POSTSCRIPT.
SATURDAY.
The great Boyne Hill confessional case was yesterday the subject of an inquiry in the Toumhall at Maidenhead before Commissioners ap- noinred by the Bishop of Oxford. They were Dr. Phillimore, Chan- ;Oar of the Diocess' the Venerable James Randall, Archdeacon of Berk- shire ; the Rev. J. Austin Leigh, vicar of Bray, and rural dean ; Mr. Charles Sawyer, of Heywood Lodge ; and Mr. J. Hibbert, of Braywick Lodge. The iownhall was crowded throughout the inquiry. The pro- secutor the Reverend John Shaw, vicar of Stoke Pogis, was re- resented by by Mr. H. W. Crimps, of the Oxford Circuit ; and Mr. J. D. toleridge appeared for the Reverend Temple West, the accused. First the Bishop's commission, directing inquiry as to the grounds of the ejiares preferred, was read, next the requisition requesting an inquiry. Dr.'Phillimore pointed out that the powers and authority of the Com- mission were limited to inquire whether there was any prime facie ground for instituting further proceedings. Mr. Cripps then opened the ease, and called as a witness Mrs. Anne Arnold, the woman to whom it was alleged Mr. West had put improper questions. Mrs. Arnold repeated, on oath, the statements already made public, re- specting the questions put to her on the commandments. Under cross-ex- amination she denied having made statements to various persons the reverse of what she had made to Mrs. Ellen and Mr. Clark. She did not tell any one that it was all a made-up affair of Mrs. Ellen's ; nor that Mr. West had not asked her not to tell her husband ; nor that the new curate was just the person to visit sick people. Mrs. Ellen was the only other witness called for the prosecution. Her evidence was similar to that which has already been made public.
Mr. Coleridge made a long and eloquent speech in favour of Mr. West, impressing much virtuous indignation at the attempts made by the news- papers to destroy his character, and showing that his conduct was con- sistent with the conduct of high authorities in the church. Ile then called witnesses.
Mrs. Carden, a lady in the habit of visiting the poor, said Mrs. Arnold told her that Mr. West had gone through the 'commandments with her, and that he was "just the right gentleman to visit the sick." Mrs. Smith said that Mrs. Arnold had told her what Mr. West had said, without mentioning anything about Mr. West desiring her to confess, or not to tell her husband. Jane Wynch said Mrs. Arnold told her that it was all a made-up tale be- tween Mrs. Ellen and Mr. Clark. Thomas Mills, gardener to Mr. Gresley, deposed, Mrs. Arnold told him that what Mrs. Ellen had said was a — lie ; beginning her conversation by asking "if he had heard the pack of lies which Mrs. Ellen had been making up about her and Mr. 'West." Captain Leigh said that Mrs. Arnold said she had cried, not on account of the questions put to her, but because she was suffering pain. She was sorry there had been any stir in the matter. Mr. West himself was called as a witness. He admitted that he had put the commandments into the form of questions, and had explained them. Ile did not tell Mrs. Arnold that if she hoped to be delivered and live she must confess to him, or that unless she were confirmed she could not go to heaven, or not to tell her husband what had passed. He had asked the question, "have you ever lusted after any other man besides your husband ?" Since he came to Boyne Hill, he had begun "a more systematic course," and these questions were.part of that course. Since the Bishop had asked him not to put questions in that form he had ceased to do so. The Bishop had only asked him if he had "put improper questions," and was satisfied with his reply that he had not. Inducing persons to confess to him is not part of his systematic course. "I have told sick people if there was any weight between them and God, and they would like to open their minds to me, they could do so. I have asked them if they could not ease themselves of their burden, and said that if they could not I should be glad to assist them. Beyond that I never went." The Commissioners retired for half an hour to consider their decision, and on their return Dr. Phillimore said— "The Commissioners, having paid the best attention in their power to the evidence of the witnesses and the arguments of counsel, are unanimously of opinion that the charge against Mr. West, that in the performance of his ministerial duty on the occasion of visiting a certain sick woman he put im- proper questions to her with a view of leading her to make confession to him, has not been substantiated by the evidence. The charge rests upon the sole testimony of Anne Arnold, unsupported by that of any other witness, but contradicted in various material points by witnesses whose character has not been impugned. The Commissioners have arrived at this conclusion with- out taking into consideration the evidence of Mr. West, whom, according to the best construction they could place on the 14th and 15th of Victoria, they allowed to be examined. They therefore now' in compliance with the re- quirements of the statute, openly and publicly declare that there is not suffi- etent ground for instituting further proceedings, and they will advise the Bishop to that effect. And I declare this Court to be now closed."
This terminated the proceedings, after a continuous sitting of exactly eleven hours. The judgment was received with considerable cheering, mingled, however, with equally strong manifestations of disapprobation.
ormons was reported. Gyres Field passed through Syracuse on the afternoon of the 10th, and received an enthusiastic ovation. Mr. De Sauty, the chief electrician at Trinity Bay, had reported positively that the Atlantic cable was not broken, but declined to make any further statement, except that there were only temporary difficulties of an electrical nature.
The report of the Scinde railway company, jug' t issued, states that the 'forks were begun on the 29th April last in the presence of Mr. Bartle trore and a great crowd of Natives. All the land required has been Madoover to the company, and the works are making satisfactory and vmer:1e progress. Experiments have shown that Scinde coal may be at ?it used for locomotive purposes. The stores of the company have been landed at at Kurrachee without accident. The external trade of
Advices from New York to the Ilth September reached Southampton this morning by the North Star. There was nothing new on the quarantine question. The advanced guard of the Governor's army arrived on the 10th, and were well re- ceived by the rioters, marching to their camping ground amid the cheers of the insurrectionists. News from the Salt Lake is to the 14th August, but there is nothing important. The Indians were somewhat troublesome, and the murder of
ACT
Scinde amounts to 2,250,0001. Surveys have been made of the country from Mooltan to Lahore and Umritsir, and a survey stretching from La- hore to Peshawar is in progress.
The Agricultural statistics of Ireland, just published by the Registrar- General, show a decrease on cereal crops in 1858, as compared with 1857, of 32,427 acres, a decrease of 6166 acres in flax, and an increase on green crops of 13,282 acres. The increase on Meadow and clover is 54,686 acres. The net increase in the extent of land under crops is 23,375. There is also a large increase in the value of live stock.
William Thomas Barnes and Mrs. Barnes, his mother, appeared on re- mand before Alderman Wire again yesterday in the picture-dealing case Mr. Peter was represented as being in a state so deplorable that it was im- possible he could appear. Alderman Wire said he had reason to believe that Mr. Peter was quite well, and residing within a few miles of London. It was explained that he is well, but ha mental delusions—sees devils on the wall—and that therefore auy excitement might drive him into hopeless insanity. Alderman Wire adjourned the case for another week.
M. Prost, the founder of the Company of Caisses d'Escompte in Paris, has been found guilty of swindling, by the Tribunal of Correctional Police, and sentenced to pay a fine of 1000f., and to suffer three years' imprisonment. The civil parties to the suite are condemned conjointly with Frost to pay back 558,317f., the sum to be restored to the sufferers by their transactions.
The enquiry into the Sheffield accident terminated yesterday in a verdict expressing the fact that the deceased persons were suffocated, while en- deavouring to escape from the Surrey Music Hall during a panic caused by a cry of " Fire !" but whether such panic arose in consequence of the firing of a pistol or explosion of gas, or from whatever other cause, no satis- factory evidence has been adduced to the Jury.
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