The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-19 00:00:00

THE CONVENT- CASE.

At last there are signs of the end. The Hull Convent
case commenced on the 3rd of the month, and will probably
be concluded on Tuesday. Interest in the proceedings is
naturally declining, and for two days past the Court of
Queen's Bench has been much less crowded. Yester-
day the examination of Mrs. Florence Mary Kerr was
proceeded with. In answer to Mr. Russell, she said :
The defendants did not suggest my writing to the bishop
in August 1865. (Witness's deposition was put in and
read. She commenced it by stating that from her first
acquaintance with the plaintiff she was impressed with
the idea that Miss Saurin was a most dangerous person—
very vain and worldly, and in order to gratify her vanity
and her dislike of the reverend mother, she had recourse to
inventions and falsehood, and that she felt that Miss
Saurin's remaining in the community would undermine
their religious life from her constant murmuring, disobe-
dience, and the false representations she made of the
reverend mother. In many things Miss Saurin was a
;Teat actor, and she would lead the community to believe
that the superior's conduct was whimsical, tyrannical,
and partial. Her conduct was such that she (the
deponent) had to withdraw as much as possible
from intercourse with Sister Scholastica.) My de-
position was made in good faith, and in the honest
belief of its truth. After the plaintiff's dismissal she was
fed the same as the community. (Witness corroborated
the main circumstances deposed to by the previous wit-
nesses for the defence which came under her observation,
and which were in contradiction of Miss Saurin's state-
ment.) The witness appeared to wish to get in advance
of the questions of the learned counsel, when Mr. Russell
asked her if she had ever had to do penance for being
impetuous.

The Lord Chief Justice : You are not bound to answer
the question.

Witness : I think I have one now, my lord. (Loud
laughter.) Mrs. Starr never asked me about my confes-
sions. There was only one sick sister in Miss Saurin's
room, and that was the sister who sprained her knee. I
never knew of any ill feeling towards Miss Saurin.
Cross-examined by the Solicitor-General : A copy was
taken of the letter she wrote to her brother Patrick when
she was in the bath-room. Mrs. Kennedy did not dictate
that letter. She objected to the first letter, and Miss
Saurin wrote the second one. Except having a sister to go
about with her after her dismissal, she was perfectly free
to go where she liked. She was treated the same as the other
sisters with reference to the ordinary comforts of life. ller
secular dress and clothes were good. I don't consider
her stockings were the veriest rags and tatters a scare-crow
was ever dressed up in. (Laughter.) I know she had a
good pair of stockings given to her on the 12th of February,
but I cannot say if she put them on. The sisters wore
their stockings as long as they will hang together.
(There was a slight manifestation of opinion by the
public, which partook of the character of subdued
hissing. This had occurred on one or two former
occasions. The Lord Chief Justice stated that if heard
any more of such noises—whistling or hissing—he would
clear the whole body of the court.)

Witness : Silence is enforced in the schools. We teach
the children self-control and to learn to hold their tongues.
Speaking when at needlework is prohibited ; and to avoid
speaking we use signs, such as putting the finger to the
mouth to enjoin silence on the scholars. We might have
had strawberries, but never strawberries with cream.
What made me so suspicious was her covering it up. I
thought it was very had from what I had been taught.
The Solicitor-General: Was eating strawberries males
in se?

Witness : I don't know what you mean.
The Solicitor-General : Bad in itself. It was not a sin

Witness: No, it was not a sin. It was not a sin to-eat
an apple, but a great deal of harm came from it.
(Laughter.)

The Solicitor-General : Not in the apple itself, but from
doing what was forbidden. When Miss Saurin muttered
about black and mouldy bread, I thought she did it as a
matter of complaint. I do not think it was an appeal to
our sympathies. The reverend mother made me leave out
of my deposition what she thought was too strong. I always
felt great sorrow and compassion for her.
The Solicitor• General : You wrote this more in sorrow
than in anger ?

Witness : I used to fret about her, thinking how she
was throwing her life away, after she told me that her
will was turned to evil, and that she had no power to
change it. The rev. mother used to try and hide Miss
Saurin's faults from me.

Mrs. Theresa Collingwood, examined by Mr. Charles
Russell : I am a lay sister, known in religion as Sister
Mary. I did not come much in contact with Miss Saurin.
I saw something of her in 1858. I was a pupil in the day
school, and the plaintiff occasionally taught needlework.
She did not observe silence. She frequently spoke about her
family, and allowed the children to talk. She used to ask
me about my friends. I dictated my deposition to Mrs.
Kerr. I bad previously told Mrs. Starr what Iknew about
Miss Saurin. (The deposition was put in and read. It
stated what she knew of her, and that she was forward in
her conduct, and used to speak to her of young
men, and when she mentioned it to her mother
she used to try and excuse her, saying she had
an innocent heart, and saw no harm in these
things.) In 1858 or 1859, Father Motler was
arranging the desks. Plaintiff went to him and asked him
to go with her. She said to him, "Mr. Mother, will you
come ?" lle did not appear to hear her, and then she
knelt down, took the tools out of his hand, and said he
should not do any more until he had gone with her. I
afterwards heard his lunch was ready. It was different to
nuns' conduct. They are generally grave and sedate.
Cross-examined by the Solicitor-General : You say in
your deposition, " She drew me out, and encouraged me
to speak about young men ; would go any lengths, and
never seemed weary of listening ; that I have often since
blushed that I should have said anything about it." What
do you mean by that ?
Witness : I was a pupil in the school at the time, anti
Miss Saurin used to ask me if I was an admirer of men—
if I intended to marry; their employment, age, and where
they lived.
The Solicitor-General : What was there in that to make
you blush ?

Witness : My answering her these questions. It is con-
trary to a religious life, and not what a young girl sh,uld be
asked.
The Solicitor• General : Whose words are those I have
quoted—yours or Mrs. Kerr's ?
Witness: They are Mrs. Kerr's. I told her the substance.
It is not my composition.
The Lord Chief Justice : What age were you at this
time ?

"Witness: 21. I entered the convent in 1861, three
years afterwards.

The Lord Chief Justice : Did you ever speak of these
things to any other sister?

Witness : I once said a word to one of the other sisters,
and she so sharply reproved me for it that I never again
said a word.

Mrs. Mary Agnes Fearon, known in religion as Sister
Mary Evangelista, was examined by Mr. Charles Russell
lam a choir sister. I entered the Hull convent in 1860.
I had frequent opportunities of seeing Miss Saurin, both
at Hull and Clifford. I have known her to directly
refuse to obey the superior by performing work she was
forbidden to do. She showed great deceit. Her manner
was exceedingly noisy, and she only observed silence when
she could not possibly get any one to speak to. I
have known her neglect the school for ten or
twenty minutes, and even for half an hour, in unneces-
sary conversation with the mothers of the children.
I heard her speak to a lay postulant before
mass, a time of strict silence, and I saw
the postulant crying in consequence. Miss Saurin
was given to telling falsehoods. She has denied
conversing with persons, and in my presence, when she
knew I had seen her. I have seen her examine
the children's dinners, break off small portions
and give them to the child, retaining for herself
the remaining portion. At other times, when she
did not go to dinner, I have seen her take the chil-
dren's dinners from them and break off portions and give
to them, and keep the remainder. I never mentioned it
until I was asked to write my deposition. I considered
her treatment of the children very rough, and in some
cases cruel. I saw her pull the hair of a child
until he screamed, and on another occasion
she pinned the pinafore of a little girl over
her head, place her on a high stool, and exclaim,
"Now roar again, my beauty." (Laughter.) I never
saw Miss Saurin treated differently from the other sisters.
Miss Saurin never had to wash the stone steps.
She had to see it done. Besides the detes-
table mutton, I have known her to have pork,
bacon, veal, and fowl. She seemed to be fond
of strong bacon, and in carrying out Mrs. Starr's direc-
tions I kept some for the plaintiff's special use. Mrs.
Starr seemed to me to be quite Miss Saurin's
dupe, and not to have her eyes open to her
faults. Between August 1864 and January 1866
I was at Hull with Miss Saurin. Her conduct there was
the same with regard to th•• children's dinners as at Clif-
ford. A little girl complained to me daily for three weeks
that part of her dinner had been taken from her basket.
At dismissal time I once saw Miss Saurin with part of the
child's dinner in her hand.

The case was adjourned over to-day till to-morrow.

The testimonial to Mr. J. A. Roebuck has now
reached about £3,000. Mr. Roebuck will preside at the
Sheffield School of Art on the 17th of March, and the pre-
sentation will take place two days after. The presentation
will be made at a public meeting of the subscribers, and a
banquet vrin.,_.e Slyen j,cl tl )earned gentleman in th 9
muizza