The Sun. — London, England, 1844-01-29 00:00:00

THE WILLS' FORGERIES. The following facts may be relied on respecting the prisoner Fletchr, one of the persons in custody for .an alleged participation in the extensive forgeries and fraudulent transfers, which have caused so extraor dinary a sensation :—Fletcher, some three years since, carried on the business of a chemist and druggist in the London-road, nearly opposite the Philanthropic Asylum. Thence he removed to Westmorelknd-build info, Southampton-street, Camberwell; and while there purchased ground, and erected for himself a handsome residence at the end of Brunswick-street, Walworth. About 18 months since he married a young lady belong ing to a respectable family. She then resided at Peck ham, with a married sister named Panson, and as sisted in conducting a preparatory school. The circumstances connected with the origin of the ac quaintance were somewhat peculiar. Fletcher first saw the lady in an omnibus ; and struck with her person and manners, ext.tided his journey to Peckham; instead of termi-ating it at Camberwell. Having ascer tained by inquiry tlie in iy's name and residence, he called at her sister's house, obtained an. interview, made known the object of his visit, and, against the wishes of her family, became the accepted suitor for her hand. The now unhappy lady is on the eve of accouche menk and is, we need hardly say, in the deepest afflic lion, caused by the perilews position of her hus band. It is due to Fletcher; to state' that he has tak - measures to secure a provision for his wife r aild the child of which she is about to become a mother, in the event, of his being found guilty of the serious charge- of which he stands accused. Mr. Bircham, the partner of Barber, another of the accused parties, was in Court yesterday during the examination before the Lord Mayor. It was stated by a gentleman with whoM we were in conversation, that Mr. Bircham is -eitremely anxious for .an immediate dissolution of the partnership, to obtain which he paid Barber so large a sum ; and that the latter requires two hundred pounds, as a premium for dissolving the connexion.— Evening Paper. SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. PROM TEE EVENING PAPERS OF SATURDAY. GLOBE.—A " demonstration," such as, under the circumstances, we believe to be unprecedented, as it was certainly unprovoked by anything in the conduct of the magistrate against whom it was ha zarded, took place yesterday at the Mansion-house during the examination of the parties accused of the will forgeries. Mr. Wilkins, who appeared as counsel for Mrs. Dorey, one of the prisoners, took occasion to remark upon a decision by the Lord Mayor, that a portion of evidence, the reception of which had been opposed by Mr. Chambers, was pro perly admissible— " I do not wonder at the decision, when I know that one of the magistrates of the City of London has visited that poor woman (pointing to Mrs. Dorey), who is suffering from illness, and has been tampering with her. The Lord Mayor—You are making, Mr. Wilkins, an assertion which is grossly false and untrue. "Mr. Wilkins—My Lord Mayor, I accuse you of that eon duct. Such are my instructions. " The Lord Mayor—Your instructions tell you, then, that which is false and untrue. " Mr. Wilkins—My Lord, permit me to say— " The Lord Mayor—No, Sir, I will not hear you ; attend to me. The fact is, the woman sent for me ; l went to the prisen, as it was my duty, as a magistrate, to go. She told me she was desirous to make a declaration to me. I declined to hear her, and desired her to confide her case to her solicitor and professional advisers, and not to send to or make any atatenient to me.—(Loud cheers from the audience.)" We often hear of the privileges of the Bar. The licentiousness of speech in which the Old Bailey bar risters have indulged from time immemorial, has passed into a proverb from an experience of its truth. This licentiousness has been hitherto confined to squabbles with each other ; bullying of witnesses in cross-examination; outraging decency when addressing a jury for the defence ; occasionally pressing a point after the presiding judge has given his decision ; or cracking coarse jokes with the Common Sergeant at aft after-dinner sitting of the Court. It remained, however, for Mr. Wilkins—who is, we believe, a new importation from the provinces—to aspire to pre eminence in the worst characteristics of the Bar, by this bold experiment on magisterial endurance. There is said to be but one step between the sublime and the ridiculous. In aiming at the one it is by no means unusual to sink to the level of the other. The learned gentleman in question pro bably rnly meant. to serve himself by showing his professional courage. He first created the giant he undertook to slay. Before he even ventured to hint that which he asserted of the Lord Mayor, as a magistrate, he ought to have ascertained, beyond the possibility of a mistake, that his Lordship had acted as he described. The time when, and the manner how, ought to have been stated with pre cision. Even then, the allusion to, or assertion of, the facts, ought to have been calmly and circum stantially set forth. This was demanded by the relative position of the parties in the Court; and this would have been instinctively felt by most men ace customed to feel and act as gentlemen. Mr. Wilkins, however, not only cast the imputation we have de scribed upon the Lord Mayor in the most offensive terms and tone; but after his Lordship had indig nantly and positively contradicted the offensive state ment —and this twice—persisted in repeating that such were his "instructions,' he having previously affirmed the fact of his own knowledge 1 " I know," said Mr. Wilkins, " that one •of the magistrates of the City of London has visited that poor woman, and has been tampering with her." Now, giving Mr. Wilkins the benefit of his subsequently softened down " I know," into " such are my instructions," is it, we ask, to be endured, that a Magistrate, sitting on the bench of justice, and administering the laws of the country with an anxious desire to _further the course of justice, is to be bearded by a barrister, and accused of perverting his office to the purposes of private intimidation, and endeavour ing to work on -the fears of a female, in a state of sickness, to induce her to make " a declaration" re lative to the offence of which she stands accused, and concerning which she is, in a few days, to be brought before him in open Court ? This has been affirmed of the Lord Mayor by Mr. Wilkins, of his own know ledge, and emphatically denied by the Chief Magis trate, as " grossly false and untrue." The couple of sheets of paper, stitched together, and indorsed with the magical words " two guineas," as the price of his vituperation, and designated his " instructions," were then opposed to. the Chief Magistrate's distinct denial. The explanation which the Lord Mayor conde scended to give, not merely exonerated his Lord ship from the unjustifiable and utterly unfounded assertion of the barrister. It did more. It proved the extreme delicacy in which the Lord Mayor acted toward the unfortunate woman. He had been sent for by a prisoner confined within his special jurisdic tion, without knowing the object for which she sought his prAsence. Had he not gone to her at her request, it might have been said that she wished to complain of some of the prison authorities in their treatment of her, and had no opportunity of doing so. He, there fore, went. But no sooner did his Lordship find that she was desirous of making some communication re spectieg the offence with which she stands charged, than he refused to receive her statement ; and most considerately r-ferred her to the professional gen tleman employed in her defence, as to the pro priety of her making such communications. The Lord Mayor could only receive her communications as a magistrate ; and would not receive them until he was satisfied that the woman's attorney concurred in the expediency of her making the proferred disclosures. Had the Lord Mayor acted wi'h less caution—had he encouraged the prisoner's disposition to make a "clean breast"—there might have been a suspicion of "tam pering" with the weakness of the unfortunate woman, confined in a felon's jail on a charge of felony, and suffering from illness ; but, as it was, the whole matter, both in its spirit and form, was a pure inven tion ; a gratuitous outrage upon decency, perpetrated by a barrister, and therefore holding the rank of a gen tleman, such as we never before witnessed in a court of justice, and hope never to behold , again. If Mr. Wilkins should be tempted to repeat his experiment of yesterday in one of the higher Courts, we have little doubt that he would speedily find him self in a situation in which he would have time and opportunity for reflection. At the termination of the cause, in which a Judge had been so grossly insulted by a barrister, a committal for contempt would most certainly have ensued. As to the paltry excuse re specting his "instructions," on which the meagre apology Mr. Wilkins subsequently tendered was made to rest, it was far from being commensurate with the gravity of his offence against propriety. STANDARD.—There is so much to gratify in the meetings of agriculturists now following each other in such rapid succession all over the country, that we hardly know how to object to any incident of their proceedings. The congregation of good men for the promotion of a good obje ct always tends to snake the me n themselves wiser and better, and in this way, and in manyot her country T waYs, always reflects a benefit up on th e eemblies of whi c h we ai e . s T he purpose of the as protect a great pea in . g may be but to and important interest, but their effect must be to promot e pave and statistic al knowledge, science, now knowledge, to _ already so rapidl pursuits of agricu lture that activit y securit a o nd g t ive to the advances which are always the result of d t vigour confi dence. But the active and vigorousy agriculture are the greatest blessings to thataicuesntroyf which is the scene of them—for they are, additions made to the strength and resources of fact, a people, so much more valuable than territorial ac quisition, that they are subject to no external influ ence, cause no extension of exposed frontier, and need neither fleets nor garrisons for their preservation. In forty years the population of the United Kingdom, and the means of supporting that popula ation from the produce of agriculture, have doubled,. .'Vho does not see that the absolutepower of the United Kingdom has doubled also ? And though the con temporaneous increase of population in other countries has rendered the relative power of the • British empire less than double at the end of the 40 years,'. it 'will scarcely be pretended that Great Britain b not : greatly outrun every other State I dt - 0110.4rOddi Ilia that this is the effect of the -- • . ,/ , ~l~~f mighty improvements that have been made in agriculture, the work of the British farmer, is plain, from the consideration that an increase of population, without a corresponding increase of the independent means of supporting that population, is a movement towards weakness and not towards trength. With these views, we shall not, as we hope, be suspected of carping ill-naturedly at anything con nected with the agricultural meetings in progress ; but, as the truth is always best to be told, we must say that in our opinion they are making a great deal too much of the Anti-Corn-law League. We know that many persons are induced to join the agricultural meetings by a fear of the conspiracy ; and that representing that conspiracy as contemp tible as it really is, we run a risk of retard ing the agricultural organisation at which we re joice as much as any one; but an experience, not of the shortest, has convinced us that though it may not be always most profitable to the speaker to tell the truth, it is always most profitable to the hearer to have the truth told; and the truth is that the League is utterly despicable—altogether unworthy of the fears of the farmers ,of Great Britain. The Leaguers say that they have subscribed money. We doubt that they have subscribed more than a mere trifle—enough to print a few tracts, hire a few lecturers, and pay a year's rent for a few plaistered houses. The principle of their union is to cheat, and why should we doubt that they cheat in the details by which they try to establish that principle ? But suppose that they have collected as much money as they pretend, what then ? Money may be, and no doubt it is, their deity ; but it is not the idol of the British people. They can not hope to buy twenty millions with one hundred thousand pounds. Again, the League was avowedly formed upon the model of the Irish Repeal Associa tion. Mr. Cobden boasted himself the English O'Con nell. We do not dispute some points of resemblance, but they happen to be such as are now under the as say process of a judicial iuquiry, and it is therefore not proper to allude to them. And suppose the imita tion complete—suppose the League an exact copy of the Repeal Association. The original bubble has been burst by Mr. Smith's strong right hand, and its fate shows the hollowness and fragility of the imitation. Whatever the fate of the trials, the Repeal agitation is dead for ever, and the " League" must soon follow in the course of nature. In con ceding to the League, however, a vigour and vitality equal to those of the Repeal Association, we have conceded enormously too much. The Repeal Asso ciation found prepared to their hands that complete organisation which the Leaguers have been vainly labouring to imitate, even at a distance. The Re peal Association had a principle pervading, and as it were, saturating at least three provinces of Ireland. The League have no such prin ciple. The Repeal Association is thus in Ire land everywhere—the League is in England no where, except in some house in Manchester and in the corner house of Water-lane ; for the " Punch and Judy" übiquity of its tumblers, hired from the Judge and Jury Court, cannot be gravely said to constitute " a local habitation " anywhere. To treat the thing as in any respect formidable is a cheat, though it may be an unconscious one ; and it is a cheat in extending which we exhort the speakers at agricultural meetings not to assist. They may make a danger by raising the League from its proper state of contempt ; but in that state the League will perish if they do not relieve it by the honour of their notice. LEAGUE FUND. GREAT MEETING IN THE CITY OF YORK. YORK, JAN. 25.—A deputation from the Anti-Corn-law League, consisting of Messrs. Cobden, Bright, and Colonel Thompson, visited this city for the first time this evening. The Festival Concert-room, in which the meeting was held, and which is calculated to hold about 2,000 persons, was entirely filled by a highly respectable auditory, amongst whom were a large number of the Society of Friends. Soon after six o'clock, Mr. Edward Smith, steel manufac turer, of Sheffield, who had been specially invited, was unani mously called to the chair, amidst tremendous cheering. The CHAIRMAN said that those who lived in a city where the doctrines of free trade were about to be propounded for the first time, naturally must feel some little hesitation in coming forward as decided partisans, until they had learnt a little more of the principles upon which these doctrines were founded. He then took a general review of free trade principles, of which he declared himself a decided advocate, and concluded by intro ducing to the meeting Colonel THOMPSON, who was received with cheers. He said he had no doubt that he had -been called upon to fol low the Chairman, in consideration of his near connexion with the city. Thirty-three years ago he carried off one of the best and fairest of the daughters of old Ebor and that he considered the best and the moat gallant action of his life. He said he could not be charged with any personal consideration in his advocacy of free trade ; he had no long chimneys, being, if he belonged to any particular class, a land owner. The question for the meeting was whether it was possible to increase the gain of commerce by any act of mono poly. He contended it was not possible, and went at length into arguments to establish his position. The protective system was nothing more nor less than an encouragement for one party to rob another. Mr. Coital( was next introduced, and was received with tremendous cheers. He confined himself exclusively to show ing the benefits that must result to agriculture from entire freedom of trade. He asked the agriculturists to look at their own affairs, and to think for themselves. His excellent obser vations were most attentively listened to. Mr. BRIGHT was also loudly cheered. He seemed to be la bouring under severe indisposition. In the course of his long and eloquent speech he denied that land in this country was cul • tivated to its utmost extent, and instanced the large tracts which existed in various places, and which appeared as if they were kept for the exclusive purpose of growing rushes and thistles. Lord Ashley had taken great pains to stigmatise the character of men ot his (Mr. Bright's) order, and he had employed men to pick up the particulars of every case which they could of injuries re sulting from machinery, in order to publish them to the world. Some day, not far distant, perhaps, certain revelations would be made on the subject. There were, it was true no long chim ney in Dorsetshire, and there the agricultural labourers wore not earning more than 6s. a week ; indeed, he knew a respect able man at Poole, who recently informed him that he would undertake to find 150 able-bodied labourers, who would cheer fully work for ss. a week. Their cottages defied all attempts at description ; they were destitute of every comfort, and even of decency. The land in the district was probably the worst cultivated of any in the country, and this was the place held up by Lord Ashley as superior to the manufacturing dis tricts. Mr. Bright also alluded to the harsh language made use of by Mr. Busfeild Ferrand against the manufacturers, and related an anecdote respecting a Somersetshire traveller, a strict Conservative, who, in the course of a business transaction with him at Rochdale, stated that he believed every word Mr. Fer rand had said about the manufacturers. He had taken that gentleman through his own factory, which he viewed with great interest, as he had not been in one before; he was silent, how ever, and the only exclamation he made use of was at the time he was taking his leave, when he shook him (Mr. Bright) cor dially by the hand, and said, " Mr. Ferrand ought to be burnt alive." Mr. Bright resumed his seat amidst great cheering. After a fruitless attempt of some Chartists to create a dis turbance, the subscriptions were announced. Mr. Harris, a member of the Society of Friends, gave s')/., and Dr. Rawden 201. ; other sums were given, the whole reaching about 1151.... a fair start for an agricultural district. Thanks were then voted to the deputation and the chairman, and the meeting broke up about eleven o'clock. GREAT MEETING AT SHEFFIELD. (From the Sheffield Iris.) On Wednesday, a meeting was held in the Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield, to hear a deputation from the League: The opening of the proceedings was delayed for some time by Mr. Cobden's non-arrival (rem - underland ; but the delay did not put the meeting out of humour with the Hon. Gentleman. The chair was taken by Edward Smith, Esq. A letter was read from Mr. Parker, Member for the borough, apologising for his absence on account of the dangerous illness of a very near and valued relation. The CHAIRMAN, in alluding to the deputation from the Anti-Corn-law League, said that many who once doubted were now disposed te admit that the principles advocated by the League were abstr.ctedly just, and also the dictates of common sense. After referring to the meetings now getting up by those who called themselves the farmers' friends, the Chair man said there were individual duties devolving upon every one ; and no man had a right to sit indolently by and leave the working out of the question to others.— (Hear, hear.) Had they not been suffering enou g h i n Sheffield, for the last air or five years, that they were to have the markets of North America and the Brazils taken from them again by . bad le g islation, and not lift up their hands and their voices against it ? Some parties were for settling the question at issue by a moderate fixed duty. He considered that It was an injustice to tax the labouring man, and he trusted that their representatives would speak in terms of indignity and remonstrance against any such proceeding. Feeling greatly interested himself, he should now take up no more of their time, but would call upon Mr. Cobden to address the meeting. Mr. COBDIEH, M.P., addressed the meeting in an able speech, of which we can only find room for one passage. He agreed with the Chairman, that those who entertained strong free trade questions must not look for others to do the work. Their opponents were now becoming violent and inflammatory, just as the League was five years ago.—(Laughter.) The proud Sir Charles Knightley, speaking of the League, called the members Radicals, Jacobins, and the refuse of mankind. He said that the League was the most pestiferous society ever formed since the d a ys o f th e J aco bi n Cl u b du r i n g the French Revolution—its members were ragamuffins, Jonathan Wilds, and Jack Sheppards.—( Hear, and laughter.) Who, he would ask, would belong to a set like that? Besides, it was not safe to belong to them, for he found that they were forming themselves into corresponding societies, and thus placing themselves under the ban of the Attorney-General. In conclusion he would say that they must not conceal their light under a bushel, but must strive to disseminate the truth. If it were true that nations should interchange with each other the bounties which Provi dence had bestowed, rather than go to war with each other, it was not a small matter that they sliould thus unite in accom.. plishing that object. There was nothing sordid in the principles of free trade, nor io buying in the cheapest market, nor in selling in the dearest. Buying in the cheapest market was going into a country where there was a superabundance, and selling in the dearest was taking that superabundance to where the article was wanted. The Hon. Member, on resuming his seat, was loudly cheered. Mr. BRIGHT, M.P. on presenting himself, was loudly applauded. He referred to his visits with Mr. Cobden to Scotland, and to an association at Glasgow, called the East India and China Association of Merchants, most of whom were Conservatives, and who wished for a reduction in the price of tea, but who found it impossible to carry their object into effect. He also adverted to the impossibility, on all for mer occasions, of keeping the price of food up to a certain amount, and to the distresses in 1817, 1818, and 1819, when there were outrages in almost all parts of the country. He held that the corn-laws were unjust, inasmuch as they denied to man cft whic h hi e d a t washwhich he eee wasgrga necessary f e t tno e sr exchanges hisa ry for sustenancehi n i his t b h o: a i mn l bodily trength and a th lgo at p e r onl ice d f g o et r h le co h m ig m hz it p y r:c a e n . d It it g d a e v n e i t e h d e trnielero pa no market hrcomfort.e where highestn hhl t h e right of getting a fair price, which was all be asked for. Mr. BsiGtix said that the Chairman had desired him to state that he should commence the subscription about to be made by a contribution of 2001.—(Loud cheers.) H. G. WA R in, Esq., ill. P., said he was requested by a gen. tleman to band in the suit of 25/., under the name of Anti. Ferrand,(Loud cheers.) The CHAIRMAN stated that the sum already subscribed at. that meeting was 7261. Is. Mr. WA RD, who was received with loud and long-protracted cheers, expressed his deep sense of the kindness, and said he had every reason to feel thankful at representing such a consti tuency as that of Sheffield. He spoke in high terms of the temper which was manifested at the meeting that morning, when every subject connected with politics had been fully and fairly sifted. He was sorry that his respected colleague had beer. prevented from attending the meeting that evening, and would observe of that. gentleman that he would not shirk doing his duty to the town of Sheffield. On the corn-laws Mr. Parker had always voted in a straightforward manner, and free from all party considerations. They would be able to judge very soon as to what were the sentiments of the Whig party on this subject, and that from their old representative, Lord Morpeth. The declaration of that nobleman at Wakedeld would be most important on this subject ; becaitse it would be looked upon as indicating the opinions of his party'. They generally looked to the gentlemen of the Upper House to set them an example, something partaking of the attitude of aristocratic dignity, like my Lord Wharncliffe in the picture before him—( Loud cheers) —but my Lord Orkney had deicribed their proceedings as " kicking up a bobbery." He concluded with .saying that if the constituency of this country will do—as he believed sincerely that they would do—their duty, he defied the present Govern ment to continue the present system one year longer. The Hon. Member sat down amidst loud and deafening cheers. After votes of thanks to Messrs. Cobden and Bright, to Mr. Ward, and the Chairman, the meeting separated. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF EXGHEQuEn, Jan. 28. (Sittings at Nisi Prius, before Mr. Baron ROLFE and a Common Jury.) TOWN O. GAWDERY. Mr. Thesiger and Mr. Godson appeared fir the plaintiff ; Mr. Jervis and another for the defendant. This was an action to recover compensation for the loss which the plaintiff had sustained by the death of a mare which was lent to the defendant, a brush maker, residing in Green wich, to carry a quantity of goods to a wharf near the Tower. On passing over Blackhorse-bridge ' near Deptford, the mare being driven at a rapid pace by the defendant's see, reared, and fell. On examination her knees were found to be dreadfully injured, the ligatures being completely severed, so that, recovery being hopeless, she was destroyed the same evening. The evidence adduced on behalf of the plaintiff, went to prove that the mare was driven at a rapid pace ; that the de fendant's son was thrown over head with considerable violence, and was even desirous, aster the accident, of driving to town ; and that the mare never " jibbed," never fell, and was in every respect in excellent working condition. Other witnesses, on the part of the defendant, swore posi tively that the mare was me:ely trotting at the time of the ac cident, and that she suddenly fell down as if shot, and that she was an inveterate " jabber." Verdict for the plaintiff—Damages, 101. Considerable merriment was caused in the Court by the re raordinary tone and manner of one of the witnesses. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. (SATURDAY.) MANSION-HOUSE. A young man of fashionable appearance, who declined mentioning his name, was brought before the Lord Mayor in the custody of John Forrester, the officer, under circumstances of a remarkable description. Mr. Bush, the solicitor to the Committee of Bankers for protection against felonies and fraud, prosecuted. Upon being put to the bar and asked whit his name was, the prisoner said—My Lord, I am brought here,_ as they tell me, for having committed some offence ; what that offence is Ido not know. Mr. Bush is there, and I call upon him to state. Mr. Bush said the prisoner had, as it appeared, two names, Charles Powers and William Wallace, and the charge against him was the double one, of having be come improperly possessed of a bill of exchange, and with having forged an endorsement upon it. Mr. Bush stated the facts as they appeared in the evidence. The prisoner said he was taken by'an officer into cus tody, without having committed the slightest offence, and he had no solicitor to aid him. The Loan MAYOR—You are charged with having stolen a bill of exchange. You understand that, I sup pose ? The prisoner—Stolen it ! that's impossible. stolen it, indeed ! who are the prosecutors ? The LORD MAYOR—The Queen prosecutes in this case. If you wish to consult a solicitor before we pro ceed, I shall remand you at once. The prisoner —But if I am remanded I shall be obliged to go to prison. The prisoner still persisted in withholding his name. Mr. Bush then called Mr. Francis Smith, a banker at Hastings, in the firm of Smith, Hiller, and Co., Mr. Hogg, a clerk in the country department of Master man's banking-house, Mr. F. Borton, clerk at Messrs. Prescott and Grote's, and Mr. Stride, broker, of Token house-yard, for the purpose of proving that the prisonet had negotiated a bill to which he had no right, with a forged endorsement. After some conversation between the Lord Mayor, Mr. Bush, and the prisoner, he was committed for a week, under the - name of Charles Powers, alias Wm. Wallace, and on leaving the bar declared that it was a great cruelty that a man should be thus sent to prison for nothing. COURT CIRCULAR. Wusnson, SUNDAY.—Yesterday the . Queen and Prince Albert took their customary morning walk. The Royal Family were taken their usual airings. His Royal Highness Prince Albert went to enjoy the sport of shooting in the Royal Preserves,. attended by Sir Edward Bowater, Captain Meynell, Mr. G. E. Anson, and the Hon. C. A. Murray. The Earl of Liverpool arrived at the Castle on a visit to her Majesty. i Her Royal Highness the, Pnches - 4 - of Kent and Lady Fanny Howard joined the Royal.dinner circle at the Castle yesterday evening. :; ' This morning her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert, the Ladies and Gentlemen of,the Royal Suite, and the Household, attended Divine serviee in the private chapel of the Castle. The Rev. Lord Wriothesly Russell and the Hon. and Rev. C. Leslie Courtenay officiated. The Court, it is expected, will leave the Castle for town on Wednesday next, and her Majesty is expected to hold a Privy Council at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday afternoon. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, attended by Baroness Ahlefeldt, returned on Friday night to her re sidence at Kew. Baron de Moncorvo, Portuguese Minister, transacted bu siness at the Foreicsn-office, on Saturday. The Commission for improving the Metropolis, and pro viding increased facilities of communication within it, had a meeting on Wednesday, at the office 'in Whitehall-place. The Commissioners present were, the Earl of Lincoln, the Right Hon. J. C. Herries, the Lord Mayor, Sir R. 11. Inglis, Mr. Alderman Humphery, Mr. H. T. Hope, Mr. A. Milne, the Hon. Charles Gore, Sir Robert Smirke, and Mr. Charles Barry. The Attorney-General had an interview with the Chan cellor of the Exchequer on Saturday, at his official residence in Downing-street. Lord Granville Somerset transacted business at the Home office; on Saturday. Mr. Davis had an interview with Lord Stanley at the Colonial-office, on Saturday. Sir Robert and Lady Peel will have a grand dinner party on Saturday, the 10th of February, at their residence in Whitehall-gardens, to which the principal Foreign Ambas sadors and Ministers, and their Ladies, and several of the Cabinet Ministers, have been invited. Sir Frederick Trench transacted business on Saturday, ai the Treasury. Sir Jame; Graham had an interview with Sir Robert Pee on Saturday. TWO SUPPLEMENTS GRATIS, WI THE "DISPATCH." GREAT NATIONAL TRIAL AT DUBLIN. The immense size of THE WEEKLY DISPATCH has, hitherto, enabled its Proprietors on all occasions to present a copious, and, at. the same time, interesting account of the events of each week. It is, however, now found utterly impossible to give anything like a faithful report of the Trial of Mr. O'Con nell and his repeal associates, without excluding a great mass of interesting domestic and foreign intelligence ; the Proprietors, therefore, feel that their journal, which has been for years, and is new, honoured with more patronage than any other in ex istence, should be, in all respects, complete; and, with that view, they intend to insert a summary of the proceedings during the progress of the trial in their usual columns, and present to their friends and subscribers TWO SUPPLEMENTS. GRATIS. _ _ _ One of these Supplements will be published on the Sunday suc cee•ding the delivery of the Verdict, and will contain the Speeches of Mr. O'Connell, IVIr. Sheil, Sir C. O'Loghlin, the Attorney- General, and other leading Counsel ; together with the Summing up of the Judge, the Verdict of the Jury, and other matters of im portance that may arise up to the latest hour, for which the services of several short-hand writers of eminence have been specially engaged. The second Supplement (also of the full size of THE WEEKLY DISPATCH) will, in fast, form the early portion of the trial, and embrace the pro ceedings of the commencement to that stage at which the other begins; so that every subscriber to THE WEEKLY DISPATCH will be in possession of a complete and faithful report of this great national trial—a trial which mast become a natter of history, and be regarded as an event of no ordinary importance in after time. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MR. O'CONNELL will precede the account of the Trial, which will be written by a gentleman intimately ac quainted with the " great Agitator," and consequently one who has treasured up many reminiscences that will render the Bio graphy a paper of general and absorbing interest. The Two Supplements, forming Ninety-six Columns, will be printed uniformly with THE DISPATCH, and contain a quantity of matter equal to at least an octavo volume of 500 pages. THE DISPATCH is supplied by every Newsvender in London, and by the various Booksellers and News Agents in the country, to whom bills for circulation will be forwarded, with the name and address attached, on receiving a letter to that effect, directed to Mr. Wood, Dispatch-office, 139, Fleet street, where orders are also received. THE FnNDs.—A new feature, indicative of the presumed determination of her Majesty's Government to reduce the interest upon the Three-and.a-Half per Cent. Annuities is, that the brokers for the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund have been directed to commence purchases in the Three per Cents. of 1726. To the extent of about 30,000/. investments in this old security have been made in the course of the present week, by which a saving of one-half per cent. has been effected. The amount of this Stock at present in circulation is, we be lieve, extremely small, and is held, if our information be correct, chiefly . by the Directors of the Bank of England. It may be of interest, perhaps, to notice briefly that, at the accession of George IL , in 1727, a year, therefore, after the an nuities named hear date, the public debt amounted to rather over 52,000,0001. sterling ; but, what with conversions and amalga mations, it canhardly be considered that the Stock now in exist ence, bearing the especial date of 1726, can amount to anything like a tenth of the sum just quoted. The Government brokers have been again large purchasers on account of the savings' banks, and the Three per Cents. are still selected. The Re duced Three per Cent. Annuities have reached within of par, th e highest point, we believe, that has been attained for at least half a century. After so extensive a rise as that which has occurred in Bank Stock, and very recently too, of little short of 14 per cent., a reaction was calculated upon as a cer tainty, but upon the highest point attained the decline has only been 2 per cent.— Observer. The Lyceum or English Opera-house opens this evening, under the management of Mr. Parrat. Mr. Peaks, the popular dramatist, howev3r, is understood to be the real lessee. Mr. and Mrs. Keeley have been engaged. Mr. Tuckett (formerly Captain Tuckett, 'known from his quarrels with Lord Cardigan) is also engaged, and will perform the part of Falstaff, in Shakspeare's Henry IV. Other actors of well-known merit are also engaged. IRELAND. THE STATE TRIALS. ELEVENTH DAY. (FROM OUR OWN REPORTERS.) (From our Third Edition of Saturday.) DUBLIN, RMAY, JAN. 26. COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH. At the sitting of the Court this morning, Mr. M‘DoNotion applied on behalf of an officer of police, named CoLcLouon, stationed at Athlone, for a cri minal information against two persons, named JESSOP and O'BRIEN, for sending him a challenge, and provoking him to commit a breach of the peace. It appeared that Cor.cLouou called a Mr. GARDINER, who was a friend of JESSOP, " a five-shilling doctor and a Radical ;" and on being called upon for an explanation, on the part of Mr. GARDINER, he denied having used some of the ex pressions attributed to him. Upon this Mr. JESSOP who conveyed the words to Mr. GARDINER, sent him a challenge by Mr. O'BRzEN, which occasioned the present application. The Court granted a rule nisi. THE STATE TRIALS. The foregoing case being disposed of, the Court proceeded with the State trials. The business of the day, like that of yesterday, consisted exclusively of reports of meetings and articles from the Freeman's Journal, the Pilot, and the Nation newspa pers. It was a dull, monotonous, and un interesting day's proceedings. Mr. VERNON of the, Stamp-office, and Mr. BOURNE, the Deputy Clerk of the Crown, read alternately the various newspapers pointed out to them. One of the papers handed in was the Nation of the 11th of April, containing the spirit•stirring ode, " The Memory of the Dead." Mr. VERNON was directed to read the words of the song, which he did in a very distinct and emphatic manner. When he came to the:concluding portion— " But true men be you men, Like those of ninety-eight," he was observed to look very significantly at the jury, which they will interpret for themselves. Mr. Justice BURTON took his seat with his brother Judges this morning, for the first time after his in disposition. The reading of the documents having been con cluded, a policeman was called to prove the proceed ings of the Arbitration Court at Blackrock, and pre cisely at a quarter past three o'clock the ATTORNEY.. GENERAL rose, and stated that the case for the Crown had concluded. After a short pause Mr. MOORE addressed the Court, and begged an -adjournment till to-morrow, when Mr. Sash, will open on the part of the tra versers. The application was immediately granted, and the Court rose. THE QUEEN V. DANIEL O'CONNELL AND OTHERS. The Court sat this morning at ten o'clock, and we are happy to say that Mr. Justice Burton is so far recovered from his recent attack of illness as to be enabled to take his seat on the bench with the other members of the Court. Before the business of the day commenced, Mr. M'Do nough said he had (with the permission of the Attorney-Ge neral), a short application to make to the Court on behalf of Colelough v. John T. Jessop and Edward O'Brien. The Learned Counsel said he appeared then on behalf of Mr. Colelough, who was an officer of police in the town of Athlone, and who sought for a criminal information against the defendants for having written a letter to hip with the view of provoking him to fight a duel, and for having posted him in the town of Athlone as a liar, a coward, &c. The facts are shortly these :—The plaintiff and Mr. Jessop were acquainted for some time, and, on Dec. 29 the latter called on plaintiff; when a conversation took place rela tive to Doctor Gardiner, when plaintiff said, " Oh, he is a five-shilling doctor ;" this was said in jocularity, and nothing more was heard about it until six days after, when Dr. Gar diner's brother called on Mr. Colclough, who explained, and apologised for the expression. Subsequently, on the 11th of January, the defendants walked the streets, in order to horsewhip plaintiff; but, failing to meet him, a hostile letter was written to him, and, on the 13th of January, the de fendants posted a placard on the walls of Athlone, calling plaintiff a coward and a liar. He was proceeding to read the placard, when The Chief Justice said—That is quite sufficient—take a conditional order. Mr. Smyley handed in the Freeman's Journal of the 4th of April, which was proved by Mr. Vernon. Turn to the first column, third page, at the top. Mr. Bourne then read the proceedings at the weekly meet ing of the Association, at which John Kelch, Esq., Ook the chair. . Mr. Smyley—Go to the seoond column and read what lir. Steele said. Clerk of the Crown—" Mr. Steele, immediately after Mr. O'Connell sat down, came forward, and as a repeal warden of London, presented him with an address from the repeal wardens of London on the occasion of the triumphant result of the debate in the Corporation on the repeal question, and concluded amid loud applause by moving that the address be inserted on the minutes. Town Councillor White seconded the motion, which was carried amidst acclamation. Mr. O'Connell then moved that his son Maurice, having declared himself ready to accept the office of Inspector of Repeal Wardens for Munster, be appointed to that office, which motion was put and carried. Mr. Duffy handed in 21. from Newtownlimavady, and 'Moved the admission of Messrs. Coghlan and men as members.' Mr. Smyley—Now go to the fifth column, and you'll seo a letter; read it. The Clerk of the Crown--" Mr. 'Ray read the follow • ing letter from General Clooney. The letter contained a remittance 61., 51. of which was the subscription of oat hundred associates, and 11. the personal subscription of General Clooney. Mr. O'Connell moved the General's letter be inserted on the minutes, and that the thanks of. the Association be given to this esteemed veteran and patriotic friend of his country, which motion, was put and carried. Mr. Barrett handed in 30s. from his own neighbourhood, Drimna, and moved the admission of the subscribers as asso• ciates, which was put and carried. lie also handed in 61.105. :om Newtownbarry, a place which he said was famous in Irish story." 'reembreyaandsirf.roin it the report of Mr. O'llagan—Refer to columntheurth commencing wt with ftl'the Counsellor sam "Counsellor Duffy handed Repeall Asieciation on the in 31. 25., and moved the admission of Peter C. Roche. Esq." JournalVernon,n o wasthe 3 givenl t of priau C gtre ; Y er . k an o d f trleleadCrothwen p(reassaadgireig)— May, the Mr p . proceedto the ings g h s an o d f e handed in he t e n h f as t i h n e g C be r e o l l i vn p , ro l : . - h ed n pre vious day, at which Patrick Hayes, Esq., was called to the chair. Several members were admitted. Mr. O'Connell handed in 311. 10s. from Youghal, and moved the admission of the Rev. Richard Smithy and Mr. John O'Lomasney, and having passed a high encomium on the patriotism of both gentlemen, move d their admissio n , w h ich was seconded by Mr. ohn O'Connell, and Passed unanimously. Mr. O'Connell next said that he had to correct a typo graphical error in the admirable report of the pro ceedings at Longford, which appeared in the Freeman's Journal. He was reported to have called the soldiery of Britain " a ruffian soldiery," but he did no such thing; they were an exceeding well behaved set of men. He seldom or ever saw a soldier in the dock. He also spoke of the ser geants as an exceeding well-informed and well-behaved body of men, and said if justice was done them one should be promoted to the rank of an officer in each company. What he said was in the words of the beautiful ballad— " And now a sad maniac, she roams the wild common, Against minions of Britain she warns each woman, And sings of her father in strains more than human, While the tear drops do fall from poor Elleen O'More." Mr. Close requested of the Clerk of the Crown to read Mr. O'Connell's speech at the Loyal National Repeal Association, on the 30th of May, 1843. The Clerk of the Crown complied, and r3ad the speech la question. Mr. Close—Go to the report of the Longford meeting. The Clerk of the Crown then read the speech of Mr. O'Connell, proposing the health of the Bishop of Ardagh, and the speech of the Bishop in returning thanks. The next health proposed was that of the Bishop of Meath, and the Right Rev. Prelate, in returning thanks, said he cordially concurred in every expression used by the Bishop of Ardagh Some other documents having been read, among them some referring to the arbitrators, their duties, character, and appointment, together with a form of submission to an arbitration award, Charles Hovenden, a police-constable, was then called and examined by Mr. Brewster.—The witness proved that Mr. John O'Connell acted several times as arbitrator in the Blackrock Arbitration Court, and that Dr. Gray acted once in the same capacity. This was the last witness called on the part of the Crown ; 'and the Attorney-General then rose, and said that the case for the Crown was closed. It was now exactly a quarter past three o'clock. After a short pause, Mr. Moore rose and said that Mr. Mr. Sheil, who was to open the case for the traversers, as counsel for Mr. John O'Connell, was unwell for two or three days. Ho had been sent for, and stated that he was con fined to his bed, but he would be able to attend to morrow. He hoped under the circumstances that the Court would adjourn the case till to-morrow. The Chief Justice said the application was only reasonable. The Court accordingly adjourned till to-morrow. Mr. Justice Perrin said he would remain in Court if any gentleman had motions to make, but there was a general rush from the Court, when it was known the Crown had closed, and that the State trials wore adjourned. TWELFTH DAY.--BY EXPRESS, DUBLIN SATURDAY, JAN. 27. The full Court sat this morning precisely at 10 o'clock It being publicly known that the case for the Crown had terminated, and that Mr. Sheil, Q.C. and M.P, was to open the case for the defence, the greatest anxiety pre vailed. The hall of the courts and the adjoining avenues were - thranged to excess at an early hour, The interior of the court presented a very novel scene, and every part of it was crowded almost to suffocation. We have never on any occasion observed so many elegantly at tired females in a court of justice. Almost all the nobi lity wits their families, at present in town, whc. could ' procure admission were present. We observed Mr. t esnstructive crime, find its way amongst us ; bit, thank William S. O'Brien, M.P., and several other influential God, it is not to England that I am driven excluiivery and popular gentlemen in the gallery. When the judges ' to refer for a solitary example of the aversion of twelve had taken their seats the most death-like silence pre- honest men to prosecutions for conspiracy. You remem veiled, and every eye was turned in the direction of the ber the prosecution of Forbes, and of Handwich, and great orator, and when he rose to address the jury we other Orangemen of an inferior class, under Lord Wel have never witnessed a mor e i m p ress i ve or so l emn scene. lesley's adesinstration; they were guilty of a ri o t i n th e The Right Hon. Gentleman then proceeded as follows: theatre, but they were charged with having entered into —May it please your Lordships and Gentlemen of the a great political confederacy to upset Lord Wellesley's Jury, lam Counsel for Mr. John O'Connell. The im- Government, and to associate him with the " exports of portance of this case is not susceptible of exaggeration, Ireland." The Protestant feeling of Ireland rose—ad and Ido not speak in the language of hyperbole when I dresses were poured in from almost every district in say that the attention of the empire is directed to the the country, remonstrating against a proceeding which spot in which we are assembled. How great is the trust was represented as hostile to the liberties of the country, reposed in you—how great is the task I have undertaken. and a great stretch of the prerogative of the Crown. to perform ? Conscious of its magnitude, I have risen to The jury did their duty, and refused to convict the tra address you, not unmoved, but undismayed indeed • for versers. I recollect th a t th e I r i s h C a th o li cs a t th a t at this moment how many in c id en t s o f my own political time, heated by feelings of partisanship, were rash life come back upon me, when I look upon my great enough to wish for a conviction. Fatal mistake ! A political benefactor, my deliverer, and my friend ; but precedent would have been created, which would soon of the emotion by which I acknowledge myself to be have been converted into practice against themselves. profoundly stirred, although 1 will not permit myself Gentlemen, we are living in the midst of strong political to -be subdued by it, solicitude forms no part. .1 vicissitude. God forbid that I should even live to see heist great reliance upon you—upon the ascendancy the time--(for I hate to see ascendancy of every kind) of principle over prejudice in your minds ; and I am —God forbid that I should ever live to, see the time, or not without reliance upon myself. Ido not speak in the that our children should ever live to see the time, when language of vain-glorious self-complacency when I say there shall be found Catholic Judges at a trial at bar this. I know that lam surrounded by men infinitely upon that bench, and the entire of the: 'government bar ,my superiors in every forensic, and in almost every in- who shall be engaged in a public prosecution, shall be teffectual, qualification. My confidence is derived not Roman Catholics ; and when a Catholic crown solidi from any overweening estimate of my own faculties, but tor shall strik e e l even P rotestants from the special from a thorough convi c ti on o f th e i nnocence of my jury list, and leave twelve Roman Catholics in that box. I client. I know, and I appear in some part not only as re-assert it, and exclaim again, in all the sincerity an advocate but a witness before you, I know him to be of my heart, that I pray that such a spectacle never innocent of the misdeeds laid to his charge. The same shall be exhibited in this the first criminal court in blood flows through their veins—the same feelings cir- the land. I know full well the tendency of power culate through their hearts. The son and the father are to abuse. We have witnessed strange things, and strange 'in all political regards the same, and with the father I thingS we may yet behold. It is the duty, the i have toiled in no dishonourable companionship for more solemn duty—it is the interest, the paramount interest— -than half my life in that great - work, which it is his of every one of us, before and above everything else, to chief praise that it was conceived in the spirit of secure the great principles of liberty—in which we all peace—in the spirit of peace it was carried out—and have an equal concern—from invasion, and to guard ; that in the spirit of peace it was brought by him against the creation of a precedent which may enable ,to its glorious consummation. I am acquainted seine future Attorney-General to convert the Queen's with every feature of • his character, with his Bench into a Star Chamber, and commit a further inroad thoughts, hopes, fears, aspirations. I have—if I may upon- the principles of the Constitution. Gentlemen of , venture so to say—a full cognizance of every pulsation the Jury, it is my intention to show you that my client of his heart. I know—l am sure as that lam a living is not guilty of any of the conspiracies charged in the man—that from the sanguinary misdeeds imputed to indictment ; and in doing so I shall have occasion to him, he shrinks with abhorrence. It is this persuasion advert to the several proceedings that have been adopted —profound, impassioned —and I trust that it will prove by the Government, and the evidence that has been laid contagious—which will sustain me in the midst of the before you. But before I proceed to that head of the exhaustion incidental to this lengthened trial ; will en- division which I have traced out for myself, I shall show able me to overcome the illness under which I am this the jury what the object of my client really was. I shall moment labouring ; will raise me to the height of this show you that that object was a legal one, and that it great argument, and lift me to a level with the lofty was by legal means that he endeavoured to attain it. topics which I shall have occasion to treat in resisting a The Attorney-General, in a speech ofconsiderable length, prosecution, to which, in the annals of criminal but not longer than the greatness of the occasion amply jurisprudence in this country no parallel can be justified, adverted to a great number of diversified topics, found. Gentlemen, the Attorney-General, in a state- quoted the speeches of Sir Robert Peel and of ment of eleven or twelve hours' duration, read a long Lord John Russell. He adverted to the report of the series of extracts from speeches and publications, ex- secret committee of the House of Lords in 1797, and he tending over a period of nearly nine months. At the referred to the great era of Irish parliamentary inde , termination of every passage which was cited by him, he pendence, 1782. That he should have been so multifa gave utterance to expressions of strong resentment rious and discursive, I do nst complain. In a case of against the men by whom sentiments so noxious were this incalculable importance, we should look for light circulated, in language so envenomed. If, gentlemen wherever it can be found. I shall go, somewhat farther of . the jury, his anger was not simulated ; if his than the year 1782; but do not imagine that I mean to indignation was not merely official ; if he spoke -enter into any lengthened narration or elaborate expa as he felt, how does it come to pass that no tiation. Long tracts of time may be swiftly traversed. single step was ever taken by him for the pur- Ido not think that any writer has given a more emu pose of arresting the progress of an evil represented by rate, or more interesting account of the first struggle of him to be so calamitous? He toldyou that the country was Ireland for the assertion of equal rights than Sir Walter traversed by incendiaries who set fire to the passions of Scott. He was a Tory. He was bred and born, per ' the people ; the whole fabric of society, according to the haps, in some disrelish for Ireland; but when he came Attorney-General, has been a blaze for the last nine amongst us, his opinions underwent a material alters months ; wherefore then did he stand with folded arms to tion. The man who could speak of Scotland in those ' gale at the conflagration ? W here were the Castle fire-en- noble lines, which were cited in the course of this giries—where was the indictment—and of the ex-officio trial, with so much passionate attachment, made a just information, what had become ? Is there not too much allowance for those who felt for the land of reason to think that a project was formed, or rather that their birth the same • just emotion. In his life a plot was concocted, to decoy and ensnare the traversers, of Swift, he says, Molyneux, the friend of Locke, and and that a connivance, amounting almost to sanction, was of liberty published in 1698, " The case of deliberately adopted as a part of the policy of the:Govern- Ireland being bound by acts of Parliament in England went, in order to betray the traversers into indiscretions stated," in which he showed with great force, that the of which advantage was, in due time, to be taken ? I right of legislation, of which England made so oppres have heard it said that it was criminal to tell the people to sive a use, was neither justifiable by the plea of con "bide their time;" but is the Government to "bide its time" quest, purchase, or precedent, and was only submitted in order to turn p o p u l ar exc i tement to a useful official to from incapaoity of effectual resistance. The temper account"? The public prosecutor who gives an indirect of the English House of Commons did not brook these encouragement to agitation, in order that he may after- remonstrances. 'lt was unanimously voted that these wards more effectually fall upon it, bears some moral affi- bold and pernicious assertions were calculated to shake nity to the informer, who provokes the crime from whose the subordination and dependence of Ireland, as united denuuciation his ignominious livelihood is derived. Has and annexed for ever to the Crown of England, and the the Attorney-General adopted a course worthy of his vote of the House was followed by an address to the great office—worthy of the ostensible head of the Irish Queen, complaining that although the woollen trade bar, and the representative of its inte res t s i n t h e H ouse was the staple'manufacture of England, over which' her of Commons? Is it befitting that the successor of Sarnia, legislation was accustomed to watch with the utmost and of Plunkett who should keep " watch and ward" care, yet Ireland, which was dependent upon and pro-, from his high station over the public safety, should des tected by England, not contented with the linen manufac scend to the performance of functions worthy only of a ture, the liberty whereof was indulged to her, presumed commissary of the French police ; and in place of being also to apply her credit and capital to the weaving of her the sentinel, should become the st Artful Dodger" of the own wool and woollen cloths, to the great detriment State ? But what, you may ask, could be the motive of of England. Not a voice was raised in the British the. Right Hon. Gentleman for pursuing the course he .House of Commons to contradict maxims equally impo has adopted, and for which no explanation has been at- 'litic and tyrannical. In acting upon these commerci a l tempted by him ? He will have obtained no advantage restrictions, wrong was heaped upon 'wrong, and insult signally serviceable to his party by prosecuting Mr. Bar- was added to injury—with this advantage on the side to rett, or Mr. Duffy, or Dr. Gray, for strong articles in the aggressors, that they could intimidate the people of their newspapers ; or by prosecuting Mr. Steele, or Mr. , Ireland into silence by raising, to drown every com- Tierney, for attending unlawful assemblies. lie did plaivant, the cry of "rebel, and Jacobite." Wh en S w if t not fish with lines—if I may avail myself of an illustra- came to Ireland in 1714 he at first devoted himself to tion derived from the habits of my constituents at literary occupation ; but at length his indignation was Dungarvon—but cast a wide and firmly constructed aroused by the monstrous wrongs which were inflicted trammel-net, in order that by a kind of miraculous , upoa his country. He was so excited by the injustice catch he might take the great agitator-leviathan, him- which he abhorred that he could not forbear from ex self a Member of Parliament, Tom Steele, the three edi- claiming to his friend Delany, "Do not the villanies of tors of newspapers, and a pair of priests in one stupen- men eat into your flesh ?" In 1720 he published a pro dous bawl together. But, gentlemen, there was another posal for the use of Irish manufactures, and was charged object still more important to be gained. Had the At- with having endeavoured to create hostility between dif torney-General prosecuted individuals for the use of ferent classes of his Majesty's subjects, one of the violent language, or for the attending unlawful meetings, charges preferred in this very indictment. At that time each individual would be held responsible for his own the judges were dependent upon the Crown. They did not acts ; but in a prosecution for a. conspiracy, which is possess that "fixity of tenure" ,which is a security open to every one of the objections applicable to con- for their public virtue. They are now no longer structive treason, the acts and the speeches of one man thank God, "tenants at will." They may be mistaken— , are given in evidence against another, although the latter they may be blinded by strong emotions—but cortupt may have been at the distance of a hundred miles when they cannot be. The circumstances 'detailed in the fol the, circumstances used aeainst hi m as ev id ence , an d o f low i ng passage i n the life of Swift could not by possibi ' which he had no sort of cognizance, took place. By lity occur in Modern times. " The storm which Swift ' prosecuting Mr. O'Connell for a conspiracy, the Attor- had driven was not long in bursting. It was intimated to ney-General treats him exactly as if he were the editor Lord Chief Justice Whitshed by a person in great of of the Freeman, the editor of the Nation, and five" (this, if I remember right, was the expression used the editor of the Pik newspapers. Indeed. if by Mr. Ross in reference to a great unknown, who sent ' five or six other editors of ne w sp a p ers i n th e hi m h ere )" ;hat Swift's pamphlet was published for the country had been joined as traversers, for every line in' purpose of setting the two kingdoms et variance ; and it their newspapers Mr. O'Connell would be held re- was recommended that the printer shbuld be pitesecuted sponsible. There is one English gentleman, I believe with the uttermost rigour. Whitshed was not a person' upon that jury. If a conspiracy were instituted, to neglect such a hint, and the arguments of Govern `against the AntkeCorn-law Leaguee in England, would ment were so successful that the grand juries of the he-not think it very hard indeed that Mr. Cobden and county and city presented the Dean' s pamphlet as a Mr. Bright should be held answerable for every article - seditious, factious, and virulent libel. Waters, the in the Chronicle, in the Globe, and in The Sun ? How printer, was seized and forced to give great bail ; large a portion of the ease of the Crown depends upon but, upon his trial, the jury, though some pains had this implication of Mr. O'Connell with three Dublin been bestowed in selecting them, brought him in not neWspapers ?—He is accused of conspiring with men guilty ; and it was not until they were worn out by the who certainly never conspired with each other. For Lord Chief Justice, who detained them eleven hours, those who know anyi;hing of newspapers are aware that and sent them nine times to reconsider their verdict, that that they are melcan.ile speculations—the property in they, at length, reluctantly left the matter in his hands, them is held by s'..tare_7—and that the very circumstance - by a special verdict ; but the measures of Whitshed of their being engaged in the same politics alienates the were too vitilent to be of service' to the Government ; proprietors from each other. They pay their addresses men's minds revolted against his iniquitous conduct." lto the same mistress, and cordially detest each other. I Sir Walter Scott then proceeded to give an account of , remember to have heard Mr. Barnes, the celebrated the famous Draper's letters. After speaking of the first editor of the Times newspaper, once ask Mr. Rogers three, Sir Walter Scott says, "It was now obvious, from what manner of man was a Mr. Tomkins •, to which the temper of Ireland, that the true point of difference Mr. Rogers replied, "he was a dull dog, who read the between the two countries, might safely be brought Morning Heron." Let us turn for a moment from the before the public." In the Draper'a fourth letter, ac- Repeal to the anti-Repeal party. You would smile I think cordin g ly, S w ift b o ldly t rea t e d o f the Royal prerogative at the suggestion that Mr. Murray Mansfield and Mr. by the almost exclusive employment of natives of Eng- Kemmy Sheehan should enter into a conspiracy toga- land, in places of trust and emolument in Ireland ;of the they 1 Those gentlemen would be themselves astonished- dependence of that kingdom upon England, and the at the imputation. Suppose them to be both members power assumed, contrary to truth, reason, and justice, of of the ConservatiVe Association ; Would that circum- binding her by the laws of a Parliament in which she had stance be sufficient to sustain, in the judgment of men no representation." And, gentlemen, is it a question of plain sense, the charge of conspiracy upon them ? too bold of me to ask, whether if Ireland have no Gentlemen, the relation in which Mr. Duffy, Mr. Barrett, effective representation—if the wishes and feelings of and Dr. Gray stood to the Repeal Association, is exactly the representatives of Ireland upon Irish questions are the same as that in which Mr. Staunton, the proprietor held of no account—if the Irish representation is utterly of the Weekly Register, stood towards the Catholic A sso- merged in the English, and the Minister does not, by a elation. He was paid for his advertisements, and his judicious policy, endeavour to counteract it—as he newspaper contained emancipation news, and Was sent to might, in the opinion of many men, at least effectually those who desired to receive it. Mr. Staunton is now a do—is not the practical result exactly the same as if member of the Repeal Association ;he will tell you that Ireland had not a single representative in Parliament ? his connection with that body is preciiely of the same Gentlemen, Swift addressed the people of Ireland upon character as that which existed with the cele- this great topic, in language as strong as any that breed body to which I have referred ; he will Daniel O'Connell' has employed. "The remedy," he prove to you, that over his paper Mr. O'Connell says. "is wholly in your own hands. . . . By the exercises no sort of control, and that all that is laws of God, of nations, and of your country, you are, done by him in reference to his paper, is the result and ought to be, as free a people as your brethren in of his own free and unbiassed will. The speeches made England." "This tract," says Sir Walter Scott, " pressed at the Association and public meetings were reported at once upon the real merits of the question at issue. by him in the same manner as in the other public. jour- and the alarm was instantly taken by the English Go ngs ; he is not a conspirator ; the Government have vernment, the necessity of supporting whose iloulination not treated him as such. Why ? Because there were devolved upon Carteret, who was just landed, and ac ne poems in his paper like " The Memory of the Dead," cordingly a proclamation was issued offering 3004 re which, although in direct opposition to th e f ee li ngs o f war d for the discovery of the author of the Draper's Mr. O'Connell, and which he had frequently expressed, fourth letter, described as a wicked and malicious is now used in evidence against him. Gentlemen, I pamphlet, containing several seditious and scandalous have said enough to you to show how formidable is this passages, highly reflecting upon his Majesty and his doctrine of conspiracy—of legal conspiracy —which is Ministers, and tending to alienate the affections of his so far removed from all notions of actual conspiracy, to good subjects in England and Ireland from each other." show you further how cautious you ought to be in find- Sir Walter, after mentioning one or two interesting ing eight of your fellow-citizens guilty of that charge. anecdotes, says—" When the bill against the printer of The defendants are indicted for conspiracy, and for no- the Draper's letters was about to be presented to the thing else. No counts are inserted for attending un. grand jury, Swift addressed to that body a paper en lawful assemblies. The Attorney-General wants a tiled ' Seasonable Advice,' exhorting them to remember conviction for conspiracy, and nothing else. He has the story of the Leyone mode by which the deviated in these particulars from English usage wolves were placed with the sheep on con -in indictments for a conspiracy, counts for at- dition of parting with their shepherd s an d tending unlawful assemblies are i n En g l an d un if orm ly mastiffs, after which they ravished the flock a t pl easure. introduced. English juries hav e a l mos t un if orm ly m ans • A few spirited verses, at dressed to the citizens at large. fested an aversion to find men guilty of a conspiracy. and enforcing, similar topics, are subscribed by the Take Henry Hunt's case as an example. When that Draper's initials, and are, doubtless, Swift's own com case was tried England was in a perilous condition. It I position, alluding to the charge that he had gone too far had been proved before a secret committee of the House : in leaving the discussion of Wood's projects to treat of of' Commons, of which the present Earl of Derby, the the alleged dependence of Ireland. He concludes in father of Lord Stanley. was the Chairman, that large these lines— bodies of men were disciplined at night in the neigh. "If, then, oppression has not quite subdued bourhood of Manchester, and made familiar with the use At once your prudence and your gratitude—. of arms. An extensive organisation existed. Vast pub- If you yourselves conspire not your undoing— lie assemblies were held, accompanied with every revo- And don't deserve, and won't bring down your ruin-- lutionary incident in furtherance of a revolutionary , ob- If yet to virtue y ou h ave some pretence— ject—yet, an English jury would not find Henry Hunt If yet you are n o t l ost to common sense, guilty of conspiracy, but found him guilty, on the fourth Assist your patri o t s i n your own defence; count of the indictment, for attending an unlawful assem- t That stupid cant, 'h e went too far,'-despise,And know that to be brave is to be wise t bly. Some of the Chartists were not found guilty of a Thi nk how he struggled for your liberty, conspiracy, but were found guilty upon counts from which And give him freedom while yourselves are free." the word ' conspiracy" is the left ou ion was t. Gentlem, the pro- At the same ti me was c i rcu l ate d t h e memorab l e an d apt mises of Mr. Pitt, when Un carried, en have not ;quotation from Scripture, by a Quaker (I don't know, been fulfilled. The prospects presented by him in his gentlemen, st hetlier hm is naive was Robinson, but it ought magnificent declaration have not been realised ; but, if in , to have been)—" And the people said unto Saul, shall so many other regards we have sustained a most griev- Jonathan die who bath wrought thygreat salvation in ous disappointment—if English capital has not a d ven - Israel. God f or bid ! A s th e tured here--if Englishmen have preferred sinking their li g veth there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he hath fortunes in the rocks of Mexico rather than embark them wrou in speculations connected with this fine but unfortunate . ht with God this day ; so the people rescued Jonathan and he died not." Thus admonished by country—yet, from the Union, let one advantage at all : verse, law, events be derived. Let English love of i ti 1 and Scripture elt was in vain that the Lord'the grand jury assembled. usce--et Chief Justice Whitshed, English principles—let English horror of oppression —let i English detestation of foul play—let English loathin g o f ' who had denounced the Dean's former tract as seditious, and procured a verdict against the prisoner, exerted bim i self upon a similar occmion. The hour for intimidation was passed. Sir Wetter Scott, after .• detailing in' stances of the violence of Wintshed, "and desmibing the rest of the Dean's letters, says—" Thus victoriously terminated the first grand struggle thr the independence of Ireland. The eyes of the kingdom were now moved with one consent, upon the man by whose unbending for titude and pre-eminent talent this triumph was accom plished. The Draper's held became the sign ; his por• trait was engraved, worn, upon handkerchies, struck upon medals; and displayed in every possible manner as the Liberator. of Ireland. Well might that epithet " grand," be applied to the first grand struggle of the people of Ireland by that immortal Scotchman, who was himself so "grand of soul," and who f of mental loftiness, as well as of the magnificence of external nature, had perception so fine; and well might otir own Grattan, wit° was so great and so good, if! referring to his own achieve' meet, in 1782, addresses to the spitit of Swift, and to the spirit of Molyneux, his enausiastic invocation. An d may not I, in such a cause as this, offer up my pinYe r ' that of the spirit by which th e sou l of Henry Grattan was itself influenced, every remnant in the bosoms of MY countrymen may not be extinguished. A prosecution was not instituted against the great conspirators of 1782 ' The English Minister had been taught in the struggles between England and her colonies a lesson from ad" versity, that schoolmistress, the only one from who!? Ministers ever learn anything—who charges so much blood, so much gold, and such torrents of tears, for he; instructions. In reading the history of that time, and in tracing the gradual descent of England from the tone of despotic dictation to the reluctant acknowledg e meat of disaster, and to the ignominious confession of defeat, how many painful considerations Itr e , presented to us ! If in time—if the English nister in time had listened to the eloquent warnings ° f ' Chatham or to the still m ore oracu l ar admonitions o f Edmund Burke, what a world of woe would have bee n avoided! By some fat a lity, E ng l an d was fi rs t d e mente°9 and then was lost. Her repentance followed he* peg dition. The colonies were lost ; but Ireland was sar,, by the timely rec ogn iti on o f the great princip n" le on wh ic h her independe nce was founded. No Attorney-Gene 5 was found bold eno ug h t o prose cute:Flood and Gra ttan for a conspiracy. With what scorn would twelve Irish' men have repudiated the presumptuous functionary by whom such an ent er p r i se s h ou ld h ave b een a ttempted , Irishmen then felt that they had a country ; they ext e under the influence of that instinct of nationality' which, for His providential purposes, the author of nature has implanted in us. We were then a nation—V. were not broken i n t o f ragments b y t h ose di ssens i o ns 9, which we are at once enfeebled and degraded. If we were eight millions of Protestants (and, Heaven forgive me, there are moments when, looking at the .virong l done to my country, I have been betrayed into th e guilty desire that we all were) ; but if we were eight miltioas ~f Protestants, should we be used as'we ar!' Should we see every office of dignity and emolumentl this country filled by the . natives of the sister islaod7 Should we see the just expenditure requisite for thp provement of our country denied ? Should we ste twir. quit and crown rents of Ireland applied.to the ilnrld meat of Charing- cros s or o f Wi n d sor C ast l e ? 611411„,d we submit to th e o di ous di st i nct i ons b etween Ens 4 4. men and Irishmen introdueed into almost eTerY of legislation 7 Should we bear with an Arms! -f l i t by which the Bill of Right s i s se t at nough t{ Should we brook the misapplication of a poor . 1 1 0 1 Should we allow the Parliam en t t o proceed as if we 1 ' r not a voice in th e l eg i s l a t ure ? Should we submit to oe. present inadequate representation? Should we allo/ b ir e new tariff to b e i n t r od uce d, w ith ou t jaing us ti p slightest equivalent f or the man if es t l oss we have t ss tamed ? And sh ou ld we , not peremptorily require W.. the Imperial Parliament should hold a periodical se c t sions fin. the transaction of, Irish business in the inetl, polls of a powerful, and, as it then would be, env tuL i t valid country? But we are prevented by our wretent, religious distinctions from co-operating for it single ° . . 1 # 1 , ject, by which the honour and substantial interests ,of °4 4 country can be promoted.- Fatal, disastrous, deteetal., distinctions ! Detestable, because they are not Ob.!. repugnant to the genuine spirit of CRtristianity, and 01 , 4 statute for the charities of religion ti:e rancorous an ' i 4 pathies of sect ; but because they practically reduce 0 , to a colonial dependency, make the union a name, 1 0 1 vent a nation into an appurtenance, make us the of the Minister, the scorn of England, and the coeanm' in ration of the world. Ireland is the only country . Europe in which abominable distinctions between: fur testant and Catholic are permitted to continue. In many, where Luther translated the Scriptures ; t he France, where Calvin wrote the Institutes ; aye, in is land of the Dragonades and the St. Bartholomew° ; d i, the land from whence the.forefathers of one of the ja r cial functionaries of this Court, afathe first Minister; officer of the Court, were barbarously driven----the Tr. tual wrongs done by Catholic and Protestant are `;‘,, giien and forgotten, while we, madmen that we ~.I _ ,o ol arrayed - by that fell fanaticism 'Which, driven 'L ee every other, country in Europe, has found a 'r e , 1 ,7 90 here, precipitate ourselves upon each other in the encounters of sectarian. ferocity in which country, bleeding and lacerated, is trodden . under w 01 ' d : and our island, w hi c h might be the noblest in the °!„,,, is miserably degraded, and her national resources 01, developed by th ose w h o counteract t h e d es i g ns o f nstnq and who become conspirators against the Providen ce God.—(Loud ch eers and clapping of - heads, which e°" tinued for some seconds.) high l y Chief Justice—Such interruptioni as that are hig indecorous, and if that conduct be repeated, I shall cu t' tainly order the C our t t o b e c l eare d. l am sure that Y °u yourself, Mr. Shell, are sensible of the impropriety ° such interruptions. Mr. Shei!...Noone, myLord, can deprecate more tba il Ido such modes of ex p ress i ng opinion in the COurt. ft • is not by such means that the jury can be persnade._ I am much obliged to y our L or d s hi p f or t h e o' i sersatkr as it has afforded me a moment's rest. Chief JusVc3—Whenever you feel exhausted; Sheil, you may sit down. Bi• Mr. Sheil—l thank your Lord-hip. (The fl i o Hon. and Learned Gentleman then proceeded.) has the prosperity of our country, arehitecture left us its magnificent attestation. This temple p i dicated to justice, stands among the witnesses, silent s al; solemn, of the glory of Ireland, to which I may aPP: kg , It is seen from afar off. It rises high above the so' and din of this popul ous c i ty; i t is the type of that elevation, over every contaminating influence, to wab),es every man who i s engage d i n the s acre d a dministr u of justiee can ascend. The penal laws were-enaeted Tie and r e l axe d by freemen. The Protestants of the land had been contented to kneel to England upon de , Catholic's neck. They rose to a nobler attituo, and we were permitted to get up. In „, 17 • T ed the Protestants of I re l an d, w h o h a d nett— to political rights, communicated civil priviler s lee , their fellow-subj ec t s . 1 n. 17 93 t h ey grante d us tnen,ehere tive franchise--a word of illustrious etymoingP tho can be no doubt th a t th e fi na l a dj ustment o f the CA ties lie question upon terms satisfactory to both Ta r o . would have been effected, and without putt i n . the O h • try to that proc ess o f f ear f u l agitation t hrough w hie n a t d has passed, if the rebellion of 1798, so repeatedlY, , ,-„ no p with a Sincerity so unaffected, denounced by Mr. 0 li on , nell, had not ma r r e d th e hopes, of the country, and es d his tially contribUted t o th e U n i on . M r . Pi tt borrowe d e plan of the Union from that great soldier to wh ael t ial. gentry of this country are un d er o bli gat i ons so esse: u P It must be acknowled ge d, h owever , , th a t they. i e of the zeal of their loyalty for the • republican olf . t he their estates. Oliver Crom we ll fi rs t advise Union. He returned 400 members for Digital(' re , for Scotland, and as many for this country ; a „re. port of the debates in th a t singular assembly ,wa s s is served by Thomas Burton, who kept a diary, al to ° stated in that book which I hold in my hand tO „a been a member in the Parliaments of Oliver vh „,l Richard Cromwell, from 1656 to 1659. It was pill"' e t o. a few years ago from a MS. i n th e B r itish bill s w he The members from Ireland were English soldiers, 0 had acquired estates in Ireland. You would stifir t ,s• that they were cordially welcomed by their Engl l 9 a nd sociates, for they were Englishmen, bred and' b° rll; ti tion they had very materially contributed to the tranir.. o . _ fe e• of Ireland. I hope I use the most delicate and least oh sive term. I acknowledge that I had anticipated as ben I before I read the book. What was my surprise v i r e d found that these deputies from Ireland were consid er ba d be in some sort contaminated by the air - which t!l• ua• breathed in this country, and th a t th e y were 0 1 o en• courteously treated by the English Member,. ,Sese tleman whose name ought to be Copley, says, e , men are foreigners." The f o ll ow i ng i s the sPe e fog " Mr. Gewen said, it is not for the.honour Pf th „„r e r lish nation for foreigners to come and have r ive ter this nation. They arc but provinces at best." ,:'oef Clarges says, on behalf of Ireland, page 114, 0 had (the Irish) were united with you, and have alWaY o uetle an equal right with you. H e t h a t was King of -L ' il ' f igb° was King of Ireland or L or d. If you h av e - not ip ur rf• to sit here, you must in justice let them have a Those meat at home. How safe that will be, I question. P et' bette r sons." sit for them are no t I r i s h teagues; but faith c r are r sons." Mr. Gewen again observes—" It were rarlis both for England and for Ireland that they u ll o a r d b4 r o i ll iit t : meats of their own. It is neither safe, just, able to admit them. Let them rather have a " 1- 1 so etdt merit of their own." Mr. Antic observes—" r t h ;ore as to the convenience in relation to. England, muc h sit is to be said v•hy those who serve for Scotland s s h d ier de' here. It is one continent, and elections are ea ~: er for termined ; but Ireland differs. It is much nf sis the them to have Parliaments of their own. That n t . B oa old constitution. It will be difficult to c hange_h i jof dangerous for Ireland. They are under an imP 0 . 5 . 1 ne fef of redress. . . . . . Their grievances c_aiL,i : ced., be redressed. Elections can never be ro ta °. Though they were but a province, there were °.`" justice and parliaments as free as here. . • •-• e yatiee s pray that they may have soon to hear their t heni in their own nation, seeing that they cannot • u s _•• I s ei heard here." Sir Thomas Stanley observe, in Ire: naturally nII,IIY-sc.tific)leilgr°°:: not to speak for Ireland, but for the English a rid use to land' The members for Ir bon h tl a ie ve el v e c c ) t te o s rs in ar m e a a k ll in E g ng ia li w sl s n b e y n, w w hi li ch o verned ; they have fought your battles, obtaine d at , f/ sorted lament, y so ught t war solemnly." _ You may ask of me, wherefore i s %bug o o u b r ta in i te ned res b ts y , designed by the famous ilruboyaft: these references ? I answer, because' the in 'T its for , country may change the Government---rn e aYr_r s i s , o f th e undergo. essential modifications - ; but th national th ry c h aracter day th , its l e i ; k e e p v l a a i n i g u s age; t jle r ave ventu _ B r a s elsewhere towards this country what I h w elsewhere the instinct of doMination. , e Pars` &cif the Protestants of Ireland, when th „. veva e ground to powder, the very same feepo4 thisipr ou Otesta.t t o i of which we see manifestations to question is not one between Catholic c an,., a nd but the question is between the greater.eauoeui;r f e e m e i n n g s s the o: e=a s v il n iF keep smaller, which the greater country end f the raen•.l'7,B under an • ignominious control. voted for the Union lived to repent it ; a grc , himself, when designated as a p!ebela2 'e T he Whig patrician, lamented the mistake 114*4 Man.*. nd Let cf "'Jae 111 r THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EIENING, JANUARY 29, 1844. NM