The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-24 00:00:00

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QUEEN'S BENCH.-(THIS DAY.)
(Sittings et Nisi Price at Westminster, before Lord
CAMPBELL 411:1 a Special Jury.)

THE QUEEN (ON THE PROSECUTION OF ACHILL* V.

NEWMAN.

As soon as the doors of the court were opened this
morning there wee a general rush and scramble for
places, and in less than two minutes every part was
closely packed.
Sir A. E. CCCKBURN addressed the jury in reply to
the evidence adduced on the part of the plaintiff. He
said, in this most painful case, he could scarcely expect
that religious prejudices would altogether be divested from
the minds of the jury. Independent of the question, as to
the falsehood or truth of the serious charge made against
Dr. Achilli, there came another circumstance for consi-
deration, v'z., that gross, foul, aril deliberate perjury
must have been committed on one side or the other.
The case admitted of no compromise whatever. It was
impossible that a young girl robbed of her virtue could
even, after the greatest lapse of time, forget the man
who had wronged her; but it was not at all unlikely
that a man might, in his general intercourse with
women, forget the object of his practices in a
particular instance. Either the women who had been
called had spoken the truth or had wickedly invented
and trumped up a cunning story. On which side the
truth laid it would be for the jury to determine; and
he was ready to admit that if Dr. Achilli was to be-
lieved the witnesses brought forward in support of the
accusations made by Dr. Newman had grossly perjured
themselves. It, therefore, became necessary to ascer-
tain which story was entitled to credibility. The young
woman Valenti swore positively that Achilli robbed her
of her virtue near Viterbo. She was no subtle casuist,
but tells a plain unvarnished story--that she was a ser-
vant in a country-house where Dr. Achilli was staying,
and that, after repented unsuccessful attempts, be suc-
ceeded in accomplishing his object; yet, though she had
since married, and Dr. Achilli bad had ample opportu-
nity of inquiring into her subsequent career and con-
duct, he had not even suggested one word against her
character, which must, therefore, be taken as entirely
blameless and unimpeachable. It might be said that this
witness was under the influence of her priest—that she
was told it would be for the glory of God and
the Church to come forward and give evidence,
and that the whole case had been got up by the priests,
in order to put down Dr. Achilli. This was the way in
which the evidence against Dr. Achilli, both personal
and documentary, was to be met. They would, perhaps,
be told that it was a rale of the Jesuits, that where the
advancement of the Roman Catholic religion was con-
cerned, the sacredness of the end justified the wicked-
ness of the means; that so great was Italian perfidy, that
these Italian witnesses ought not to be believed. But
on whose oath were they to be convicted of falsehood?
Was Dr. Achilli not an Italian; was he not educated by
the Jesuits, and initiated in all the corruptions and
artifices which were ascribed to that well known com-
munity; was he not a subtle disputant and an ingenious
casuist, brought up among monks, priests, anefriars?
Though he was far from saying that one might judge a
man's heart by his physiognomy and appearance, yet, if
Dr. Achilli had come into the box with a monks
cowl, instead of wearing the simple garb of a Pre-
testant, it would, probably, have struck them that
the man and the habit were not altcgether
unsuited to each other. He, therefore, claimed for
these simple peasants just as much credit as would
be given to an Italian priest like Dr. Achilli. Another
test for judging the value of the evidence adduced by
either party, was the interest which the witnesses had
in coming into the box. Could the young women who
had been debauched have an interest in proclaiming
their dishonour before the public? L might be alleged
they had been suborned, but, however, the jury might
differ in opinion with Dr. Newman, nothing had been
shown to affect his honour or morality. Looking at the
interest on the opposite side, it was apparent that every-
-1 thing Dr. Achilli had in the world, was at stake, and
no doubt an appeal to their sympathies would be made
by his Learned Friend on that ground. Whether he
had been dismissed from the Roman Catholic Church
or had quitted it of his own free will, it was clear he
had shut out all hope of emolument or advancement in
that quarter. In this country he was now a Protestant
clergyman belonging to a body whose object was to ob-
tain proselytes from Roman Catholicism, and who had
looked upon him as a great shining light in
the Protestant Church that might be the
means of obtaining many conversions. To his
utility in that respect his moral character was absolutely
essential. If that chart tater was injured, there was an
end of Dr. Achilli in this country, and of all those plea-
sant prospects which no doubt stood before him. The
result of the trial was to him, therefore, of the most
vital and deepest importance. The other witnesses had
no interest when compared with Dr. Achilli; and the
jury could not, without the most serious consideration,
come to the conclusion that in swearing to the acts com-
mitted by him they were perjured, and disentitled to
credit. The Learned Counsel then adverted to the case
of Principe, who, it will be recollected, swore to being
deflowered by Dr. Achilli in the sacristy of the church,
and contended that every circumstance connected with
the affair confirmed the truth of the woman's statement.
Neither on her nor her mother had he thrown the slight-
est imputation, though, if their character and lives
offered any reason for disbelieving their testimony, Dr.
Achilli had ample opportunities of proving it. A charge
against a monk of violating a virgin child of 14 in a .
church was too serious a ma:ter even to be hushed in Na-
ples, where it was said, as long as a man observed the ex-
ternals of religion the criminality and dissoluteness of his
life was of little consequence. The scandal that got
into circulation about the matter was so great that not
even the protection of his friends, both civil and ecclee
siastical, could ward of, and proceedings were ac-
cordingly- instituted before the police. But Dr. Achilli
never once confronted the parties before the commissary,
and showed a pecular indifference to the charge. His
conduct led to ono of two inferencee, either that he
evinced a gross and total indifference to decency and mo-
rality, or that he was so conscious of the justice of the
compla'nts made by the unfortunate girl and her injured
family, that he dreaded denying the truth of the accu-
sation to their face. In Naples the Church stood high,
and the priests were exalted, and there was naturally an
indisposition by the authorities to silence calumnies
against priests; but, after hearing the simple, artless
tale of the girl, he was so satisfied with its truth that he
sent her away, and left the case to take its course is
other tribunals. In the meantime Dr. Achilli remained
silent, gave no reparation or redress to his victim, and
ultimately left to pursue what he called his sacred mis-
sion in other places. Yet now, when she whose brow
he had indelibly fixed with shame and disgrace, came into
the box, he sought to brand her with the infamy and
guilt of perjury. The Learned Counsel then adverted
t) the conduct of Dr. Achilli at Curie, and to his con-
nexion with Garamoni's wife; to his establishing a Pro.
testant Church at Zante, and employing the woman
Coriboni, a reputed woman of the town, as door-keeper,
and her husband, who was a chorus•singer, as his
clerk to read prayers; to these persons being servants in
his own house; to his being seen taking indecent liber-
ties with the woman, and to his refusing to dismiss
either of them from his service when the congregation
complained. He next animadverted on Dr. Achilli's
proceedings at Malta college, observing that though the
managers of that establishment looked upon him as a
valuable accession to Protestantism, and as a great gain
from the enemy, they could not shut their eyes to his
practices. lie had been dismissed from that college for
shielding from an inquiry the conduct of another converted
monk who was accused of immorality and incontinence.
But whatever might have been the conduct of Dr.
Achilli abroad, it would surely be expected that he
would have led a different life when he married and
arrived in London. He took a house in Shaftesbury-
terrace, and the first thing he did was to solicit the
chastity of his servant maid, but she effectually resisted
her statement was true it
his attempts. If threw much
light en his earlier history; for a Protestant minister who
had entered the holy atate of matrimony was so forgetful of
his duty as to commit aduhery,they
might easily imagine
how stria ly he kept • his vows as a Roman Catholio
priest. This girl was not a Catholic, and no person
would be so infatuated as to believe she had been bought
over by Dr. Newman, and he thought the jury would
not hesitate to rely on her testimony. Another servant,
Legge, swore that Dr. Achilli had connextion with her.
No doubt she had been a person of bad character, but
her candour went to show that she was not a wit-
ness to be wholly distrusted. On being asked
about her child, she said it was one in
whom many fathers bad shared; she honestly
stated what she thought, and did not attempt to fix the
paternity on Dr. Achilli or any other particular indivi-
dual. The girl Wood was the next witnese, whout
de-
posed to the Doctor forcibly violating her persorasch
it
was endeavoured to shake her evidence by the
and was
she had been seduced at the early age of trusted,
however, now supposed to be a Roman Catholic He
however, the jury, in administering
to be stopped
le not allow
Protestants and Roman Catholics,
dwou y
d b prejudice,
justice between
their understandings to be
bigotry. He cared
or the access to their intel
by fanaticism and
-r- itself, whether noti
clouded
er y
on which side that spirit manifestedFotestants, or P •
Roman Catholics against
He trusted that ' roiestanis
against
Roman Catholics. adminis-
teringwould hold the
scales evenly, and
justice they
shaken by the h • h
them tot of religious
not permit be
appealed to their
zeal or passion. as
men
and sense of justice,
and to their Christiansfeelings as to deal fairly
rtiee, rememberin
between the Pa . g that however great a
h and
ligious fait zeal was
thing re
deares
9justice was one of the
earliest born and emanations from God and religion.
After dealing indetail with other t. o
evi-
dence, the Learned Counsel concluded hisaddress by a
very eloquent and stirring
peroration. He said he felt
from the first that in this case he had great disadvan-
tages to contend against. They had before them two
great champions of
had been con__
tee( from Opposite Churches, both of whom
ve m the faith which they
originally professed, and who endeavoured to
prove the excellence of the church to which
they now belonged. He had hoped that the
• •
_apt of religious contention would never again be re-
kindled in this country; that having long slept and
slumbered, it had sunk into perpetual oblivion; that the
Roman Catholic with his upraised cross, and the Pro-
testant with his Bible, would not enter the arena
for the purpose of obtaining dominion over the
intellect of mankind. He said God prosper
the truth on the present trial. Those
feelings had been recently rekindled with an energy,
perhaps, unknown in our times. Religious dissension
had been, as it were, concentrated into a focus, in order
that a decision might be arrived at between the two
great conflicting principles. He could not con-
ceal from his mind that religious opinion
might bias the judgment of the jury. The