BISHOP NEVILL.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume X, Issue 581, 20 November 1880, Page 2

BISHOP NEVILL.

T think I had occasion to say some little time ago that some minds were peculiarly susceptible to easy conviction, and if I did not add that the theologii-al mind was preeminently of this class, I fear, 1 must do so now. I do not m<san to convey this in terms wanting in respect, but merely to. mention it as a fact. 1 suppose the explanation is that when men are lm'med with the idea that they m st accept the most startling and inconsistent things by .faitbj and without evidence, thsy are very apt to accept smaller and less starting things upon trust also. However, wilhoat speculating• upon reasons. £ may as web coneloa curious iustai c , which ha 3 lately given rise to a great dial of talk. The "R Rev. the Anglic in Bishop of Duned n has throughout believed in the innocence < f Ah Lee, and, as I am give i to understand, helieves so still. I may La e say th.it it is ag rinst my will I mention the name of Ah 1 ee, tor the unhappy, crea ure ha 3 paid with his hfe the peualty of his crime, and we may v ell \ud kindly forget that he ever existed But Bishop NeviU cannot sepatate himself from his position, and his position gives a certain weight to his opinion on any subject apart from its intrinsic worth ; so that we may fairly assume that some few people would naturally feel distressed at the bare idea of our deliber-' ately hanging a man who was believed, by a person so intelligent as the Bishop of Diinedin, to be entirely innocent And as this feeling would derive increased weight from ihe criminal's , .statement at the la-st n oment, it

'may be well to allude to some 'facts In connection with the' sulijont which flr« not uenmallv kn-.'wn, anil which may help toward* « r)ec" , ion.' i*'<>">e little time nan I'tnet and "hail a f conversation with'an individual from Naseby, who had watched the proctedings a aiiittt-Vh Lee"from'■ tbe coroner's inquest downwards, or rather i upwards, ami wh<md name and position waa. ] to rny rnind, a guarantee of the truth 6f hisl acoount at the time, to way nothing of the : ' corroboration which, on inrjniry, ( h;ive since obtained. 'lie tolls tuo that on his arrest, Ah Lee was frifrhtfi.lly- agitated,:the agitation coining'tow climax wkilehiK'newly-niade ncratchuH were b iuz examined, which wounds, by the way, bo never accounted : for. When in gaol'his intense anxiety continued, anrl there lie first developed that ■peculiar nervous twitching of tho muscles of bis side face a"d 'neck; whioh was so conspicuous at thi' trial. In this state the fJ»vernnient handbill appeared, and he dutched eagerly at it. in such a way as to convince any one that it was the pardon and not the reward for whii-h he was training. His intense anxiety and its sudden partial •relief were too conspicuous to be a mere "mom-y matter. Then'he sent for Inspector " s TrM»Mp» and told his story, first imp) eating keepfri!; out of it himself, but inJHiately afterwards detailing -how he beta the poor woman down while someone ■flue'murdered her. According to the news - "papers the wretched creature, a few days V'foi'e his death, and while his hopes were hnnahm on Bishop Nevill, denied the con 'tVssions in loto, leaving it to be inferred that "tho (Town interpreter invented them, by •Rimply remeinhering that the same confession ~ was tnnde to the gaoler in Naseby in Kmgiirfh, .• the criir.inal helping himself »t»t foy *ctin'/ the part -of the murdered woman, and showing how she fell. He afterwards went into the Naseby Court, 'apparently determined to speak out, and when asked if he had anything to say, actually beaan to speak until he was very pronerly stopped'by his •solicitor thrmi h Leung Ohtrng. Trmne-' ■diately on getting out, and while on his way "back to gaol, his heart failed him, and he skid to Inspector "Hi-ckson, in presence of the ■constable—" Me damned fool ; him stop me-, you give me another chance me tell it all" And almost Iris last wordson leaving Naseby gaol were, "Me tell it ailto the judge." All this fart, not legal fact ■perhaps, out fact all the same. When asked at last if he killed the poor woman, -he said " x o ;" but tthe answer might have been different had the question been ptifc in another form. On the other hand it might Mint, for, curiously enough, my informant anticipated that, as the repute of the Chinese was at st'ke, the unhappy man, steeped in (juilt 'and ignoranie. would be encouraged to.! hold his tongue. Let Bishop Nevill verify! av)J th s, and then say whether a whole hosV • of European witnesses are liars Mid perjurers, ..■; ■and the Chinese murderer the only man Who '>j ■spoke the truth.— From .Jottiugs by "Scriptor" in the ' i'cho.'