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Article THE PBO OF TASMANIA, ← Page 2 of 4 →
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The Pbo Of Tasmania,
i ¦¦¦ ¦¦ With respect to one part of our article , we are bound to express our regret that we shottld have published it , inasmuch as it pointed to rumours relative to the moral character of Bro . Ewing which prevailed in the colony , for which it appears there was no foundation , and of which Bro . Ewing now justly complains . In our article of the 10 th March , we said , As regards the
character or attainments of the Brov . Grand Master , we at this distance from the scene of Ms labours can personally know nothing , though we have received communications from the colony , which would lead us to believe that Bro . Ewing was not the most eligible of Prov . Grand Masters . " That rumours not creditable to Bro . Ewing were rife in
the colony at the time—and which ought to have been fully answered before he was appointed Prov . Grand Master—is shown hy the circumstance that a presbytery has been sitting even so late as the 28 th of July , to inquire into grave charges against the moral cha * l ^ acter -of Bro . Ewing , he being summoned "to show cause by witness or otherwise , why he should not be deposed from the office
of the holy ministry . " We need not go into the charges at length ; suffice it to say that they resolved themselves into an alleged boasting of too great a familiarity with his lady friends—to his being
upon one occasion , whilst staying at an hotel at Jaelbourne , out all night—and to his visiting the theatre in disguise . We should not have deemed it necessary even to go so far into the matter , excepting as an introduction to the judgment of the members of the presbytery , which , in justice to Bro . Ewing , we give in full : —
" Dr . Turnbull . —His opinion was that the purpose for which the libel was served on the Eev . E . K . Ewing had been satisfied . It must have been evident after the former case that the presbytery had before it no evidence on which the case could be determined . The proceeding by libel then was the only plan by which a minister could be finally cleared . The presbytery might four weeks ago have brought in a verdict of not proven , "
but what would have been its effect ? Why , to restore Mr . Ewing to his church with a character damaged by a calumny which had not been cleared up either- way—a position worse than that in which he stood at the commencement of the proceedings- He ( Dx . Turnbull ) found in the newspapers ( and extraordinary care had been taken to supply him with the local papers since the last meeting ) that the general idea was the alibi as to
the alleged transactions in Melbourne was proved . The alibi was the most material portion of the case . The defendant himself had based a great part of his defence upon it , He ( Dr . Turnbull ) considered at the time the defendant had shown the alibi ^ but that he had done so hy adding to the evidence in his address . Where in that evidence , for instance , was there anything about the Sunday evening ? Indeed at the time he ( Dr . Turnbull ) felt he ought to stop the rev . speaker , and draw his attention to the
evidence , and he conferred with some of his brethren as to whether he should do so ; but it was held to be better not to embarrass by interrupting him ; when , however , they came to examine the evidence , they found that in fact no alibi had been shown in evidence . Some persons would doubtless be startled to hear him say that . But so it was . For example , there were five doors to the church in which they were met ; suppose the point were to show that a person could not have left the church , and for that purpose
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Pbo Of Tasmania,
i ¦¦¦ ¦¦ With respect to one part of our article , we are bound to express our regret that we shottld have published it , inasmuch as it pointed to rumours relative to the moral character of Bro . Ewing which prevailed in the colony , for which it appears there was no foundation , and of which Bro . Ewing now justly complains . In our article of the 10 th March , we said , As regards the
character or attainments of the Brov . Grand Master , we at this distance from the scene of Ms labours can personally know nothing , though we have received communications from the colony , which would lead us to believe that Bro . Ewing was not the most eligible of Prov . Grand Masters . " That rumours not creditable to Bro . Ewing were rife in
the colony at the time—and which ought to have been fully answered before he was appointed Prov . Grand Master—is shown hy the circumstance that a presbytery has been sitting even so late as the 28 th of July , to inquire into grave charges against the moral cha * l ^ acter -of Bro . Ewing , he being summoned "to show cause by witness or otherwise , why he should not be deposed from the office
of the holy ministry . " We need not go into the charges at length ; suffice it to say that they resolved themselves into an alleged boasting of too great a familiarity with his lady friends—to his being
upon one occasion , whilst staying at an hotel at Jaelbourne , out all night—and to his visiting the theatre in disguise . We should not have deemed it necessary even to go so far into the matter , excepting as an introduction to the judgment of the members of the presbytery , which , in justice to Bro . Ewing , we give in full : —
" Dr . Turnbull . —His opinion was that the purpose for which the libel was served on the Eev . E . K . Ewing had been satisfied . It must have been evident after the former case that the presbytery had before it no evidence on which the case could be determined . The proceeding by libel then was the only plan by which a minister could be finally cleared . The presbytery might four weeks ago have brought in a verdict of not proven , "
but what would have been its effect ? Why , to restore Mr . Ewing to his church with a character damaged by a calumny which had not been cleared up either- way—a position worse than that in which he stood at the commencement of the proceedings- He ( Dx . Turnbull ) found in the newspapers ( and extraordinary care had been taken to supply him with the local papers since the last meeting ) that the general idea was the alibi as to
the alleged transactions in Melbourne was proved . The alibi was the most material portion of the case . The defendant himself had based a great part of his defence upon it , He ( Dr . Turnbull ) considered at the time the defendant had shown the alibi ^ but that he had done so hy adding to the evidence in his address . Where in that evidence , for instance , was there anything about the Sunday evening ? Indeed at the time he ( Dr . Turnbull ) felt he ought to stop the rev . speaker , and draw his attention to the
evidence , and he conferred with some of his brethren as to whether he should do so ; but it was held to be better not to embarrass by interrupting him ; when , however , they came to examine the evidence , they found that in fact no alibi had been shown in evidence . Some persons would doubtless be startled to hear him say that . But so it was . For example , there were five doors to the church in which they were met ; suppose the point were to show that a person could not have left the church , and for that purpose