The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 6, 1866.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.—This Day.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.
(Before the Lord Chief Justice and a Special Jury,
FITZGERALD V. NORTRCOTE AND STONE.

The further hearing of thiA case was proceeded with
this morning, and the interest \it excited was evinced by
the crowded state of the court. The case for the defence
was that Mr. David Fitzgerald, by his return to Oscott, had
again subjected himself to the discipline of the establish-
ment, and that having identified himself with a combina-
tion that had been formed for the purpose of annoying the
clerical students, it became imperative on Dr. Northcote
to expel him. The following witnesses were called for
the defence :

The Rev. Spencer Northcote, examined by Mr. Kars-
lake—He was a D.D. and A. 8., and had graduated at Ox-
ford. He had been appointed President of Oscott
College in 1860 by the Catholic Bishop of Birmingham.
In that institution there were six or eight clergymen
and a body of divines, some of whom were used as teachers,
and he was responsible fur both masters and students.
Before his time there had been a body of clerical as well
as lay students. It was not true that the clerical students
were supported at the college out of the pensions paid by
the lay students. The bishops sent the former to the
college, and were responsible to him for their pensions, but
he did not know from where the funds came. Many of the
clerical students came from Sedgely preparatory school, but
not more than two or three in a year. There were not at
any time since he was president more than twelve such
students, and at present there was only half that number.
The clerical students were of a lower class in society than
the lay students, several of them being the sons of trades-
men. In the college there were three classes of students,
namely, poetry, philosophy, and rhetoric, and the students
in these classes had certain privileges which those in the
lower classes had not, and amongst these was permis-
sion to go out in bodies of three, but they were not
allowed to go into any private house unless a special
permission were given. When David Fitzgerald returned
to the college he was subject to the same rules as previ-
ously, and ho would not receive him on any other terms.
There was no other arrangement to the contrary even
mentioned, and between the period of his matriculation
and obtaining his degree at the London University he was
not exempted from the discipline of the College. The
rule respecting the prohibition to the upper-class students
to enter private houses was here read.

Mr. Coleridge observed that a public-house was not a
private house. (A laugh.)

The witness continued—Those boys in the philosophy
class were not subject to corporal punishment, nor were
the students above 17. He had heard a complaint of Fitz-
gerald having had spirits in his room prior to his leaving
the college for matriculation, and when he returned to the
college, he remonstrated with him. On the 25th of Feb-
ruary, 1865, he received a complaint from Mr. Stone re-
specting David Fitzgerald and three others having been in a
public-house. He read Fitzgerald a lecture, and said that if he
was not guilty of actual criminality, his conduct was very
close upon it, as he was at the time undergoing punish-
ment for other breaches of discipline, and involved a
defiance of the authority of the prefect of discipline. On
more than one occasion Fitzgerald had been complained of
by the other prefects. The rev. gentleman then proceeded
to state that he had been informed by the sub-prefect
of the existence of the movement of the lay
students in regard to the clerical students, which
went under the designation of A.8.C., or the Anti-Bunker
Confederation. He had heard the term " Bunker," and
knew that it applied to the clerical students, but ho was
not aware that there was any special meaning attached to
it. A pocket book had been discovered in Fitzgerald's
room relating to the confederation which contained,
amongst other matters, items under the head of " The
Birth and Parentage of the Clerical Students." He
sent for Fitzgerald, and questioned him on the
matter in the presence of Mr. Stone, and Fitz-
gerald said there was nothing at all in it, and that
it was all nonsense. Ho had some time before told Fitz-
gerald that a repetition of misconduct on his part would
lead to his repulsion, and that he intended to write to his
father respecting him. He did not carry out the latter
threat, because Fitzgerald promised amendment. Here
the rev. gentleman read some of the memoranda out of the
pocket-book, which wore of a personal character, and he
stated also that he had elicited from Fitzgerald the names
of some of the students who were engaged in the confede-
ration.

The case was proceeding when we went to press.

SURREY THEATRE.

Last night Miss Avonica Jones made her reap-
pearance at this elegant theatre, after an absence of
three years, in a new four-act drama, entitled " East
Lynne." The piece is founded on Mrs. Wood's
popular novel of the same name, but the dramatiser
(Mr. John Oxenford) has in many instances had to
compress and simplify the original in order to bring
it within the limit of stage representation. The
plot of the piece successfully performed last night is
as follows :—Lady Isabel Carlyle, the wife of a
flourishing solicitor, deserts her lord and master to

elope with a consummate scoundrel, one Capt. Levi-
son. The motive that urges her to this fatal• step is
unfounded jealousy. Mr. Carlyle has been in the
habit of holding secret communications with a
Miss Barbara Hare, the daughter of a justice in
the neighbourhood ; but these communications have
relation entirely to business. The lady's brother,
Richard Hare, has borne for many years the suspi-
cion of murder, and has borne it unjustly, seeing
that the murder in question was committed by
Levison. However, young Hare has been hiding
from justice for some time, when he suddenly makes
his re-appearance in his native place, carefully dis-
guised, and succeeds in comvincing his sister of his
innocence. Hence the reason for Barbara's myste-
rious consultations with Mr. Archibald Carlyle,
which lead to the elopement of that gentleman's wife.
She, however, soon discovers the true character of
Levison, and indignantly expels him from her pre-
sence. Stung by remorse, she determines to revisit
East Lynne for the purpose of seeing her children,
and, under the disguise of a governess, she enters

the dwelling of her husband, but only in time to
witness the death of her son. The wretched mother
now throws off all disguise, calls for her husband,
and dies broken-hearted in his presence. Captain
Levison is discovered to be the perpetrator of the
crime for which Richard Hare was suspected. He
is sent to penal servitude for life, and the innocent
man is restored to his position at East Lynne.
The part of Lady Isabel, of course, was represented
by Miss Jones with all that intensity which invariably
marks her performances, and in the last act she held
the tears of her audience entirely at command.
She was, during the play, recalled twice before the
curtain, and at its termination she again had to
make her appearance to receive the hearty ap-
plause of a very crowded house. Mr. Edgar as
Levison, Mr. Thompson as Dell, Mr. Maclean as
Justice Hare, and Miss Rose Ogilvie as Barbara
Hare, each supported their respective parts with
care and efficiency. The drama has been placed
upon the stage in a manner that shows that the
lessee and manager, Mr. Shepherd, is determined
to rival in beauty of decorations and appoint-
ments the most celebrated theatres in the metro-
polis.

The glorious pantomime of King Chief, and the
wonderfully brilliant and extraordinary trans-
formation scene, concluded the evening's entertain-
ment.