The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-02-27 00:00:00

L

THE CONVENT SCANDAL.

: This remarkable case, which ba.e been "dragging its
slow length along" from day to day, wearying all con-
cerned in it, and more especially newspaper readers,
is thus described, under the head of " In and Out of
Court," by the Daily News of Wednesday. It bad
then reached its seventeenth day :
What have been called the childish" details" of this case
seemed to culminate on Tuesday, when, following Miss
saurin's examination, which was over before 11 am., little
girls and boys were called on to declare whether they were
•r were not punished for school faults committed five years
ago. The lobbies of the Court were like a playground for a
great part of the morning. Infante of ten were playing at ,
ho-peep from behind the stalwart lees of the Metropolitan
liedicemen, or plucking at the ever-courteous usher's gown to
share that good man's smile. These were the witnesses.
The fipple and "good-stuff stall," which stands within the
first dime leading to the Court of Queen's Bench from West-
minster-hall, was watched with intense and longing
interest by the tiny things who were permitted to wile
away their weary time of waiting, and the patter of
little feet and the B.llld of childish laughter gave a new life
to the staid and dull approaches of the ancient tribunal over
which the Lord Chief Justice presides. The average age of
these witnesses appeared to be ten, and as their size pre-
eluded their seeing or being seen when deposited in the hot,
they were considerately lifted out like dolls, and placed clout
to Sir Alexander Cockburn by the judgment seat. There does
not seem anything particularly comic in a gentle girl of
tender years being questioned and re-questioned by skilled
casuists and rhetoricians, and having at the same time to
preserve her composure in the face of a crowded court.
Perhaps it might even occur to some minds that the
situation was one for sympathy rather than merri-
ment, and that any interruption calculated to dis-
concert would only add to the painfulness of a posi-
tion already sufficiently embarrassing. But no such
opinion was entertained or acted on by the sight-
seers with which the place is filled day after day. Roars of
indecent laughter, faces eagerly looking for amusement, and
apparently finding it in the speaker's innocence and youth,
whispered interruptions and bursts of mirth, which made
one wonder at the judge's tolerance, marked this portion
of the proceedings; and the utter absence of proper feeling
on the part of the public was once more the most question-
able of the many questionable revelations which have marked
this tedious, weary trial. Who are the people who succeed
in planting themselves on the benches behind the barris-
ters' seats? The womenfolk are iris majority of some three
to one; yet there are strong and resolute men who have
failed day after day to effect an entrance, and riot the least
curious experience to be gained from an attendance at this
court is that you recognise the same faces in the seats, and
the same faces among the rejected in Westminster-hall and
In the yard outside each time you visit it. The principle of
selection is evidently applied—but how and by whom ? Is it
the loudest laugher, the dullest wit, those most impervious
to considerations of fitness and propriety, who are admitted
after a competitive examination instituted rub rem by the
officers of the Court? At once turbulent and inane, these
spectators are habitually guilty of breaches of decorum
which make a bystander aghast ; and it would be interestifig
to know precisely the Ruffle in which contempt of court niay
be indulged hi with impunity by men and women, who de-
termine to treat grave judicial proceedings as an indecent
practical joke.
Bench and bar vied with each other in their kind con-
sideration for the children they questioned, but in spite of
this the incongruity of the contrast between—say an eager
gentleman in wig and gown, bristling with acuteness, and
leaning anxiously forward like a grey and animated note of
interrogation—between a professional luminary such as this
and the little figure piping forth its answers in a childish
treble in front of him, seemed very marked. Even the three
nuns present sniffed in unison, while the kind eyes and fair
face of Mrs. Melligan lit up in kindly recognition as child
after child was produced and handed back. Mrs. Starr, the
sister already named, and a third lady in conventual habit,
sat with their backs to the barristers and the public,
and their faces in the direction of the Lord Chief J ustice and
the witness-box, during our stay, and were the only sisters we
saw in court. Their interest in the proceedings was clearly
on a vigilant order, for when one little boy was placed
in the witness-box whispers and a hasty note were promptly
passed with the attorney sitting next them, who in his turn
communicated with Mr. Mellish behind and above, who
forthwith made the portentous announcement : "My Lord,
I am instructed that this is the wrong-boy." Then came a
brief discussion, in which Sir John Coleridge and Mr. Wills
appeared disposed to insist upon the identity of "the boy
whose name was Andrew ;" whereupon Mr. Mellish rose again
and addressing the bench with oracular solemilitysaid—.' My
lord, I am informed that the rightful Andrew has red hair.'
This virtually settled the questilh, for the urchin before us
—who evidently regarded the whole proceedings with a
lively horror, mid had visions of being ordered off for
instant execution, hail a shock head of dark brown.
However, Mrs. Melligan was appealed to, and rising
in her nun's dress, declared in a very pleasant voice that
this was not the boy she had referred to in her evidence, so
the youth was set free, to his great relief, and the matter
dropped. All the children examined declared they had been
kindly treated, and the Mrs. O'Brien, whose little boy's
dinner and its alleged abstraction in 1862 formed one of
the subjects of inquiry, appeared to be no confused at the
thought et giving evidence at all, that neither the Lord
Chief Justice nor the Solicitor-General, whose witness she
was, professed themselves able to understand her. All this
time Niles saurin sat veiled and motionless, as previously
described. lier thick black covering effectually hides her
features • and beyond hazarding a guess that she is
spare anff thin, the most acute observer who saw her when
not absolutely giving evidence would be puzzled to say what
her personal appearance really is. The faahionable and
pretty young lady who has sat by her throughout the pro-
ceeding!, and whose quiet amusement at some of the answers
given, is, it is to be hoped, some compensation for the
hours and days of boredom she has undeivone, is surely the
most devoted of sisters to have bonie patiently with the
iterations which press as a heavy burden even upon those
whose business it is to advance theni and to analyse their
merits. But signs and symptoms are not wanting of flagging I
interest. Neither Father Porter, who attracted much atten-
tion from the frequency with which his name has
been used, nor Oanon Walker, whose mild and benig-
nant countenance was one of the most notable in
Court, were to be seen yesterday morning; and,
indeed, Father Mathews, the plaintiff's uncle, was
at that time the solitary representative left of the little crowd
of ecclesiastics who filled up the space between the bar and
the bench, while Father Guldy, the Bishop's aecretary, was
examined and cross-examined on Saturday. The latter
reverend gentleman is a good-looking, fresh-coloured, young
priest, with a bright eye and a ready smile, who seemed as
fully alive to the importance of his own evidence, as capable
of giving it sonorously and confidently forth. But it is
Father Mathews who seems to represent unfailing watchful-
ness and determination best. He never tires. A hard-headed,
elderly man, whose square head and powerful jaw be-
speak a strong will, an impression confirmed by his
resolute glances whenever a new witness comes in, or
there is a change in the aspect of affairs—this
father may occasionally busy himself with a newspaper,
but it is obvious that his real attention is rivetted
to what is going on around. The jury, on the other hand,
show signs of the weariness they must feel. They change
their position as restlessly as the limited space accorded to
each man will allow. They fidget on their seats, and when
one of the three nuns present lifts her face from her note-
book to use a blue check duster as a pocket handkerchief,
they seem to °biome this simple incident as if It were au
agreeable break is the monotony.
The Mow on Monday thinned the court outside, which did
not regain its former large proportions on Tuesday; and if it
were possible to restrict admissions to those capable of con-
ducting themselves properly, we are far from aure that the
Court itself would be Miler.