of his memory, and moreover ready and able to
make GREAT delinquents tremble.' It then went on to describe the
murder, without, however, mentioning names; and in doing so, it
entered into minute and circumstantial particulars of which none but an
EYE-WITNESS could have been possessed, and by implications
almost too unequivocal to be regarded in the light of insinuation, to
involve the 'TITLED GAMBLER' in the guilt of the transaction.
My father at once urged Sir Arthur to proceed against the paper in an
action of libel; but he would not hear of it, nor consent to my father's
taking any legal steps whatever in the matter. My father, however,
wrote in a threatening tone to Faulkner, demanding a surrender of the
author of the obnoxious article. The answer to this application is still in
my possession, and is penned in an apologetic tone: it states that the
manuscript had been handed in, paid for, and inserted as an

advertisement, without sufficient inquiry, or any knowledge as to
whom it referred.
No step, however, was taken to clear my uncle's character in the
judgment of the public; and as he immediately sold a small property,
the application of the proceeds of which was known to none, he was
said to have disposed of it to enable himself to buy off the threatened
information. However the truth might have been, it is certain that no
charges respecting the mysterious murder were afterwards publicly
made against my uncle, and, as far as external disturbances were
concerned, he enjoyed henceforward perfect security and quiet.
A deep and lasting impression, however, had been made upon the
public mind, and Sir Arthur T----n was no longer visited or noticed by
the gentry and aristocracy of the county, whose attention and courtesies
he had hitherto received. He accordingly affected to despise these
enjoyments which he could not procure, and shunned even that society
which he might have commanded.
This is all that I need recapitulate of my uncle's history, and I now recur
to my own. Although my father had never, within my recollection,
visited, or been visited by, my uncle, each being of sedentary,
procrastinating, and secluded habits, and their respective residences
being very far apart-- the one lying in the county of Galway, the other
in that of Cork--he was strongly attached to his brother, and evinced his
affection by an active correspondence, and by deeply and proudly
resenting that neglect which had marked Sir Arthur as unfit to mix in
society.
When I was about eighteen years of age, my father, whose health had
been gradually declining, died, leaving me in heart wretched and
desolate, and, owing to his previous seclusion, with few acquaintances,
and almost no friends.