On the Oil Question. 87 



•which I have of unravelling the mystery in which these Asso- 

 ciates have endeavoured to involve the whole of the investiga- 

 tions respecting the conflagration at Messrs. Severn, King, and 

 Go's., I proceed to enter upon the task which now lies before 

 me. 



In conformity with this determination, I am desirous, in the 

 first place, to direct the attention of those who may possess this 

 publication to what the authors of it say at pages 4 and 5, 

 respecting the mixture of recent oil with oil that had been 

 boiled, and from which it is argued that I have intentionally 

 suppressed a fact of great importance to their case. However, 

 as the passage is garbled by these writers, I think it is neces- 

 sary to quote it entire, as it was delivered by Wilkinson from 

 the witness-box at Guildhall. He was speaking of the addition 

 of recent oil to oil that had been boiled, and he expressed him- 

 self thus : — " It was to endeavour to know, for Mr. Taylor 

 wished to know, whether a certain quantity of common oil, 

 mixed with that oil which had been boiled, would produce in- 

 flammable vapour at a low temperature*." 



The obvious reply to this is, could there have been any legi- 

 timate or fair reason either for boiling the oil, or for mixing 

 different oils ? Was it not to be expected that liberal and dis- 

 passionate men would have endeavoured to assimilate their 

 experiments as much as possible to the operation at the sugar- 

 house — and, instead of racking their ingenuity to discover some 

 mixture, or some modus operandi, that would produce dangerous 

 results, and give inflammable vapour at a low heat, would have 

 confined their attention to experiments on oil similar to that 

 which had been used by Messrs. Severn and Co., and at similar 

 temperatures, and with an apparatus which approximated as 

 nearly as possible to the one which they supposed had occa- 

 sioned the conflagration. 



This is not my opinion only, but it is the general feeling of 

 the public — and I believe it was the consciousness of this which 

 occasioned the formation of this very singular Association; and 



♦ Sec .Mr. Gurncy's I'litiu-d Repcrt cf tVie Trial, yK^i: Hf). 



