The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-01-07 00:00:00

THE HEARING OF TLIE APPEAL

The hearing of Mr. Blunt's appeal VMS
resumed yesterday morninr, at Portumna,
before Mr. Henn, recorder of Galway. fhe
MacDermott, and Mr. Harrington
were for the appellant, and Messrs. Atkinson
and Carson for the Crown. Mr. Joshua
Macer Wright,. proprietor of the Hastings
Times was exa-nined relative to the dispersal
of the meeting. He stated ,that Mr Blunt
Was pulled. about by the police after he left
the pliAtfor..n a great • deal • • more than wits
necessAry, and in Order to put' an end to Rh,
treatment, he asked, "Would no one arreat
him ?" Witness saw the ladies were being
pushed about, but he could not see whether
the police touched them. He saw Mrs.
Blunt pulled away from her husband, and
he believed it was Byrne who did so. but
when charged with it Mr. Byrne denied it,
stones were thrown Wi+ness remained on
the platform until he saw his old friend the
Rev. Mr. Fagan being pulled out of the
field by two policemen, and he ran over to
them and said "14 this the NI ay yon treat an
English clergyman ?"
Mr. Harrington said the only other wit-
ness they intended to examine was Mr.
Sheehy, M.P., who had not yet arrived from
emonstown. After waiting a short time,

The MacDertuott maid in -excerise of his
discretion he would now close the case.

M. Harrington said Mr. Sheehy had him-
self an appeal at Roscommon, and the Crown
had obtained a habeas corpus for his attend
mace there and it was probable he would not
be brought to Portumma again by the au-
thorities.

Counsel then proceeded to address the
Court on the entire case, and said it was
evident whether % technical offence was
o numitted or not that appellant acted in the
bona fide belief that he was within his right,
and he had taken the earliest opportunity of
vindicating these tights. He intended to
ottain the opinion of the highest Courts in
the realm on the subject.
At this stage Mr. Sheehy arrived in cus-
tody of a police warder, and took his seat
beiide Mrs. Sheehy, who sat behind the
appellant's counsel alongside Lady Blunt.—
Mr Harrington, resuming, referred to the
law regarding unlawful assemblies, and
asked were the rights of peaceful loyal Eng-
lialman to be interfered with because crime
had been committed in the country when he
came to deliver to the lush people a message
oe- hope, and to inspire them With something
like confidenthe, if not in law as at present
administered, -afleast in the aw as he hoped
it would soon be administered. The only
reason for the magistrate's conduct was the
proclamatiou, and if that document wils
the areest was illegal,. Mr." Byrne's
admission yesterday that he was left no
disci etion as :to the 'sUppression• or permis-
sion of meetings
.was Of vast imliortanc.;:to
.th 4 country ; and it was an idle and foolish
pretence of the Crown to, *siert 'that the
magistrate, in the exercise of a discretion
which he did not possess, interfered with the
meeting because he considered it dangerous
to the public peace. Counsel denied that the
midnight meeting at Woodford was either
lawless or disorderly, or that its proclama-
tion was justifiable.

POISONING CATTLE IN IRELAND.

Mr. Stokes, a large farmer at Kilsheelan,
Waterford, reported to the police last even-
ing that nine of his cattle had been poisoned.

AN 3I P., ON HIS COLL7AGUE.

Speaking at Ogbourne, Wiltshire, on
Thursday night, Mr. Walter Long, M.P.,
said his colleague, Mr. Fuller, M.P. was
either a fool or a knave—either a fool for
believing all that the Natinnalists told him
about Lord Dillon's property, or a knave
who had. invented the stories he recently
told t Melksbam.. .The whole statement
was a fAbrication.