A CLERICAL ROMANCE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 40, 15 January 1884, Page 3

A CLERICAL ROMANCE.

Among the romances of real life, that of the wandering Canon of Tournay deserves a prominent place. In consequence of some political embroglio the Bishop of Tournay was deposed, several years ago, aud sent into exile. About two millions of fiancs were stored in the episcopal palace at Tournay at the time, and the Bishop committed this money to the care of the canons of the cathedral, of whom Canon Bernard, the “the wanderer,” was the principal- The latter proceeded to stow aw ay the coin after a novel fashion. He felt that

no Belgian bank would be safe, and so he resolved to combine business with pleasure by setting out on a grand tour, and scattering the two millions in various banks of foreign countries, “ here a little and there a little. Of course the prosecution of such a scheme involved travelling incognito, and so the canon waited at Hie first foreign city he came to until his beard was grown sufficiently to disguise him effectually. Then he set out for Paris, and having deposited some of his golden burden there, he turned his feet .westward with his beard fully grbwn and his sacerdotal cassock and sautaine exchanged for the variegated and fashionable toggery of a man of the world. In New York lie left a few more bags of money, and deposited the ’ast four hundred thousand franks in a Boston bank. Meanwhile his absence and rhe contemporaneous absence of the contents of the episcopal treasury wan much lamented by his brother canons, who took great pains to track him, even employing detectives for the purpose. The wanderer was finally betrayed by a photograph. Being a comely canon, he could not resist the temptation bf having his likeness taken in New York, and rhe consequence was his arrest at Inst in South America. He had not quite finished his tour, but his captors, paying.no attention to this fact, carried him off rudely io Brussels. There his trial has just been brought te a conclusion, such as was alone needed to cap his exploits. He has been acquitted, the Court ruling that it could take no cognisance of his uncanonical behaviour in the fastness of America or any other foreign country, and holding that he had taken the money from the episcopal palace of Tournay for safe keeping and at the request of Bishop Rouseaux, its official owner. Canon Bernard has seen men and cities under strange circumstances.