REMARKABLE CRIMINALS

Introduction

"The silent workings, and still more the explosions, of human
passion which bring to light the darker elements of man's nature
present to the philosophical observer considerations of intrinsic
interest; while to the jurist, the study of human nature and
human character with its infinite varieties, especially as
affecting the connection between motive and action, between
irregular desire or evil disposition and crime itself, is equally
indispensable and difficult."--_Wills on Circumstantial
Evidence_.

I REMEMBER my father telling me that sitting up late one night
talking with Tennyson, the latter remarked that he had not kept
such late hours since a recent visit of Jowett. On that occasion
the poet and the philosopher had talked together well into the
small hours of the morning. My father asked Tennyson what was
the subject of conversation that had so engrossed them.
"Murders," replied Tennyson. It would have been interesting to
have heard Tennyson and Jowett discussing such a theme. The fact
is a tribute to the interest that crime has for many men of
intellect and imagination. Indeed, how could it be otherwise?
Rob history and fiction of crime, how tame and colourless would
be the residue! We who are living and enduring in the presence
of one of the greatest crimes on record, must realise that trying
as this period of the world's history is to those who are passing
through it, in the hands of some great historian it may make
very good reading for posterity. Perhaps we may find some little