Of course, every
one who had been in the habit of playing with Lord de Ros prior
to the exposure would have said the same as Sir Charles Dalbiac
and Mr Baring Wall. With regard to the gentlemen whose names we
have omitted we take it for granted that the author is not aware
of the position they held, and continue to hold, or he would
hardly have ventured to describe them so offensively. He has
apologized to one, and he had better apologize to the other
without delay.
'The case was complete without the evidence of either of the
original accusers, and the few friends of Lord de Ros who tried
to bear him up against the resulting obloquy were obliged to go
with the stream. When Lord Alvanley was asked whether he meant
to leave his card, he replied, "No, he will stick it in his
chimney-piece and count it among his honours.' "
Having read through the long case as reported in the Times, I
must declare that I do not find that the evidence against Lord de
Ros was, after all, so 'overwhelming' as the reviewer declares;
indeed, the 'leader' in the Times on the trial emphatically
raises a doubt on the subject. Among other passages in it there
is the following:--
'In the process of the trial it appeared that the most material
part of the evidence against Lord de Ros, that called sauter la
coupe,--which, for the sake of our English readers we shall
translate into CHANGING THE TURN-UP CARD,--the times and places
at which it was said to have been done could not be specified.
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