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A ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE; IN WHICH THE CHRISTIAN ACTS THE HEATHEN, AND THE HEATHEN PUTS ON THE CLOAK OF THE CHRISTIAN, — AND BOTH CONSPIRE TO MAKE A HOLOCAUST OF THE CLERGYMAN. ]_ 30^60 CONTENTS. PAOfi \^^^ 3 Preface, ••• 82 Supplement to Preface, The Case of the Rev. R. Lewb buiefly stated,.... 13 20 Notes on the Evidence • Mr. Geo. Murray's (Grammar-School Teacher of Prcscott) ^^ "Statement of Facts/' ANS^VER 10 GE0.MUEUAV8 LEIIEK IN " PaESCOTT MeS- ^^ SENGER," • 77 Appendix, P U E i^ A C m »• If the things I eay we false, let my Hscoucsf be held infamous ; but if I shew that the things alleged are public and manifost, I do not ex- ceed the bounds of modesty and liberty in reproving them." HlLABT. The following pages arc u ' discharge of a duty,— that of viiuUcating a character ^.. 'cliove to have heen un- justly aspersed, and exposing to vie^* .uc artifices by which the ruin of a useful and singlcmindcd clergyman ha8 hccu com- passed. . 1 ji • » The result of what we feel to be a candid, impartial, and minute inqairy, into important and authentic documents an.l papers, and^ especially into the sworn statements of the accusers themselves, of the Keetor of Prescott, has been and is a clear conviction m our own mind of the only really important truth which we could ex- tract from the case—tlic existence of a conspiracy to get nd of a clergyman who would not swerve from the duty of plainly—nay bluntly, perhaps too bluntly-warning and reprimanding a par- ishioner on the open and avowed dissoluteness of her behaviour. But it may be argued that any vindication, however clear and perfect in itself can have very litti. weight on the general mind of the puV'c, in view of the far greater weight of the solemn judgment pronounced by the Bishop of the Diocese, and following on a public trial where the accusers and the accused were brought face to face, and each aided by learned counsel. There can be no doubt whatever that a judicial sentence con- Y feys to tlie nnclorilMI#|g tf anost men unftoqTiaiiited witli the grounds on which it is bascfl, on absolute assent to its justice ; but the assent is absolute Miinply lucavse there are no data furnished on which an ititellifiont mind can sot to work with the view of eliibonitiiij^ from them its own itidepotuient coTielu.«ions, In the ebsenct of all such, it must necoMsaiily assent to the only evidence Afforded it of innocence or {^uilt — viz. the jud<:,nient. Now in the case before us, those who' are called upon to assent to the justice of the juclj,ni. ifc lately pronounced on it, are for the most part totally unable to form any opinion of their own, or to «onie to any other determination iji rospect of it than that which the judpjmcnt provides ibr them, for the very reason just indi- cated, — ij^norance of the j^rouudn on which it is based ; therefore the vast majority acccptlni,' that judf^n;ent as entirely consistent with thfc truth, have ahoady in their minds condenmed the object of it. We here utter our own experience, and what under the same circumstances must be of ncce«sity everbody's expeiicuce. But we must, with all rcppect fcr the Bishop's judgment on thi3 case beg leave to differ from it. Whether our doing so is or is not a matter of any consequence, is not the question. We differ from it at all events, and the reason why, is because we have not merely heard or read, but because wo have studied the evidence. And this at once brings us to the object which we have in view in publishing the following remarks, — to make known, not the judg- ment, but the premises from which it is authoritatively declared to be the just and lawful corollary,— that every mind may judge for itself. They are not of course intended for general circulation. There can be no good object served by their passing outside the circle of the accus' d'a frien* j and ac juaintances ; if they reach these they will have executed the intention of the writer, for a man's friends and acquaintances are the world to him. To stand well with them is therefore, or ought to be, his ambition and his hope. To forfeit their csteern and good opinion, is to sink to the bottom of society, and become a mere sedimentary deposit, to be, when occasion serves, rejected, thrown away. However capable of being useful, he is, in virtue of his social ostracism, become not only useless but injurious, a foreign body creating in the system # of aocioty pnfn mul irrihition, ancl not, ns an irih-ral juif nC ]t, •ontributin^' to its lu^alth and vigour. When tUo fiiult t^' n<.t i„ tlio inombor, but m iho T>nr!j of wlilch he ia a part, it becomes u _;axon love of thi8 "jewel"; and we fearlessly ask (because we are certain of receiving a Tight answer) th.o sourest, most pugnacious, intractable, cross- grained, irascible village ''xy-pote:itate in the country^ who blowH and puffa loudest on church matters, predicates his hateful insolence to his clergyman on his five pounds' subscriptlor., and distends himself with the self-opinionated assumption that he is the veritable pivot on which the parish revolves in security and safety,— we ask this most unlikely personage, we say, with confidence as possessing an anterior assurance of what his answer must be, if he would allow a clergyman, when called upon to defend liis reputation against attack, to stand in a position less favourable ior its vindi- cation than that accorded to his enemies while engaged in the work of ils destruciion. Will it then be believed that every clergyman brought before the Bishop's Court to reply to charges which may be made against him by every or any village prattler, or hooped parody on feminine grace aad modesty, stands without a slueld to defend himself, or a weapon to intimidate his foe. Yet such is the case ; for should he know where to find a witness whcwcould adduce the r vst conclusive evidence of his innocence, he cannot command or enforce his attendance or his testimony. In fact, people in general Aviil not unless compulsively, come forward and expose themselves to the public gaze and the professional liberties of the lawyer, merely to serve another's interest in which they have no personal concern ; whereas on the contrary, the accuser, having the option oi prefer- ing or not his charges, is sure not to commit himself unless he can depend on support, and, as thi^ support is most genorally, if not always, that of relatives and friends, who feel more or less i II i If ■ personally affected, and consequently share to a correspondingly greater or less degree the accuser's feelings, they willingly lend their aid, and, however individually worthless their characters or rotten their evidence, it possesses a collective or cumulative value, which, according to the technical scales in which lawyers weigh proofs', over-balances the simple denial of the solitary and devoted accused, and the sentence of the court descends on his devoted head. Again, the important matter of costs : some person must pay them ; not the accusers, they are free, they cannot be mulcted, the court has no legal power to impose them, they must therefore fall on either of the two remaining parties,— the Bishop or the clergyman accused, not the clergyman if he be innocent. This would be mani- festly a barbarous injustice, in fact a penalty imposed upon inno- cence, and a bribe offered to every spiteful person to revenge him- self on any clergyman against whom he conceives a dislike. In that case the Bishop must pay, consequently he is placed in a very awkward and unenviable position, one in which he may expose himself to the suspicion of evil,— of condemning the guiltless to av^.d the penalty of acquittal which would then fall on himself, or, if not condemning, at all events so softer 'ng down his judgment us to quiet his own conscience, and at the same time escape the payment of the costs of the prosecution. To say that his chan- cellor guides his opinion and his verdict, looks better than it really is ; for this is the officer who stands in the position of legal prose- cutor, and consequently must be more or less biassed by his prox- imity to the judge, by the consciousness of owing to him his ap- pointment, and that his failure to convict throws a pecuniary load on the shoulders of hi« patron. Of course we by no means affirm the existence in the court before which the Rector of Prcscott was brought, or in any of its officials, any such warping influences ; but we remember the energetic cautions to be found in Scripture on this point ; we believe that they emanated from Him who knows what is in man ; and therefore, it being promised that we here ad- vocate a principle which as such cannot be affected by the purity of a mere individual, we have no hesitation in solemnly recording our protest against a court, the inadequate powers of which are ineffectual for the protection of a clergyman against the machina- tions of wickedness, but which, on the other hand, are equally effective in aid of the most diabolical purposes of a clergyman's enemies. He stands before its bar alone : he has witnesses whose evidence can triumphantly acquit him, but in vain does he cry out that they will not come forward because he could not compel them. The court frowns and looks sternly majestic, and ominously Huspicious. There stands the accuser, surrounded by a crowd of friends, witnesses, conscious of their advantage, inwardly rejoicing in their strength, and evidently restraining their exultation, and anticipating their fell triumph. In addition to all these general objections, we have also a spe- cial one which we consider altogether fatal to the jurisdiction of the court, in the case which forms the subject of the following pamphlet. This objection is founded on a clause in the Church Discipline Act, 3 and 4 Victoria, chap. 84. This act is in force in England, and has been accepted by the Synod of the Diocese of Toronto, at its session held in 1859, in so far (without defining how far) as it may be applicable to the Church in this country. Now the clause on which is built our objection to the jurisdiction of the court in the case of the Rector of Prescott, is exactly that one which we consider especially applicable to our circumstances, and therefore entitled to strict observance on this ground alone. But in addition to its applicability to our circumstances, by which we mean the circumstances of the Church in this colony, it is based on the universal recognition of a law of equity, or shall we call it the law of impartiality, which jealously withdraws from the judge the blinding influences of self-interest, and as far as possible removes him from the dangers of bribery and corruption. This is the 24th clause and is as follows :— " And be it enacted, that when any act, save sending a cause by letters of request to the Court of Appeal of the Province, is to be done, or any authority is to be exercised by a Bishop under this act, such act shall be done or authority exercised by the Arch- bishop of the Province, in all cases where the Bishop who would otherwise do the act or exercise the anthority, is the patron of ani/ preferment held hy the party accused" This clause in the Church Discipline Act expressly prohibits a 8 Bishop from sitting as the judge of a cause in which he may have an interest. It is therefore not only expedient but just, if there is any clause in this or in any other act of general applicability to all countries, times, or circumstances, that no man who has the power of putting a friend or relation into a lucrative situ- ation, shall be the judge in any accusation brought against the in- cumbent of that situation. The prohibition is just to the judge as well as to the accused; the equity of the principle invol/ed in it is too manifest to need elucidation or comment, and yet will it be believed that this very principle was plainly, unequivocally, without apology, and without Teason,ignored, forgotten, or despised, we know not which, for the judge of the Rector of Prescott is the patron of the living which he holds; he can present it to whatever clergyman he phases, as he did to the present incumbent. We hope, thaf. us this has been the first, it will be the last time we shall ever be called on to enter our solemn protest against so ex- ceptional a proceeding. We do not call in question the animus of the judge in the matter before us : we hope that he desires to be " true and just in all his dealings," and that he keeps his eyes and reposes his hopes steadily on the great Judge of all ; but purity should not be thus exposed, justice should not thus be imperilled, honour and character and reputation should not thus be trifled with. We would here express the hope that the Chancellor of the Bishop of Toronto will waken up to the danger he incurs of losing a well- earned esteem by lending his legal sanction in future to such dan- gerous innovations on fundamental principles. He it is who is really the responsible agent, the guide and counsellor of his Bishop, and he ought therefore to be the last person in the Diocese to sacri- fice the right to the expedient. It moy be true that the Bishop is the patron of almost all the livings in his Diocese, and there- fore, if he acted under this clause of the Church Discipline Act, his court would virtually be a nullity. Such an argument— and it is the only possible one we can conceive of any force — does not approach the principle here vindicated : it is one of mere expedi- ency, and is utterly unworthy of the smallest consideration. It is equivalent to saying, that a vice enlarged beyond certain dimensions srows into a virtue. It is erroneous, whichever way it is regarded, il- legal, immoral, absurd. If the Bishop desire to adjudicate in open court on clerical offences, he must resign the patronage of the livings; but if he prefer to retain the patronage, then he must, as provided in the clause of the Church Discipline Act commented on, delegate his judicial functions to the Metropolitan of the Province, and so avoid all semblance of evil. Again, an exemption from the obliga- tion of observing this clause, might with less fear be granted to our home than to our Colonial Bishops; because whereas, by the 17th clause of the same act, the former can compel oi " require the atten- dance of such witnesses, and the production of such deeds, evidence? or writings, as may be necessary," our Colonial Bishops cannot ; all lay attendance, etc., being purely voluntary. They cannot therefore, in the absence of these evidences, be, equally with our home Bishops, masters of the cases on which they adjudicate. The accused clergyman is in consequence placed in a comparatively defenceless position, and his accusers in a proportionably more impregnable one. Thus " envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness" are bribed, by the assurance of positive advantages, to enlist themselves as the soldiers of conspiracy against a clergyman whose fidelity or zeal may rouse them to arms. All that is required of them is a well and maturely concerted scheme, based on a semblance of truth, to impart its fallacious colourings to the ideal picture. What can avail the simple denial of the accused against the concurrent testimony of many witnesses ? How can a judge, a stranger to the past history and character of the accusers, and to the various and complicated relations in which they stand to the accused, form a just estimate of the thousand influences which go to alter or modify the whole complexion of a case ? Now add to this advantage over the accused enjoyed by the ac- cusers, the following, and you will find, that, according to the work- ing of the Church Discipline Act, as illustrated in the case of the Rector of Prescott, the clergy of the Diocese are exposed to the dangers of an inquisition, compaied with which that of Torque- mada was mildness and clemency. The court can inflict no fine on lay accusers, however plain the evidences of their malice, howevev groundless their charges, however enormous the pain, misery, ex- pense, and humiliation tUoy may succeed in heaping on their cleri- I '!!! .t 1 10 cal victim. They escape free : no penalty can be imposed on them, no punishment ; infamy cannot reach them ; character they Uiugh at ; they merely employ the court as the slave of their fiendish de- mgns. If they can substantiate their accusations, — and all the chances are in their favour, as has been seen, — they have glutted their revenge. If they fail, it is at all events gratified : they have attached the stigma of suspicion, a success however easy yet of little value in general ; but when a clergyman is the object, of vast- ly easier attainmoivt, and of innnensely more injurious conse- quences. On the other hand, the clergyman accused, however his case turns must of necessity suffer. If against him, as is not at all improbable (however innocent) under the present constitution of things, his happiness and peace, as well of those of his family, are for ever blasted, and he is turned back on society a despised out- cast, to beg his bread from door to door, after having paid dearly for his defence. If in his favour, still, however poor, lie must meet his expenses : ihese are inevitable. He may, it is true, be comforted by the congratulations and rejoicings of his friends; but can these repay him the many evidences forced on his attention of a blighted Christianity, and of a rank growth of vice, the conse- quences of an unholy war excited among a people for whom it was his joy to labour and a pleasure to endure hardships ? Aid now the to^al ignorance of the accused clergyman of the punitive value of the crime laid to liis charge, and his position ap- pears still more weak and trying. No punishment being previously attached to any particular offence, the weight and severity of the former is left to the graduation of the judge. As no mortal judge does or can view the same offence at distant intervals, in exactly the same light, e. g. in youth or manhood, or under the opposite conditions of prejudice and partiality, the accused is exposed to the danger naturally arising from these inevitable vicissitudes in the moral perception ; so that an act which to-day is pun,' shed with censure, to-morrow may be visited with degn^dation. W<^ like to see the judge himself provide for things honest in the sight of men ; and our opinion is that he will take a very important and decided step in this direction, who first defines, with all possible minuteness; the species, genera, and families of clerical misdemea- n nors or crimes, and attaches to each the punishment which may be expected to follow it. The loose, unwritten understanding now prevailing on this point, will assume a definite character, will raise the iud-e higher above danger from suspicion, and will enable the accusers as well as the accused to estimate, with a nearer approach to correctness, the exact value of their respective positions. We consider that any argument which may be offered in opposition to this recommendation, will be felt to be anticipated by a calni con- sideration of the grounds here laid down on which it is based, and that it is still further met in the universal practice of civil and criminal law. , , t>. , in -t Such are a few of the reasons why we regard the Bishop s tourt, as at present constituted in this Diocese, a nuisance, a snare, and an absurdity, an organized tyranny which blindly hands the lash over to the laity, to inflict their heaviest blows on the backs of the clergy. It affects to adopt the Church Discipline Act as in force in England, in as far as it may be compatible with the altered circumstances of the church in this country, but does not dehne the clauses which it rejects and those which it retains ; so that a clergyman cannot tell to what extent it is to be brought to bear on him until he goes before his judge, when for the first time he feels himself to be the victim of its partial and unequal apphcation, and discovers that it is an engine of dangerous and most eccentric action, which a layman may hanertinently said upon the other side of it. Our first request is, that he will carry with him, all through his perusal of the present and succeeding papers, the few following most important facts : that the great offence alleged against the Kev. Mr. Lewis is represented by his enemies as having been com- mitted by him against one individual, Miss Mary L. Willard, — leave her out of the question, and the accused stands free as he did before he entered the parish ; that consequently to any language with which fault has been found, directed to other females, no separate crimi- nality has been attached ; that reports of such language been used as of importance only to aid the effort to prove the probability or truth of Miss Willard's story ; that he is not accused of the same intentions in respect of others as of those in respect of her. These points have hitherto been much overlooked but will materially assist the reader in arriving at a just conclusion. IS t! M 14 The Rev. Mr. Lewis's intercourse with this person and her family, from the time of his coniin^^ into his parish, was, we learu, the same as with others, until shortly after or about the 25th of October, 1859. Between this date and tlie 7th April, (viz. Easter Eve,) 18G0, or about five months, is comprised that closer inti- macy from which so much suspicion and mischief have originated. From this period of five months let three months be deducted, viz. from January to April, during which Miss Willard was most- ly absent from Prescott, and the Hector's oftencesmust have been, and are represented by his accusers as having been, committed be- tween the 25th October and the 4th January following, or about two months. Previous to the 25th of October, his name was unblemished. The keenest search will fail to discover before this date an un- clerical fault. Within two months therefore he fell ; not gradually,— this is not even intimated,— but suddenly ; all at once, if the story against him is to be believed, into the lowest abyss of infamy ; within this period became an adept in vice, a connoisseur in vil- lany. A man of middle age, and, as a clergyman of some standing, necessarily unless a fool, possessing some knowledge of the ma- chinery of the human heart, and of the ways of the world, he i» represented as having, without caution, or any previous process of preparation, committed himself to certain inexcusable liberties with a young woman of mature age, perceptible shrewdness, and light conduct. He could not have known the degree of reliance to be placed on her, but must have certainly known that his name, character, prospects, happiness, and everything which a man values most in life, were in her keeping by his own voluntary act. Is this a reasonable supposition ? does a man intrust all his material property without security to a stranger ? docs he even, to a friend ? and yet he entrusted property of inestimably higher value to one, of whom he only knew that she was light, giddy, frivolous, and mis- chievous. But if these, &c. were her faults, why, it may be asked, be so intimate, why drive her out alone, why admit her to his house This surprise was experienced and often expressed in reference to one the latchet of whose shoes the Baptist said he was not worthy to unloose. " How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans I*'' li u and sinners ?" therefore " the scribes nnd Pharisees niurniurcd against him," and their disciples, it would a})pear, may be f und extant in Prescott. But in this person's ease there was a special cause f(jr driving her out which did not exist in that of others : she was fond of driving; Dr. Brouse indulged this fondness. Hi« habits are subjects of local history. Mr. Lewis saw the danger of his parishioner^ and, as was his duty, resolved to warn her of, and guard lier against, it. There was a peculiar difficulty in the way owing to her long acquaintance with his wife, and the intimacy be- tween the two families. He desired to wean her from the husband of her friend, by indulging that wish for driving, of which he took advantage, and moreover to avail himself of the opportunity thus afforded of arousing her to a sense of the impropriety of her course. On the 25th of October she drove with Dr. Brouse fourteen miles into the country, and reached home about half- past seven in the evening, between two and three hours after sun- get. He Mr. Lewis was engaged for the following day, viz. SGth, to meet a wedding-party at Maitland. Miss Willard knew it, and requested Mrs. Lewis's permission to nccompaiiij him. This she did because she had heard from Mrs. Lewis that it was not her inten- tion to go. Miss Willard had a curiosity to l>c present at the wedding. Mrs. Lewis gave her consent, and consequently he drove Miss Willard to Maitland on the 26th. On the way he took occasion to introduce the subject of her drive the day previ- oas with Dr. Brouse. Knowing his character and habits, he spoke to her respecting it, and asked if he had taken advantage of her position. She acknowledged that he had kissed her. She in her evidence states, that these drives with the Rev. Mr. Lewis were as often as " every other week." This would make the whole num- ber to the first of January, at which they came to an end, about four times. No impropriety is alleged ; indeed it would have been absurd to have alleged it as having taken place during the first drive j it must then have been on the occasions of the remaining three. She swears that he said he wished her to wear a black veil (during the drive) " so she might be taken for Mrs. Lewis ; ' said this three different times." Then on the second occasion, it ap- pears by her statement that be took the liberty of requesting her I NJ !i i. 1 ':! ! 16 to \/ear while drivinf^with him a black veil, for a purpose evidently unlawful, and the nature of which she must have known ; and moreover that he repeated this reciucst. There are here four difficulties, 1st, that he should have made intimation to her of such a wish so soon after his intimacy commenced, and so soon after his first drive with her; 2Md, that she did not resent it and refuse, and at once suspect him ; 3rd, that he should repeat it three different times ; and 4th, that she should not have declined repetition of these drives, after such a request. It was during one of these drives that he is reported by this person as having requested her to wait a year for him, that per- haps he would then be free and marry her. She also swears that she subsequently drove with him. He must then have made this proposal during the second or third drive, for he drove her onco out subsequently to his having made it ; a rather rapid progess for a beginner in the career of vice ; a progress which even the most accomplished debauchee could not possibly make, except where progress could conduct to no victory over virtue. Much stress has been laid on the frequency of liis visits to the house of Mr. Willard. They were no doubt more frequent, and so they ought to have been, than to the generality of his parishion- ers ; and were many of them made probably net as a clergyman so much as a friend, for we have yet to learn that the social instincts of a clergyman, which are common to him with the rest of man- kind, must lose themselves in his profession. But again, they were made to the family and not to any particular individual of it ; for Miss Willard herself confesses that her mother was always present except on one or two occasions, and this confession robs the charge of frequent visiting of all its sting. If a book of poetry was taken by him from a table and read, as stated, with evident malicious intent, it must have been during these visits; but if the reading were sug'^ested by an evil motive, or the passages read selected in view . -jorrupt object, what must we think of the morality and in H of Mrs. Willard in permitting it in her presence, and tho t .dement is made by another female, who was also present, and, if permitting, in not comprehending their scope. Thus Mr. Lewis's acquaintance continued uninterrupt* ti n edly with this person's fiimily for these fi'W months, he visiting at their house, fre(juently acconipanied by Mrs. Lewis, luulrceeiv. ins; their frec^uent visits at ' 's, until the conun'uicenjeut of the following year, when hi. closer observation of the very exceptionable conduct of Miss WillarJ, and the little «'ffect of his advice and endeavours to guard her against herself, and the apparent indifterence of her family to the career on which she had now fairly entered, suggested a difl'erent course of treat- ment. The prcposaK viz. of marriage, attributed to h!m as having been made to her in Brockvillo, about the Hth January, 1800, and previously, between 2r)th of October and last of Deeoniber, 1854, is one which we must take for granted lias been a pure unmixed, and indeed most awkward and ridiclous, fabrication, it not constituting any portion of the articles brought against him at Toronto, and because it had no semblance of probability, for in respect of it the most important witness. Miss Willard, and her cousin Abigail, who were examined in Prescott upon it, contra- dicted each other in the most prominent and vital particulars. See twtes on Miss WUlurd'i and MUs A. Willard' s evidence in this pamphlet, , • Observing that no notice was taken of his cautionary remon- strances by Miss Willard, and that her familiar intercourse with Dr. Brousc continued unchanged, Mr. Lewis no doubt considered it his duty to address himself to her'mother, which he accordingly did in the month of December, before Miss Willard went to Brockville, before his so-called proposal to her there, and conse- quently during the »jontinuancc of the same intimacy which ex- isted between October, 1851), and January, I860. He mentioned her daughter's own acknowledgments of Dr. Brouse kissing her, and recommended her not to give permission to her to drive in future with Mr. Brouse, or to sleep at his house. Her reply must here have put an end to all his previously formed opinions of her^ and from that time his visits almost entirely ceased : it was that she believed that " Dr, Brouse cared more for her daughter Mary than for his wife." Sliortly after he again saw Mrs. Willard, and repeated his ap- I I' J! 18 prchnnsion of the dari'^'or !»er daiiu'htpr ran by allowinfj hor t<> deop at Dr. Brouse's ; a))i)rohciiHi()ns wlilch wore continually rc- newiid hy the ropoatod stori.'s in constant circulation respecting the exceptionable behaviour ol' tlio latter. J^he made li<,'lit of it. He \\w.n at last deternuned to WfiVii Mrs. Hrouse, if ever she gave him aj^ood opportunity. It soon occurred ; for shortly after, u lady whose name we, from motives of delicacy and consideration for lief own fi'elinjiH, refrain from mentioninir, stated that she cnlled in the afternoon at Dr. l^rouse's. Miss VVillard was in the hall, and told the lady that Mrs. Hrouse was not at home. The same hidy then went and lound Mrs. Brouse, and tohJ hit- th'f this fact on his mUiruj a dai/ or torn after. This was the opportunity he desired, and he took advantage of it by telling her that she was very loulisin to invite Miss Willard to her house so often. 8he repl"' '1 i!i if siiohad 'cnown Miss Willard a long time, and did not think there was any harm in her ; and remarked that she. Miss Willard was going to be married soon. A nuan is ofcour.se slow to acknowledge her own degradation. Mr. ^ewis answered that he did not believe it; but that if it were so, he pitied the man who married her. He then mentioned — probably with abruptness, per- haps indiscreetly, at all events with candour — her husband's and Miss \, illard's driving alone until 11 o'clock at night, and tiieir habits of kissing ; that if she doubted his report, he would repeat it in jireseiice of Miss Willard and hrr mother. The servant here came to tell Mrs. Brouse that her husband was ready to drive her out. Mrs. Brouse and Mr. Lewis parted apparently as good friends as ever. This interview took place on li^aster Eve. On the same afternoon he called at Mrs. W illard's, and requested S 11 U n pRrmission tr> spoak to Mins Willard whnv- IIo aj^aiii plainly told her of the roports in circulation concerning her. such as lier being out with Dr. Hrons • m late at niiiht, and the iiflFair of the nur- Bcry ; and asked her if she considered whul tho youn;,' nuin to whom she was enu;ar. Brouse. She said she -'would br.we it out. The answer to this was, " I have nothin«; more lo say to you ; you may iz;o." He repeated his rofjuest to her to leave the room, a.id send her mother to liim. She then said, " I am sorry my company is s(» distasteful to you." He reiterated his rciiuest to lu^r to leave the room, and send her mother to him. She then said, *' I do not care for Dr. lJrou.se." Ho told her that if in future he called, it wo' ... be to see her mother, and that she was never to come into the room. She $aw (ind fdt th'tt her adodnccs wererepellcd imhgntttith/. From that moment slie seems to have been seized with the spirit of hatred and revent^e ; and hence the plot of which the Hector of Prescott be- came the victim, and which, because some people believe on wholly ex-purte testimony, ho is called upon to leave his parish, and pro- nounce thereby himself «!;uilty and his enemies innocent. He could not compel tho prci^ence of his witnesses at his trial. A lady whose evidence was of vast importance, fearim^- a sum- mons, left town abruptly ; but subse(piently, on bein-^' informed that the court had no power to compel her attendance, despised its subpoena and would not go. But he is unjustly said to have none; which if even true, it cannot be averred that his cause is thereby vitiated, in face of the fact that there was but a single witness to the alleiied offences charged against him, and that wit- ness Miss M. J. Willard, then of Prescott, now Mrs. Samuel B. Clarke of Toronto. '«k NOTES ON THE EVIDENCE. rii Tantum religio potuit suadcre malorum. Lucretius. " He that questioneth much shall learn much, and content much." Bacon. Fanny Amelia (Mrs.) Brouse sworn • — " Knows defendant — one year in parish/' Unfortunately for the cause dear to the hearts of Willard, Brouse & Co., the very first sentence in the sworn evi- dence of the first, and one of the most, if not the most important witness against the Rectoi of Prescott, is false ! The defendant took charge of his parish in May, 1858. He became acquainted with Mrs. Brouse shortly after ; the time when she gave her sworn evidence was August, 1860. He therefore was tlie Rector of Pres- cott two years and three months, and she was personally acquainted with him as such for ac least two years, yet swears that he was only one year in the parish. Whatever may have been the cause of this error, one thing is certain, that she most argumcntatively proves herself to be at the outset an unfit witness ; and should any lingering doubt of it hang over the mind of the most incredulous, she industriously goes to work in the remainder of her evidence to dispel it, and, as will be seen, succeeds to the entire satisfaction of every decently intelligent reader. In our remarks on the " Fabrication of Facts," published by Mr. George Murray, Grammar-School teacher of Prescott, whose aim after immortality we like to aid by impressing on every avail- able occasion on the public memory the name of the author of this great work, this " hurried" work, we proved, with what we believe *^.^-x^ CUETIUS, much." Bacon. ant — one hearts of ivorn evi- mportant lefendant iquainted lier sworn r of Pres- ;quainted ; lie was the cause nitatively lould any rcdulous, ddcnce to faction of lishcd by tt, whose ery avail- or of this ire believe to be the utmost conclusiveness, that he opened it with a deliberate falsehood. We merely incidentally allude here to this circumstance with the view of directing attention to the coincident character of the opening testimony of the lady of Dr. Brouse, M.D., of Pres- cott, C.W., and the opening flourish of egotism which bursts on the astonished ear of the reader of the " hurried" ftibrication of facts — the rkUculus mm which issued from the mountainous intellect of the Grammar-School teacher of Prescott, after long and violent parturient throes. But to return to Mrs. Brouse. " Between forty and fifty years old," &c., &c. A rather singular question to put to a clergyman's parishioner— his age and that of his wife— and the witness to swear to their ages ! a very remarkable example of exact knowledge obtained under manifest difficulties. But Mrs. Brouse's knowledge need not envy her veracity. The Commissioners seemed to consider the former illimitable, and the latter Aristidean ; and hence we suppose the extraordinary questions put, and the wonderful result in the establishment, in their opinion, cf a, prima facie case for the Bishop's Court. " Talked of her beautiful eyes." Now this really is swearing rather too much ; for can it be supposed possible that any man not a fool, would abruptly, without fueling his way, address such language in seriousness, or even jocosely, to a married woman ; or supposing that he did, that any respectable woman would not prevent a repetition by at once dissolving the acquaintance, which Mrs. Brouse did. not. It did not in any way aff"cct the in- timacy. But when people find themselves in a difficulty, they must emerge some way or other per fas ant nefas. We really believe that Mrs. Brouse does flatter herself that her eyes are beau- tiful, and loves to hear strangers and friends express their appre- ciation of their beauty. Ilinc ilia' laehrymo'. Hence she can- not understand a compliment unless it convoys an allusion to her eyes, which, for all we know, u.ay be, and for her own gratification we hope are, for brightness, and beauty, and mildness of radiance like the evoning-star in duplicate ; but he only " talked (f them," and then perhaps not to her, but to some second 2ierson—f^\y evasion. It is, then, we conclude, a sin to speak as follows: "Are you acquainted with Mrs. Brouse?" " Yes I have i 22 that honor." " She haa beautiful eyes ?" " Most unquestionably. I have never before seen two such orbs in mortal head, — two such lovely illustrations of the ' mildest ray serene' of the poet." We will proceed no further with the conversation, as the gentleman who last spoke is getting rhapsodical, and may himself, if not careful, he made to stand before a Commissioner or a Court. But seriously, we once knew an elderly young lady, who, if ladies could be any- thing but beautiful, was the very antipodes of beauty, to whom certain portions of Burke on the " sublime and beautiful," if read backwards, would precisely apply. As she felt the cold shade of de- gcending old-maidenhood gradually'enveloping her, — which, by the way, we ourselves look upon as a very respectable, honorable, and enviable condition, — her solicitude to share her happiness and her temper with om» of the coarser half of humanity grew so benevo- lently intense that a look she invariably interpreted into a deep though mute expression of love, and the coldest and politest touch imparted to her attenuated fingers, into a warm and energetic decla- ration of this passion. ! the hours, nay nights, she would consume in detai ing with graphic minuteness her conquests, and her trials, the jealousies of rivals, the dangers of beauty — the pain of indeci- sion as to the choice which would be most conducive to her future happiness, &c., &c. But to return from our digression, in which we di- claim any personal allusion, we next find Mrs. Brouse uttering the following : " He said he thought her mother's eyes were prettier than hers/* This was too bad — positively insulting. But " The daughter oftentimes begins to bloom before the mother can be content to fade, and neither can forbear to wish for the absence of the other." — Rasslkne. No doubt Dr. Brouse, did as she says, agree with her that these were " not proper words;" they must have shocked his sensitive virtue. We can scarcely blame Mrs. Brouse for Iceling irritated. Bad enough to talk of the beauty of Miss Willard's eyes, but to put h:3r mother's eyes before hers was enough to make her think and say anything, and we don't wonder at the length of rein she gave to her imagination or to her virtuous suspicions ; for if we de- sire to know her evidence we must go to her thoughts, suspicions, jstionabh. -two such " Wcwill email who 3ureful, he seriously, d be any- to whom 1," if read lade of de- ch, by the [•able, and ss and her benevo- to a deep test touch etic decla- . consume her trials, of indeci- ler future in which , Brouse an hers." ler can be ace of the hat these sensitive irritated. )S, but to ler think ' rein she if we de- spicions, and suppositions, of which it is made up ; ns for example : " * He, defend in t, * said Miss Willard was not much noticed, and soon would not be invited out at all .' Never asked a reason, atid he y;a\e none. She supposed he meant because she (iMiss W.) was a bad character." How could she h:ive supposed it before he spoke of her character. Did Mrs. Brouse herself suspect or know her character, and therefore think that Mr. Lewis also knew it (Miss Willard's) ? " Thought at the time then; was something more in it, but never told her." Singular secretiveness in a woman, especially Mrs. Brouse ; a singular way truly of shewing her friendship for her dear kind good Miss Willard, the pure, the simple, the unsophis- ticated, *' Asked to mesmerize her ; and at same time asked for her ring to wear on his finger, and she rei'used it. Thinks he asked the ring for the purpose of taking some improper liberty with her ; men- tioned it to Doctor Brouse some dcvjs after.'' Would not a virt; 0U8 woman, under th- pressure of the excitement of indignant feeling and insulted honor, have ran to her husband at once and told him, and not have slept on it and treasured it up for days in her heaving bosom. Strange that Dr. Brouse should only think it strange. " 'Tifl passing strange" ; stranger still that " he did not take much notice of it till this charge came out; but it is not strange in view of another fact, that one of the firm of Willard, Brouse & Co. averred it as their intention to watch a whole year for an offence; not strange in view of this honest avowal, that all this progress on the virtue of Mrs. Brouse, and (remembering the compliment paid to the superior beauty of her mother's eyes) on the virtue of her mother also, was made within the narrow limits of •' between three and five weeks," surely the lady proves too much, or the Kectorof Prescott must be a very hellno femluarnm to conten\plate ihe synchronous destruction of the inviolable virtue of the gentle Mary Louisa Willard, now the happy and devoted Mrs. Samuel B. Clarkof Toronto— of the confiding Fanny Amelia, whose sole am- bition was to be loved by the man of her choice, in whom *' she had perfect confidence," for '• he loved her and that was all she wanted," and of her mother, whose testimony aftbrds proof of her close consanguinity, for that testimony clearly shows a peculiarly nicj susceptibility, as we will hereafter explain, to the delicate re- m 24 lations of the sexes and the rules by which their intercourse should be governed ; but then again 'tis strange that this frightful men- 8ter, notwithstanding his wolfine propensities, should be allowed to " come again " to the house of Dr. Brouse, and that even he should receive a special invitation to a special evening party ; and then again 'tis not strange, as we look at it in the light of the con- eluding sworn declaration of this same witness, that '' she has a feeling on her own side." Thus to sum up this lady's evidence : it is strange and it is not strange ; what is strange in it is not strat.go, and what is not strange in it is strange. And now, reader, if you expect, as no doubt you do, that we should unravel this web of contradictions for you and reduce this chaos to order, and throw light on this darkness, we can only do it— but the process is a secret ; if it were known, we might suffer for our knowledge as well as for our experiment. We will therefore tell you, only on the promise of inviolable fidelity ; we can only do it by holding it up to the brightly illuminating eyes of her whose only want in this life IS gratified in the love of her husband. In the light of these piercing orbs the mists of obscurity are dispelled, and by its trans- forming agency the hidcousness of error is changed into the beauty and harmony of truth. Much stress is laid on the request said to have been made by the accused on this lady for one of her rings. If it were made at all, we would be disposed to consider it a reprimand administered in a strain of irony on the vanity and folly of covering the fingers with a multitude of rings. But the request is either proper or improper. If improper, too much is proved ; that is, that at the time when all the accused's energies were engaged in an absorbing at- tention to xMiss Willard, and this h the whole intended charge, he was also compassing the destruction of Mrs. Brouse, which is absurd. But if the request were not improper, it may have been made jocularly, at all events innocently. Now everybody knows that there are few expressions, however innocent, which may not be very easily twisted so as to appear to bear a sinister construction. The " sly mendacity of hints " is a powerful alchymical agency. God forbid that every word uttered by a clergyman, or by any man or woman, however exemplary, were to be made the subjectn I .t '--i 25 rae should itful inon- allowcd to he sliould and then f tlie con- she has a evidence : it is not w, reader, ravel this rder, and le process W'ledge as ily on the ling it up it in this t of these its trans- beauty le !e by the ie at all, stered in e fingers )roper or the time I'bing at^ charge, wliich is ive been y knows y not be ruction. agency. by any subjects of such a process. An apostle might in this way be brought to appear guilty before the tribunal of a world, whose judgment if" uncharitable in proportion to its own wickedness. " Saw them," viz. Miss Willard and defendant, **oftencr than they ought to be," together we presume. Mr. Lewis " always asked her (Mrs. Brouse) if Miss Willard had been there," that is at her house on the occasion of his visits. Delightfully delicate appre- ciation of clerical propriety ! After all, how gross to found an adverse opinion of a person's motives on such a slender and shifting foundation as a young woman's capricious estimate of the eXiict number of times a clergyman ought to see a lady with propriety. It must be evident that the frequency of his visits must depend on the necessity for them. His inciuiries on visiting Mrs. Brouse if Miss Willard were at her house were very natural in view of his knowledge of the object with which her visits were paid to Mrs. Brouse, and which visits it was his avowed intention to stop. But poison may be extracted from the most innocent ingredients, and so the artful allocation and combination of distant, unconnected, and, simply considered, innocent circumstances may be made subservient to the support of a charge the most groundless as well as the most iniquitous ; thus an enquiry, very natural and proper in the eyes of one who can appreciate the position, duties, and responsi- bilities of a clergyman, becomes, to the eye of the evil and suspi- cious, who look at the world through the distorting media of their own characters, an unerring indication of low cunning sharp- ened by depraved desire. But who in reality is placed in the most equivocal position ? Mrs. Brouse or the person against whom she testifies, — he by arts and expressions entirely compatible with clerical propriety, although the very Pharisaical may say not com- patible with sufficient clerical seriousness, or she by averring that she permitted an advance which she construed into an insult, and not mentioning it at the time to her husband, whom she loved, not even expressing her anger or forbidding the author of it to appear again in her house, but on the contrary allowing him to " come again because he was a clergyman." And what shall we say of her husband, who she was persuaded recjuitod her affegtion by reciprocating it, in permitting " defendant to call " after he had » 4^ ! I heard of his b;id conduct ; what shall wc say when we read that he " NEVeit told her to refuse to let hiin come to visit her," out, on the contrary, in/itoii liiia to a pirty specially called to;:;etlier in compliment to liiiu? Are there no conclusions from these facts? It is painful to hear Mrs. Jirouse speak of herself as h«.,i'e she does . But in how piinful a lilcmma does she place her best friend I We will suppose that she has got one who is indeed a friend, and, as such, having implicit confidence in the purity of her honor. He hears her speak under the awfully solemn obligation of an oath; therefore he cmnot believe that she, a lately confirmed member of the Church of England, would be guilty, not of perjury alone, but of prooluf/ herself ,or husband, who, although made acquain^d by his wife of the infamous intentions of her spiritual adviser, so harmoniously unites with her as never at any time to 27 cad that he r," out, on ogetliur in ese facts? i lu.i'c she cft hor best od a friencj, her honor, of an oath; member of alone, but he supposi- n. He is a painful 1 tor truth, m herself gross in a )rbid crav- ider, in the uaracterize temeiit in 1 princi')le, I to be iui- iure by in- ' presence, Bry reason ir and dia- which iia- ty. Now lend to be Fruly it is ; faithless. we review its sinii'U- )u,i>h made r spiritual ly time to tell her to refuse to let Mm come to visit her, but, on the contrary, himself iavitjs him to hin house, ultliou^h slw immediately iifier- wards states that the Doctor ** did not like ministers coming Ut )\i» house." A favorable opportunity here presented itself of t;xpelling fchcm, and certainly most justly; for, iu addition to the reason afforded by the improper conduct under consideration, they must be most expert and practised deceivers if " between three and five weeks" one of then», of hitherto spotless name, could make such rapid strides towards the cousummation of the most initjuitous design, us is here osserted. ISut the key is put into our hands with which to unlock the difficulty ; these g;'^ and destroy, in* stead of to tend and to feed ; neither should be . dl, as he does in his judgment, *' frivolity," that which is a crime of seldom paralleled enormity. JDid, then, these conversations really take place? Miss Willard answers In the affirmative, the respondent in the negative ; they either did or did not. It is Miss Willard's object to prove that they did ; it is his to prove that they did not. It is Miss Wil- lard's object, because, if she can substantiate her charge, she has established a motive, viz. her repudiation of his advances, for his lilii • 1 II I! 80 calumnmus c!»ai^cn n<:;.'iinst her reputation, which charjios could otIuM-wise n<»t be imputed to any otiior than the motive here cluiiiHMl tor hiuj, and with whiclj the whole oviJcTiec aj^recH, viz., a conscientious discharji;c of proU'ssioual duty. The principle on which her eo-workers have acted in this scandalous business is to show that he was in love with Miss Willard ; that this emotion wai converted into hatred by her rejection of Jiis criniiual proposals; that he feared her betrayal, and that this fear, actinji' in conjunction with '' love to liatred turned," prompted and induced him to exe- cute the b;iHC plan of endeavourinji; to prove her to be '* v * M-i;erou8 character." To turn his statements against her, back on himself, it beoanu; absolutely necessary to prove hin» to be guilty of a greater wickedness than that ijnputed by iiiin to lu'r. If he can be made to appear guilty whether lie is or not, is of no conse((uence, it is cor- rectly argued, noonc will believe his charges against her ; but eve-y one uill attribute them to fear or to hatred, fear of her revelationsi, and h.itred baciiuse she would not consent to his base proposals ; hence it must be made to appear that he hated her, and was afraid of her ; but some cause must be shown why he must hato or fear, or be influenced by both these passions together, and hence the concoction of the old and clumsy, but generally too effective expedient of taking advantage of an occasional act of civility and ordinary attention, common to most clergymen in similar circumstances, Hhewn in driving out Miss Willard at her own pressing request, and calling frecjuently at her house by re- peated invitations, to graft on it imaginary conversations and ideal proposals. So much for Miss Willard's i.itercst or object, and that of fier friends, in nutking the Hector of Prescott appear guilty of their charges against him, and their scheme for effecting this object. His interest or object in denying the truth of her reports of these conversations, is sufficiently manifest; but the credibility of his denials must be judged by the same extraneous test as that of Miss Willard and that also of her accomplices, visi. past character, possible or probable motives, &c. Now we do not hesitate freely to admit as our own opinion, drawn from conflicting statements and from a general review of the whole affair, that tlic Rector of Prescott did use very strong 1 Y. :on could tive here 3S, viz., a u'iple on ness is to otion wa* roposals; ij unction in to cxc* •1 porous I i in self, it !i greater ) iiiadc to it is cor- 3Ut (!vc-y volations, roj)osal3 ; and wap lust hate lier, and irally too al act of :ynien in d at her ^e by re- ons and ir object, tt appear eifecting h of her but the :traneou8 lices, vi8. opinion, •cview of y strong 31 lan^juaf^ft, while rornnnstrntinp; witli his port parishioner, on the oharactiir of her intercourse with Doctor Urousc;, and that tl'i» laniiu;itj;o lent much aid to those injured innocents, VVillard, Brous> & Co., in the piosecution of their object. We think it very possibk^ that in the course of his conversation ^vitil her on this subject, in her .»wn house, on Master Eve, when lie prohibite*! her I'roMi ap[K'-arint to con- tion. If ulity and id on his a loss of norcover, s of vice, e charges a strong tion, this ilf to be, 3ld^ rude, violating tbe inter- nunibers, 3st to the rorthless, I. Such, we maintain, is the position in which Miss Willard and the great object of her dislike stand, in rospoct of the statements made by her against him ; and that her unsupported evidence is still further weakciuid by her motives as well as by her character, will be abun- dantly manifest from the following auiilysis of the latter, the mate- rials of which she herself has liberally supplied. They arc taken from statements made undc oath. As an instance of the free-love proclivities of this pure and simi)le uiaid, the following display made by herself, of her knowledge of the masculine heart, and of her sympa.hy with its sufferings, is illustrative. She " pitied Doctor Brouse because liis wife was not a suitaljle corn- pa lion for him." How, wc may ask, did she know? Possibly she thought him a suitable companion for herself. Did he ever tell her so during those nightly drives ? Ah ! this was the testimony to which ho i>ut the furtive seal of his lips on these interesting occasions, — in the soundness of which, her uiother, Mrs. Willard, implies her belief in that remarkable confession, fliat " she be- lieved Dr. Brouse cared more for her daughter Mary than for his wife." " lias," meaning defendant, " kissed her mote than or.ce." As it docs not appear that this familiarity was taken forcibly, it must have been willingly ; anc^ willingly, then wrongfully on hor part as well as on his ; and if more than once, premcditatedly ; and if premcditatedly and willingly, and therefore wrongfully, does not the witness confess in a manner so singularly unblushing, her commission of a serious impropriety, as to leave us the only in- ference possible under the circumstances, viz. that it was so habitual as to blunt the sense of her modesty. " He asked if she would wait a year for him ; that perhaps he would then be free and marry her. It was wlien out driving, lias been out with him since." What a character is here ! comment is absolutely paralyzed. Is there any spot in this world, with al! its wickedness, so socially corri.pt, in which public opinion would excuse the con- tinuance of an acquaintance bel-'veen two persons of opposite sexes, after a proposition such as this — so base and revolting ; a proposition which could only emanate from the deepest abyss of moral degradation ; and yet not only a married clergyman is 34 accused of being its author, but an unmarried female of receiv- ing it and again seeking his society. Surely that fascination which held her in its witching embrace ought to have yielded under the potent exorcism of this nefarious proposal. But no ! the love of the good and virtuous was not the weakness of this witness ; she still remained the willing slave of a base passion, and she confesses to the unbroken continuance of the same intimacy. But did not her countenance betray an emotion of horror ? No. Not even of displea- sure ? No, not even of displeasure ; for she aummtged subse(j[ucnt visits, and actually (/t/itY? with him, intwdudng him to a family of her friends. Nay more : she must, by her own admission, have smiled upon the proposal ; for its reception was so encouraging as to embol- den him, so she says herself, to repeat it. " She then,'' on his subsequently repeating the proposal, '• thought him a bad man." Why then ? But the admission is unfortunate in face of the following: "Did not then ride so much with Dr. B. as with defendant ; allowed him to come to the house again." So although she thought him '' bad," his society was not distasteful : it vas actually agreeable. " What concord hath light with dark- ness," vice with virtue ? yet here it is. " Did not tell her mother, because she did not think defendant meant anything wrong." How does this agree with the following : " the proposal in Brock- ville opened lier eyes," If he meant nothing wrong, then why conclude him to be '' bad." Here, then, is a most manifest contra- diction, arising out of a clumsy efibrt to seem virtuous, and to excuse actions wholly inconsistent with such a character , but very reconcileablc wl.h that character which acknowledges, with assumed innocence and simplicity, a habit of promiscuous" kiosing. " The kissing was done playfully, and she imagined there was no harm in it." But, perhaps, there is some connection between obli- quity of mind and of vision :— the lady with the beautiful eyes, who is so easily fliscinated, will understand. How carefully we weigh, and how slowly accept the evidences on which our holy faith rests, and with what avidity we grasp at and receive the assertions of calumny, however impure and suspicious their source, or however conflicting in their nature ! We pass over various other portions of this young lady's story, satisfied that every reasonable uind I must reject her as an authority, on the grounds, established by the foregoing proofs, of her interest in supporting it, as upc.i this airy foundation stands her reputation ; 1st, on the ground of her own admissions of loose conduct habitually indulged in, and unblush- ingly confessed ; 2ndly, on the ground of the gross inconsistencies apparent in her sworn evidence ; 3rdly, on the ground of the utter improbability that a clergyman, whose whole past life— proved, by unequivocal testimony, above all suspicion, because emanating from the highest and puiost sources— was invariably marked by a uniform gravity and decorum consistent with his office, could, with- out passing through the ordinary stages of gradation in crime, cast oiF in an instant, as a thing foreign to him, his whole past clmr- cter, and stand forth a new being, a consummate hypocrite and clumsy villain; and 5thly, on the ground, supposing the truth of the last, that no adequate temptation to the change, no sufficient inducement to risk the loss of a name so dearly earned, and a position so honorable and so difficult to mainta'n as the one in which he stood, presented itself, until it did in the person of one, a compliment to whose eyes must be as much an irony, as her reputation for maidenly conduct and modesty is a myth. Mr. Willard sworn :— " Went up to cars with my daughter at request of my wife, who said defendant acted so curiously that she wanted him, Mr. W., to go up. Never asked what she meant by it." The testimony of the rest of the witnesses seems of little im- portance, as being only recapitulations of that which was already given. There are, however, a few curious statements interspersed which are evident departures from the progrannne pre-arranged and agreed upon, imparting an uncouth patch-work appearance to it, spoiling its beautiful features, and marring its dramatic unity. Of such is the above text. Observe the tender solicitude of the maternal heart, in its jealous endeavours to guard the innocence of an unsophisticated girl of twenty-five, against the dangerous fascinations of a clerical brigand of middle age. She despatches her obedient husband to protect the tender flower, instigated by a prophetic fear h-st its virgin purity might be sullied by the impure breath cf her spiritual friend ; a fear which arose from observing St ,,..,, I that he " acted curiously." So innocent of the ways of this wicked world is Mrs. Willard, that she is unable to define the source of her fear; all she knows is that he " acted curiously "; she cannot explain more precisely. She is ignorant of the nomenclature of fashionable vice. She has never seen its devious ways, — oh never ! — or experi- enced its withering power ; she must, therefore, fall back on the un- erring instinct of female sensibility, the airy nothings which go to form female reasons for female conclusions, and therefore despatches her obedient lord, to protect, in daylight and in a public thorough- fare, the gentle creature to whom she does not scruple to give permis- sion '0 drive alone with the object of her nervous apprehensions, or with an M. D. of special susceptibilities. Neither can the reader fail to appreciate the unquestioning submission of the obedient husband to his devoted wife; his absolute wijjcrsoiialiti/, shewn " in never asking what she meant," by the reason which she gave why he should escort her daughter to the railroad station, and yet turn a deaf ear to anxious warnings addressed to her against the use her daughter made of her unobstructed intercourse with an acknowledged debauchee. No apprehension was excited of danger from solitary drives during the " witching hour of night " with a man of easy morals ; but every danger from a passing word addressed by a clergyman of hitherto fair name, at a railway station in the open day, and in the presence of a prying crowd. Surely he can be no adept in vice who would prefer such an occasion to instil his poison ins* the artless breast of purity and peace ; he who is represented by these same innocent people, as in the uncontrolled and undisputed possession of innumerable, as well as the most fiiVOurable,opportunities for effecting his designs and acting as curiously as he pleased. The remaining portions of this witness's evidence is irrelevant twaddle, throwing no light on the case, but much on that pompous egotism so common to meagre intellect raised to a disproportionate social elevation. Mrs. Willard sworn : — " Is a member of the Church of England ; NOT BAPTIZED ! ! was confirmed ! ! is a commu- nicant ! !" Pray, Madam, how were you sworn ; on the Gospel or the Koran ? 37 is wicked ■ce of her )t explain shionable )r experi- n theun- icli go to jspatches liorough- c pcrmis- licnsions, can the 1 of the •sonalityy i^hich she tion, and r against irse with :cited of ' night " - passing le, at a a prying such an f purity t people, merable, 3 desioins rtions of light on 3 meagre lurch of commu- xospel or You have never assumed the obligacion of the Christian cove- nant ; you arc rot pledged to the fulfilment of the duties it enjoins ; and yet you are a communicant; you arc fed with strong meat before your birth ; you are confirmed — I am ashamed to repeat your statement. You have then solemnly before God, in the act of confirmation, promised to endeavour with His help to discharge duties to which you were supposed, from the fact of having pre- sented yourself to receive that holy rite, to have previously pledged yourself, although you never did give any pledge. You entered into no covenant, made no agrcomcnt with God, in the way appointed by him, took upon yourself no responsibilities, which is of the essence of baptism, and were therefore bound by no promises to God, consequently received not the baptismal sign or seal of Hia acceptance and favor. You therefore, if you knew, as I hope you did not, the ver^ first elements of Christianity, — your catechism — stood before God, before His congregation here and His angels above, and mocked him with a lie, and went through the form of receiving a spiritual gift without the most ordinary quali- fications necessary in the receiver. With all due respect and solemnity, Madam, I would urge upon you the words of Ananias to St. Paul after his conversion to Christianity and his deep repen- tance, " Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord," and, as an indispensable qualification to their remission, humbly to implore His pardon for your breach of charity in vilifying the character of His messenger, in the vain liope of thereby shielding that of a wiM and undutiful daughter, whose loose habits may be mainly attributable to a very natural indiffer- ence to her morality on the part of unbaptized parents. Query, was the young lady herself baptized ? But you further swear that you are " a member of the Church of England," an unbaptized member of the Church of England! ! This is the " unkindest cut of all," — dangerous thrust, were it not 80 absurdly aimed. I pray you, Madam, to remember that the Church of England knows and can have no such member, unless I greatly err. To receive unbaptized persons as members is u contra- diction, an impossibility; and to in)agine it possible, as you seem to do, is an evidence of the most startling ignorance or the most shocking 1 W I 38 audacity. " Told him if he were as careful of immortal souls as of those little things [i. e. his wanting to know why she had let her daughter go out with Dr. Brouse's brother] it would be better," a very appropriate remark indeed from a conjhmed, iinhaptized eommuniamt, and member of the Church of EiKjIand. " Her daughter very much changed on her return from Brockville." How soon after the return was the change observed ? She re- turned about the first of February, if we believe some veracious oaths ; if we prefer others, later. But at all events Easter was now near at hand, and, as it approached, her clergyman's admoni- tions and warnings became more frequent and importunate, and his threats more serious and alarming. No wonder that she should change : the conspiracy was hatching, the Doctor's plans were now assuming a determined form. They were to be carefully treasured up in the memory if success were to be attained. The spell of fascination was dissolved. "Seven other spirits more wicked than the first now entered " their victim, and what could we expect but a change ? No doubt, it would have been greater but for need of concealment. AVe all change when we grow big with an absorbing idea, when all our scattered energies are for the first time concentrated with burning effect in a single momentous throw in the game of life ; a throw on which honour and character and happiness are supposed to be staked. She was changed, of course : it could not be otherwise. We hope she is now still more changed, but for the better : there was or is room for it. Alphcus Jones (father of Mrs. Brouse) sworn :— This gentle- man's evidence contains nothing of importance ; we can detect nothing in it worthy of special comment. The absence of any material for remark is somewhat extraordinary. As the father of Mrs. Brouse, the first, and one of the most important witnesses, and as the husband of a succeeding witness, we might have sup- posed that he must have had something to say worth noting, in virtue of his close relationship to the principals in this matter. Had anything existed at all resembling the hideous scenes, so beau- tifully pourtrayed by them, he certainly ought to have been aware of it ; and if so, we naturally conclude, for the same reason?, that he would have revealed itj but we hear nothing from him, for the 39 I f50uls as e liad let >e better," nhajHized I " Her •ockville." Slie re- veracious aster was s admoni' luite, and ihe should were now treasured e spell of e wicked could we 'eater but ' bit-' with e for the omentous character angcd, of still more is gentle- !in detect 3e of any father of tvitnesses, have sup- ii noting, is matter. >, so beau- icn aware .£', that he a, for the simple reason that he knew nothing, ond, knowing nothing, could testify to nothing, because too conscientious to testify to an untruth. We believe we would have been in the pleasurable position of record- ing his total dissent from the principle and details of the whole pro- ceedings, but for the superior force exerted on him by those from whom the poet imploringly prays to be saved. Laura Peck : — " Member of the Church of Encland," but never enters it ; regularly attends the Methodist meeting ; sworn : — '' Oannot tell how often defendant visited Mrs. Willard's house, , t more than would be pleasant to most people." The latter ,art of this kindly vouchsafed judgment, it would occur to an observer of human nature, appears to be indicative of a sournesH of temper. As the female descends into the vale of life, this indis- position is apt to manifest itself, and to become chronic aiiid trou- blesome to her acquaintance, unless neutralized by the antacid influence of children, of which saccharine ingredients in the cup of life we lament to record our impression, from the foregoing symptom, that Laura Peck stands in woeful need. We must, hov/evcr, be slow in attaching blame to the operations of an idiosyncrasy congenital or acquired, and content ourselves with sympathizing with its afflicted victim. As a sister of Mr. Willard, we think it was unfortunate that Laura Peck did not communicate with her brother or to his anxious wife, her impres- sion : ladies of her age and loneliness, are, as a rule, universally communicative in such matters. But Laura Peck is a remarkable character, and evinced it in the present connection, in two opposite ways; 1st by her silence, and 2nd by her communicativeness. *' She left undone that which she ought to have done, and she did that which she ought not to have done " : she violated the first duty in not speaking to her brother, and the second in speaking to her niece. Mr. Peek, if it be possible that he still survives, has our liveliest sympathy. Pecking must be a painful operation,—- generally, we suppose, fatal. Mary Ann Jones, wife of Alpheus and mother of Mrs. Brouse, sworn : — " Defendant never remarked to her on hor eyes ; had no impression of anything wrong in defendant's visits." This wit- ness, if witness she can be called, gives her little so-called evidence I I if iil 40 in a fair and open manner, in refreshing; contrast to those who preceded her. One of her conclusions, however, and her reason for it, affords a very pretty illustration of the creative power of the female mind as shown in the rapidity with which women generally fomi opinions out of the most slender materials, and draw from them unexpected conclusions. "Prom what she saw in defendant's manner, she thought it was a lover was there." On her cross-examination, gives the reason, "judged from his manner and abrupt leaving the room." So then abrupt leaving of a room is to be idusidorcd a sign that the person so leaving is a lover. 0, ye clergymen ! young and old, married and single, be careful to regulate your movements, be slow and measured : love is a hot passion ; it acts like a high-pressure steam-engine ; it generates gas, which, compressed by the forced silence and restraint imposed by the presence of a Jones, excites in the limbs and body a rapid movement in the direction of room-doors. Don't let it propel vou too fast, or you may be forced off the track, and run smash against some unsuspecting, perhaps, sleeping victim, in your way through life. N. B. — 3Irs. Jones stands at her door during winter, while " the north wind doth blow," to observe the movements of the outer world. Remarkable family the Joneses. Abigail Willard, niece of Mr. Willard, sworn :— " Wa s over here," viz. in Prescott, in the summer two weeks, in the lat- ter part of December, and not again till this sjxring, two days in July, one day in September, and last two weeks of Decem- ber." Now it is manifest that conspiracy here sleeps. Miss Willard in her evidence swears that " on her return to Prescott from Brockville, she told her cousin Abe Willard " of defendant's proposal respecting marriage, and that she stopped at Brockville over two weeks ; other witnesses swear to a longer period. Her return therefore from Brockville was about the first of February and that there she made her cousin her confidante ; whereas if her cousin who here swears is to bo credited, this was impossible for she left Prescott in December he/are Miss Willard went to Brockville, and did not again return to Prescott " till the sprint." When young ladies put their heads together to tell a falsehood, they ought frequently to consult about it, arrange all its details, above M m all to be careful not to confuse dates, and never even then to attempt to put it forth unless they can place the fullest reliance on their memories. All this is very hard for youn<^ ladies to ac- complish, even the most sedate ; liow much harder for those light, wayward, uiddy heads whose chief employment is the pur- suit of illicit pleasures, rather than of mental, moral, and domestic accomplishments ! No wonder that this witness was not allowed to go to Toronto to give her evidence: her friends evidently saw and felt that the garrulous creature would cause them trouble. The way of the transgressor is verily luird ; and much of its hardness lies in the harrassing fear of publicity, and the ever-incessant watchfulness necessary to him to guard his " secret faults" and hide them from the world. Such depravity as is necessarily involved in these conspiracies against the character of another to divert attention from one's own, is indicative of the most degraded morality, and, where prevalent, eloquently proclaims the existence of a fearful freedom from the restraints which religion imposes on the rampant and rebellious passions of fallen humanity. When woman engages in this iniquitous traffic, when she allies her spirit with the .pirit of Satan, and virtually says, " thy will shall be my will, thine ene- mies my enemies, thy friends t 'viends, thy abode my abode," it requires a strong faith to bear up against the mighty rush of wickedness, and to enablo the believer to hold fust to the conviction that Go'l and right must ultimately triumph over the powers of darkness, and that in the end the innocent will read their acquit- tal inscribed by the finger of infallible justice in letters of light on the everlasting records of truth. The remainder of this young woman's evidence is of little value, mere egotistical rubbisli, such as her endeavour to " open the eyes " of her innocent, confiding, unsuspecting cousin to the nature of defendant's attentions, giving her advice, and trying to per- suade the gentle maid that her opinion of the innocence of his intentions was false. She sets herself forth as a self-opinionated intruder of wicked flmcies ; one of those active, loquacious, vain, petite females who see only the image of themselves stamped on everything they look at, who mistake vicious cunning and low ) '0^ it'*. 42 Hiii 1:1! !i .1 '. ) artifice for intellectual breadth atid vi.i^'or, and rove about from house to house, pests of sociitty, expendini,' their little mental 8trcn;ave him illard and )ffondcd." I'csence of ivith lady- be correct w'ith what con(iucsta ' confiding irt of this ss Willard it in here, its use ; it r, a day, a to be con- )roposal to ss Willard ime alarm- no; that he had made en, did he ) prove it her story i that the is visit to 3 following tided in her ^e her, that ich he was ; all this was BEFORE, accordinfr to Mi,«s Al)ip:ail's statement in her cross-examination, but AFTER, accordin-j to 3Iiss Willard, the latter mentioned the Brockvillo proposal to her cousin. No unprejudiced reader can fail to detect the truth from these and other dianietrically opposed sttitements. So we find the sewin^;,- girl aver, on cross-examination, that her words " (ifter Good Friday " mean after " Easter Sunday." And does not Misfs Willard's OAvn acknowled<.nuent, made unguardedly on her exami- nation, establish beyond all controversy as a truth the proposition insisted on from the betrinnin^ in this running commentary, a proposition moreover deducible on impartial examination of the conspirators' own sworn admissions, that they had conceived and given birth, as the fruit of their inicpiitous mental co-hubitation, to this monstrous offspring, their vile plot, for two reasons. First, from a motive of revenge against defendant for presuming to call the conduct of a young lady, although a parishioner, into question ; and, secondly, having done so and made it known with a view to ]\er reclamation, or, if not reclaimed, to arrest the progress of its dangerous consequences, for i 3 purpose of hiding or diverting attention from her guilt, and obliging him to put on the armor of self-defence; an expedient no doubt learned from a certain animal whose only means of evading his enemies lies, not in his strength, but in the bad smell with which he stupefies and which he communicates to his pursuers. So do this amiable clique send forth the vile odors of villany, under cover of which they themselves, it being their natural excrement, escape unscathed ; but which the more easily attaches itself to the character of another in proportion to its purity and usefulness. We here close with Miss Willard's sworn acknowledgment refcri'cd to, which will leave the conscientious reader without excuse for doubt as to where the guilt lies, or for hesitation as to the verdict which it is his duty not only to pronounce but publish: "She never told the story until AFTER defendant reported her as dangerous. It was after the meeting at her father's, and because she heard he said such hard things of her, she told her father and mother." M 44 W CONCLUSION. What a hifleous picture docH this anatomical investigation pre- sent of thcbotly of society in a Christian town ! We might perhaps, without breach of propriety, here indultrc our reflections ; but we abstain, merely confining ourselves to the remark, that in this body, as no doubt is already seen, there are many gangrenous spots, many sloughing members, and that therefore there is no jn'tinafude im- probability in the defence which IMr. Lewis's legal pdviser, from an examination of the particulars of the case, deduced from it ; and so ftir succeeded in proving as to render the abandonment by the accusers or conspirators of the most criminal charges prudential, if not absolutely necessary, as unsupportable by the contradictory evidence brought forward at the preliminary investigation in the town of Prescott itself. We may however hereafter engage, should necessity demand, in the work of collecting such other reliable materials as can, as well as those here commented on, endure the or- deal of cross-examination ; such materials as will enable us, if occa- sion icquire, to indulge the natural curiosity of the world as to the antecedents of the principal figures which we have introduced as playing their parts in this low comedy of errors. They have only to intimate their wish, of which we shall take any future caballing as the expression, and they shall be again brought forward on the stage, not as here to place their wonh, but \c\y actions on trial, and (o repeat on paper parts which they have dready played as principals in society. Neither shall we give occasion for jealousy, on account of neglect, to others who as yet have preferred the shade to the sun : it may be necessary that they also should be made to cross the stage, make their entrances and exits, if it were only to impart variety to the picture and life to the drama. 1 it ition pre- i perhaps, i ; but we his body, )t,s, many facie im- from an and nt by the ■udetitial, ;rudictory on in the j;c, should r reliable ive the or- .s, if occa- as to the iduced as have only balling as d on the 1 on trial, )layed as jealousy, the shade ; made to :e only to MR. GEO. MURRAY'S (GRAMMAR. SCHOOL TEACHER OF PRESCOTT) "STATEMENT OF FACTS." " A barren-spirited fellow ; one that feeds On objects, arts, and imitations ; Which, out of use, and staled by other men, Begin his fashion." Refellere sine pcrtinacia et refelli sine iracundia, parati sumus.— Tclly. The preface to an anonymous publication under the title " The Rector of Prescott and his late Congregation," which has been industriously circulated, is a most fitting commentary by the lurk- ing author himself on the spirit by which he is animated, and on the degree of reliance to be placed on his statements. That his spirit is vindictive, he virtually declares in the few opening lines which he ad- dresses to the reader for the purpose of arresting his attention and securing his favor. His pamphlet was written — according to hin own, we think injudicious, avowal, made in a letter of five columns which will be hereafter examined, and which the Editor of the Prescott Conservative Messenger published in his issue of the 7th of June ult. — " on behalf of the large majority of the Congregation of Prescott." Its object is not counnendable : it is to uubstantiate charges against his quondam clergyman of "craft "and " roguery."' Had he even the materials at hand to effect his purpose and could be certain of success, we think, however he may differ from us, that the employment cannot be called respectable, and would cer- I I rf : i 46 tainly never bo etif^np^od in by a generous or Christian nature. Ilowvivor, lie has chosen to act otherwise ; he will not thorelbro find fault if \vc take the same .ibcrty with liini, thoutih with a different motive, that he has taken with his cleruyinan. His pro- fessions of pure intentions, Christian sentiments, painful feelings, Pi hoc gcmiH oinne, arc both loud and free (ucnt enough in all con- science. Of his claims to these, every person will form his own opin- ion. Had he exhibited in the manner of doing his work some evi- dence to our mind that lie was ever so weakly guided by them, how- over rcphensible, which wo would nevertheless continue lo believe his undertaking to be, we would certainly be more or less intluenced by his statements, and proportionablysyuipathize with his intentions; but he has cut himself entirely off from any such favorable consi- deration by the disjtlay of a shocking scurrility side by side with re- ligious professions, and an acrid censoriousness in juxta-positiun with flippant digressions on immorality in general and clerical delin- quencies in particular. lie in fact steeped his pen in gall, and so set our teeth on edge with his productirn. We hero beg leave to say that what follows is not made public in compliment to the merit of the Grammar-School teacher of Prescott's pamphlet, and has not been by any means called forth with the view of neutra- lizing its force or blunting its point : all this he has himself done. It has, we believe, exploded in the air, and fallen harmless at the feet of those whom it was intended to convince,* as well as of those whom it was intended to terrify. Had it never been written, much of what we have to say might have been said. Our notice of Mr. Geo. Murray, Grammar-School teacher of Prescott, and au- * A lady of our acquaintance was very much agitated by her persua- sion of the truth of the charges brought against the Kev. Mr. Lewis, a persuasion at which she siowly and reluctantly arrived, because a knowledge acquired through many years, of his character and career, had led to the formation in her mind of the very highest ojiniion of him as a clergyman. But some officious person i)ut Mr. Geo. Murray's paraph. jt into her hand, for it has been lavishly scattered over the country, and she now states (and it is the statement of many others) that she rose up from its perusal greatly pleased at iiuding in it ample evidence of the e. tneousness of her conclusions, and of the entire innocence of its mucu injured subject. 47 1 nature. thorei'oro li with a His pro- I t'eclings, II all con- :)wn opiii- soiiie evi- leiii, how- lo believe iifluenccd iteiitions; ble cons'- e with rc- !i-positiun ieal deliii- 11, and so ;• leave to it to the )hlet, and f ncutra- ^elf done. asH at the veil as of 1 written, ■ notice of and au- er persua- . Lewis, a because a iireor, had Fliini as a pamph.jt Lm*ry, and d she rose : evidence innocence H^or of the pu})lication called a " Statoniont of Facts," alluded to in these remarks, but whicii v,\ prefer Ui denoiuinate at tiie outset a *' Fabrication of Facts," is merely incidental to (.ur main def^i^ii of vindieat!n^• Mie claims of innocence, and snatchiiit? from the jaws ol an all-d' arinji', headstron;,', and precipitate fenicity the n'lJiiiation of a c . ynian, whom we still continue to believe, as we ever did, with hi. ;.ito Bishop, and \ ivate i nd public tutors, cler««ynien of spotless fam.. and of eminent learning, to bo voifl of otienee, as h- is " abundant in labor " for the good of the souls eomnutted to his charge. In pursuance of our intention, we accept Mr. Goo. Murray's pamphlet, from motives of convenience, as an embodiment of all that has been or can be said against the Hector of I'rescott, as well as a concentration of all the venom whieh has been most unspnriiigly poured upon him. We will therefore make use of it to neutralize the latter, and prove th" falsehood of tlie former, in the various divisions whieh we proposi" to ourselves into which we think it proper to divide ilie subject. We may be more voluminous than we wish : this is not our fault, but the fault of those who have un- necessj'.rily multiplied the materials at our comman(h We regret to be under the necessity of writing at all on such a sul)ject ; but once setting out on it as a duty, we will finish our Avork with all possible brevity consistent Avith perspicuity ; confining ourselves entirely to positive statements, and passing by, as unworthy of notice, mere declamation, opinions, and other crudities with which Mr. Geo. Murray has filled in the meagre outlines of his distorted picture. If we show that the substance of his pamphlet is false and its strain exaggeration ; that h< begins it with a falsehood, seasons it with hatre-^^, and concludes it like a pedagogue, we will have reflected its first inipressiovis, deepened by more minute inspection, made on our mind by the perusal of it. 1st. He begins it with a, falsehood. " The composition of the following pamphlet," lie says, " has necessarily ben very hurried." ^ is his letter in the Prescott Messengn-, if we. .. to ticcept his word. Now, huvry i.: composition ordinarily involves imperfection of ar- rangement and carelessness of aiction. Whatever faults the above 1' I 1 48 pamphlet contains under these heads, the intclHgent reader will at- tribute not to the want of leisure so much as to the want of capacity. Hurry of composition moreover excludes time to hunt up quotations, a labour necessarily implying thought, care, and leisure. For our own part we believe we never before read so many pages containing as many quotations. The title-page is crowded ; in the very first page we have Daniel Webster and a long quotation from another writer. So much for the opening falsehood. Wc will advert to the same, which he repeats in his letter to the Messenger^ in our comments on that unicjue and elaborate production. And now 2nd. For his closing pedagogueism. Some future com- piler of school-books will certainly take it for an example of that rheto- rical figure called climax turned upside down. The next edition of Blair ought to be favored with that pregnant passage in his conclud- ing page into which the knowledge of so many sciences is forced and crammed, as an illustration of vigor and concentration of style. He would seem to have studied Milton for the occasion ; for he takes him into his service to close, as well as to open, his prosaic epic; affecting to write from memory words for which he is manifestly indebted to laborious research or to a handbook of quotations. 3rd. The seasoning, as ought to be expected from so educated a cook, is rich and pungent, and permeates the whole production ; a seasoning such as m^.ght be expected from one of prcr>ensities and tastes in luirmony with the known proclivities of his ieJ.ical and amorous client. It is an observation Ibuudcd on almost universal experience, that the most cruel master is a slave over slaves. It would, and accordingly it does follow that the most censorious, loud, and unsparing dcclaimer against vice is himself most generally one of the most vicious or the most uncharitable of men. For the best Christian is always, as knowing his own frailties, the most patient and the most gentle reprover of wickedness. It is the hypocrite who is most clamorous in his condemnation of hypocrisy, it is the knave who is most persistent in his declamations against knavery, it is the devil who is most forward in quotations of scripture, and it is the Grammar-School teacher of Prescott, it is Mr. Geo. Murray, the erudite author of a '^ Statement of Falsehoods," which he mis- er will at- ' capacity, notations, For our ontaining first page er writer, the same, ;ommcnts turc com- liat rlieto- edition of s conclud- brced and of style. 1 ; for he is prosaic ch he is dbook of lucated a iction ; a sities and s-'ical and universal aves. It ous, loud. 3rally one ' the best 5t patient crito who :he knave iry, it is and it is Murray, h he mis- m calls " facts," who is the most unsparing in his outpourings of the " gall of bitterness " on a clergyman, who, he acknowledges, never injured him, who revels in the, to him, luxurious pastime of hurling the fiercest, the foulest, and most insulting epithets against him on the assumption, eagerly grasped and affectionately cherished, that ne is guilty of the offences of which he is accused. He prefers to this clergyman's hitherto unquestioned veracity and virtue, the calum- nies of a company of persons whose interests, prospects, and repu- tation must be lost if he were allowed to pursue his determined and uncompromising purpose, in the discharge of his duty, to expose their vices, and to make them feel the danger, as well as the incom- patibility, of an external compliance with religious forms, at the same time that an actual homage is paid to the spirit of evil, the lusts of the flesh, and the vanities of a wicked world. The egotism of the Prescott teacher is as intolerable as his epithets arc disgusting to a Christian mind. His opening words betray the spirit of which he is made. " WE are about to unveil with a trembling hand a melancholy picture of human frailty. WE are about to tear the mask from the face of hypocrisy, and to arraign before the bar of public justice a man whom we believe to be a dangerous impostor " ; to call this man, a clergyman, a " convicted transgressor," p. 4, a " proficient in juggling," a " char- latan " ; to characterize him as guilty of " stubborn impenitence," "reckless effrontery," " stiff-necked conduct," " lost to all sense of shame," an " obdurate delinquent," " abjectly content to brave public odium, and be pointed at by the finger of scorn," and all in the compass of a few lines ; and, while professing to write with a trembling hand, is painfully indicative of the cant of hypocrisy, of the want of common Christian charity, of good sense, good taste, gentlemanly feelin^, and the absence of honesty, consistency, and truth. A person who undertakes the championship of virtue, and enters the lists against vice in general and the depravity of his clergy ma. in particular, ought to be himself, if he would obtain crt Jit for sir.ceriLy ;ind hope for benefit from his labors, at least to bear a reputation for morality which may enable him to sustain the po- sition in which he places himself Prudence, supposing him to I 1 f f i possess It, will not permit him to expose himself to the shame and degradation of being called upon by public opinion to take the lowest place. If the Grammar-School teacher's of Prescott pre* tensions to virtue and religion bear any proportion at all to the energy, force, eloquence, learning, and indignation with which he imagines that he can declaim against vice, he must be a " bright and shining light " whoso mild beams illuminate and cheer, — a very luminous beacon, which the trembling Christian, borne over this trackless heaving ocean of vice, hails with joy, as indicating, by its unerring rays, the true road to that spiritual haven which he seeks, and where he hopes to repose in peace and joy for ever, " He who undertakes " (we take the writer's own words) " to unveil with a trembling hand a melancholy picture of human frailty," (p. 1,) must be, or ought to be, the immoveable and unflinching represen- tative of spiritual strength. He who undertakes to " tear the mask from the face of hypocrisy " {Ihid), ought to be the acknow- ledged impersonation of " sincerity and truth." He who, in no MERCENARY spirit, but icithout monci/ and without price, ehcts of his own accord to stand forth in the hall of justice and arraign in the " spirit and power " of indignant and viol 'ed virtue before an assembled world, a man whom he believes to be a *' dangerous impostor" (ibid), ought to be himself, at all events, no deceiver, in order that the eternal principles of which he undertakes the ad- vocacy be not " blasphemed among the Gentiles " through him. But this is not, alas ! the case with Mr. Murray. " Thou therefore," we beg him to take the words to heart, "which teachest another, fceachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? " Romans, ii. 21, 22. Ah ! Louise, art thou so soon forgotten ? Thou that art so fierce against thy clergyman on the strength of the contradictory testi- mony of worthless oaths, dost thou not fear for thyself? Thou that sayest a man should not make a wife jealous of her husband, dost thou make thy wife jealous of thine handmaid ? In truth, a more shameless and disgraceful production has seldom issued from the press than the Grammar-School teacher of Prescott's pamphlet. It is written in a sustained strain of ime and take the loti pre* at all to th which " bright — a very •ver thia ig, byit3 he seeks, He who il with a " (p. 1,) 'epresen- tear the acknow- 10, in no elects of •raign in le before angerous ;eiver, in the ad- igh him. erefore," another, lould not t commit 2. Ah! so fierce ory testi- ? Thou tiusband, tion has 3acher of strain of 61 falsehood and exaggeration. Every right consideration yields ta the vanity and pedantry of the man,— vanity which prompts liim to use statements without any foundation whatever, evidently with the view of producing a picture of striking colors and exag- gerated proportions, intended to direct attention to himself as the paint(?r, in the hope of obtaining applause as a bold, skilful, and dashing master of his art,— and pedantry, which stands behind hia chair, holds his pen and inspires him as he writes. This parade is especially out of place in the work of which we speak ; for of what avail are those numerous and endless quotations from Milton, Webster, Kamcs, the London Times, his French pro- verbs and phrases, in facilitating the labor of unveiling "a picture of human frailty " ; and how can they help to " te^r the mask from the face of hypocrisy ? " The only instruments which a sincere and conscientious man needs for this object are honesty and charity ; neither of which we can, on an hnpartial perusal and criticisim of the production of the Grammar-SchooI teacher of Prescott, detect in it, amid the thousand protestations which he makes to both. To the truth of those observations, we will, with all possible brevity, bring his own words forward to bear witness ; and thus establish beyond all doubt the truth of our deliberate accusation of their opposites, viz. falsehood and exaggeration, in his pamphlet. Under the head of falsehood, will be found, at p. 6, the follow- ing : " Heedless of the wem^re of the church, regardlesso f the feelings of his family, and utterly devoid of all self-respect, tho obdurate delinquent is abjectly content to brave public odium and be pointed at by the finger of public scorn so long as he can retain his rectory,— his rectory, but not his congregation, two hundred and thirty of whom, comprising, with a few exceptions, all the most respectable, intelligent, and influential members, petitioned against him at a moment's notice, and individually recorded their indignation at his wickedness." We care not for the permission of the Rector of Prescott to reply to tho eight charges crammed into these few lines ; nay, we believe that he would be unwilling to give his r.ssent to the pub- lication of that part of our answer in which we adduce proof that I w if I 52 the Ist, viz. "heedlessness of the welfare of the church," is the least of his faults. " We speak of that we do know," his past cleri- cal career, of the high place, — of one of the highest places, — in his estimation, accorded to him by the Apostolic Bishop of Quebec, who always numbered him among the most faithful and zealous and self-denying of his clergy, and whose opinion would be un- changed even by the classic declamation, could he be prevailed on to read it, of the Grammar-School teacher of Prcscoti and his school-boy spoutings of dry and stereotyped gener- alities on virtue and vice. We can moreover fortunately sum- mon our own personal experience, in aid of our judgment, as to his career from the time he first set foot in the Diocese of Toronto, to that when the Shimei of Prescott took up the low and conge- nial filth of obscene words to throw at him. The history of that career may be read in his successful labors, cheerfully undertaken and faithfully persevered in, for the good of his parishioners ; monuments of which, cere perennius, in newly built and repaired churches, in glebes purchased and parsonages erected, will be found by the author of the " Statements of Facts " when he goes his threatened round to ascertain the previous character of Mr. Lewis, to all of which he has by self-denial been enabled to contribute more by far in proportion to his slender resources than probably any other clergyman in Canada. Pray what are Mr. Murray's own antecedents ? Would he wish us to record them ? But what mercy or truth can be expected from those who attribute the basest motives to the brightest actions ; who, when a clergyman builds a church for a people, call it the love of aggrandizement ; who, when he curtails his necessary expenses that he may con- tribute £100 to its erection, brand him as a lover of money, a " hypocrite," a " charlatan," an " impostor ! " who, when he admonishes a peccant member of his congregation, call him a " dangerous impostor " ? " Regardless of the feelings of his fiimily." How does this writer know ? Was he ever a member of it ? Did he ever live in his house ? Was he even allowed the familiarity of a visiting ac- quaintance ? Yes, well may he speak of feelings which he has him- self cruelly, and, under cloak of the anonymous, basely wounded. 53 But as those who know the assaulted most, are the most convinced of his innocence, so it is in his own home that this innocence is bast suspected. So, then, this ingenuous advocate of purity and holiness seeks colorings for his picture in assertions, not only in themselves utterly destitute of even the semblance of truth, but which, if true, he could have had no means of ascertaining; and this is the man, as he intimates himself to be, of perfect candor. Vide Preface. " Utterly devoid of all self-respect." Guilty most certainly, if conduct consistent with the consciousness of innocence be the proof. This imputation is a mere ^' petitio principUy It takes for granted, like the offer of pardoii (p. 7) on repentance, that which we deny to be at all proved, that which is utterly repudiated, that which even the Bishop's judgment does not affirm ; for that judg- ment excludes the graver charges, and only allows " levity and frivolity, unbecoming and scandalous," and these on ex parte, and, when analyzed (as it is in another part of this pamphlet), con- tradictory testimony. The only charge which is said to be proved, is that which the accused does not deny, viz. that lie is married ; " he is only SHOWN to have used the improper liberty charged against him," {vide the judgment in Appeyidix,) not proved. It may be very easy to show or represent (this is far removed from to prove) that which may be impossible to substantiate. To snow is to make appear, to present to view, which is its primary mean- ing : to show, meaning to pr^ve, is its secondary or derivative sense. The word show was of course chosen by the ecclesiastical judge advisedly, for he knew its full meaning, amply appreciated its sig- nificant force, and equivocal construction in the connection iu which he employed it. That part of the defendant's conduct which is pronounced "unbecoming and scandalous," it is re- markable is neither said to be proved nor shown. That part of the "judgment" amounts to this: Mr. A. tells Mr. B. that Mr. C. has said things, which are equal to x. Mr. B. replies that such remarks amounting to x are " unbecoming and scan- dalous," but does not commit himself at all to the assertion that either Mr. A. has proved or shown what he says to be true, or that Mr. B. believes it. The " judgment " is worthy of perusal; f If 54 for although the production of a mind habituated to close reason- ing, exact composition, and a curt style, it evinces a characteristic caution, shewn in a circumlocutorincss of style, in perfect har- mony with the wisdom of the serpent, at the same time that it indicates a hazy, confused perception, as if he felt the lines of truth and falsehood crossing and recrossing each other in endless and perplexing anastomoses. It presents us with one thing as i^roved, another as shoivn ; the rest as neither one nor the other ; and ends with pronouncing the articles proved " under all the circum- stances of the case," that is according to the LEGrAL rules of evidence as defined by Procrustean lawyers, according to which a dozen knaves make one or two honest people, Because, then, the Defendant bears within him a conviction of personal integrity and innocence, which no court and no judgment can take away ; and docs not hide his head in shame for actions which he never committed, and in compliance with a judicial sen- tence founded on a cause so flimsy and unsubstantial, as to extract from a lawyer of standing, an opinion, that it was no case to go before a jury; — it is for these potent reasons that he is pro- nounced to be '"utterly devoid of all self-respect " by a Grammar- School teacher ! Proh pudor ! " His rectory, but not his congregation, 230 of whom compris. ing," &c. There is some truth here ; but it is, as will appear, so put, as to make a far different impression on the mind of the reader, from that which the whole truth, honestly enunciated, would produce. A petition against him numerously signed, was cer- tainly forwarded, after the passing of judgment, to the Bishop, but a copy of it has been, we think, most unjustifiably refused to the party petitioned against. Among the 230 names of, as is asserted, petitioners, (we take Mr. Murray's calculation,) may no doubt, for all that we know to the contrary, be found names of respect- able standing and influence ; but let not the value of a petition or memorial be overrated, although so numerously signed. Allow some deduction from its value on account of the names of children, whose parents refused theirs, on account of Roman Catho- lics, Methodists, Presbyterians, who were all brought in, as is known, to swell the document into respectable proportions, and m as IS with whom an alliance was made for a revengeful purpose, by those who profess to repudiate the mention of any such alliance, even on the grounds set forth in Scripture, of unity, harmony, and good- will. The truthful reader must judge for himself of the value of this running commentary, on the most important of the several charges made in this pregnant passage. He Avill not fail to appreciate tlu' kind of care and pains taken by the author of the " Statement of Facts " to avoid the appearance of error, or inconsistency, which must recoil with condemnatory effect upon himself. lie will feel that if anything can darken the dye of falsehood, it is malice ; and that the wily accuser must, if he would guard his crime against detec- tion, shun with the utmost caution this dangerous rock, on which the wild storm of passion is apt to wreck the cunning machi- nations of wickedness. The reader will feel, on perusing further, that if the intellect of the Granimar-School teacher of Prcscott were on a level with the iniquity of his purpose, if he were not a "barren-spirited fellow," he would never have committed himself by putting in juxta-position, as contemporaneous and rcconcileable, emotions or qualities in the same "obdurate delinquent," "stubborn impenitence," " reckless effrontery," " stiff-necked conduct," " hardened heart," with the " still small voice of conscience," " the never-dying worm of remorse," (p. G,) " doubtless now gnawing at his heart ;" and again at p. 14, " we doubt not, (quietly laughing to himself at having escaped so cheaply after con- duct so disgraceful." " No, no, we may affect to quote Scripture with reverence, to believe it implicitly, and to appreciate intensely the spirit that it breathes," {ibid) ; but he who, with a willing mind and a ready hand, flings his faggot on the fire in which he beholds a brother Christian in the agony of torture, nmst not insult the credulity of the spectator, as does the Grannnar- School teacher of Prescott, by endeavouring to obtain credit for an intense appreciation of the scriptural idea of charity, nor (juote the following extract from its deiinitions, as especially in sympathy with the feelings of his own heart : " charity suff'ereth long and is kind,"..." is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." We pass over a mass of irrelevant matter unworthy of notice, which succeeds, as not involving any question of fact. The Grammar- 1 i 'IS. ! I School teacher of Prescott, George Murray, Esq., evidently thinka that he could preach a good sermon, that he can handle texts with adroitness and facility, and fire them oflF with crushing power against the most valliant and puissant enemy of virtue. And no doubt he feels that he has got a call to preach ; for have not the holy hands of Brouse, Ellis & Co. been laid upon him, setting him apart to this ministry ? Let us do him the justice to say, that he enters con amore into the work ; that he fulfils his mission with zeal ; that he is worthy of his " very good masters," and no doubt has already received his reward from them, as a *' good and fiiithful ser- vant," who has done their will, and preached the very doctrine to which he was ordained. Were the Grammar-School teacher of Prescott's qualifications for logical argument at all respectable, many of his assertions might be worthy of particular not ' 3. We will, not recognizing in him any such, dismiss them with a few general observations. Many persons by bold assertions seize by surprise on one's faith ; their very recklessness disarms one's suspicions of falsehood. Such is the character of most of this unscrupulous hireling's; such as, " The Kev. Gentleman was guilty of grievous trespass ; he was told of his faults, but refused to hear those who told him. Every word was then clearly established against him, in the mouth of two or three wit- nesses. His ofiences were told to the Church. He neglects to hear the Church, and sets his Bishop at defiance ; he is accordingly become unto us ' as an heathen man and a publican,' and he will remain so." The answer to all this is, a flat denial. The grievous trespass is denied, and proved to be false, in the analysis appended of the witnesses' contradictory evidence. 2ndly. He was never to^cZof his faults, but accused of them. 3rdly. He refused to entertain cal- umnious charges, ofwhich he was not guilty. 4thly. "Every word" was not established in the mouth of two or three witnesses; because there was, and could be, but one witness to the main and leading charge, on which all the others hung, and this witness cor- rupt by her own admission, and clearly convicted of falsehood. (Vide Miss Willard's testinwri}/.) 5thly. He has not neglected to hear the CI urch: he has heard it most patiently and resignedly, i The aubmitted to its verdict, and paid all tho costs demanded of him ; neither blaming the Bishop for his judgment, nor those angry parishioners or others, who, in the inalienable exercise of their private judgment, think proper to consider him guilty; and there- fore, 6thly. He does not set, and never thought of setting, hia Bishop at defiance, and repudiates emphatically all such rebellious imputations. 7thly. As t^o the words, *' he is become unto US an heathen man, &c.," they are very much out of place and character, coming from a man of known irregularities, moral and religious ; the latter, evinced in his wanderings from the lloman Catholic chapel to all the conventicles, thence to the Church and back again, in the indulgence of his religious free-trade licentiousness. On the 10th and few following pages of this veracious work of Mr. Murray, will be found a running commentary on an editorial article from the Canadian Church Press, of September 12, 1860. This article is the production of a classical scholar, and A writer of extensive and exact learning; but the whole of it the Grammar- School teacher of Prescott characterizes as a " specimen of the smooth-tongued mendacity of Mr. Lewis's few supporters," (p. 10.) Mr. Lewis's supporters arc placed under a lasting obligation to this gentleman for his flattering compliment. Henceforth, each supporter will recognize in the other, whenever he sees or speaks to him, a " smooth-tongued liar." All the truth is with George Murray, Esq., Grammar-Sehool teacher of Prescott. In his assault on the article in the Church Press, he feels himself to be, unfortu- nately for his cause, under the necessity of giving an extract from Miss Willard's affidavit. This document, although a formal applica- tion was made for it, and in reply promised, together with other importr.nt papers absolutely necessary to the defendant to enable him to see his enemy and his weapons, were, incredible as it may seem, actually never furnished to *his day. He, therefore, here most thankfully acknowledges the favour conferred in the publica- tion of Miss Willard's affidavit, on pp. 10 and 11 of the great work of the Grammar-School teacher of Prescott. If the reader will compare it with the analysis of her sworn testimony here appended, he will at once come to the only conclusions open to him, that either her me:nory is fallacious, her plans were not sufficiently 1 "4 ti ( 68 matured, her lesson was not well learned, or that her fitatcmcnta were niiide in reckless disrcj^ard to the solemn obligations of an oath. In this affidavit,slie swears that when she came from Brockville," she told her cousin what Mr. Lewis had said"' ; whereas, from her cousin's own acknowledgment, we gather that she was not in Frescott at that time, nor for months subsc(juently. P<.rhaps the erudite Grammar-School teacher of Prescott, for " smooth-tongued men- dacity "cannot, will reconcile. We fear he cannot, because to recon- cile is not hia/ortr, ; and lience there are so few things in his work reconcileable. We will here close our remarks in reference to " the Master's " c.c a ithed ni comment on the evidence in this ease, this subject being separately handled elsewhere, only observing, that he places himself, or has been placed, in an entirely false posi- tion. The work which ho undertakes does not properly belong to him. His indignation against the Rector of Prescott, as such, is all mere affectation, assumed with the view of imparting an air of sincerity to his tirades. He can have no common interest in, or sympathy with, the Church of v/hich he is no member, or with the character of its minister, whom he cannot recognize as such. It is, therefore, an act of impertinent presumption in him to med- dle with others people's affairs, and this forward sjjirit is suffi- ciently manifest in the dogmatic tone and offensive egotism of his pamphlet. So much for the falsehoods of the Grammar-Scliool teacher of Prescott ; the few commented upon are not the only ones contained in his work. The object we liave in view is simply to shew the degree of credibility to be attached to his statements or facts : the value of all his assertions as a whole must be affected by it. The second charge against him here made, is the charge of exaggera- tion. Wh we mean by this charge, is his building up a struc- ture of error on an insufficient foundation of fact ; deranging dates, and so combining little things, in themselves innocent and immaterial points, as to produce an impression on the mind en- tirely unwarranted and erroneous, as sugar in combination with a certain acid produces a violent and corrosive poison. Neither our time nor our space will permit a very systematic arrangement of proofs under the above heads: we mv', content ourselves with a ( )tatcmcnt0 >f an oath. :villo,"8hc ir cousin's ^rescott at e erudite i;ucd nien- c to recon- I his work :bi'enco to tliis case, jb.serving, false posi- belongto IS such, is an air of est in, or r with the such. It 1 to mod' i is suffi. sm of his teaclier of contained shew the acts : the it. The exaggera- p a struo* leranging )cent and mind en- on with a ;ither our ^'cment of es with a few specimens merely of the whole untJerlylng mine of fabrication, for which it would be well if he would reniember that he mast hereafter render a strict account. 1st, In a note at foot of p. IS, a distinct charge is made against Mr. Lewis, of repudiating his share of cert-in pecmiiaiy responsi- bilities which he undertook in connt^etion with five or six member.' of tlie building committee, " appointed by the congregation of the Episcopal Church of St. John at Proscott, C. W., for the purpose of carrying out the desire of the Rector in the collection of subscrip- tions for erecting a new churcli." He certainly did, conjointly with other members, sign notes to a considerable amount, £1,000 or more, for the purpose of raising money to meet the expenditure on the church in course of erection; and it is most true that he did refuse his signature to a renewal note, on being presented to him, of $1500. On this refusal is grounded the charge of taking advantage of a favourable opportunity to repudiate his share of the responsi- bility that he had previously undertaken. But " circumstances alter cases": the very men who now ask hini to re-sign were plot» ting his destruction, were actually endeavouring to put him into a position, by ejecting him from his parish, in which he could not, if called upon, meet the note on its falling due. Is it not on the faith of a man's ability to meet his note that a bank cashes it ? The Grammar-Sehool teacher of Prescott might have spared all the pains he took to prove a case, which, if he were not infatuated, drunk with " hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness," he would never have alluded to. His clairvoyant view of the bear- ing of his accusations is certainly dim as are his perceptions of honesty, when he condemns as dislumorable, an act, which on the contrary, speaks loudly in favour of the person committing it. That no mean intention could have operated in inducing him to refuse his signature to the note is placed beyond all suspicion, in view of his having voluntarily, on the defeat of his enemies' inten- tions, come forward and offered his name to those verv enemies. Moreover, his name is even now pledged to a large amount; and he has in addition offered a donation of £100, which would be his second donation of that same amount, to pay off the existing debt on the church, provided the balance be subscribed. I f *i I I 60 This imputation is certainly an indication of a most nn[»rntfiful spirit, in face vof all the labour and troul lo and aelfdcniai endured by the Roctor of Prcscott to erect a clvu'ch of size and character more suitable to the purposes of Divine worship and th<' circum- stances of his people, than the mean structure with which they were so long content. He would have but consulted liis own interest and saved himself much o^ his present grievances, had ho directed the liberality of his people towards the building of a parsonage-house instead of a church ; but, acting as he did, he followed the true course of a faithful servant, who first seeks his Master's interest before liis own ; in this respect, at least in some p- asure, walking, although it may be haud pirribuH 2)assis, in the footsteps of David, who says, *' surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to mine eyelids, Uutil I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." 2nd. On page IG, we read the "charges against him are not general but specific, and backed in everi/ particular hij distinct •proof P Compare this with the following extract from the Bishop's judgr.icnt: " Under the circumstances of the case T m-onounce that the articles are proved xdth tht exception of t .. voiAi false and malicious ' as applied to the first part of the wor i^ .. ..ged in the third article." The proof, then, to the Bi.sliop's mind, is not distinct in some particulars. But the whole of this low produc- tion is based on the false assumption that all the charges are proved, and that the per^-ien arraigned has been found guilty of them all. Now the charges made by Mr. Murrp.y are of so very grave a nature, that if proved, there could be no excuse for so slight a punishment as that inflicted. That the punishment is not more noavy, is in itself proof beyond doubt that these d'-eadful charges are not proved. But the vyfiences actually charged in the document in the Appendix, which were the only charges brought under the cognizance of the Court, are really comparatively light, and, with the exception of that of kissing, amount to no more than mere over -zeal ; — not over-zeal in the abstract, but over-zeal in these days whe-' the office of the priest as a corrector of immorality is entire- T i£»rntoful endured jharacter circuin- lich they his own iceH, had ilding of he did, rst seeks at least piirnbuH will not my bed ; ; eyelids, c mighty 1 are not t distinct Bishop's ronounce a false . ..ged in id, ip not 7 produc- irges are guilty of P so very slight a irc iioavy, ;s are not ument in nder the md, with lan mere lese days is entire- 61 ly ignorcJ,— in which ho is regarded in the light of only a mere preaching-machine, which niust conJSno itself to generalities in individuals, and especia*./ in respectable people, — by which is understood, people who have got together a little money, can dress their daughters well, and teach them to pass their fingers ov^r the keys of a piano. And as to the /eally grave charge of kissing, how natural that a girl who has publicly and unblushingly ad- mitted that she was .o slave of this low and indelicate passion, and even rf hucIi blunt perceptions of modesty as to see no harm in it, — ho\^ natural tliat she should intrc Juce this as the great crime of her clergyman, for not reciprocating her attentions and repudiating her advances. For " Earth knows no rage like lovo to hatred turned, I'r hell a fury like a woman spurned." If the really gravest charge of all, the proposal of marriage in Broekville and Prescott, t -x wi.ieh the Prescott Grammar-Seliool teacher harps so me]odiously and pertinaciously, and, on the as- sumption of its being really proved, bases so mne.' of his Billings- gate; why was it not adjudicated on? why not even mentioned in theindiccmont? Of course there was and could be but one reason and that reason will appear in the miserable, shameful contradic- tions contained in the evidence of the vritntises who were examin- ed in Prescott before the commission on this point, and which will be found brought into prominence for the reader in the ;in- nexed commentaiy on it. The same remarks will equally apply to the charge of mesmerizing, also left out of the indictment • and for these very sufficient reasons any other answer is declined to the questions on p. 17 put under these heads " to the llev. Rd. Lewis," except the full, clear, unambiguous answer once for all that they are pure inventions of de- praved imaginations, the lurid colorings of a fiendish ideality. The other questions are amply replied to in other parts of this paper. Once for all, the '-eader is "autioned against the order in which Geo. Murray, '^ how to add this to that; and we would herc^ in conclusion, warn him that should he be disposed, in contempt of our counsel, to over- step again tlie bounds of prudence and wisdom, truth and justice, honesty and decency, we may feel ourselves under the necessity of practically illustrating tlie proposition which he seems unable +o solve, — viz. how to add this to those— But, " Hollow men, like horses liot .^t hand, Make gallant '^' o-,v and promise of their mettle ; But when they should endure the bloody spur, They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, ioiak in the trial. i d nw^'istussi^si t tntrrm APrEXDIX. TO THE REVEREND ROBERT^^= LEWIS. Take notice, that after the expiration of fourteen days from the service of this notice upon you, I shall, as Bishop of the Diocese of Toronto, issue a comv.iission to inquire into the following charges alleged against you: That, to the great scandal of the Church of England, and contrary to your duty as a clergyman of that Church, and against good morals, you did on or about the fifteenth day of October in the year of Our Lord one thousand c'ght hundred and fifty-nine and on other days and times, take improper liberties with Miss Mary L. Willard, by kissing her, the said Mary L. Willard ; and also that on or about the seventh day of April one thousand c-ght hundred and sixty, you stated to the said Mary L. Willard that you would not be surprised to hear that she and Dr. Brouse had poisoned the wife of the said Dr. Brousc ; and that also, contrary to your said duty, you endeavoured on various occasions to create strife and dissensions between the said Dr. Brouse and his wife, by telling his wife that her I'lusband, the said Dr. Brousc, drove with the said Mary L. Willard at night. and that he paid her so much atter rior that she, the said Mrs, Brouse, was an object of sympathy to the whole town of Prescott. I further give you notice that the name, addition, and residence of the person on whose application the said comi.ission will be issued IS Charles Willard, of the town of Prescott, Esq. Given under my hand at Toronto the twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty. John Toronto. • Richard. . ■■■...1. .1. M^i^^^—- ,., |j^g. Utter from the liev. J. H. McoUs, D, D% Principal of Bishop\ toUege, Lennoxville. Bishop's College, Lennoxville, Rev. and Dear Sir, ^'^^ '""'^^ ^'^^'' I ^^onot tell you how sorry I am to i^nd, on look- ing over the contents of my desk, your letter of ^ane 18th un- answered. It came at a time when I was occupied in preparing examination papers; and I have been since that time incessantly occupied up to the present moment, so lost sight of your letter I am afraid I write too late in the day to do Mr. Lewis any good. Probably the investigation you speak of is ere now con- cluded; but if it is not, I shall be hapy to add my testimony to those of others who are acquainted with Mr. Lewis. Durin- his college course, he was uniformly correct in his whole demeanour (in the highest sense of correctness), and as regular and systematic a student or studier as I ever knew. I may add, that I have always understood from the Bishop that in his mission-work he retamed the same cuaracter. I recollect hearing the Bishop say of his ministerial visiting that in some important points he was nulli secimdus in the diocese. I owe you an apology for my forgetfulness, and something mor- to Mr. Lewis. I will only add, that if I can in this or b any other way be of service i:o Mr. Lewis I shall oe delighted Excuse my haste: I am going from home to-morrow for some time, and am much hurried. Yours very truly. The Rev. R. L. Stevenson. ''' ^- ^'™""''- i««or/™m a. i?.« Jf. T. Leach, D. C. L., Vke-Prina^.a of McGul College, Montreal My Dear Sir, Montreal, 8th of May, 1861. What I am now about to say of you, I say m the suppo- sition tha It may be made public and th.reibre with a full sense of responsibility. I f.»" \ I do not recollect how long, but think for upwards of two years, you, while a student at McGill College and before, lived with me in my house. You were devoted to your studies ; and I have never had anything to do with a young person more conscicntions in the discharge of his duties, or one whose life, I believe, was marked with less vice or with greater personal purity. I am, my dear Sir, Yours most cruly, W. T. Leacii. Rev. E-. Lewis, M. A., Minister, Prescott. * Letter from the Lord Bishop of Quebec, Bardfield, near Quebec, 9th July, 18G0. My Dear Sir, I received your letter of the 18th of June at Bishop's College, which I reached after a circuit in Megantic, on the 25th. Having ascertained f"om your broth'^r ^hat he was about to write to you, I requested him to say, that I should be in a better posi- tion to answer your letter after aiy return to Quebec, where I could refer to dates, &c. connected with the subject of your refer- ence. I came home, however, L, meet ihe Synod ; or which the session, and the business arising ut of it, so engross'^d my whole time last week, th, t till to- ' I have been unable to attend to other matters dermanc'ing my attention. The Rev. Richard Lewis on whose behalf you were prompted to write, offer acquitting hi;,i3elf (as I doubt not will be testified from the proper source) in a most correct and praiseworthy manner during his college course, was ordained by me, and ap- pointed in 1848, to tly^ charge 'if the Mission of Portneuf, in this district; in which charge he remained till the time of his removal to the Diocero of loronto. fic approved himself, from first to last, a zcaloMS, lab^^^ V. ,s, and exemplary minister of Christ, and is remembered by ii^o congregations within the Missioa vith sen- '^IC.jSii^ 1^ timents of great affection and respect. I shall be truly liappy if this well-earned testimony can be of any service to him in any difficulty in which he may be placed. I am, dear Sir, Faithfully yours, G. J. Quebec. Rev. R. L. Stephenson, M. A., Rector of Perth. In the Court of the Bishop of Toronto. In the case of the Reverend R. Lewis. Judgment. In this case articles have been exhibited against the defendant charging him with impropriety of conduct in his clerical office in having on several occasions taken improper liberties with a young lady, one of his parishioners, by kissing her, and with havin- used language both to h- and of her to others, calculated to defame her and disparag ■ and also in reference to her, Imving falsely and maliciously ] ^ statements tendiiig to the disquiet'of ano- tlier family, with whom this you.g lady was on intimate terms. To these articles, the defendant has put in a general denial of their truth. The evidence that has been given has been all on the side of the complainant ; the defendant having stated that he was unable to procure the attendance of some vvitnesses, but one witness was present whose testimony however his counsel did no^ consider material, and the case remains to bo adjudged upon the testimony adduced by the complainant alone.'i^ This case in my judgment makes out a case of great levilv and frivolity on the part of the defendant. He is proved to be married, yet he is very frequently in the company of the young lady, whoso father is the complainant, and on various occasions he is shown to have used the improper liberty charged against him of kissing her, and has otherwise acted towards hei°as m his constant visits to her home, and his following her to Brock- * Therefore the judgment can be no more relied on than the evidence the hitter being iacouclusive, the former must be unreliable. 81 ville, in a manner unbecoming a clergyman, and calculated to bring scandal upon the church. It is quite true that in the course of these proceedings the young lady herself is not free from blame, but has exibited, by her own admission, a want of that maidenly delicacy and reserve which I should not have expected to find in a young person in her rank of life ; but she is evidently so much younger than the defendant, and he was placed in such a position towards her as her spiritual advisor, that he should himself have been the per son to warn her against lightness of conduct,* instead of leading her to the commission of acts for which he can offer no excuse, much less justification. I consider also that his remarks to her and about her, as set forth in the second and third articles, were unbecoming and scandalous ; and although the words charged in the third article cannot be pronounced false, yet the motive for mak. ing use of them cannot I fear be attributed to any desire to pro- mote good-will among his parishioners, or for any object that I can declare praiseworthy. Under all the circumstances of the case, I pronounce that the articles are proved with the exception of the words " false and malicious " as applied to the first part of the words charged in the third article, and I admonish Mr. Lewis to ab- stain from offending in like manner in future. I condemn him in costs of these proceedings ; and if these cost3 are not paid in one calendar month from this date, I adjudge him to be suspended " ab of&cio et beneficio " until those costs are paid. {Signed,) John Toronto. r-9th September, 1860. • And so he did. I T7^ '7 SUPPLEMENT TO PREFACE. s i ^ i 'I Tho following resolution significantly moved by the Hon. J H Synod „ that Dtooe,o at it, last sitting i„ J,„, J ^^, /^J^ LLi7~ — :s :? r -^ r '-'- *- ^»"''' Court, pp. 3-12 ""^"""^''""'^^ »f t'le remarks on the BLshop's ceedings taken under that act " Th^ mnf ^ ^ P"""" Dr.Beaven,andcarried.-kct Jaeu7TfV"r"''''^ '^ ^^^^ ' ^-"'cs- '^a-ette, 1st August, 1861, The wording of this resolution leaves nothing to be desired for eompletely overturning the most fana.ieal belief" in the leg va- lidity of the sentence pronounced on the Ecctor of Prescott bv II Bishop at the dictation „f his chancellor. The reso 2 f ^ , bo seen, asserts that the 24th section of the Church Diseipl ^e Ae « opposucon to M-U ,ke BUUp sat „s tkc ja,lge of Lj!^', lf:rr°;'"'T""'" '"^ --'""o" w- carried. ;: esolut on for ,ts repeal, as moved, leeausc, ,/(.,. fe;„„ ,,v„ J .t was found to be inconvenient : it w.^s in the way of a ."ull judi d power, and consequently it is now repealed under an act by wb.ch he professes to be guided, and to pronounce sentence, and infl.ct a penalty in the way of costs' and ceLre, in a case which a .section of that very act e.p,cssly and pointedly pro- IMHP 83 vides that he shall not adjudicate on. From this shocking vio- lation of a most important principle (by Mr. Cameron's resolution swept away) involved in the 2'4th section of this Church Disci- pline Act, a violation committed, in the very first case tried under it, what inference can be drawn but that the act is to be used for the exclusive benefit of the judge, a mere thumb-screw to be tightened or relaxed at his pleasure. We have ever entertained a very elevated opinion of the Hon. J. II. Cameron as a man, a gentleman, a lawyer, and a churchman; but his permitting the Bishop to act as judge in a case which the act in virtue of which he assumed the judicial function pointedly removed entirely out of his jurisdiction, has entirely disenchanted us. It is, we hope, a proceeding as anouuujas as it seems disgrace- ful. What can the clergy expect in future from the Bishop's Court if this is to be the rule or no rule of its action ? Better far a thousand times burn the act, have no law but that of undisguised oppression, no principle but that of unmasked injustice, than to taunt them with a paper-law in refusing to be guided by it when by so doing the court would have to pay the piper. We do most sincerely sympathize with the first victim of this new Moloch, his reputation stained by the sentence and his purse collapsed by the fine of a court which had no right under heaven, moral or legal, to try him, which if it even had was too imbecile to command the attendance of the most miserable witness which pronounced an adverse verdict on the wholly ex-partc testimony of enmity and conspiracy, and thereby saved itself from a heavy pecuniary loss. Perish for ever such a legal farce or curse ! Give us back, in the name of mercy, the star chamber or the inquisition, restore us to the tenderness and pii-y of a Torque- mada, but away with law so long as judgment pronounced under it is not only without, but in diametrical opposition to, law. We will not be surprised if the next case tried in this Court is in violation of some other clause of the Church Discipline Act and that, after another illegal sentence, we are favoured by the chan- cellor with another ex post facto amendment. Our astonishment that he should have moved such an amendment and thus confessed the illegality of the sentence iu Mr. Lewis's case is only equalled, HI' rather surpassed, by that with which we have seen the Synod pass it The fact, as it appears to us, is that the Synod of the Diocese of Toronto is but a nominal thing, called together to cover with its submissive sanction the legislative pranks of the chancellor, who seems to be the mcnsfmum in which the compcncnt parts of that body are dissolved, neither more nor less. We should like to know if any reason, and what, was offered in favor of a repeal of the 24th section of the Church Discipline Act a clause founded on that lofty principle of equity which is such a scriptural and distinguishing feature of British law. But of course a reason such as it is was at hand and forthcoming for the chancellor has a reason for every thing that he says and'does even one sufficiently powerful to impress into the service of secon' ding his resolution the aged and simple-minded clergyman who un- suspectingly lent his aid as its advocate to this act of self-condem- nation, virtually a modern form of im'tation by the chancellor of a sentence once pronounced by a pope on himself, on findin- after careful judicial investi- ation into his religious tenets, that some of them were actually heretical, and who in these few words -ivcs us the sentence and the history of its execution : Judido me Irmiari ct comhustus/ui. I ,/■?(■