L1NNEA.N SOCIETY OF LONDON, 39 



A third docuraeiit, dated Boston, May 23, 1854, certifies that 

 Dr. Stone had known " Greorge W. Sleeper for some years as an 

 active, determined, paying, and wox-king member of the Suffolk 

 Free Democratic Ward & Co. Couveution, of which he was one 

 year the Secretary." 



There was sometiiingiu the handwriting of the iin'itation, when 

 compared with that of the three other documents, which roused 

 my suspicions. I sent all four to Sir George Warner and asked 

 for his opinion. He kindly replied as follows, April 18, 1914: — 



I return the. four additional letters which yon hare sent nie. I am un- 

 liesitatingly of ojjinion that the one dated 5 Nov., 50, is spurious. It is 

 ahiiost enough to place the four letters side by side, when the diH'erenee of its 

 iiaiidwriting from that of the others is at once apparent. Instead of being 

 easy and natural, it is laboured, halting, and plainly imitative. But there is 

 other damning evidence. The paper {a) is the same make as that of the 

 letter dated 23 May, 54 (/;), and is, I have no doubt, the originally blank 

 second leaf of the same sheet. You will see that the left edge of b is slightly 

 rough, showing that it has been cut with a paper-knife. If you lay a upon h, 

 making the right edges exaetlj' even, you will find that the width is not quite 

 the sanje, and that the left, edge of a has been trimmed (so as to avoid a 

 suspicious rough edge), but not quite straightly. It has also been carefully 

 torn, evidently with design, so as not to show the same holes as are in b, and 

 also for the purpose of destroying the evidence of the date in the endorsement. 

 Nevertheless, by laying the one leaf carefully over the other, as I have said, 

 the top hole and the next will be seen to fit in exactly. This would hardly be 

 the case unless a and b were the two leaves of the same sheet, any more than 

 the original folds would exactly coincide, as in fact they do. 



The folds spoken of b}' Sir George Warner traverse the leaves 

 in both directions — three across and two longitudinally — so that 

 the case against coincidence is much stronger than it would be 

 with the two leaves of most letters. The fotir holes are perfora- 

 tions by which the letter had been doubtless attached to others in 

 pamphlet-like form, and a part of the circumference of the third 

 hole as well as that of the first and second is still visible, in spite 

 of tlie torn edge. The only one that has been entirely removed is 

 the fourth and lowest. Examination with a lens shows that the 

 portions of the three upper holes resemble the corresponding 

 parts of the entire holes in their darkened colour as well as 

 their precise form. The endorsement has not been wholly torn 

 away. " Dr." and " 18," the first two figures of the year, were no 

 doubt intentionally left. The blank sheet was probably damped 

 and ironed in order to alter its appearance as far as possible. 



Sir George AVarner's convincing proofs that the invitation was 

 forged are, of course, sufficient evidence that the manuscript 

 lecture, which opens with a reference to the invitation, is also 

 fraudulent. 



10. The Use of the Word "Agnostic."' 



Mr. J. F. Sleeper wrote May 10, 1913, stating that the word 

 Agnostic was invented by his father in 1846 and that he used it 

 in several lectures. The manuscript of the lecture in which the 

 word was introdticed was the first of all documentary evidence 



