Excerpt from Famous Trials: The Tichborne Claimant; Troppmann; Prince Pierre Bonaparte; Mrs. Wharton; The Meteor Mrs. Fair

Late in the summer of 1873, in a moment of weakness, I made a reckless promise to the editors of the American Law Review to furnish them with an article on the Tichborne Case. When I came to undertake the task I at first stood aghast at the labor which it promised to entail it seemed the work of weeks merely to read the materials in the columns of the London daily papers. It soon became apparent that the only way to write the article was to' compile a much longer account than the editors of the Review could use and then to compress and curtail that' narrative within the necessary limits. The strange fascination of this greatest and most remarkable of all trials, ancient or modern, took such powerful possession of me as I proceeded with my reading and the sketch as written in its first and fuller form seemed so much more adequately to convey the interest of the case than could any brief article, that I finally resolved to publish the result of my labors in its original shape.

The manner in which I have been obliged to write the account has inevitably produced numer ous blemishes in it, from an artistic point of view. The significance of many matters was only devel Oped by degrees in the progress of the trial; but the rearrangement and amending of the perspective which each mail from Europe, bringing new papers and fresh material, continually rendered desirable, could be done very imperfectly or sometimes not at all, by reason of the fact that the earlier sheets were already in the hands of the printer. Of the defects in the construction of the account, due to this cause, I am painfully aware. Especially will they be apparent to any lawyer who may be at the pains to peruse the volume. I must trust to the singular attraction of the wonderful cause itself to render my pages agreeable in spite of their faults. For myself, I must say that the most exciting novel I have ever read has failed to hold my attention with so close a grasp as has been exerted by the records of this prosecution. If my narrative gives a clear and intelligible sketch of the proceedings I hope it may derive such an interest from them as will serve in part to hide, or at least to obtain an excuse for, its faults of execu tion.

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