Nation IN BRIEF : VIRGINIA : Digging at Church Barred by Court

Circuit Judge Russell Carneal issued a permanent court order barring a New Age group from digging in a 17th-Century Williamsburg, Va., churchyard for a vault they believe holds English philosopher Sir Francis Bacon’s outline of a plan for a perfect society. Carneal refused to allow a member of the Santa Fe-based Ministry of the Children to question the pastor of Bruton Parish Church. The Rev. Marsha Middleton and group members dug in the churchyard last month. Middleton said Bacon’s papers must be found by the year 2000 or the world will be destroyed. The group also believes the writings will prove that Bacon wrote works attributed to William Shakespeare.