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Forgery and every form of fraud have borne a great hand in peopling Newgate. The most famous of the forger felons was Fauntleroy, more sinned against, perhaps, than sinning; then there were the embezzle ment cases of Watts, Pries, Robson and Redpath, all of whom illustrated the " double life " theory embodied by Stevenson in his immortal work on Jekyll and Hyde, and owed their conviction to its discovery. With many other cases readers of the GREEN Bag are perfectly familiar; Bellingham who shot Mr. Perceval; the Mannings (about

the time when the murder of the Jenny fam ily by Rush, the Norfolk farmer, seemed to set up a perfect reign of homicide in Enggland); Charles Peace the notorious burglar; Palmer of Rugeley; Wainwright of Whitechapel, who murdered his mistress, Harriet Lane, and spent his last night on earth in describing to the governor of Newgate his manifold immoralities, and Fowler, and Milsom the Muswell Hill murderess; a hideous throng whose memories will cling to New gate in spite of any changes in its external structure. LEX.

THE SECESSION AND ANNEXATION OF NANTUCKET. By Cra1g Corn1sh.

FOR a number of years after its settle little for island quarrels and the town must ment in 1659, Nantucket, except for a mend its own affairs. James Coffin, in vague allegiance to England, was wholly in-' deed, openly declared it would be far better dependent and governed her own affairs that Nantucket should become part of the with much complacency; but in 1 670 a sum neighboring English Province, but he was mons came from the Governor of New York, silenced by Edward Macy, who reminded in which Province the island lay, bidding him that they were all Dutch subjects. them pay his tax and submit their transfers So matters stood in 1673 : with Boston of property for his sanction. Nantucket has and Plymouth loyal to the English crown; tened to comply, was confirmed in the de with New Bedford hardly twenty years old, cisions of her court, and for two years or so busy fighting Indians, and wholly ignorant cheerfully paid her annual quit-rent of eight of international politics; when one morning barrels of codfish. the Dutch town of Nantucket awoke after a In 1673 England and France were at war storm to find a ship stranded on the northern with Holland and the Dutch again seized point of the island. New York, from which they had been driven When the gale had abated Isaac Melyne, nine years before and ruled the Province master of the Venture, came ashore in a for eight months, so Nantucket once more small boat to beg assistance in getting his became a part of the Dutch Empire. The ship off the Rip. Nothing could be done island apparently was indifferent to the until the tide turned, so he walked about change. The annual tax of codfish would among the homely little houses clustered be claimed by the governor of New York near the beach, recently named Sherburne were he Dutch or English. The difference by the governor of New York, and stopped was only nominal. Yet there were serious at the inn, if such the corner house and gen men in Nantucket who were troubled over eral assembly place could be called. Here the men of Nantucket soon gathered in an the arbitrary position of their court. Ex perience had shown that New York cared informal town meeting to hear Isaac's story.