The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-03 00:00:00

SPECIAL COMMISSION.

CLONMEL, MONDAY, JAN. 31.
MYRDIR OP PATRICK GLEISSON.—Terence Corboy,
aged '26, was indicted for the wilful murder of Patrick
Gleeson, at Gurtnafanna, on the 17th of October, 1846. The
indictment charged that the prisoner fired the shot which
killed thedeceased ; and also that it wee fired by an unknown
person. the prisoner having been present aiding and amid-
Leg. It appeared from the statement of the Attorney-
General
teat the deceased had been in the habit of serving
ejectreents, &c., for land agents, and that he was employed '
in serving. processes en the tenants on the lands of Gurtaa-
lanes, or in the neighbourhood, where he was killed. Some
days before he was on the um* lands, and received a beat- '
big, and the prisoner was heard to my that he would shoot
whoever cease again to serve law papers on the tenants.—
Evidence would be produced to show that the fatal shot
WO fired by the prisoner.
Michael Murray, ,a soldier in the 31st Regt., said I re-
member the time Patrick Gleeson was killed, and knew the
prisoner at the bar, Terence Corboy; he was in the employ-
ment of James Mars, a blacksmith, and on the Thursday
before the murder said he would shoot the first man teat
came to Gurtnafiutna to serve notices. He had a blunderbuss
in the forge when he said that. On the neat Saturday I saw
Gleeson on the lands, about eight or nine o'clock in the
morning, passing on towards the Toomayara road. A crowd
of women and children followed him. There were also three
or four men in the crowd whom I followed. They were shout-
ing after him. When he passed J erryTanly's haggard, Terence
Corboy came from the ditch, from the left heed side of the
road, and asked him what brought him there. Corboy said
he wanted to see John Cummins and other men. Well, said
Corboy, you were bid not to come here any more. Gleeson
bawled out to him, and bid him not to shoot him, but the
prisoner said he had his life long enough, and drove the
contents of the blunderbuss through him. Gleeson didn't
fall, and the prisoner gave him a blow of the blun-
derbuss on the head and knocked him into the ditch ; '
he then gave him another rap at the butt of the ear '
and broke his skull. He gave him two blows while he was
down. The women and the children were about fifteen or
sixteen yards from him at the time. They moved off from
him before the shot was fired. The prisoner's father bid
the people go back, and asked where were they following
the man. John Corboy, the father, was at that time stand-
ing inside the ditch from which the son came out. While
the deceased. was lying in the ditch the prisoner threw a
stone at him, and :truck him on some part of the body. I
went up to the deceased after the prisoner went away, and
he appeared to me to be dead ; I walked two or three yards
with the prisoner when he was going away ; after that the
prisoner came into a meadow where I was working, and we
went home together; the prisoner was sometimes called
Jerry M'Grath ; I enlisted about a year ago; before that I
was taken up for the murder, and was kept in custody for
three weeks or so.—Mr. Itolleeton read the witness's infor-
mations, and pointed out some contradictions between his
swearing when he made them and now.
Catherine Gleason deposed that she was the widow of the
deceased ; some days before his death he went to Gurtnafanna
to serve notices, and came home in the evening, having re-
ceived a beating; :In the Saturday he was killed be went to
Gurtaafanna to serve papers, and about twelve o'clock she
found him lying on some hay, with the police about him ; he
was brought into Tooniavara, and died on the Thursday
after ; he spoke to her before he died, and was sensible.
Dr. E. Kitson deposed that on the day Gleason was shot
he saw him, and found that the whole right aide of his
head was smashed in; he removed the pressure, but that
did not restore him to speech ; there was a gun shot wound
on his right side, and after death three or four small balls
were found in the liver; from the time witness first saw him
till he died, he did not see him in a sensible state ; the
wounds caused death; Dr. J. Kitson also saw the deceased,
but he was then insensible also.
The AttornerGeneral said the testimony of the doctor
proved that whatever the deceased said to his wife or
others after he was wounded could not be given in evidence.
Michael Mars said On the day of the murder I met the
deceased near Gurtnafanna ; after he passed me I saw
Michael Murray (the soldier) following him ; there was also
a number of women and children on the road ; I went into
Bourke's and heard a shot. Bourke's is seven or eight
perches from where Gleeson was shot. Bourke wean% in
the house at the time the shot was fired.—Cross-examina-
tion : I didn't tell Murray not to strike the deceased, but I
said to him—" Mick, take care what you're about, never
mind that man, let him pass on with himself, I think bad of
that man with respect to his brother ;" " Oh, never fear,
Mick," said Murray. I then went into Bourke's, and heard
the shot while I was there. Murray was continuing to
follow Gleeson when I went into Bourke's. I spoke to
Murray as I did, because I thought he had the appearance
of going to beat the deceased. Murray was servant boy to
Cummias before that.
Judith Pouaden deposed that 'he was called out of he,
house by one of her own children and saw the crowd—
better than a hundred yards from, her, Old Carboy came
out on the road, and bade the crowd stand back, and she
thought he was going to save the man who was afterwards
killed. She then saw young Corboy come out from the field
and shoot the deceased with a blunderbuss, being ten or
eleven yards from him at the time. The man didn't fall
after the shot, and the prisoner struck him on the head with
the blunderbuss, and knocked him down. lie struck him a
second blow when he was down, and then went away. She
thinks she saw Murray (the soldier) cross the fields in lam
than a quarter of an hour after, with a blunderbuss in his
hand, but she didn't recollect seeing him on the road before
the man was shot.
John Cleary swore that before Christmas, 1846, he was in
the same vessel with the prisoner, going to Wales. The
prisoner told him at first that his name was Patrick Ryan;
and during a storm that arose on the passage he was con-
tinually on his knees, and appeared to be greatly afraid.
After they reached Newport the prisoner told him that his
real name was Terence Corboy, and that he killed a man
named Patrick Gleeson with a blunderbuss. He also said
that they made up 51. for him, to take him out of the
country.—Cross-examined: Corboy told him that Gleeson
was serving processes, and that he shot him. He said there
were four of them watching him on different roads. Gleeson
did not come by the road he was watching, and that he ran
over to where he heard he was ; that ho saw women and
children running after him, pelting with mud, and that he
jumped on the ditch,bsde them ail stand back, and then shot
Gleeson. I beard that the paper about the reward said there
was to be 1001. for taking Corboy, and what more did I want
to hear? (Laughter.)
Henry Browne said—l was in the police as head con-
stable in April, 1848, and arrested the prisoner in South
Wales in that month. I traced him by the name of Ryan.
I was in disguise, and asked him if his name was not Terence
Corboy. He was in a lodging-house at the time, and when
I asked him if that was not his name, he said to other Irish.
men in the room, " Oh, boys, I was always unfortunate—
I'm a done man. Whoever is born to ba hanged can never
be drowned." I cautioned him upon that not to say any-
thing to criminate himself.—Crass-examitted . I had a con-
versation with the deceased, after he was shot in Toomavara,
and he appeared to me to be of sound mind then. Ile said
it was Cummins's son and a boy that killed him; that he
was met by some persons who asked him what brought him
to the country doing harm; that he said, "No harm,
blackguards," and was then knocked down and afterwards
shot. The witness said he took a memorandum of the cir-
cumstance, which he then had in court.
After some discussion the witness was permitted to read
the memorandum he took of what deceased had said. It
appeared that the conversation was on two days,Tuesilayand
Wednesday. He stated that he was warned off at Cummins's
gate, that Cummins's young son, a boy, murdered him, and
that the prisoner desired them to finish him. He appeared
to the witness to he in a sensible state. He repeated the
Lord's prayer, and asked his wife about who was keeping
her there, and on her replying that it was constable Browne,
he said " God, bless hiu, ' Before ohs conversation with
the deceased, witness told him to tell the truth, as be VIM
shortly to appear before God.—To the court : The
conversation was held at different times, as the
man used to fall off into a slumber frequently.—
Mr. Relleston : Did he way it was Cummins's servant
boy ?—Witness: He did cot. Son and boy were the words
he used.—Court This is an endeavour to shift the crime
from the prisoner at the bar upon another.—Mr. Rolleston :
I admit it is; but Cummins's son is mentioned in the indict-
ment. My object is to shift the crime upon Murray.—The
Attorney-General stated that, in consequence of the exami-
nation of the head constable, w to the conversation with the
deceased alter the attack, he would call the brother of the
deceased, who was present at the conversation.
Thomas Gleeson—l am brother to the deceased. On the
Tuesday alter he was wounded I had a conversation with
him in the police barrack. He said Corboy shot him, and
that Cummins's son struck him on the bead with a stone.—
The Chief justice said this evidence was not admissible.
After the testimony given by the doctor as to the man's
state, evidence of his conversation would not be permitted;
but this evidence of what he said was pressed by the pri-
soner's counsel. The crown now offered similar evidence,
but it could not be admitted. These circumstances showed
how dangerous it was to depart frem the strict rules of evi-
dence in a criminal came.—Mr. Rolleaton asked his lordship
to take a note that he required the evidence given by Con-
stable Browne to be admitted.—The, court declined to do
this.
Mr. Rolieston addressed the jury for the defence. He re-
minded them that two men had been convicted at the pre- I
sent commission upon a dying declaration, and. he called on
them to give the prisoners the benefit of the declaration
made by Gleason in the presence of the head-constable,
when he said that Curamias's son and boy were the persons
who killed him.—The Chief Justice said the conversation
alluded to by the prisoner's counsel had not the form of a
dying declaration, and that he would feel bound to tell the
jury !IC
James Cash : After the shot I saw Murray running across
the field, his shoes in one hand and a short gun in the other.
That was within two fields of where the man was shot. I
was working in a field behind Tonhy's haggard at the time.
I did not see Corboy there at all, nor any crowd until after
the man was shot. I never was a day or a night on my
keeping for this. I took no put in the beating of Gleeson
before he was killed.
The. defence having closed here, and the Solicitor-General
having replied on the part of the prosecution, the Chief
Just ee charged the jury, and left them to attach what value
they Considered it was worth to the declaration made by the

deoeased.—The jury retired, and in about two minutes found
the prisoner guilty.—lie was then removed.
MOLDER OF WILLIAM CILAMIIIS. ClECOM-
rumcm.—Ahot Hoyden was placed at the bar charged with
the murder of William Crawley. When asked to plead the
prisoner made ne reply.—The governor of the gaol said the
prisoner had not spoken a word since he was fully com-
mitted, about three months ago.—Chief Justice : Explain to
him the meaning of this; ask him to plead to the indict-
' ment.—Tini governor then told the prisoner the nature of
the proceeding, and asked him whether be was guilty or not
guilty; but he sill made no reply. There was no one em-
ployed for him.—Chief Justice : Mr. Attorney, what will you
do?—Attorney•Gleneral : I have been speaking to the medical
gentleman who attends the gaol, and he has told me that
he believes all this to be feigned on the part of the
Prisoner.—Chief Justice: Well, you know what the law
enables you to do in such a case.7htMeney:General : Yes,
my lord; but as the doctor is of opinion that it would bebettar
to allow some time to 'zombie the matter more fully, I I
think it would be well to postpone the case till the assizes.—
Chief Justice : Very well, let the present indictment be
quashed.—Attorney-General : Yes, that can be done, and a
new bill can be preferred at the sashes.—The bill of the in-
dictment was then quashed.—The prisoner, who is rather a '
well-lookloq young man, about 26 years of age, wwthen re-
moved. It is said that when first committed to gaol he !
spoke, but he has not uttered a word since he was fully com-
mitted. _ _ - .

ikIOGTING AT MR. BATLY.-0/1 Saturday evening, says
our correspondent, I forwarded the coadirion of the trial of
the prisoners arraigned for this offence. It has been seen
that Rowan was charged with having fired the shot which
wounded Mr. Bayly, but the only evidence to support
the charge being that of an approver, who swore that
Rowan had boasted of having discharged the shot, the jury
acquitted him, the testimony of the approver not having
been corroborated. The crown, it seems, calculated that
this witness would not be looked upon in the light of an
approver, but that his evidence would be received in cor-
roboration of that to be given by the first approver pro-
duced. But the court having decided that both should be
viewed as approvers, and as there was nothing to corrobo-
rate the evidence against Rowan on the material point, the
case against him failed, and his acquittal was the conse-
quence. It is now said that his counsel, Mr. Rolleston, is
to move an arrest of judgment on behalf of Daly, the man
found guilty of having been present, aiding
.and assisting
Rowan when he fired the shot, which the jury have, by
their verdict, found that he did not fire. However the
question may be disposed of in compliance with the law, it
would seem rather odd that a man could be held to have
aided and assisted another to do that which it is decided he
did not do. I believe sentence will not be passed upon the
man capitally convicted until the last day the judges sit
here, perhaps on Wednesday.
CLONMEL, FES. I.
The Lord Chief Justice sat alone this morning, at half-
past 10 o'clock, the Chief Baron being still confined to the
CAPITAL CONVICT/ONS.—SENTENCES lIPON FIVE CON-
VICTS.—The several prisoners convicted in the course of last
week of capital offences, having been placed at the bar to re-
ceive sentence,
The clerk of the crown asked them if they had anything
to say why sentence of death and execution should not be
pronounced upon them.
All the prisoners remained perfectly silent but two,
John Lonergan, who said—" A long day, my lord,"—and
Henry Cody, who in speaking of his brother and himself,
replied that they were not guilty.
The Chief :notice then put on the black cap, and addressed
them as follows :
John Lonergan, you have been indicted and found guilty
of the wilful and deliberate murder of Mr. William Roe.
Henry and Philip Cody, you have both been indicted and
found guilty of the wilful murder of Edward Madden.
Terence Corboy, you have been found guilty of a like crime,
of the murder of Patrick Gleeion • and you, John Daly, of a
malicious assault upon Mr. Richard L make Beaty, with
intent to murder him. In point of fact you are all murderers,
for although the life of Mr. Reilly has been, by the mercy of
God, preserved, you, John Daly, have been found guilty of
having made an attack on him which endangered his life—an
attack with intent to murder ; you are, therefore, amurderer in
intention, although, by the mercy of God, not in act. I feel it
impossible to conceive a more awful or heartrending spec.
tade than you all now represent. Five men in the prime
of life—in the vigour of manhood—stand at that bar to hear
a sentence by which their days will be numbered and their
lives cut short. I would that, in the consideration of
any of your cases, I could discover one mitigating fact—
one gleam of humanity ; but I am bound to say that
the eases of one and all of you present instances of
crime of the most atrocious character, instigated by
a vindictive and sanguinary spirit. In every one of
your cases there was deep premeditation, and a long
interval between the formation and execution of your mur-
derous designs—an interval, God knows, long enough to
have awakened in you some sense of pity or compassion—
some degree of compunction or remorse—but all failed : you
went forward to your fell and deadly purpose—and that
purpeee was accomplished by desperate means. Incorrigibly
wicked were the hearts of those who plotted and executed
these atrocious deeds. The whole course of your crimes
have been marked by unrelenting cruelty, and by
that cowardice which is always attendant on a cruelly
vindictive spirit. You armed yourselves with deadly
weapons—you lay in wait for your victims—you took
them when they were not prepared—when they were
defenceless ; when they were incapable of resisting ; when
they expected no danger, you sent them, with ell their
sins on their heads, into the presence of Almighty God.
If I were to review in detail the proceedings on every one of
your trials, I could point out instance upon instance that
prove the power of Almighty God in producing accidents,
and bringing accidents of the most trifling character to bear
upon the one great end—that of bringing murderers to justice
—that of revealing and establishing the truth. There are
other classes who ought to take a lesson of warning from your
fate. There are those who have taught you to avenge your
own wrongs—who have justified, palliated, and excused your
crimes, and who must be responsible for the consequences—
the consequences exhibited in your drea ful cases. Such
doctrines, and such teaching has, as far as any effect can
be produced, been the cause. There is another class to
whom I must advert, and my wonder is that all that has
occurred has made no impression on them. Some of you have
wives—some have parents—some have children—all have
friends and relatives. Have they done their duty ? Have
they warned you against the crimes that have brought you
to destruction ? Have they known your designs —and
have they warned you against the perpetration of them ?
Have they endeavoured to prevent you? Have they en-
deavoured by their influence to save you ? Sorry am I to
say, from what I have observed, that friends and relatives—
those to whom you ought to be true, and with whom your pro.
tection ought to be the first object—have actively concurred in
bringing you to the place where you Snow stand; because
if they did not prevent, they have in some degree caused
three crimes which brought you here. Let your fate be a
warning to them, and whatever may be the calamity and
affliction which your death visits on friends and relatives—
let it be to others a warning in criminal cases actively to
interfere, and, when they can, by their influence save from
destruction those who are going in the same path. lam
now about to pronounce the dreadful sentence of the law,
which consigns you all to an ignominious death—and which'
consigns you, as convicted murderers, to an ignominious
burial; your remains—the law says—must be buried, and
your graves must be "within the precincts of a gaol."
There you will lie, side by side with murderers, and your
ashes will moulder and mingle with theirs until the final
day of judgment, " when the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised." Upon you it depends whether that
trumpet shall summon you to hear a sentence of forgiveness
and of mercy, or a sentence of everlasting woe and misery ;
use, therefore, that time which yet remains to you, to " pre-
pare to meet your God." Short as it is, a sincere repentance
foryour past sins will be sufficient to effect a reconciliation
with your offended Maker. His lordship in con-
clusion sentenced the five prisoners to be hanged—
John Lonergan, Henry Cody, and Philip Cody, on
the Ist of arch, and John Daly and Terence
Corboy on the 4th of the same month ; all the convicts
to be buried within the precincts of the gaol in which
they were confined since their cons iction, with the ex-
ception of Daly, whose crime did not terminate in the loss
of life.
The unfortunate men were then removed, without utter-
ing a syllable to the court or to one another. They ap.
peered to be Yvvfevtil vt,Tnified, and moved wildly round,
exhibiting a greater degree ot terror than has been dis-
played by any of the parties similarly placed during the
commission.
ATTACKING A DWELLING -ROME ARMED.— Patrick
Rourke, Daniel Tierney, John Gorman, John Smith, and
Edward Hogan, all young men under 24 years of age, were
indicted for attacking the habitation of William Ralph, at
Coolbawn, in this county, in the month of November last —1
Evidence having been given, the jury convicted the pri-
soners, who were sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment
each.
TEE COERCION BILL.—John Kennedy, a 'young man
about 25 years of age, was indicted for a breach of the late
act of parliament, by having a pistol in his possession, in a
proclaimed district, he not being duly authorised to carry
arms.—The prisoner pleaded guilty, and put in documents
to show that he was ignorant of the law.—His lordship sen-
tenced the prisoner to a fortnight's imprisonment.
AMOVIINMENT OF THE CONNINAION.—The Hon. Mr.
Prittic (foreman of the grand jury) having come into court
and asked if there were more bills to be sent before them,
The Attorney General replied in the negative ; but stated
that he proposed moving an adjournment of the commission
before his lordship rose.
The Chief Justice . Then, aentlemen, for the present, you
are excused from attending. If your services are again re-
quired, you will get proper notice.
The grand jury here retired.

SCOTLAND.
Eniweracor, FED. 1.
As the time for the re-assembling of parliament
draws near there is a marked intensity of feeling ex-
hibited as to educational reform. The parties in this
movement are, Ist, George Combe, the Messrs.
Chambers and their adherents, who seek a national
system as the only means of carrying out their edu-
cational code; 2nd, Ta it's Maga:ine and the Scotsman,
who contend for it as a measure necessary for poli-
tical equality ; and, lastly, the voluntary dissenters,
who hold the national plan as the only one compatible
with denominational independence. " If," says the
new number of the United Prestyteriam Magasinc
"we sit tamely by, an established church and a free
church school will be set down in every parish by
the aid of public money—to neither of which we
may be willing to send our children." None