The Press. — London, England, 1853-12-31 00:00:00

DECEMBER 31, 1853. played an audacity of design. mixed with chi canery. probably unparalleled unless at the Old It appeared that Dowi.iNo owed money to at bill-discounter of the name of (Norm who is since dead. CROTTY had put DOWLINO'S bills into the branch of the '• Tipperary Bank " estab lished at Carlow. The partner* of that bank are four SAULEIRR, including the Lord qt . the Treasury, along witlt an attorney of :he name (if MOftROGII—A/tylie`e " Moattow• ;" .►nil its a►auager iu oue THAuvErs O'SHEA, un active ally of SAtn.EIR. It appears that when O'SHEA cashed, in Itcr2, these aeceptances of DowI,ING, for the sum of 1001. and Mt, (*nom ob tained from Dowumo a bond with warrant of attorney, merely as an indemnity. The election came on, and Caorry canvassed Dom.'s°, and warned him "that his bills were in the bank." Along with threats he employed hopes, and told DOWLING " that " the bills would be renewed as often ns " they came due, and that a further credit for " three hundred pounds would be established " for him." The offer of the bribe failing to influence him, it was resolved to send to his confessor, a Roman Catholic priest of the name of DEMPSEY. But neither the broker of the bank, nor the casuistry of the confessor, could move I)owLiNu from his desire to vote for his landlord. It was then resolved by the conspirators to arrest DOWLING, and leave him imprisoned on the bond which he had given to Caorry merely as a security ! It appears that they obtained for this purpose a false and fraudulent cart fleate by using (without his knowledge) the name of a dying attorney ! The unsuspecting DowuNo went to the hustings on the day of nomination, and was actually arrested iu the presenee of Mr. SADLEID, one of the partners of the " Tipperary Bank," and now a Lord of the Trea sury ! The whole proceeding was an outra geous violation of common honesty and the law of the land. The sensation pro- • dueed by the facts when they were pub lished was extraordinary, and for a long time past the Irish journals have teemed with allusions to this disgraceful ease. The Court of Exchequer sent four issues in it to be tried by a Jury. The whole of the facts have been investigated within the last few days, and the jury have found in favour of the facts as deposed to by DOWLING, although Mr. Joni SADI.EIR was examined as a witness, and although he denied upon his oath the as sertions that he personally had mixed himself up in the abominable treatment inflicted upon DOWLINO. But upon the question of Mr. SAD LEIR'S connection with this ease let us hear the concluding address of Mr. MAeDoxocou. Speaking to evidence, the eminent counsel said—( we quote from the Dsblin Ereniny Post of December 24th) : Who was the teal defendant in this case ? It was not Lawler--was it rutty? Nil; his (counsel ' s) oppt meta was the chief, if not the sole, criminal—a lArd of the Treasury— Mr. John Stanek, gentleman, One of the attorneys. Mr. Stanek had sworn that he had neither hand, act, nor part in the arrest of Dowling. What evasion was this ! If wretclusl Itiltbonman were on his trial, and it were proved that he g.tve a coal of fire to another, and that he had seen no more of him, hut if it was proved that the other man went to the thatched cottage of the destined victim of a lawless confederacy and placed the coal of flee itt the thatch, who would believe the matt if he had sworn on his fush.lllll oath that he had neither hand, act, 11111' 11211 ill tie tt tt ;.; tire to the 1 se ? This is what .lulus Stack t•Alled on them to believe—not before the assembled county of Carlow, hut before a jury of his fellow.eitizetts. Mr. MACI)ONOUOu, who delivered this remark able speech, is a supporter of " Coalition" polities, but he did not flinch from castigating the " CALM\ E," its he afterwards termed Mr. SADLEin. But, when Parliament assembles, Mr SAnt.xin will probably hear some further speeches upon his conduct besides that which we have extracted from the columns of one of his supporters in the Irish press ! MORE AMERICAN ECCENTRICITIES. IN the West we have always some fresh and st+u•tlingnovelty. In the East, when even a battle might be looked for, there is none. In the West, where the war between Mexico and the United States had, we thought, long been THE PRESS. over, we read in the latest intelligence from America, Battle and Capture of Pil7.; the •' Republic of Lower California; the Ewen " tive ; Army and Navy." A despatch dated " Ilead-Quarters of the Republic of Lower " California, Nov. th, 1813," informs us that on the 3rd day of that auspicious mouth a ship, containing as its precious cargo " the first independent battalion for Lower Cali " fornia," anchored before the Mexican town of La Paz. Without wasting valuable time in words, preliminary negotiations. or explain' Lion of their intentions, they went to work at once. A party was lauded ; "in less than thirty " minutes the town was taken, and the (lover " nor secured. We hauled down the Mexican " flag in front of the Governor's 'Louse, pro " elaimed the independence of Lower Cali " fornia, and our independent flag floated " triumphantly where but a few moments " before that of Mexico had waved in supposed " security." Security ! Did " ex-Governor EscixosA" really suppose himself to be secure as long as he was within wadi of a " first independent battalion" of " the smartest nation in all ovation"? Then he was unfit for his post. So SANTA ANNA seems to have thought, for shortly after the capture of La Paz, when the free and enlightened citizens had embarked to pay a similar visit to the neighbouring town of St. Lucas, a vessel came into port. having on board Colonel lionoLLEto, who wax sent by the Government of Mexico to supersede ex Governor Eseisosa." llouou.mo met with the fate of Esrisosx. The Yankees bagged them both. And if the dis missal of ExpixosA was caused by the intrigues of RoaoLi.Elo, who can imagine the astonish ment and conflict of their feelings when triumph and disgrace were terminated and reduced to equality by a common captivity, in the clutches of the conquering WALKKR, the commander of the " first indepen dent battalion "? If our EnwARD 111. is painted with two crowns on his sword, be cause he took two kings prisoners in battle, with what emblems should the portrait of the clever and enterprising WALKER be distin guished ? What would be emblematic of the capture of two Governors stupidly reposing " in the supposed security " of race? We know how it would be drawn in England : it would appear in the illustrated papers in a manner similar in every particular to those of Rash, Manniay, and other " independent" heroes, who, despising the tyrannical laws and benighted customs of the old country, made war on their own account. Hero WALKER here would be condemned convict, murderer, and pirate ; for, with a singular mixture of the horrible and the ludicrous, the despatch of these ruffians proceeds to relate how they continued their course to St. Lucas, and there killed and wounded many Mexicans, whilst " our " men did not so much as receive a wound. " except from the cactus." The leaders of this expedition are twelve in number, classi fied in divisions under the heads—Executive, Military, and Naval. But the whole strength of the first independent battalion is only stated to be forty-five men—that is, enough to make an efficient piratical crew, sailing as they did in one vessel. We know what American exaggeration is. You inquire the way to New Londonopolis : "Goon a mile, take the mill " tary road to the right—the city is three miles " straight ahead along that road." You follow the directions, and pass a sheep-path. When you next inquire you find the lath is the military road ; you proceed along it, and, when you ask where is the city, discover it is a pothouse at which you baited your horse au hour ago. Now, making every allowance for American exaggeration, we ask, will they I attempt to distinguish this buccaneering ex pedition from piracy because those engaged in it burlesque the forms of international war? How will the Government of America act? or will it act at all ? One account says that the " citizens " think these proceedings laugh able,—another, that the President has " con demned " them. But this is not enough : the Executive must pursue, seize, and bang some of those engaged in them, or the United States may justly be regarded as the harbourers of pirates and robbers, the common enemies of the civilised world. We know bow indig nantly they will disclaim the imputation, and ~. 819 ►lcnonnec this huttritteti 44 - junging a gram nation by the acts of some of its citizens. We know it beeause they do so in the ease of Repudiation, of the Lone Star Association, of the invasion of Cuba by Lorsz, of the recep tion of the contemptible NlP:Nurt►s by the Pre sident of America. and of his companions by the corporation of New York. and, lastly, of the existence of slavery. But when we tied so much piracy, dis honesty. violation of international law, and horrible cruelty flourishing, which the virtuous portion of the community are unable to re strain, we are inclined to ask what is America —where is it? if not in repudiating Missis sippi. is it in New York. the glorifiers of Nirretm. ? It not in New York, is it in bue• officering California? or, if not there, in slave hteerating Carolina? Sever from the Union the States th.it have been guilty of any one of these crimes. and bow mneh will remain of America ? What says the Minister of America at Madrid—the valiant father of a valiant son —Saul and Jonathan—what - mays M. Soctit? That the host is answerable for the conduct of " the guests." On this principle he shot the French Ambassador in the knee for words spoken by a guest whom M. de TratioT could not avoid having in his house. Let the Ame limns rest assured that the principle of M. Soria.: will be applied by the civilised world to themselves. The buccaneer may disclaim the slaveholder, the slaveholder the repudiator, and the abolitionist, disclaiming all the rest, take NIITCHNI. to his bosom ; but all will be held guilty of the sin of each as long as they constitute one Union. It is as in a pettifogging firm of attorneys—" I would not be guilty of such an net myself; but, sir, I "have a partner." But as the firm is respon• Bible for the act of one of its members, so is it with America ; and however great she may be in material resources, in wealth and num bers, territorial extent and commerce, so long as she is destitute of a governing power to restrain the passions of sections of the com munity, so long as the only law is man's un bridled will, so long will mime, in some one shape or the other, set its seal and brand on each broad State of her vast Union, and mark with infamy every truly-written page of her history ; she will go down to posterity as a nation, great—perhaps greater than any other in all that belongs to the ph sisal and the material—the lowest and least in all that appertains to the moral gran deur of communities. ALDEIthIANIc 1 , 17111.14; SPIRIT. Tar. sufferings of the horses, arising from the state of the streets during the recent severe frosts, have at length attracted attention in an influential quarter, and the evil is now in a fair way of being remedied, if, indeed, the old saying be true, that a beginning NVERYthing. ifolhorn-hill is the worst thorough fare in the metropolis—it in probably no exaggera tion to say, that horses fell there dady in hundreds. A viaduct is considered to be the only effectual eure for this, but the expense is estimated at. two millions, and thin has hitherto deterred the Corpo ration of the City (so justly esteemed for a rigorous economy of the public money) from moving in the mattet. What the public could not afford is now to be aecomplished by the voluntary donations of private individuals. tln Monday last Alderman Sir Joim Mrsouove entered the t Wildhall, and then and liege, in terms more eloquent than we have room for, Imitated the appalling horrors of " the middle passage " of llolborn-hill in a frost. 'the conclusion of the w. rtity alderman's address was, that he was willing out of Ida own pocket to give . fire shill;nyd to remedy the evil. The task of the aldermen of London is not no easy as was that of the Peon and Chapter of St. Paul's in paring the thoroughfare round the cathedral with blocks of wood. To accomplish this, one member of their body, SIIINKY %mu, said " they had only to lay their heads together." That was a joke; but for an alderman to " fork nut" five shillings appears a serious matter. Let us trust, however, it will be accomplished : el., which, at the rate of five shillings cads, would, we think, be the amount of the united contributions of the Court of Aldermen, would Le sufficient if, as we said before, a beginning is every thing. Be that as it may, at a time wheu the Cor poration of London is so much vilified for corruption and profligate waste of the public money, we have thought it right, by calling attention to this spirited, not to say " sporting, " offer of Sir J. MUSGROVE, to show that, at least, one member of that body can be avish of his own. In Alderman Sir J. Mrsontere him horses of London have indeed a friend. ~;