Danger in the Dark - ZseZse

DANGER IN THE DARK. 239
her. Her father and relatives, were ignorant and
bigoted papists. They regarded her as guilty of a
horrid crime, in preferring charges against one of the
holy priesthood j and she was driven from home with
threats of violence. She went to the house of a Baptist
minister, a near neighbor, to whom she told her
story. The report soon spread through the neighbor.
hood, that this woman was charging the priest with
immorality. A large proportion of the people were
papists; and of course there arose much excitement
against her. She remained a short time in the neighborhood,
and was suddenly missing; and from that
day to this, she has never been heard of!' Dr. Rice
was then editing a paper in Bardstown; he published
the facts in the casco A suit for libel was instituted
against him by the president of the St. Joseph's
College, in behalf of the priest implicated in the
affair. The damages were laid at ten thousand dollars.
The suit was pending twelve months. The
Roman clergy of Kentucky fully identified themselves
with the suit. The weight of all the nunneries in
that region, of which there were several, was thrown
into the scales. Eminent lawyers were employed on
both sides. The priest had every motive to explain
the mysterious absence of the nun, and to produce her
before the public. The court decided, that the defendant
was bound to prove the actual guilt of the priest,
and that the missing nUD, was the only competent·
witness in the plea of justification. Much testimony
was taken, and many facts not previously published,