The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 222: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE COMMITTEE OF PRIVILEGES 197 Nothing had ever occurred, until the grand disclosure at Oaklands, to excite in their minds a suspicion that this story of their birth was otherwise than completely true. They were born at the end of May, 1830, and their birthday had always been regularly kept by Mr. Ashton. Some time before he died, he had given them certain relics which he represented as having belonged to their deceased mother, and these Christian produced. There was a long tress of raven hair; next there was a beautiful gold watch of delicate fashion and exquisite workmanship, with the cipher E graven upon the case; then there were two rings, one of which was a wedding-ring, the other of peculiar workmanship, with the cipher B graven upon a stone. Christian proceeded to relate that about three years previously Mr. Ashton had died sud- denly, being stricken with an apoplectic fit, and for some little while after his death the twins continued to reside at the same house in the village. Then a certain Mr. Joseph Pres- ton, of whom they had some little previous acquaintance, as he was a friend of Mr. Ashton’s, signified to them that they must repair to London, so that they might be in the same city where he dwelt and that he might be enabled to attend to their welfare. He made them a liberal allowance, considering that their wants were small and that their habits were the very reverse of being extravagant, but he never gave them any information relative to their private affairs nor the pecuniary circumstances in which they had been left, nor did he explain the views which, if any, he enter- tained with regard to their future position. At the expiration of a few months Mr. Preston suddenly disappeared, and the twins were reduced to considerable temporary difficulties. In answer to certain leading questions which were pur- posely put in order to elicit all the particulars that might bear upon his case, Christian stated that he had recently been shown some papers represented to be in the hand- writing of the late Mr. Ashton, and which regarded the cir- cumstances of the birth of himself and sister, and he could vouch that these papers were positively in the handwriting of the said deceased Mr. Ashton. Depositions of all that had occurred at Oaklands in the month of September and beginning of October, 1829, were now put in and read before the lords forming the committee of privileges. GOMIiGdoG SS) (S©)