The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-01 00:00:00

THE DURHAM CASE.

It is believed that the following Prelates have de-
clared their approval of the decision of the Judicial
Committee of Privy Council in the late Gorham case:—
The Archbishops of Canterbury, York, and Dublin.
The Bishops of Durham, Peterborough, Ely, Hereford,
Lichti 11, Chester, St. Aseph, St. David's, Worcester,
Norwich, end Manchester, as not affecting the doctrine
of the Church.

The Bishops cf Salisbury, Gloucester, and Ripon, have
returned ambiguous replies to the Tractarian addresses.

The Bishop of Bangor dissents from the judgment.
The Bishop of Rochester claims for it " legal re-
spct." _

- The Bishops of Exeter, Bath and IVe:ls, London, and
Oxford, are hostile.
The Bishops of Lincoln, Carlisle, Winchester, Chi-
chester, Llancaff, and Sodor and Man, are not yet known
to have expressed themselves on the subjcct.
The two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have
each declined entering into the controversy; but about
one-fourth of the members of convocation of the first-
mentioned have separately addressed the Archbishop of
Can terburytagainst the decision. This address is signed
by two only out of the twenty-four heads of colleges
and halls, and six professors only—all of the Tractarian
party—vim, Professors Pusey, Hussey, Reay, Earle,
Kenyon, and Cooke; and inaludes the names of Judge
Coleridge and the well-known Archdeacons Thorp, Wil-
berforce, and two Scotch bishops, who, notwithstanding
their secession from the English Church, retain their
names on the university register as members. The uni-
versity of Cambridge has not moved.
From a summary of the results of the agitation which
has reached us, it would appear that the total number
of clerical dissentients from the judgments through-
out England does not exceed 2,000 out of
15,000 ; and the number of laity who have come
forward is insignificant. After the failure of the
last effort at St. Martin's Hall, which was remarkable
for the absence of Mr. Gladstone, M.P., and others whose
presence or absence on such occasions is regarded as in-
dicative of the probability of success or the reverse, we
may dismiss the agitation as something beyond a Denison
power to resuscitate.—Church and State Gazette.

CONFESSION OF BENNISON.
The man Bennison, who was found guilty at the
High Court of Justiciary, on Friday last, of the
double crimes of bigamy and mur ter, and sentenced
to be executed here on the 16th of August, has made
a confession of his guilt. At the conclusion of the
trial on Friday, he solemnly " declared before God,
and before all present, that of the murder of his
I wife he was innocent ;" and that if the witnesses
had spoken the truth, " he would not have been a guilty
man before their Lordships that day." Notwithstanding
of these solemn asseverations, he, in a conversation with
his pastor, the Rev. Mr. Hay, of the Methodist:Church,
Leith—who has been most unremitting in his attention to
the culprit sines his condemnation—confessed on Monday
that he had poisoned his wife on the Friday evening that
she was alleged to have become ill. The confession is not,
in the meantime, in such a complete state as would
juitif.y., its publication ; but we believe that a copy of
/m
it has been transmittede boepSairrtmGe.n. Bim
Grey,t etheisSoene, retary
of State fur theever
declared, has exhibited the
but's although he has unbosomtd
deepestsire
contritionsentence

his mind of the principal portion of the guilt charged
against him in the trial, he is a person of such a
peculiar disf o,ition, and so extremely suspicious of all
who come in contact with him, that it is most diffi-
cult to get an explanation from him of certain pointr,
necessary to throw ligbt on the case. Mr. Hay could
not venture to avail himself of writing materials
during the time that Bennison was relating
the particulars of the poisoning. Ho was, there-
fore, obliged simply to listen to the harrow-
ing narrative of the culprit's guilt; and to trust to his
memory for the writing out of the details of the con-
fession when he went home. Mr. Hay read a copy of
what he had written to Bennison yesterday, when he
adhered to it all—making only some very slight altera-
tions upon it. A copy of the confession so amended
was subsequently lodged with the Sheriff; and it was
afterwards, as we hare already mentioned, forwarded to
Sir George Grey.

Bennison states that, on the Friday evening in ques-
tion, he made the porridge, and put a quantity of
arsenic i❑ them. His child having previously gone to
bed, and Bennison having, thti score of illness ex-
cused himself from rating anything that night, his wife
was the only one that partook of the porridge, and to
that her death is to be ascribed.
He states that the girl Robertson had not the moat
remote idea that he had any interest in her except that
of a religious kind, and that he never spoke to her unless
in respect to her spiritual welfare.
Hs has made no confession with regard to the first
wife's suric7en death at Airdrie; but as it is strongly sus-
pected that he also ndminis:ered poison to get quit of
her, it is not improbable that we may have a further
confession from him to that effect.—Scotsman.