The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-21 00:00:00

him to adopt that course. He would, theref4re, wait
taril he heard the evidence on the part of the defnice,
•13,:f0r0 ho would call any witnesses in support of Dr.
ease, pledging hhnaelf to produce, among
other,, Dr. Aa illi, and to submit him to the most;
searclung examination of his Learned Friend cn
the other side. Dr. Achil!i wos perfectly awaro
of the difficulties which surrounded him, but he
would calmly and fearlessly await the result, being as-
sured that, though a foreigner, he would receive that ina-
p,rtial justice which invariably distinguished British
juries. He knew be must stand or fall by the result of
the trial.
John Waltman, clerk to the prosecutor's attorney,
produced the rule of the court of 17th November, 1851.
Mr. Sergeant kVILKINS requested that the witnesses
should be ordered out of court.
Sir F. THEsicEn hoped Dr. Achill weal:; be allowed
to remain, as it was of the greatest consequence he
should hear the evidence,

Mr. Servant WILKINS said he filt it necessary to re-
quest is absence.
Lord CAMPBELL —Then the prosecutor must leave the
court-

S-r J. E. CeCKBURN then addressed the jury on
the roe-, of the (et-axe, and observed that, though
the 11 sme of religions controversy had leen raised
in this ca o, he trusted the jury would divest
their mieds of all prejudices and partialities,
and do justice hstracen these two parties, who
were the great chseipioni of two antagonistic Churches.
irh n a Roman Catholic became a convert to the Pro
tevant faith, they were gene! ally disposed to consider
he had yielded to the force of reason, truth, and light,
and if his motives were called into question they would
become his wivocates and supporters; but take a man
who had seceded from the Protestant Church and gene
over to Rome, and they would look upon him as a de-
serter and an i:npostor, and if his conduct were
questioned, they would ascribe it to baser and more
sordid motives. Both Dr. Achilli and Dr. Newman
e-ere converts, apostates, who had abandoned the
faith in which they were originally brought up, and
become converts to the opposite church. He (the
Learned Counsel) admitted that if the charges made
against Dr. Achilli could not be substantiated
she defendant would be guilty of a very grave and
serious offence. Ho should, however, show that they
were not made without good grounds, and that in
making them Dr. Newman was not gratifying any spite
or vindictive feeling against Dr. Achilli. It would be
asked, then, why he thus attacked the character of that
gentleman? Dr. Achilli presented himself before the
public as a person who could reveal the secrets of the
dungeons of the Inquisition; he held up to odium the
practises of the Raman Catholic faith, and said, "
hold a monk and priest who has become a convert to
Protestantism, and who is now no longer under the con-
trol or subject to the abominations of the Church of
Rome." His language against the church he had left
was of the strongest character; he denounced not only
its doctrines, but also the corruptions of the clergy, the
dissoluteness of their lives, and the abomiaations
of their practices. He said Popo Gregory de-
ceived the people with a belief not for the
benefit of their souls, but his own private gains. Of
course it could not be expected that he would speak more
considerately of less distinguished members of the
Church. From the Pope on his throne' to the very lowest
priest, the general rule, according to his description, was
wickedness and licentiousness, and purity and virtue the
solitary and rare exception. If these statements were
true, it was no doubt important to mankind and the
Christian world that they should be made known to the
public; but, on the other hand, if they were wholly
false and scandalous, it became the duty of every Roman
Catholic to vindicate his Church from the aspersions cast
upon it, provided he had it in his power to do so.
It naturally occurred to Dr. Newman to inquire who this
Dr. Achilli was who held up to odium the church to
which he formerly belonged—whether he was a
person worthy of belief, and whose testimony
might be safely relied upon. Both good sense
and experience of mankind suggested to Dr. Newman
the propriety of ascertaining what really were the ante-
cedents and motives of the man who thus apostatised
from the Roman Catholic faith. This led to inquiry,
and the result was that Dr. Newman gave publicly en
account of ;the practices and conduct of Dr. Achilli,
with full detail as to time, place, and circumstance; and
ho was now prepared to vindicate the truth of every•
statement he had advanced. There could be no ques-
tion that from his youth Dr. Achilli was eminently dis-
tinguished for his great abilities, learning, and eloquence,
but still that was notirreconcileable with the immorality
of his private life. The Learned Counsel then adverted
to the libels, and asserting that he should be in a
postion to prove the truth of every one of them,
he gave a detailed history of Dr. Achilli's
antecedents, commencing from the period when
he entered the priesthood until ho first avowed himself
a Protestant, mentioning, among other acts of mis-
conduct, that he had seduced three young ladies,
two of whom he should call into the box, and also de-
bauched several married women, and the notoriety of his
incontinence led to proceedings being taken. But these
charges were not confined to the time he was resident
in Italy, for after he arrived in England and, indeed,
since we had become a married man, he attempted
to violate the person of a servant girl in the house in
which he lodged; he did not succeed in that attempt,
but, he regretted to say, that in two other instances two
persons in the same position of life had been seduced by
him. Under all these circumstances, Dr. Newman was
justified in asking, who and what Dr. Achilli was,
and whether he had been guilty of such serious out-
rages against religien, morality, and propriety.
Eleanor Guistini was then called. She was 40 years
of age, and was now married. She was married two
years ago. She now lived in Viterbo, where she had
been since her birth. She knew the Dominican Convent
there, and was acquainted with Dr. Achilli, who was a
monk of that convent. She went to that convent when
he called her; that was about twenty-three years ago,
when she was about 17 or 18 years old. She saw Dr.
Achilli at the convent; he " deflowered" her at that
time. She was a virgin. The occurrence took place in

the sacristry. She h-ad been alone in his company in
other places. She was then in the service of Signora
Gtntilli, who was acquainted with Dr. Achilli, who had
been resident in her master's house about a month. He
had used liberties with her before the occurrence in the
sacristy. She bad walked with him alone, and at his
invitation. It was, a custom for servants in Italy to
confess, and he requested her to go to the sacristy for
that purpose. Bticbas there alone, she was obliged to
consent to what took place. He commenced assaulting her
when she was at SignoraGentilli's country house. The same
circumstance that took place in the sacristy took place
some time afterwards, and was renewed, once in the
convent, and twice in a house. She asked him if there
was no sin in it, and he replied there was not.—
(Laughter.) She told him there was hell in it, and he
said " not at all," or otherwise it would be quite full.
Cross-examined by Sir F. TRESIGER—I arrived in
this country on Thursday last. I left Viterbo six
months ago. I have been residing since at Paris, Dover,
and some other places between Dover and London. A
lady accompanied me from Viterbo, named Madame
Rosina di Berns. My husband also came with me. I
lived three months at Paris, and arrived at Dover in
May. It was at the request of a lawyer that I came
from Viterbo to London, but I cannot recollect his
name. Before leaving I saw my priest, the Cm& and he
said I might come. Signor Rainaggi is his name. I
have seen a priest in London, but I did
not say anything to him of this matter.
Dr. Achilli went to Signora Gentilh's villa to pass a
month in the country; there was no other servant in the
house. The family consisted of two men besides Sig-
nora Gentilli; it was a very retired house. He solicited
my chastity the first time I Walked out with him; he
took me to a place for shootirig birds, to show me two
members of the family shooting. I did not see the shoot-
ing, but Dr. Achilli took me into a shepherd's hut, and
solicited my chastity, but I positively denied him. I then
considered that to do so would be a sin. I afterwards
walked home with him, but I told what had taken place to
my confessor, the curate of the parish.l never walked with
him again iu the country. On another occasion he solicited
my chastity. This was in the lady's house. He told
me not to go to bed as he would come to me, because
he wished me to get by heart a panegyric in praise of
Cecilia, which was to be delivered in a few days.-
-(Laughter.) I went to bed, having previously locked
the door. He came and knocked at the door gently,
but I did not answer him. I said next morning I would
leave the place, but I did not tell Signora Gentilli how
I had been disturbed. I left Signora Gentelli's service
after Dr. Achilli had returned to the convent.
[The trial was proceeding when our reporter loft.]

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH-COAST
RAILWAY.
Traffic—Week ending June 19, 1852 ... £10,752 9 6
Traffic—Week ending June 21, 1851 ... 12,537 15 0
Total of the half-year, to this date, 1852 ... 225,889 19 4
Total of the half-year, to this date, 1851 ... 231,248 15 1
Total number of Passengers—Week ending
June 19, 1812 ... 67,699
... £8,577 6 3

Passengers ...
Goods ...

2;175 3 3

Total ... ... £10,752 9 6
Total miles open. 1852, 173 w; ditto, 1851, 173%.
London Terminus, June 21, 1852. ,

PROBABLE ARRIVAL OF THE COURT AT OSBORNE.
—PORTSMOUTH, SHNDAY.—It is considered probable that
he
r Majesty, Prince Albert, and the Courter
Osborne
ex
about the 4th of July n will remove
to
all ready for service. We havealreadyt. The
alluded
twosuperb
state
tand
bargesbeautiful
and
other order,
boatsorliwaettamclaayed
royalto yachts
their
haerier
ntoowtheadtdoyathl at
yachtsthe
yachtsare equallyan d baosataw
haveell
fitted,
always painted,boen mostand de
superior,cc ratedt. n t The‘vo
have never seen them so brilliant and
tastefully brought out
they areturned o
at
d a
nof Victoriatheaetain and Albert
Captain Johnson, the
as
have been
superintendent, swung her compasses on y, and on Sa-
turday he swung the compasses of the Fairy.
vessel, with Master-Commander Welsh, went rto
The
latter
Shit-
head on Friday to test the screw and machinery.
LITER A P.Y TiIEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.—The
' nutnb,r of literary men in the Douse of Commons has al.:
ways been comparatively small, and the pressure of business
there has increased so much in modern times, that it would
interfere greatly with the leisure required by authors. Lord
mahoe, Mr. Disraeli. and Mr. Gladstone are the only promi-
nent authors now in the House of Commo
erns. B
interest,lost
of its greatest ornaments. Sir Bulwer Lytton, it is said, is
likely to gain his election for Herts. The death of Mr. Sheil,
and the promotion to the Bench of Sir T. N. Tallourd,
have been further losses to the literary M.P.'s, who Certainly
need some additions in an age when education is so promi-
nent a topic of discussion.— Atheneum.
'fur, DissourioN.—Parli iment will be prorogued,
as at present arranged, en Thursday, July 1, and dissolved on
the following day. It is not her ..,ajesty's intention to pro-
rogue ParliaMent in person. The Queen's Speech and the
Royal Assent to the remaining Bills will becommunicated by
Lords Commissioners.—Sunday Paper.
Mrs. Disraeli will have
a large assembly on Wed-
Away next.