AUSTRALIAN SCADALS.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1838, 12 June 1874, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN SCADALS.

-The> Melbourne a. con?IA

temporary writes:—Thej■ pcandal-loving tasjtes.pf a large parfc,. pf the. p.ubliq harp 5 been disappointed by r ; fhe /docUiqa oft the ji JadgO;of theiDivprce ipourtijwho; hajj,/ be'en for.sorae days petiWi.for. divorce, to hear the case ;■. Ooa-j!•: sequently, the-long reports, whiph would Hi have furnished 1 highly prurient reading to interested : readers, have not appeared in the papers. The ground of aotion alleged '' by the. wife, who is the petitioner, is that''! the, marriage was hot; and'could not be, ■', consilium itod .She", had been .".; living ',{ separate from her husband for many,-j years* and received a handsome mainten«,lji ance from him, but nowr-somowhatjlato. > in. the day—she seeks a decree declaring;. the marriage a nullity; -'The case is not H yet completed; but'it-is understood that -< the husband strenuously denies in his evi« ' dence the incapacity attributed to him, -j and "that the 1 medical evidence is equally';"' decided between the twb'partiesi But if u our scandal-mongers have been in'this ' unjustlydefraudedout of their rights,a t i recent ,oase ir^, New South, '• Wales - has s given themplenly of congenial'matterfor discussion.:'; An aotion was brought; by a.?-: gentleman and lady of West'Maitlahdf against.,the Bishop of Newcastle for an'* L t impudent slander.of whioh that" reyorond I . L father " is found by • the verdict of the.,.',, jury to be guilty. The Bishop, had heard*. ? some tales from some tattling churchwardens, which, to his pure mind, conclusively: proved the existence of improper relations between the Incumbent of West-. Maitland and a lady of his flook-a married' lady, wife of a gentleman of \ seholarship : and character,.and,herself;> highly educated and ; of., irreproabtiabio " reputation/ • '"Before examining the' 1 Evidence the Bishop called-upon the clergy-.: man ...to, resign.,.; The clergyman/ xMx Thackery, declined-to,allow, slanderous' iale-bearers to destroy his character in this way, and refused'to'confess crime by resigninghisposition,: Theupshot-ofall was that his "spiritual lordship "was" taken into Court to justify : the imputations he • had cast on.the, good name-of .several, pe'rsons' upon grounds' that" it would'bo folly to speak of as evidence. In extenuation he had .-nothing..to-bring-,'for ward;; save; the; stories of-.the churchprdehs,l one of whom said that it'was^.the'most: j important ; part : of his office ; to appoint l himself a detective-spy upon' the actions' of his-clergyman.- 1 He. was. 1 seen'by the lady prowling about the house one night, and she applied, to hica the forcible, but under the circumstances, just appellation ofa <! sneak." ; The injured churchwarden,, ' explained-'that he was not'"sneaking ' around," but was. merely " walking up, and:down to watch whether the rumour:' was true.";.', And for listening with an woman's, "greedy, credulity to; all,'the '. tattle, and. for, upon the'.strength of it,... slandering the, honour, of .'a virtuous lady, | this bishop was 'treated by the jury with the absurd leniency implied in damages to the amount 0f.4(35. In,addition,. h.e/:{ obtained the contempt of. all honestmen; "± but this is a small matter., ' : .■.*(■;,..' ■}[