The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-09 00:00:00

S TAMPED

Catholic Convents.

We are requested to publish the following cor
respondence :

Birmingham, March 6.
Sir,—Although I have not the advantage of your per-
sonal acquaintance, your speech of last Friday in the
Rouse of Commons on the subject orconvents and your
direct use of my name justify me in addressing you.
You have spoken of two communities of ladies---the one
your neighbours in North Warwickshire, the other not
very far off in North Staffordshire. Of these ladies, though
deserving ae high respect as any of your countrywomen,
you spoke in a way that nothing short of having been
blinded by more designing persons can possibly palliate.
I have been the ecclesiastical superior of one of these com-
munities for 18 years and of the other since its foundation;
and after carefully reading the Times' report of your speech
I solemnly, and with full knowledge of the facts, declare
that there is not a statement in it, so far as it concerns
those convents, which is not substantially erroneous in
what it directly or by implication alleges against them.
In the one convent referred to, whatever caves or cellars
there may be were built by Lord Tamworth, the former
owner of the house, for domestic purposes, and have been
used for no other ever since. The other convent nearer your
residence happens also to be built on inclined ground ; and
as Dr. Newman was compelled to say in defence of his own
Oratory in 1851, " Catholics have a predilection for hori-
zontal floors." A large structure like a convent so situated
necessitates a considerable cellarage. But in every form
and shape of denial I deny that in any part of those esta-
blishments there are or ever have been, whether under or
above ground, cells or cellars, apartments, or contrivances
of any kind, for the purpose or use of locking up or detain-
ing, or in any way restraining the personal liberty of nuns,
or any other persons whatever. I equally deny that any
nun has ever been put into any.bonds or chains or anything
of the sort ; or that bars, grates, or locks have ever been
used, except to keep out thieves and intruders; or except to
separate the internal from the domestic part of the establish-
ment during the night; or to part the chancel of the church
from the choir of the nuns, for which purpose there is a
metal screen that any one may See. There is also one
room arranged for private interviews upon occasion be-
tween members of the community and their spiritual direc-
tors, and, consequently, parted into compartments by a
wooden screen.
I believe that the story about a nun having been seen in
a wooden cage has been suggested by the sight of this par-
lour; and 1 believe that the other story about a nun hav-
ing been seen in chains, which I was recently challenged
to contradict, originated from the simple faet that every
nun carries a large rosary suspended by her side; a jingling
sound from the links of such a rosary may have been heard
while some nun waiting in the confessional was using it at
her prayers, though it could not have been seen, even by
persons passing into the vestry of the church, where the
laity are admitted.
The history of the removal of the ladies who formerly
occupied the convent in North Warwickshire is untrue in
every point. Those excellent persons were once a flourish-
ing community in Belgium, but had become reduced ;in
numbers to a very few aged members ; the house was too
large for their needs, and they sold it to the present occu-
pants, s,and retired to a smaller house in another part of the
country.
Thestory of the lady who left her convent and came to
Birmingham is mis-stated from beginning to end ; I published
an authentic statement of the facts in the newspapers at the
time of the occurrence, which possibly has not come under
your notice. The simple facts are these :—A lady who had
been for many years a voluntary and contented member of
the community, petitioned her superiors for leave to pass
into a more austere order, on the plea of gaining greater
spiritual perfection. Being one day at the convent on busi-
ness, the question was referred to me. On what I con-
ceived to be prudential grounds I counselled her to remain
by preference under the milder observance to which she
was habituated. I supposed the matter settled, and gave it
no more thought. But after my return to Birmingham that
night, to my utter surprise that lady came soon after to my
house, having travelled in the same train with me without
my knowing it. She told me she had left the convent un-
known to the community, as any member of it might easily
do, and had followed me to entreat that I would facilitate her
transition to amore austere community, assuring me that she
had not a complaint to make, but that she earnestly wished
the change. I then said that consideration for her family and
for all concerned required that this should be doneinuplrd go
proper
order, and that as she was bent upon it, if she wef h
back, I would return with her, and arrangethseereeanae
stly desired.
And going to the Cistercian Institute as she
updeeaspsyaateththede
suAndddeknndowiisanpgpetahraatnteeheefceonmemeufntihtyefrwmoeuilndhbe
eL
a o in-
quiry
i
took place, and it was
tary instance.l
a telegram to inform them that I was on the point of re-
turning in company with her.
The privacy of the telegraph
n officed to h have beensabused,
not an
In short, the result of the inquiry, as re-
ported to me by an officer of the company, differed in
several particulars from that which you, Sir, have stated
in Parliament.
After those events hired spies were set about the esta-
blishment for weeks. An institution contrary to the spirit
of the British constitution was brought into play; a per-
son, who keeps what is called a " Private Inqui,"
was sent to ply his disgraceful trade among thery-office working people employed by the convent. Ilad there been anything
to be discovered it must have been found out, and the pub-

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I`wards, on return from Can ada, and on marriage, by Gen.
Sir -Alexander Woodford, G.C.B.
Lieut. Col, E. J. Rickards, Bengal Staff Corps, on return
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from India, by Major Gen. G. St. P. Lawrence, C.B.
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the Secretary of State for India.
7R.thaslllm.Ytnander
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Commander-in-Chief.
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Bri Ens
deign Cecil St. Paul on appointment to the Rifle
ga, by Lieut. Gen. the Hon. Charles Grey.
Capt. H. Sandham, by Major General Sandham, Royal
Engineers.
Captain Robert Sandham, Royal Artillery, on promo.
Lion, by *Major General Sandham, Royal Engineers.
2d Lieut. J. H. Sandwith, Royal Marine Light Infantry,
on appointment, by Major General A. B. Stransham, In.
spector General Royal Marines.
The Hon. St. Vincent Saumarez, Cornet 14th Hussars,
on appointment, by his father, Lord de Saumarez.
Mr. Hall Say, by the Earl of Abingdon.
Sir John Sebright, Bart., by the Right Hon. J. W. Fitz-
patrick.
Major General Francis Seymour, C. 8., on promotion, by
Lieut. General Lord Rokeby, K.C.B.
Lieut. H. G. F. Siddons, Royal Artillery, on appoint-
ment, by Col. G. Gambier, C.B.
Second Lieut. Philip Sidney, Royal Marine Light In-
fantry, on appointment, by Major Gen. A. B. Stransham,
Inspector Gen. Royal Marines.
Staff Assistant Surgeon Frank Simpson, by Dr. J. B.
Gibson, C. 8., Director General of the Army Medical De-
partment.
Lieut. James Simpson, Royal Engineers, on appoint-
ment, by Gen. Sir John Burgoyne, Bart., G.C.B:„..laspector
General of Engineers. -11',... : - • Capt. Gerard Smith, Scots Fusilier Guards, on return
from Canada, by Gen Sir Alex. Woodford, G.C.B.
Mr. Tasker Smith, her Majesty's Consul, Savannah, by
Earl Russell, K.G.
Lieut. Arthur K. Southey, 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers,
by the Adjutant General.
Capt. Sussex Vane Stephenson, Scots Fusilier Guards,
on return from Canada and appointment as Adjutant, by
Gen. Sir Alex. Woodford, G.C.B.
Col. Fredk. Chas. Arthur Stephenson, C. 8., Scots Fusi-
lieorodforr Guards, on return from Canada, by Gen. Sir
.Aaex., Wd.
Col Capt. A. A. Stewart, Royal Artillery, on promotion, by
. G. Gambier, C.B.
Major Robt. Stewart, 2d Queen's, on appoin .
traenz as
Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General to the Forces, by Lieut.-
Gen. Sir James Yorke Scarlett, K.C.8., Adjutant.Generai.
Lieut. and Adjutant J. Straghan, Royal I;farine Light
Infantry, on appointment, by Major-GenerPA A. B. Strati-
sham, Inspector-General Royal Marines.
Viscount Strangford, by the Marquis (I,f Sligo.
Lieut.-Col. Crichton Stuart, on his, marriage, by Sir
Hamilton Seymour.
Rear-Admiral T. M. C. Symonds% C.B, on his appoint-
ment as Superintendent of H.M. Aoe,kyard, Devonport, by
the Duke of Somerset.
Mr. Taylor, on his marriage, by the Earl of Fife.
Major-General A. J. Taylor, or., appointment as Inspec-
tor-General of Artillery, by H..Ral. the Duke of Cambridge.
Lieut.-Col. Scott Thomson, on appointment to the com-
mand of 14th Hussars, by Lip,jor-General Hodge, C.B.
Lieut. H. G. Thornton, 'Grenadier Guards, on appoint-
ment, by H.R.H. the Du7.4cri of Cambridge.
Lieut. F. R. Twynar.o., Royal Artillery, on proceeding on
foreign service, by C 41., G. Gambier, C.B.
Vice-Admiral S'.r 33aldwin W. Walker, on return from
foreign service, by ate Duke of Somerset.
Capt. H. J. Wallf.o-
- on appointment to the Hon. Corps
of Gentlemen-at,Arms, by the Right Hon. Lord Foley.
Mr. Edmund. -Wright Westby, by Mr. Hoggins, Q.C.
Lieut. the, Ron. Digby Wentworth B. Willoughby, Scots
Fusilier Cintly•ds, on appointment, by Gen. Sir Alexander
Woodford, G.C.B.
Connnender Arthur Wing, Royal Navy, on his promo-
tion P..nd return from foreign service, by his Grace the Duke
of F2lomerset.
Col. Wright, Deputy-Inspector of Volunteers, on ap-
pointment, by Earl de Grey and Ripon.
Col. Wynyard, Grenadier Guards, on promotion, by
H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge.

3, Arlington-street, Piccadill, March 7.
Reverend Sir,—Your letter of the 6th of March reached
me at 9.15 p.m. last night. I might fairly, as a member of
the House of Commons, plead the privilege of the house
against any further explanation or proof of the truth of
what I stated on Friday last in my place, and I feel some
hesitation in giving any further explanation, since the
house refused to appoint a committee to inquire into the
facts which I alleged. You, reverend sir, do not stand in
a very favourable position when you seem to feel compelled
to suggest an inquiry into the facts I alleged ever since the
debates upon the Ecclesiastical Titles Act in 1851. The
direct action of the hierarchy with which you aro connected
through or upon the Roman Catholic members of the House
of Commons has been obvious to every member of the house
who has taken an interest in such questions as that de-
bated on Friday last.
Lord Edward Howard, whom you suggest as a party to
the private inquiry you propose, voted against the inquiry
by a committee of the House of Commons, for which I
moved. So did Sir George Bowyer, while MI. Pope Hen-
nessy and Mr. Vincent Scully both spoke and voted against
the inquiry, as I believe did every other Roman Catholic
member present on the division.
Had you, and the hierarchy with which you are con-
nected, used your influence in favour of the legitimate in-
quiry I proposed, I have no doubt that the Rouse of Com-
mons would have appointed a proper tribunal to undertake
it, since 79 members voted for my motion, and only 106,
including members of the Government, against it.
I utterly refuse to be any party to the private inquiry you
propose.
I publicly named you, because I knew that you assumed
to be the superior of the convents I mantloned, a fact which
in your letter you admit, and that you are responsible for
the return of the lady to the convent at Colwich, from
Which you do not deny that she had escaped.
You appeal to me as a gentleman, as a magistrate, and
as a member of the House of Commons. In each of those
capacities I refuse to avail myself of the authority over
these convents which you assume, in order to intrude upon
their inmates the sort of extra-judicial inquiry you suggest,
in the manner you propose.
But you aro resident in Birmingham, and in the House
of Commons I alluded to two convents in North Warwick..
shire, andl shall not permit your interpretaion of what you
suppose that I said to pass without explanation on my part.
You have trusted to the report of what I said which is
given in the Times newspaper. That report is less full and
therefore less accurate than the reports in the Standard and
Morning Post newspapers. The report in the Times does
not contain the documents which I read in the house. I
regret this, and am not aware that I am in any way account-
able for the omission. But I see that in all the reports there
is a confusion as to the convents in North Warwickshire to
which I alluded. And this is not unnatural, for when I
was speaking of them there was a noise made at the end of
the house towards the bar on the side on which I sit. These
interruptions are not uncommon, and I turned my head
from the reporters to see from whom this noise proceeded.
I alluded first to the convent at Princethorp, with respect
to the doors fixed in the underground cells, or cellars, if
you so please to describe these underground apartments of
that convent, and to the locks placed upon those doors
during the construction of that convent, with respect to
which I received detailed information from the late Mr.
Charles Ball, master builder, at Nuneaton. I mentioned
this information in the House of Commons first during the
debate on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill in 1851, and then in
1853, during the debate on the introduction of Mr. Cham-
ber's Bill for the Inspection of Convents. You were then
superior of that convent. My assertion was never dis-
proved, and I must remind you that in an investigation
such as I proposed on Friday last mere unsupported denial
would carry little weight. _
I next alluded to the attempted escape from the convent
atAtherstone, and to the fact that 15ewt. of iron stancheons
or bars were immediately after the attempt to escape fixed
to the windows of that convent, and to the subsequent re-
moval of the community of nuns who inhabited that con-
vent. You do not deny the last of these facts, but account
for it in your own way. When I stated these facts as con-
nected with this convent in the debate in 1853 the facts
were denied by some Roman Catholic members in the house,
but the impression produced by the statement of them,
taken together with the other facts at that time alleged,
couldhave had little weight with the house, for the majority
seemed to think, with the late Mr. Drummond, that the
power of denial on the part of some Roman Catholic mem-
bers of the house was on these subjects so wonderful that
the house decided to consider a measure for testing these
denials by the establishment of an inspection of convents.
My residence is notmore than six miles from Atherstone,
and I had made an investigation into the facts I alleged on
the spot before I ventured to state them to the house.
Thus much I have replied with respect to the convents
in North Warwickshire, of which I am one of the
representatives in Parliament, and within which I act as a
conventein
magistrate.
sub-
mitted Staffordshire. In
based
up
onconclusionaffiAdHlavitrheetvsteinlrteltioyd
ptwihoestshecsreosnisin,ottwtohiatethhaCowtlwerei
mitted to the late Mr, Justice Wightman, as a judge in the
Court of Queen's Bench, and upon the narrative of the
from the convent occurrences and t conversationat Colwich,
whenwith telereennirmn
thweheeonevsecanr
atd
Winburn, by direction of the judge. I possess an account
of that interview and conversation written by one of three
present, all
afror
sf
signatures.ws
ihnoc
since
t haveheevaetnt
tess tec
odn tnheec
thaccd
uracwithythoef
viintspoessonesnseicoten
dof:rlttehpttatryease,ex
anid-
wuthneetignbyuhnttyhweehom you took back to the convent at
persons
etshcisattpiaescnocfoo
nations
ehanoccd
eufrrtehde.
alffiadam
of a plan of the buildings and of the grounds around that
convent made at that time and supported by the evidence.
I know not what alterations may have been subse-
quently made ; all traces of them, if any have been made,
are by this time, probably, so far obliterated as to render
the discovery of any such alterations almost impossible
during the casual visit you propose.
The grass must have grown for years over the graves
within the precincts of that convent, and the inscriptions
connected with some of them are probably effaced.
No, rev. sir, I will be no party to any such extra-judicial
inquiry as you propose. Your letter, though bearing sem-
blance of fairness, is artistically written. There is a con-
fusion as to times and places in ft which warns me to be no
party to any partial or local inquiry into the subject of the
evidence which I possess with respect to the convent at
Colwich, and from which I spoke on Friday last.
You have assumed an authority dangerous from its ex-
tent in this country ; you may think it right to do so, but
you must abide the consequences of having so done, Yog
will neither.dissuade nor deter me from seeking the exten-
sion of the legitimate legal protection pf the civil power t
this Protestant country to the inmates of the convent*