The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-25 00:00:00

CONVENTUAL AND MONASTIC
INSTITUTIONS.

The Select Committee on the conventual and monastic
institutions of England and Scotland re-assemble yes-
terday, the Right Hon. C. P. Villiers in the chair, and
proceeded with the evidence called by Mr. Newdegate.
Mr. Dewar, of Glasgow, was recalled and produced a
copy of the newspaper in which the sermon preached
by Dr. Smith, with a letter from the reporter
offering to swear to the accuracy of the report,
The sermon was preached by Dr. Smith, on the occasion
of the opening of the new chapel by the Redemptorist
fathers, and expressed the gratification which the Roman
Catholic Church felt at the peaceful opening of such a
chapel, after a period of 300 years of persecution. He
then produced extracts from the valuation roll relating to
the property of the Convent of St. Margaret's, Edinburgh,
the value of - which was put down at £5,000 ;
the occupier was Marjory Clapperton, annual rent £380;
and St. Catherine's, Edinburgh, Sisters of Mercy ; occn-.
piers, the • Sisters of Mercy; the property owned by
Colonel Hutchinson's trustees ; annual rent, £340. He
also produced the valuation roll of the establishment of
the Jesuits, in Lawnston-street, valued at £4OO a year ;
proprietor, Mr. Wansley ; and the valuation roll of the
establishment of the Nuns, at Leith, the proprietors
being the trustees of the Roman Catholic chapel, including
the dwelling-house, the annual rent being £45.. The
sermon referred to stated that it was not in-
tended by any means that the establishment
of the Redemptorist Fathers should interfere with
the regular missionary work of the district, or should
supersede the religious work of the clergy. On the contrary
it was to help them, and to afford retreats for a short time
for prayer and penitence.
Mr. Robertson was then recalled, and produced a map
of Glasgow and the description of the Franciscan
priory in Cumberland-street, and read a list of trustees.
There were means in Scotland of enforcing the proper
application of the trusts in the case of the misappropria-
tion of charity. Some of the Roman Catholic deeds
avowed the purposes for which the money was left, but
others did not. He had not seen any of them which he
was prepared to say were illegal ; he never
heard of one being disputed. Land could be left for
religious purposes in perpetuity in Scotland. In
Scotland the Roman Catholics held their property
in precisely the same way as other dissenters. There was
no difference in law, the difference was in the terms of the
contract made by the deeds, the difference being that the
community cannot in the case of Roman Catholic pro-
perty exercise any power over it. He was not prepared
to give any authority for that statement, but it was his
general impression; and there was nothing in the deed he
had seen which was contrary. In Scotland, in cases of
dispute, the property followed the decision of the
Ecclesiastical Court. His opinion was that in Roman
Catholic Matters such disputes would be left solely
to the bishop or some other higher authority.
He knew of no rule which made Catholic trusts illegal fa
Scotland.

Mr. O'Reilly : Is there no law against religious men or
men bound by vows ?
Witness : In regard to monasteries, I know of no
difference between them in England or Scotland. I
could not say whether the Statute of Superstitious Uses
applied in Scotland, but I should think so. The witness
said he was not aware that the names given as the
owners in the valuation roll was in every case correctly
stated.

Mr. Matthews pointed out that the Franciscan Con-
vent was held in trust by the Right Rev. Bishop Murdock,
Vicar Apostolic, and the Right Rev. Dr. Smith, for pur-
poses of education, whereas in the valuation roll it was
stated to be held by the Franciscan, Dr. J. Conolly. The
witness said that there was no limitation in the deed as
to the disposition of the property, but he was not pre-
pared to say that they had sold it to the Franciscans.
Mr. Matthews next pointed out that the property said
to be occupied in Mungo, Glasgow, by the Marist
Brdthers, was held in trust by two Roman Catholic bishops
and several Roman Catholic clergymen in trust for pur-
poses of education and religion. The witness sad that he
was not prepared to shew any deed by which property was
to be held in trust by any monastic institutions, but that
property was held by them he had not the slightest doubt.
He subsequently sad there were 120,000 Roman Catholics
in Glasgow.
The committee soon after adjourned.

FRENCH AND ENGLISH SHIPS.—The committee of
inquiry into the Finch Mercantile Marine has addressed
a letter to the Minister of War, desiring that in future
the transport ships for the conveyance of troops between
France and Africa shall be built in French ports.
Hitherto these vessels have been built in England.
THE NEWARK ACCIDENT.—It is noted as a curious
fact that of the passengers in the train which met with
the terrible accident at Newark, all, or very nearly all,
who were asleep at the time escaped uninjured—nature's
anaesthetic ensuring them, not only against fractures and
contusions, but even against the bad effects of shaking
and concussion.

A BANKRUPTCY CASE.—A wine merchant named
Sharpe has been charged at the Mansion House with a
fraud under the Debtor's Act. It was alleged that he
obtained from the complainant, on credit, a quantity of
wine of, the value of £2O, within four months of the pre-
sentation of a bankruptcy petition. After some conflict-
ing evidence had been given, the defendant was committed
for trial, bail being accepted.

THE VIENNA EXHIBITION.—NearIy double the
necessary sum has been guaranteed for the Universal Ex-
hibition of 1873 in Vienna, and the realisation of the
scheme is looked upon as certain, although the Czechs
have refused to take any part in the affair. Fortu-
nately the chief branches of' industry in Bohemia
are in the hands of the Germans, so that the
absence of the Czechs will not diminish the eclat
of the affair, to which Austria attaches so great an im-
portance.
THE ST. GOTHAIID RAILWAY.—The remarks
which the French press made on the discussion in the
Corps Legislatif with respect to the St. Gothard Railway
have not given satisfaction at Berlin. The North German
Gazette, an official organ, regrets that the French Minister
for Foreign Affairs should have deemed it necessary, in
consequence of a misunderstanding, to preface his reassur-
ing remarks by a sally against Count Bismarck on account
of his speech at the Reichstag on the 25th of May. The
same journal observes that the Duke de Grammont and
M. Plichon seem to entertain more fears on the subject
than Austria had done.

GERMAN POLITICS.—The Spenersehe Zeitung, in
an artiec on Bavaria and Wurtemburg, says that Herr
von Prankh, in the former, and Herr von Suckow, in the
latter State, will have a very difficult position to main-
tain towards the Landtags, for if they refuse to do the
will of the so-callgd Popular Party, the cry will be—
" This Minister of War can never shake off the
prejudices of his military caste, but we, men of the people,
know the martial disposition of our race better ; " or else :
" The War Minister dare not give way on account of
Prussia." Acordiug to the beobachter of Stuttgard, the
proposals made by the leaders of the Popular Party are
exceedingly moderate, " having been merely intended to
prepare the way for a system of defence based on liberty."

TRANSPLANTING HUMAN SKIN.— The extraordi-
nary case referred to in a note which we published the
other day, in which it was stated that a piece of skin had
been removed from the body of a negro to that of a child,
is thus explained :—" A child had sustained an enormous
burn, leaving a wound so large that the powers of the
little sufferer were totally unable to heal it. It
was determined to make an attempt partly to
cover this wound by the transplantation of skin, and
the attempt was followed by results which rendered
it desirable, for their correct interpretation and kir the
surgeon's future guidance, to transplant a piece of skin of
darker tint as a test to determine how much of the fresh
piece became itself incorporated with the tissues over
which it was placed. For this purpose a morsel of skin
was taken from the coloured man in question, and the
little experiment is expected to determine a point the
knowledge of which will in all human probability enable
the surgeon to save the child's life."