reparation of an alphabetical synopsis when I learned of the
existence of that work of monumental patience and research which had
been prepared by Monsieur Bernard Lazare of Paris, and a consultation of
its pages showed me that part of the work I had undertaken had already
been performed by Monsieur Gustave Bridier, an acknowledged expert in
handwriting in Switzerland.

I caused all the documents at my disposal to be photographed on glass,
and thus prepared I betook myself from my home in North Wales to London,
where I found an immediate and enthusiastic helper in the person of Mr
J. N. Maskelyne of the Egyptian Hall. He lent me the use of the most
powerful oxyhydrogen magnifying lantern in London and prepared for me
a great screen on to which the photographs could be most delicately and
accurately thrown in an enormously magnified form. Until the fact of
my intended demonstration was announced by the Press, I had not the
remotest idea as to the intense interest with which the case was
regarded by the British public.

I had caused it to be announced that anybody desiring to be present
might secure a ticket of admission by forwarding to me a stamped
directed envelope. The Egyptian Hall seated about 360 people, and I
received applications which would certainly have enabled me to fill the
vast auditorium of the Albert Hall twice over. The result was that I was
enabled to make a choice, and when the night arrived the little hall was
packed with the pick of the brains of London, drawn from both Houses of
Parliament, from the Bench, the Bar, the diplomatic services of Europe,
the Royal Academy, the learned professions generally and the Press of
London. When a page of the _Bordereau_ was first thrown upon the screen
side by side with the authentic handwriting of the prisoner at Devil's
Island, I knew that I had my work cut out for me, for there were
murmurs everywhere of "Identical!" "Damnatory!" "That settles the whole
question," and so on. The mood of the audience was not to be doubted for
an instant, but I knew my case and I was confident. Litde by little, as
demonstration succeeded demonstration, the temper changed, and at the
conclusion I achieved a triumph such as I have never before or since
enjoyed. I hope sincerely that I do not take more credit to myself for
that night's work than I deserve, but so far as I could judge there was
not one of my hearers who went away unconvinced. The Metropolitan Press
woke up and in i