(Vol. ii., p. 310.)
Your correspondent D. asks whether the word _ale-draper_ was ever in "good
use." The only place in which I can find it is Bailey's _Dictionary_, where
it occurs thus:
"Ale-draper (a humorous name), a seller of malt liquors; an
alehouse-keeper or victualler."
The humour, I suppose, consists in applying to one kind of occupation that
which was commonly given to another; in taking _draper_ from the service of
cloth, and pressing it by force into that of _ale_. That it was ever
considered as a word of respectable standing, can hardly be imagined. In
such writers as Tom Brown it is most likely to occur.
1. With reference to Eugene Aram, D.'s remark about the
_over-ingeniousness_ of his defence has been anticipated by Paley, who was
present at the trial, and said that Aram would not have been hanged had he
less studiously defended himself. That laboured address to the jury must
have employed his thoughts for years. I should like very much to know
whether anyone has ever attempted to verify the references which he gives
to the cases in which he says that bones have been found. The style of the
speech has been much praised, but is surely not very surprising when it is
considered that Johnson had previously written the _Rambler_. The
composition wants ease.
2. Ever since I began to read about Eugene Aram, and that is some years
ago, I have had a settled opinion that his attainments, and perhaps his
abilities, had been greatly overrated. He was doubtless a man of
considerable mental powers; but we cannot but suspect that had he acquired
all the learning which is attributed to him, he would have attracted more
notice than it was his fortune to obtain.
3. Mr. Scatchard's attempts, and all other attempts, to clear him from
"blood-guilty stain," must be equally futile, for he himself confessed his
guilt while he was in prison.
Some time ago, a dozen years or more, there appeared in the _Literary
Gazette_, as a communication from a correspondent, an anecdote concerning
Aram, which well deserves to be repeated. During the time that he was in
the school of Lynn, it was the custom for the head-master, at the
termination of every half-year, to invite the parents of the boys to an
entertainment, and all {361} who accepted the invitation were expected to
bring with them the money due on account of their sons, which, _postquam
exempta fames epulis_, they paid into the head-master's hands. The master
would thus retire to rest with a considerable sum in his possession. On one
of these occasions, after he had gone to his chamber and supposed that all
the family were in bed, he heard a noise in a passage not far distant, and,
going out to see what was the cause of it, found Aram groping about in the
dark, who, on being asked what he wanted, said that he had been obliged to
leave his room on a necessary occasion, and had missed his way to the place
which he sought. The passage was not one into which he was likely to wander
by mistake, but the master accepted his excuse, and thought no more of the
matter till Aram was arrested for the robbery and murder of Clarke, when he
immediately recollected the circumstance, and suspected that he had
intended on that night to commit another robbery or murder. I have not the
number of the _Literary Gazette_ in which this statement was given to refer
to, but I am sure that I have repeated the substance of it correctly, and
remember that it was inserted as being worthy of credit. It is another
illustration of the fact that the nature of a man is unchangeable.
Bulwer's novel, which elevates Aram from a school-assistant into a private
gentleman, may have pleased those, if there were such, who knew nothing of
Arum's acts before they began to read it. But all who knew what Aram was,
must be disgusted at the threshold. I regarded the book, at the time of its
appearance, as one of the most presumptuous falsifications of biography
that had ever been attempted. It is not easy to see why Bulwer might not
have made an equally interesting story, if he had kept Aram in his proper
station.