The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-16 00:00:00

A MODERN

ROMANCE OF TIIE

CONFESSIONAL.

A tale which would have served very well as a re-
miniscence of every day doings in " the good old Ca-
tholic times" of the 13th or 14th century, but which
sounds very strangely in modern ears, has been told to
us with corroborative proofs, which leave us in very little
doubt as to the accuracy of the whole of the following
details, so far as the transactions narrated as having oc-
curred in Worcester are concerned. It is said that a
few weeks ago a lady of respectable appearance en-
tered one of the numerous Protestant places of
worship with which our city is happily so ornate,
and her attention appeared to be rivetted with somewhat
of wonder on the service as it proceeded. On re-
tiring, she remarked to a lady who happened to
emerge from the door the same moment with herself,
that the prayers which she had just heard were very
beautiful, and only wished that the persons who had
been engaged in offering them at the footstool of the
Deity were in " the true church." Struck with the sin-
gularity of the remark, the person addressed observed
her companion with careful attention. The mark of
care and sorrow was on her brow, and she was evidently
much depressed iu spirits. Being confirmed in her sur-
mises that, she was a Catholic, she replied that perhaps
the prayer offerers were in the true church, and it would
be well if she would make some investigation upon
the matter ,for . herself. The conversation ended in
the lady being earnestly invited to come to the place
of worship again, and hear more of the doctrines
preached there, in order that she might judge whether
they were in accordance with the tenets of Scripture or
not. Once and again the lady was observed to attend
and take increasing interest in the services performed
there. At last she waited upon the minister, and, appa-
rently, in the greatest anguish of her mind, told him the
story of her life. She had, she said, been married to a
respectable person in -, and for some time lived
happily with him. He, however, was a Pro-
testant, and she was a Catholic, and, as all
true believers in the directions f the infallible
church are supposed to do, the had been a regular at-
tendant at the confessional Here, however, a guilty
passion was fostered in the breasts of both the con-
fessor and the confessed, which neither the celibate
vows of the one nor the marriage vows of the other
could restrain. In an hour of weakness and sin, won
by his blandishments and seduced by his artifices, she
consented to leave her husband and her home to be-
come the adulterous companion of one who, by the
vows of his religion and his office, was bound to per-
petual chastity. She had now lived with him for some
uoigblauiable time, but latterly her slumbering cousoiotne--
p _a
..rd awakened
*.and there had added
so much to her misery and pain, leading her to see and
feel on the bord,..rs of distraction, and she could bear it
det/e"1-Ia'rn---a-car
no longer. She uot, she dared not continue to
live the life of sin wilt felt she 11-..4 been hitherto
spending, and the doctrines s e had heard from the
minister's lips encouraged her to hope that if she forsook
her wickedness and turned from her evil ways she might
even yet have mercy at the hands of Him who had an-
nounced himself as the God of Love. She expressed her
firm determination to continue apart from her seducer,
and in a most impassioned manner called upon the
minister to lend her his advice and assistance. Her story
was sifted, and its truth as far as possible ascertained.
Her husband was written to, but as he refused to receive
again the faithless consort who had injured him, she was
placed for protection in the house of a lady well known
for her piety and works of usefulnesss. Her flight,
doubtless, caused no little consternation, and two or
three days sufficed to trace her to her place of refuge.
Every means were adopted to induce her to return, but
she remained firm to her purpose, and, as she was much
annoyed by the watch kept upon her movements, she
was tracked, with an evident determination to procure
possession of her person, in order, possibly, that the only
scene of her sorrow and expiation might be some seclu-
sion beyond which the tale of scandal can never pass.
Again she shifted her place of concealment, and whether
this last has been discovered or not we do not know.—
Worcester Herald.

THE FROST.—The thermometer during the night
of Monday stood, at the Royal Humane Society's Re-
ceiving House, Hyde Park, at 19, being 13 degrees
below freezing point. This caused the ice to attain far
greater solidity than on the preceding day. During
yesterday the sliders and skaters upon the various orna-
ment'il waters in the several'parks were very numerous.
We are happy to say that, owing to the precautions
taken by the society, not a single accident occurred.
Detention of Mails—ln consequence of the bad state of
the roads and the weather a great number of mails were
overdue yesterday morning, particularly on the north
road. The Edinburgh mail of Saturday arrived nearly
forty-eight hours after its proper date,
a
e, leavings reached three
town
l
due; in fact, nothing beyond Carlisle
later dated than Saturday. The whole of the bags due
from the north is fifty-one, and ten by the mail from
Swansea due on Monday. In the north the delay arose
from a heavy fall of snow. The Dutch mail, due on
Sunday, had not arrived yesterday, and the Hamburgh
mail of Monday is also overdue.
ST. PANCRAS BOARD OF GUARDlANS.—Yesterday
the weekly meeting of the board of guardians and direc-
tors of the parish of St. Pancras took plan in the board-
room in the workhouse, in King's-road, Agar-town, and
was very fully. attended. Mr. Wagstaff, junior church-
warden, was in the chair. After the discussion of some
routine business, Mr. M'Gahey, clerk to the board, read
a letter from the Poor-law Commissioners, in which
they desired to be furnished wifh certain returns of the
parochial expenditure of St. Pancras. On some members
objecting to its being furnished, Mr. Prendergast said
that it would not do to play " fast and hose" with the
Commissioners, for by their concessions to the Poor-law
Commissioners on former occasions they bad, in his
opinion, committed themselves, and formed a precedent.
Still he would advise the board of guardians to obtain
the best legal advice as to their power to refuse the re-
quest of the Commissioners, and should the legal opinion
be favourable to the directors to resist the Commis-
sioners to the utmost. Mr. Morris said he would only
furnish the Commissioners with such information as
thatentitled t
theo. CommissionersM
hy
this
request had no sinister intention of extending their
authority,M they
r. were
Crouchbut
thought legallym re.
sought for
or such statistic luforma-
The following resolu-
tionp ropo r
proposed and carried, viz. :—" That the
returnstisni
nwasaess the board separated.
thebe thenLegislature
made
b
A PREMATURE INTERMENT.—Another instance of
s
the danger of precipitate interment has just taken
place at Lansac, a commune near Bordeaux. The
wife of a rich farmer, after a short illness, appeared
to have expired. The usual visit of the physician
to verify the decease took place, and the funeral
was proceeded with in the ordinary manner. Two
or three hours after, the sacristan, in passing near
the grave, heard a noise which resembled stifled groans.
lie hastened to give the alarm, and the coffin was taken
up. The unfortunate woman was found to be warm, and
gave unequivocal signs of life. It was proposed to
take her at once to the village, and employ the ordinary
moans of resuscitation ; but, through a barbarous pre-
judice of the place, not a person would consent to open
his door, through the idea that a buried person always
brought misfortune o r
she entered.
onth e
Thec c c u
poorp a nts oto anyaat .
waure lsvaihouse
su worn
ono nt, o
which
r n.
sequence, placed on VA board of a wine-press, and there
administered, to.. •It would 4; b •
out by the lengthened co coffin,
a sThhoret tuts..
10ensatolif rtaileluytestni paaiT.e.Gn:ntle.
Col-
eton Dickinson, late Colonel-Commarnalcia,lich
nl-tofartdhe2d
Battalion of Royal Artillery, were yesterday consigned
to their final resting-place, in the catacombs at Kensal-
green Cemetery. The funeral was strictly. inivate, none
but the General's family being present.