The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-07 00:00:00

OUTRAGE AT A CONVENT.

( Abridged from the Dublin Evening Post! of Tuesday.)
HENRY-STREET POLICE-OFFICE.—CONINIITTAI. To PRI-
SON OF TIM REV. TRF.SIIANI DAMES GREGG FOR CONTEMPT
OF COURT, AND REFUSING TO am BAlL.—lesterdar, at au
early hour, the neighbourhood of Henry-street office wa
crowded _ by persons of all ages cad SeXe3, the Rev. T.
D. Gregg, and two other persons, having been summoner'
for an outrage committed at the convent on George's-hill
So early as eleven o'clock the office was thronged to the
greatest excess. The crowd in the street had by thi
time increased to an enormous extent ; at least from four
to five thousand persons had assembled, and it was fount'
necessary to call out the assistance of the cavalry and in-
fantry police to preserve order and keep a passage in thi
street. At twelve o'clock, Mr. Gregg and his two friends
entered the office with Mr. Bowen Thompson. Dr.
Kelly shortly after entered, and took his seat on the bench.
Mr. Curran then said, he appeared there as Counse
on the part of the ladies and Prioress of George's-hill
Convent, against the three persons now at the bar, %h-
-were summoned for having assaulted Miss Ruth Hanna',
Wiley, and for having used threatening language to Mrs.
Delphini Phepoc, the Prioress of said Convent. It was
well-known fact theta Convent of the Presentation Order 01
Nuns had existed in George's-hill, in this city, for the his
seventy-five years. The ladies of this house had esta-
blished and maintained a school for the education o'
orphans and other destitute children. One of the presen
complainants, Miss Wiley, was the daughter of respectable
parents, and having lost her father, who was a Protestant,
she was thrown ou the world, and when she came to the
age of discretion she chose to follow another faith, as she
had a perfect right to do, being of an age capable 04
judging for herself. She having taken this course, applies
to the ladies of the convent to be admitted into the house,
but they told bur she must have the consent of her friends
before they took her into the house. She then went away
and came again on last Ash Wednesday, whets she
was admitted. The nuns did nothing in this business but
accept of the young lady, as she was totally unprovided
for, nor did they act in any way to provoke the ire of any
of the friends of this young girl, much less that of a perfect
stranger to the whole family of the Wily's. On Friday even
ing last, Mr. Gregg, in company with Mr. Wiley, the elder
and his nephew, came to the convent between the hours
of five and six o'clock, and on that occasion Mr, Gregg
made use of the most foul and disgusting epithets against
what he was pleased to term the Popish contamination of
convents. He called the prioress a liar, and made use of
other language calculated to hurt the feelings of any re-
spectable lady. The young lady was forcibly dragged
from the convent, and Mr. Gregg stood looking on aid.
ing and abetting the act; the people in the neighbour-
hood were sttracted by the cries of the young woman,
and when they succeeded in getting her from the hands
of Wily, the younger, Mr. Gregg called the house
an idolatrous mass-house, and said it was a den of prosti-
tution, and that the inmates were all a set of —, and
that all who entered it would be damned to hell. He
(Mr. Curran) had another charge against him for libel,
which he would bring forward in another place, but for the
present he would content himself by reading a document
published by Mr. Gregg.
Mr. Gregg—l acknowledge this document.
Dr. Kelly—Mr. Curran, do you intend to give this de-
cument
in evidence? Mr. Curran—Yes. Mr. Gregg
admits it.

Mr. Gregg—l do admit it to be mine.
Mr. Curran then read the document, which was printed
in the shape of a letter, and referred to the case in question.
Miss Ruth Hannah Wily, examined by Mr. Curran—l
am fifteen years of age; my father is dead; I applied to
get into the convent last Ash Wednesday ; the reason I
made that application was my religion ; they received me
after a great deal to do ; I called three times before I was
taken in ; they made inquiries about me ; I remained there
since last Ash Wednesday; all my friends had access to
me, and Ito them ; I went in and out as I pleased ; I
went to see my mother twice; no one was prevented to
see me ; my mother was not satisfied at first, but when she
saw I was inclined for it she agreed to .it; she had access
to me, and I to her ; saw my brother in the convent last
Friday evening; he asked me different questions; he
asked did I know those around me, and was I not ashamed
of myself? he then told me I must go home; I said I
would not ; he pulled me out, and I caught hold of the
rails in the street, and refused to go ; he forced me into the
street against my will ; I cried out, then ; I saw Mr.
Gregg and my uncle in the street; my uncle said, " Are
you not a nice lady ?" My brother said, " Look to the
time they took to strip her of her damnable beats;" when
I was going back, after they let me go in, Gregg said,
" You are going back to hell, and you will be damned ;" I
said I am at liberty to go where I please, and I do not
wish to go home.

Mr. Gregg—Did you imagine any bodily fear from ate ?
Witness—l know nothing at all about you.
Mr. Richard Weird!. examined—Was present on Fri-
day evening; saw a tall young man dragging a girl out,
and another girl told me not to let the girl go; Gregg
was in the crowd, and told the girl not to go back, as her
soul would be damned, and that the priests were
sionaries from the devil : the young lady refused to go with
the young man, and I asked her three times was she satis-
fied to go ? she said she was not, and I then interfered,
and said the girl should not go with her brother; Gregg
then went off for a car; I took the girl from the young
man, and she ran back into the convent ; the two Wilys
then went off, and I saw no more about it.

Mr. Gregg then proceeded to address the Bench. He
said it was to be presumed that he was incapable of using
so foul language as that attributed to him. He did not be-
lieve the inmates of the house were what was stated. He
spoke against them as a strong-hold of superstition and
idolatry, and this he had a right to do, as he believed con-
vents to be dens of superstition, and he, as a clergyman,
sworn to uphold the Books of Homilies, which he held in
his hand (here he exhibited a large volume).
Dr. Kelly—We must restrain you altogether, as you
have gone out of the question.
Mr. Gregg—l am a marked man, and this is an unfair
attempt to put me—a public charactei as I am—to put me
down by a trumpery charge got up against me. Ile then
went on with his statement for a short time, which being
quite irrelevant to the point,
Dr. Kelly told him he could not go on in this way, as
his statement was not to be confirmed by evidence.
Mr. Curran—Let him go on—l have no objection ;it
will prove our case the better.
Dr. Kelly, after consulting some time with his brother
Magistrates, proceeded to deliver judgment. He said__
Mr. Gregg, Thomas 'l'. Wily, and William Wily, the Bench
have considered this case fully and most anxiously, and
they have come to a unanimous conclusion on it. The
unanimous opinion of the Bench was, 1 hat each of the
three persons now at the bar should enter into his own re-
cognizance in the sum of 204, to keep the peace to all
her Majesty's subjects.
Mr. Gregg turned rcund to the Bench, and said in a
most furious voice, and throwing himself into a menacing
attitude—" I'll enter into no recognizance."
Dr. Kelly—Then, Mr. Gregg, you will be clmmitted
to prison,

Mr. Gregg—l don't care; lead me to prison—to death.
Thi.; decision has been come to by that Oointing to Mr.
Duffy) idolatrous Magistrate on the Bench !
A scene of the greatest confusion here ensued. Se-
veral persons rushed forward, and it was feared for some
time that violent hands would be laid on his Reverence.
The uproar. na: eontinued for several minutes, and was
quite of an indescribable character. Mr. Gregg's friends
endeavoured to take him out, but he refused to go, and
c Mired several of them, lle wound his arms in a most
furious manner, shouting out " I
am condemned by that
idolatrous Magistrate—that idolatrous Magistrate !!"
After aome tine, order being partially restore I, and the
office, by great exertions of the police beiv partly clearal,
Dr. 'Kelly and Mr. Studdart requested Mr. Duffy to
lodge informations against Mr. Gregg, which Mr. Duffy
accordingly did, and swore them before his brother Ma-
gistrates, ahen they required Mr. Gregg to enter into his
own recognizance; in a sum of Mot to keep the peace.
After an hour of the greate,t excitement, during which
period the friends of Mr.,Gregg endeavoured to make
him sign a bail-bond, but he refused to do so, aid at length,
Dr. Kelly told him he stood committed for contempt of
Court, till the next quarter sessions of the peace for the
City of Dublin ; and also for one week, for refusing to
enter into security on the first charge.
Mr. Gregg was sent out by the hack entrance to the
office, ender a strong escort of police. A carriage was
in waiting for him there, and he was at once sent off to
Richmond Bridewell.

ROYAL OLYMPIC TII EA Tit E.—WC paid a
visit to thii delightful little theatre last evening, and were
much pleased at seeing the house so well and respectably
attended. The first piece, Lost and Won, from the pro-
lific pen of Mark Lemon, is one of the best-written and
most interesting piece 4 we have seen for sonic time, and
wa3 excellently acted by Messrs. Baker, Parry, Bro.ikes,
Ilalford, aad Miqs Fortegeao. In the builesque, Gileso
Scroggini, the lessee, Mr. G. Wild, proved his high comic
powers in this style of acting, and we advise our friends
who wish for a hearty laugh, at a moderate price, to pay
this theatre a

It appears from the Bombay Times of March
31st that Colonel Baumgardt,of H. M. 2d Royali, hss been
appo'ntcd Commandant of the gartison at Bombay.
BOMBAY, MARCII 31. News have reached
Bombay of a combination of the Persians and Berathees
to oust our King, Sha Sujah, from Aiighanigtan. The
Briti,ll Mission has been sent away from ilerat, and ar-
rived at Candahar and Prince Karrirain claims the throne
of his ancestors as being the eldest son of an elder brother.
This will make a commotion in the country, no doubt;
and by the late event at Kujjuck, it would appear that the
sepoys have shown a disinclination to meet the Afghans
and Beelochees without Europeans. They appear to be
waiting in Sciatic for the Governor-General's orders,
and while they are doing so, the country above the Ghat,
where there are no Europeans nearer than Cabul, may
be lost. It is reported that a wing of the 17th are to
go to Scinde, but they can do nothing at Homb,y without
the sanction of the Governor-General.

EXECUTION IN FRANCE.--.IIIC COUTrier of
Blois mentions the execution of a young man, named Gouin,
who had been condemned for the murder of a female farming-
servant at the last Assizes. An immense mass of people were
from an early hour in attendance at the place of execution.
Every thing was ready at seven o'clock, but an accident oe-
curred which prolonged the mental agony of the culprit. The
executioner, in trying the knife of the guillotine, whilst rais-
ing it up and le!tiog it tall to make it act freely, broke oil a
piece of wood called the lunette, and thus prevented the ma-
chine from working. The accident rendered it necessary to
put off the execution until the machine was repaired ; but, for
a length of time no carpenter would consent ti act, anti the
Proeureur do Itoi was obliged to issue three summonses b ?fore
any one would come forward. At length, at near twelve
o'clock, the repairs were finished, and in five minutes the unfor-
tunate man ceased to exist.

GOOD LUCK.—On the day of the inauguration
of President Harrison, a gentleman from Virginia, familiar
with the history and character of Mr. Tyler, remarked to
an acquaintance that the new President would not live
thirty days.--" Nonsense I" was the reply. "The old
gentleman is hale and hearty as you or I. See how active
and alert he mover. He is good for ten years certain."
" Ile looks %cry well I admit, but I tell you he wont live a
month, notwithstanding. No constitution or state of health
can stand John Tyler's good luck."—New York Herald.