The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-24 00:00:00

MIUTALITY Of THE CONPFP!---40NAI

Prom the Evansville (Indiana) Joi,rnal, Mayl2.)

UNPARALLELLD OUTRAGE OF A PRIEST. GREAT EXCITE-
MENT IN EVANSVILLE, INDIANA.--We feel it our unplea-
sant duty to give to the public the particulars—so far as we
may with decorum—of an outrage alleged to have been com-
mitted in our town last:week, certainly of the most revolt-
ing character that can be conceived of by the mind of man.
We have often—and who has not—read of similar outrages
charged upon the high functionaries of the Catholic Church
in all ages of its history, and we have believed them, if at all,
to be exaggerated and highly coloured statements, prompted
in many instances, perhaps, by the jealousies of opposing
sects. But in this instance, our belief has been taken as it
were by storm, the evidence produced upon the examination
being of such a nature as to compel us to the conviction of
the entire truth of the charge. Other, and serious complaints
we understand, have been made against Mr. Weinzapflein,
the person alluded to above, but with these we have nothing
to do ; such an outrage, committed by a father confessor
within the very walls of his church, upon a weak and confi-
ding penitent kneeling before him, could not be increased in
horror by any additional charge. It may not be proper for
us, and we shall not attempt, to express the indignation we
feel in common with the whole community. If the bail given
by the defendant be sufficient to insure his attendance at the
next term of our Circuit Court, (which, however, many of
our citizens are disposed to doubt,) the charge will undergo
a judicial investigation, and we should not as journalists at-
tempt to prejudice public opinion in advance. Our only
object is to give a full statement of the case and the evidence
so far as it went, already pytblic in our own community.
On Friday evening the intelligence spread like lightning
through the city, and on the following morning the defend-
ant was brought before the magistrates, when the court was
crowded to excess. The female upon whom the outrage was
committed is Mrs..Schroall, the wife of a respectable Ger-
man citizen. She was the first witness examined. We took
full notes of the testimony, but as it was delivered through
an interpreter, it is necessarily too prolix (besides being
otherwise objectionable) for our columns ; we shall, there-
fore, not attempt to give it either in the language or order
in which it fell from the witness. Her simple story was in
substance, and as near as we can give her language, as fol-
lows :—She is a native of Rhenish Bavaria, where she lived
until she was about 19, when she removed to the United
States, with her father and the rest of his family. She will
be 21 years old on the 14th of June next. Her parents, as
well as her brothers and sisters, are all Roman Catholics,
and as such she was christened and educated—all the educa-
tion she ever received having been in a Catholic school, to
which she went three years to prepare herself for her confir-
mation. She was married to Mr. Schmall on last New
Year's-day, eight days before which time she had gone to
confession, and did not go again until Wednesday, when,
having previously informed her husband of her intention, she
• - • a— —.3 ...I,llrrob

went to get her sins forgiven. W hen s
which was between five and six o'clock in the evening, some
other person was in the confessional, and she waited till that
person went away, perhaps three quarters of an hour, when,
there being no other person in the church, she went into the
confessional. (This, as the witness described it, is a sort of
box, open at the side, and divided into two apartments,
each large enough to contain only one person, in one of
which the priest sits, and in the other the penitent kneels,
upon a stool, the communication between them being through
a window of lattice work in the partition.) Having con-
fessed her sins to the priest, he imposed a penance upon her,
before she undertook which she wanted to pray, as is the
custom of her country, but she could not pray. The priest
then asked her if she believed in being married by a Squire,
and followed this question by others of the most lewd and in-
decent nature relative to her conjugal intercourse. (At this
time it was so dark in the church that she could scarcely see
to read her prayer.) These questions she for some time re-
fused to answer, but he insisted upon them in such a rude
manner that she became frightened and told, and at length
did answer them. He then told her that these questions did
not belong to her confession, and that she must not tell her
husband. While she was thus kneeling before him, attempt.:
ing to repeat the prayer which he had set before her as
a penance, as well as the fright she was in would permit her,
the priest came out of his box and seized her by the right arm,
which was next to the door of the confessional, dragged her
out of her box, and then taking hold of her with both arms
around her waist, threw her on the fldor. In throwing her
he struck her back against some hard substance and hurt her
very severely. She did not hear the priest leave his box, nor
knew that he was coming until he took hold of her. She
was so cold and stiff that he might have killed her and she
could not have helped herself. The witness then described
the liberties which the priest took with her while on the
ground, and replied to several very pointed questions in such
a manner as to exclude all doubt as to his success in his fiend-
ish attempt to violate her person. After be had accomplished
his horrible purpose he raised her up, placed her upon a
bench, and sprinkled her face ; when she had sat there
some little time, she began to revive, and exclaimed, " Oh,
God ! what have you done with me 1" He would nut make
her any answer, but asked her if she recollected the penance ;
she replied she did not—she recollected something about it,
but not what it was. He then gave her the penance, and
bade her to pray it. When dismissed she still felt sick and
faint, and staggered as she left the church.—The open air re-
freshed her and she felt better when she reached home. She
found her husband leaning against the fence, who asked her
why she had staid so long, but she not knowing what answer
to make, evaded the question, and afterwards, when he
pressed her to tell him the cause of her apparent distress,
she replied that she was afraid to tell him for fear he would
do himself some injury. She continuing to be distressed, and
crying during the night, he again wanted to know what was
the matter, and towards morning she told him a part of her
story, and said she wanted to go and take sacrament, when
she would tell him all. She thought that she was worthy to
take sacrament now that her sins were forgiven, and that
as it was Ascension day, it was her duty to do so. She did
take sacrament, and upon her return, disclosed the whole
matter to her husband. He was greatly affected, and
threatened !to take a pistol and kill the Priest, but she
begged him not to do so, and made him promise that he
would not ; he then said that he would go and see the
Priest that evening, but she prevailed upon him to wait till
morning, when she told him he would be more likely
went to see
him. In the morning (Friday) Mr. Schn3all and
brought the Priest to the house, but she was in bed sick, and
had so exhausted herself with crying, that she could not un-
derstand what was said, but her husband could tell. Mr. S.
asked her while she was in bed and the Priest present, if he
had done as she had told him, and she replied" yes," but
did not know what remark the Priest made to this ; her hus-
band knew. (It was to detail this conversation that Mr. S.
was sworn as a witness.)
The case was soon afterwards adjourned, and the prisoner
was committed to the custody of the ()Beers, and not to be
liberated without finding bail to the amount of 4,000 dollars.

W. Wordsworth, jun., Esq., has been appointed distri-
butor of stamps for the counties of Cumberland and West-
moreland, in the room of his father, the poet, who retires
upon a pension.
Two new Bishoprics are about to be formed by the Com-
mittee appointed for that purpose, viz., one in New Bruns-
wick, which with a population of 156,000, will have an endow-
ment of £1,200 per annum ; and another in South Australia,
with £l,OOO per annum.
It is with deep regret we announce that a report has
reached us, from a source which is entitled to our highest
respect, that during the last few weeks the Premier's health
has become materially impaired, and that his indisposition is
making alarming strides.—British Queen.
THE KING OF PAUSSIA.—The Suabian Mercury, on the
authority of a letter dated Berlin, the 11th instant, states that
the King of Prussia replied to certain persons who objected
to M. Arago's political opinions, when his Majesty proposed
to confer the decoration of the Order of Merit on him, that
" when scientific merit was to be rewarded, all political feel-
ing should be laid aside. I would have sent the cross of the
Order of Merit to Mr. O'Connell," added the King, " if
Mr. O'Connell had been distinguished in science."
THE TARIFF.—A wag of a farmer who occupies a high
field a few miles N.E, of Ayr, whose intelligence renders him
proof against "crying before he is hurt," on listening to
some of his friends complaining of the present dull trade and
other evils apprehended from the operation of the new tariff,
and chiefly that clause permitting the introduction of foreign
live stock, humorously remarked—" The deil's surely in that
foreign beef ; it's far ayont prussic acid, for it seems to
poison folk afore they get time to pree't."—Ayr Advertiser.

THE LAW OF LIBEL.—A journal in Belfast, the Northern
Whig, ventured, in the exercise of its duty, to report the
outline of a speech delivered at a public assembly. The
speech, as reported, was mild when compared with what had
been spoken at the meeting in question. An error was com-
mitted in the reporting of one word, for which an ample apo-
logy appeared in a future publication ; but a rev. gentleman,
who was alluded to in the speech, conceived himself injured
by the report, sought damages from a jury on account of the
alleged libel, and the jury returned a verdict of £lOO dama-
ges, and costs, against the proprietor of the Northern Whig !
This may serve as a specimen of the treatment the press is
sometimes called upon to endure, and is another proof of
the urgent necessity of making some material change in the
law of libel.

Messrs. Wigney. the bankrupt bankers at Brighton, re-
ceived their discharge from the commissioners on Thursday.
The assignees returned to Mr. and Mrs. Clement Wigney
their watches; and the watches of Mr, and Mrs. Newton
Wigney were detained for the benefit of the creditors. The
assisn!es are understood !9 baye_institute 4, wig§ ;two
tiielantrupis, to recover the amount of the liabilities of the
bank at the time of his death, which his executors failed to
discharge, paying the whole of his property to legatees, and
leaving the bank debts to be liquidated by the money of sub-
sequent depositors. Upon the success of this suit it will de-
pend whether the dividend is to be 10s. in the pound, or " a
mockery of a dividend."
METEORIC STONE.—The itgram (Crotia) Zeisnuq men- ,
tions the falling of a meteoric stone, in the adjourning dis-
trict, on the 26th of April, at 4 o'clock p.m, The fall was
accompanied by a great storm of thunder, and a noise in the
air which lasted 15 minutes. The stone had sunk about I
foot into the earth, but when removed from the field it weigh-
ed only a little more than 21b., because the persons who first
hastened to the spot had broken off pieces to keep as curios-
ities. The stone is brittle ' the fracture is granulated and
ash-gray, interspersed with reddish-yellow points. Another
stone fell on the same day, about two miles from the first.
It was broken and the pieces carried off, so that only a bit
about the size of a plummet has been preserved.—Prussian
State Gazette.
OXFORD AND MS MOTHER.—SiIICe Oxford's confinement
in Bedlam he has beep treated with the utmost kindness ;
books of every description are constantly furnished him ; he
is well fed and also well clothed, and is bepoming.a linguist.
women ;the wives of the
He has been almost deified by the
aristocracy, and those of rich and retired tradesmen, are
positively in love with this wretch, and they have displayed
their " morbid appetites" by writing to Sir Peter Laurie
(the Knight being one of the Governors of Bedlam) begging
him to procure for them a lock of Oxford's hair. When
Oxford was apprehended, it beca
uced me necessary that evidence
as to his insanity should be prod before the jury. Mrs.
Oxford, the prisoner's mother, at the time she was living at
Birmingham, and she vas brought ro London to prove that
her son had exhibited instances of monomania when a boy.
Mrs. Oxford's condition was by no means prosperous ; she
hardly possessed the means of paying her eoaclheahrn, hire twootnodwenr.;
but since then her circumstances have,
we
fully improved. She is now living in the Westminster Road,
occupying a suite of handsome apartments, and living in good
style ; so, it would appear that the very act which had nearly
deprived an amiable Queen of existence, has been a perfect
god-send to the family.
ALLEGED MURDER OF A CONSTABLE AT BRISTOL.—
BRISTOL WEDNESRAy AFTERNOON.—A murder of a moss
pity4h asie a
created
brutal description has been committed in this
of Irishmen on a constable of the police force? and
much excitement. The assault was committed on the con-
stable at an early hour on Sunday morning, but he lingered
quietest
arencdeiv beedst.
conductedThein our infirmary till about five o'clock yesterday afternoon,
when he expired of the injuries lie had
con-
stable is said to be one of the
men in the force, and this circumstance, together with the
unprovoked nature of the attack upon him, and the brutality
and determination of the mob by which he was assailed, has
added to the feeling of regret which the violent death of a
fellow creature is, under any circumstances, calculated to ex-
cik? Shortly after the perpetration of the outrage, six men,
named Jeremiah Dwyer, Charles Dwyer, Dwyer'
Denis callaglian, James Regan, and 'atrick Donovan, were
apprehended by the police? and taken to the Infirmary, where
live of them were immediateiy pointed out as having been
among the men who committed the the outragp. The in-
, quest was held on th,e body this day.