THE LATE MR. COLTON.

(_To the Editor_.)


Having observed in several papers and periodicals, (amongst which is _The
Mirror_, No. 553,) sketches of "the late Mr. Colton," and none of these
tending, in my opinion, to convey a correct idea of the character of this
extraordinary man; allow me to offer you a slight sketch of the latter
period of his life.

I am aware I shall be met by many with the squeamish proverb, _De mortuis
nil nisi bonum_; though I am not disposed at this moment to enter on a
discussion of the merits of this received axiom. Shakspeare tells us "The
evil that men do, lives after them."

Mr. Colton, or as he was vulgarly called, Parson Colton, arrived in Paris
in the year 1825 or 1826, from America, to which country he sailed from
England shortly previous to the murder of Weare. He was at that time in
possession of very little money; this small stock he increased by
borrowing upon the security of some valuable jewellery which he took out
from his creditors in this country. With this sum he commenced his career
as player at the public gaming-tables in Paris, more particularly that at
154 in the Palais Royal. The system upon which he played was at once bold
and original, and attended with great success. I have good authority (his
own) for stating, he was at one period a winner of upwards of £10,000. He
subsequently lost nearly half this sum, and he expended the remainder in
paintings by the ancient masters, of which, in the year 1828, he had a
splendid collection. These pictures he intended for the English market;
but in the latter part of the same year, he became unfortunate at the