The Express.
London, England, 1848-05-17 00:00:00

FOREION-OFFICE, MAT 18:Viol:mint Palmerston,
her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, hoc received a despatch from her Majesty's minister
at Copenhagen, enclosing a note from Count Knuth, the
Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated the Bth inst., an-
nouncing that neither the mouth of the Elbe, nor that of
the Weser, nor any other port in the North Sea, will for the
present be 'blockadled ; and also that the blockade of Fillets,
Dantidg, Stralsund, Rostock, and Wismar, will ewe on the
16th inst. ; and further announcing, that Kiel, with the
mouth of the Canal of Schleswig at lioltensu, and Swine-
monde, will remain blockaded, and that this blockade will
be extended, from the 18th Inst., to the three mouths of the
Oder, namely, those of Wolgeat, of Bwinemunde, and of
Cammin.
OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, MAT it
Royal Heft. of Artll.—First Lieut. J. J. Branching to be see. rapt.
eke Ramsay, :eh on 11.-p.; Bee. tient. R. J. M. Campbell to be fine
lieut., Tice &Wi ttig.
OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, MAT 15.
Corps of Royal Engineera—Plot Lieut. It. Burnaby to be see.
rapt, Tim Uornby, dee.; Bea. Lieut. A. J. Clerke to to first tient,
TIM Bub.
MIDWrnaIUM y
UVIL —The date of the promotion of &mod Capt. Craigle,
and First lieut. O.U. Gordan, has been altered to the 9th Aprll,lso.
GRAND ENTERTAINMENT TO THE BISHOPS

AT THE MANSION.HOUSE.
Yesterday the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress
gave a splendid entertainment to the bishops and clergy, .
according to ancient custom. The dinner, which was most ,
sumptuously provided by Messrs. Ring and Brymer, was
laid out in the Egyptian-ball, and consisted of every delicacy 1
the season could afford. We give a list of a few of the prin.
rips! guests u they appeared when seated at the tables :
The Archbishop of Canterbury and Miss Blornfield, the
Bishop of London and Miss S •mner, the Bishop of Win-
chester and Mrs. Sumner, the Bishop of Bangor and Miss
Hooper, Mrs. Morehouse, the Bishop of Ripon, the Bishop
of Salisbury and Miss Isabella Hooper, the Bishops of Nor-
wich and Miss Mary Hooper, the Bishop of Peterborough
and Miss Morehouse, the Bishop of St. David's and Miss
Mary Morehouse, the Bishop of Worcester and Mrs Pepys,
the Bishop of Chichester and Mrs. Gilbert, the Bishop of
Lichfield and Miss Reid, the Bishop of Oxford and Miss
Elizabeth Hooper, the Bishop of Manchester and Mir H.
Hooper, the Bishop of Hereford and Mrs. Ham' den, the
Bishop of Madras and Miss Russell, the Bishop of Antigua
and Min Idarpret Hooper.
After the usual loyal toasts,
'f he Lottu MAYOK proposed "The Health of the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury.
The Archbishop of CANTERKCRY, in returning thanks,
said he was aware of the great weight of responsibility he
incurred in filling the aituawm of the late right rev. prelate,
and that however incapable or unworthy he might be, be
should aim at the high mark of imitating the zeal and exer-
tions of so great an example. (Cheers.)
The Loan MAYOR then proposed " The Bishop of London
and the Bench of Bishops."
The Bishop of LONDON returned thanks.
After several other toasts, which were received with great
enthusiasm, the company broke up.

IRELAND.

DIIIILIX, MAY 15.

At an early hour this morning the friends of the
traverser' were busy throughout the populous city,
and repaired to Westland-row at nine o'clock to ac-
company Smith O'Brien to the scene of his glory or
disgrace. They reached the Four Courts precisely
at ten, where a crowd was already asembled
to bear the great issue. But there was • most
marked absence of all enthusiasm or excitement,
with the sole exception to which I shall presently
allude. The " briefiess bar" mustered in consi-
derable force. Curiosity marked their demea-
nour rather than sympathy. At a quarter before
ten the court was thrown open, and the benches
and galleries were soon filled. Shortly after Smith
O'Brien, accompanied by his son, appeared at the
side har, and his partisans raised a shout of
exultation, accompanied with a clapping of hands,
which was kept up for some minutes —not uninter-
rupted, however, with remonstrant shouts from the
opponents of young Irelandism, who, at least, divided
the indecorous clamour. Mr. O'Gorman, the last of
the ambassadors, and the Harmodius of the confedera-
tion, were also greeted and rejected in the same nn-
forensic fashion.
The Attorney-general is remarkable lees for eloquent
prolixity than a rough and practical style, which
strikes well and strikes home. None expected from
him a brilliant display, but all looked for a methodical
and masterly exposition of facts without logical arti-
fice or rhetorical colo-iring. Nor were they dis-
appointed. The Attorney-General accomplished his
duty with effect and vigour, and was heard through-
out with much attention. Ile did his duty temperately
and well. Even Smith O'Brien acknowledged that
he had " set down naught in malice," but put the case
Ito the jury calmly, temperately, and fairly. His
speech occupied exactly an hour and five minutes.
Soon after Mr. Butt had opened he was saluted
with applause from the galleries, when the Chid
Justice stated that the repetition would lead to a ge-
neral clearance. Thereupon the patriotism of the
galleries was silenced, and Mr. Butt was hard in si-
lence. lie spoke for over two hours, and with great
ability ' • but he did not arise to the elevation antici-
pated by his friends. I have often heard him more
happy and eloquent, though rarely more vehement.
lie made capital use of the ribaldry of the Times, and
extracted some very impressive materials for the
jury out of some recent leaders in the Examiner. It
was expected that Mr. Butt would have made a
declaration of repeal ; but he kept clear of the embar-
rassment, and gave no opinion on the lie penseus.

TRIAL OF MR. SMITH O'BRIEN
FOR SEDITION.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.
(Prom our own Reporter.)
The Chief Justice took hie seat on the bench et half-
put ten o'clock.
Mr. PERRIN having opened the pleadings,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL Said : Gentlemen of the jury,
as my friend, Mr. Perrin, has informed you, the tra-
I Terser, Mr. William Smith O'Brien, stands here to
answer the charge of having, OR the 15th March put,
at a meeting of a society called the Irish Confederation,
delivered a speech of the most seditious character and ten-
dency. We think that in making that speech he
was actuated by motives and feeling. which render him
responsible to a criminal qyurt for hie conduct. We say,
and I believe you will conglder, that the objects, tendency,
and motives of hie speech were to excite hatred and diecon•
tent against the government, and to provoke the people of
this country to rise in rebellion egainst their sovereign.
Another charge we make is, that his object was to induce
the people to endeavour, by farce of arms, to procure ordain
political changes. And lastly, we accuse him of seeking to
induce the military and constabulary forces to join in Nome
suuden attempt to overturn the government ; or, at least, of
wishing the people to believe, that in cue of any outbreak
the military and police would be found ranged on the popular
side. If I shall be able ti prove, as I believe beyond a
doubt I shall, that such was the object of Mr. O'Brien's
speech, you, gentlemen, can have little doubt as to what will
be your duty on this occasion. That duty will be, regardless
of consequences, arid mindful of the sacred obligation of your
ath, to do justice to the interests of your country, by:at once
finding the traverser guilty. The period at which you are
called upon to give a decision on this question is by no
means an unimpoeant one. It is a period when the public
mind in other countries is much excited, and therefore the
verdict you may give is of the utmost importance to the
future peace and preservation of this country. I cannot
persuade mjself that, if you are convinced ot the truth of
the charges I have brought forward, any feeling will induce
you to shrink from the honest and conscientious discharge of
your duty. Nobody can be more unwilling than lam
unnecessarily to bring before a jury whet are
called state prosecutions, either against publications
in the press, or against language spoken by an
individual. Both myself and the government of which
I am the servant forbore as long as we could from appealing
to the laws of the country against their daily violation by
Mr. S. O'Brien and others, members of the society called the
National Contederation. So long as their proceedings were
confined to abuse of the government, or of individual mem-
bers of the government, that government was determined to
rest satisfied with the consciousness of honestly dis-
charging their duty; but when that society or confederation,
not content with abuse of this description, had recourse to
that which is now chart.d against the traverser, an attempt
to excite rebellion and sedition, and to cast this country into
the horrorsof civil war, 1 believe I am justified in saying that
further forbearance ou the part of the government would
have been criminal iu the highest degree. We forbore long
—perhaps too long—so long at lain as to make several men,
interested in the peace of society, suppose that the object
of the government was to permit the sedition to gain a
certain pitch of success, is order the more effectually to
crush it. Such conduct would be unjustifiable, and it is as
much as anything else to save government from such an im-
patation that lam now obliged to appeal to a jury, and to
ask a verdict against this gentleman. As this proceeding
takes place at my suit by criminal information, it may be
urged that you are called on to give a verdict on informa-
tions which bad not been previously submitted to a grand
jury as indictments. I shall therefore. in justice to myself,
shortly state the circumstances which rendered it advisable,
nay absolutely neceseary, that I should base resort to that
mode of proceeding, which is the undoubted right of the
Attorney-General. A proceeding by Information differs from
an indictment in this way: an indietmen: is in the first in-
stance sent to the grand jury, and it is only when
a primd facie ease is made out before that tribunal that the
case is sent to a petit jury. From the earliest times the public
prosecutor, on the part of the crownjhas had the right, in all
cases tending to breaches of the public peace, to exhi-
bit informations, and bring the =steer at once before a
petit jury without the previous interposition of a grand jury.
It would have been my undoubted right to take this step in
the first instance. Mr. S. O'Brien was rendered amenable
about the 'i,.?rd March, and I might have immediately brought
him to trial. The sight is one which belongs not only to the