The Express.
London, England, 1853-02-02 00:00:00

IRELAND.

Denraw, Fan. I.
Groat preparations have been made to give effect to
the demonstration which comes off to-day at:Kells,
in the oounty of Meath. It has been termed, in the
usual style of exaggeration which prevails hero " the
gathering of Leinster," and is intended for one of
those popular " pronouncements," continued usually
in this country on the eve of a parliamentary session,
to give eclat to the entree of the Irish members in
the House of Commons.. This meeting oAtensibly
assembles at the invitation of the " Religious''
Equality" Committee, and the leading topic will be
abuse of those Irish members who have taken office,
or given their adhesion to tho present administra-
tion.

It is stated that a field has been taken in the
neighbourhood of Ennis for a military encampment
to be held there during the Simile-bridge triais.
Owing to the tranquil state of the county of Ros-
common,the authorities have signified their intention
to remove 40 of the constubulary force.
It is understood that a large building, the mansion
of Mr. Whalley, on the south side of St. Stepherfa-
green, in this city, has been taken for the proposed
Roman catholic university, the committee of which
are at length about to commence actual operations.
The Evening Mail gives the subjoined account of
two fresh Ribbon outrages, of which the neighbour-
hood of Monte, in the count] of Westmeath,has been
the scene :

On the night of Wednesday, the 26th instant, a poor man
of the 11411111 of Marsh, a labourer in the employment of Mr.
M'Donald, a Scotch Homan catholic gentleman, who lately
purchased the demesne of Castle Daly in tile Incumbered
Estates Court, was fired at in his own Amuse, but fortunately
escaped with a slight wound in the thigh, a quantity of
slugs being lodged in the waft beside him. No reason can
be assigned for this attempt at assassination, except that
Marsh was a man in the confidence of Mr. M'Donald, who
has been continually annoyed by threatening not:ces since
he came to reside at Castle Daly. The other outrage was
one of those savage murders which have brought such in-
delible disgrace on our country. The victim in this case
was also a poor labourer, in whom a more than ordinary
degree of trust was reposed by his employer, Mr. Sills, an
Englishman, who cecupics the farm of Joneslake, close to
the town of Moate. This poor man, whose name was
Thomas Kerry, had been for several years a convert from
protestantism to popery, which, however, was not any safe-
guard against ribbon vengeance. On Thursday evening
about seven o'clock, on the high road to Moate, within
bearing of the railway station, and little more then a hun-
dred yards from his master's gate, Kerry was brutally at-
tacked by four men with bludgeons, who, haring fractured
his skull, and otherwise injured Lim, left Lim apparently
dead. After some time the poor man was able to
crawl to Mr. Sills' house, where he was tended with the
greatest humanity, and received immediate medical assist-
ance. He was barely able to detail the few particulars we
have mentioned, and to say that he knew the men that as-
saulted him. Before he could declare their names ho be-
came insensible, and never spoke again. He expired at five
o'clock on Friday morning, ten hours after he had been
beaten. The circumstances which caused Kerry's murder
are wrapped in mystery. He was wholly unconnected with
land himself, and was a quiet inoffensive man. He had not
taken a farm from which another tenant had been ejected,
but pays a profit rent for his farm to the tenant who last oc-
cupied it. He was a highly respectable Englishman,who has
lately introduced the manufacture of cheese into the neigh-
bourhood with great success.
Thomas Boylan, Esq., of Hilltown House, has, at
the recommendation of the Lord Lieutenant of the
County, been appointed a magistrate for the County
Meath.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH (DUBLIN.)

MONDAY.

Tux QUEEN o. Z. WALLAC!, PRoPRIETOEt OF TEE
ANOLo-CELT."
Judge Crampton stated that in this case of the " Queen
v. \Valises" there had been a verdict for the crown on an
indictment for libel preferred against the defendant ; and
Mr. Fitzgibbon moved upon a former day for a new trial,
upon four distinct grounds, which he suggested to the
court. The first was, that evidence was rejected which
should have been received ; the second, that evidence had
been received which ought to have been rejected; the
third, that the jury had separated on the first day of the
trial, when the case for the crown closed, without any
permission being given by the judge • the fourth ground
was that of the alleged misdirection Of the Chief Justice,
in answer to a question by the jury, whether they were
to find malice as a matter of fact. Having considered
all these grounds, the court were of opinion that the
court ought not to grant a conditional order for a new
trial. The two first grounds were scarcely pressed by
counsel; and as to the third, namely, the separation of
the jury, the facts appeared to be these :—The trial neces-
sarily lasted two days, and the court adjourned at the
close of the first day, when the prosecutor's case had
closed. The adjournment took place without any observa-
tion having been made by the counsel or attorneys con-
cerned; the jury left the box as others were retiring, and
went to their respective homes; but the next morning Mr.
Fitzgibbon objected to the trial being further proceeded
with, on the ground of this separation of the jury having
occurred without the express assent of those acting for the
defendant. Kinnear's cue, reported in 2 Barn. and Al., 464,
was expressly in point—for there there was an indictment
for misdemeanour, and the trial not having terminated
in the one day the jury, without the knowledge or the
concurrence et 'the traverser, separated, and an objection
having been taken to proceeding with the trial, the judges
held that the proceedings were regular. Judge Crampton
here adverted to the respective opinions pronounced by
Lord Tenterden, Judges Bayley, Hoiroyd, and Beet.
With regard to the last objection, for alleged misdirection
of the learned judge, it was curious enough that the
charge of the Chief Justice was not objected to at all,
and the ground of the misdirection arose out of an answer
given to the jury after they had returned to their box. The
I word " maliciously " being in this as in every other in-
dictment, the question was, whether they were not (bound
to be satisfied that the defendant was actuated by malice
towards the prosecutor. The Chief Justice answered by
telling the jury that undoubtedly they must find the publi-
cation was malicious, but that prima facie when a person
published what constituted a libel, the law under such
circumstances presumed that he published it maliciously.
That answer being given to the jury, Mr. Fits-
gibbon objected to the definition. Malice was a
question for the jury, but if the act complained
of be libellous the jury ars bound, under the
dilution of the judge, to presume malice. There was
no ground for imputing misdirection, and it appeared to
him (Judge Crompton) that the direction was perfectly
right. The presumption of law is that the man intends
what his voluntary act imports ; and the law is the same in
criminal and civil proceedings. It was a mistake to assume
that malice was personal ill-will; it wasspresumed to exist
where then was the wilful doing of an injurious act. Ha
lordship having cited the definition of Lord Mansfield in
the " King o. Woodfall," namely, that a man who commits
an injurious act must be taken to have intended the thing
he has done, and that therefore when be has acted injuri-
ously, he has also acted maliciously, proceeded to cite ex-
tracts from the judgments pronounced in the case of the
" King et. Daniel Whittle Harvey," reported in 2nd Barn.
and Cress., 267. Where • man published that which was
injurious to another, he must be presumed to mean what
he did, unless he could show facts which would refute
this presumption. He (Judge Crampton) could conceive
nothing mon mischievous to go abroad than the notion that
the jury were to find that a person was actuated by personal
malice before they could find the author of a libel guilty.
He had goo. farther into a consideration of the principles
of the law than might be thought necessary; but having
charged the grand jury who found the bill of indictment,
he bad laid down the law as delivered by the most eminent
bides. His lordship hens cited a passage from Holt on
Libel, to show that the malice contemplated was such as
proved that the act was voluntary, and there was also an
instructive commentary to be found upon the subject in
question in the excellent book of Mr. Taylor on Evidence.
Judge Perrin concurred in the rule that the motion for a
new trial ought to be refund. He thought the evidence
given ow cross-examination by the witness Meany, with •
view of showing that the report of the inquest at Sizmile-
bridge, as reported in the defendant's paper, was not iden-
tical with that in the Freeman's Journal, was properly ad-
mitted ; and with regard to the separation of the jury, no
objectifies was taken to them separating at the time they
left, but when attention was called to the fact there was no
possibility of calling them back. With respect to the charges
of the learned judge, he (Judge Perrin) held that malice was
an essential ingredient in the offence of libel, and especially '
since the recent statute ; but malice was to be inferred
from the tendency of the publication itself. The presump-
tion might be rebutted by circumstances ; but it was a rule
of common sense, that until the contrary was proved • man
must be assumed to intend that which his act was necessa-
rily calculated to effect, and there were nomeans by which
the hidden and secret thoughts of men could be ascertained
by 'jury.
The Chief Justice (who was almost inaudible front
severe cold) was understood to express hie satisfaction at the
occasion which was thus presented of vindicating the prin-
ciple of the law, and he hoped that the judgment now pro-
nounced would put an end for ever to the specious defence
resorted to in the present case. If the test was to be the
secret motives of the man who penned • libel, by what
subtle inquiry were those motives to be ascertained ?
During a long professional life he thought the law was, as
he had laid it down at the trial, and he hoped the law would
long continue to be as it was at present. As Judge Perrin
had already remarked, how was it possible to determine
what were the secret intentions of a man if they are not
te be ascertained by his acts, and the necessary consequences
which resulted from them?

The Attorney General called upon the court to pronoun's
sentence upon the defendant.
Mr. Fitruibbon said that no notice had been served upon
his client to attend and receive judgment, although he was
in attendance. _

The Attorney-Ciensral observed that this arose from the
application fora rule nisi for a new trial not haying been
determined.

Jude Campton thought the *court ought not to be called
on to pronounce judgment at this stage of the proceedings.
He knew nothing of the ca.e except what the general merits
disclostd during the diseunion of the motion—he bad only
a vague recollection of the libel, and the court could not

thusfure determine at once what ought to be 0:to proper
Measure of punishment.
The Attorney-General did not object to a postpone,Pc!ll,
which, under the circumstances, he considered reasonab.."
and the 18th of April was fixed for the traverser to attend
to receive sentence.

MUSIC.

THE PURCELL CLUB.

This society, established to do honour to the most
t,f English mu.icuns. tt t its anniversary meet-
ing yesterday evening, at the Atbion, in Aldersgate-street.
The chair was filled by Professor Taylor, of Gresham Cll.
lege, the founder and president of the dub ; there was •
full attendance of the members ; and there were among the
visitors several of our most distinguished musicians and
dilettanti.

The musical entertainments of the evening consisted, as
usual, of a selection of sacred and secular music composed
by " the mighty master." Three of his finest anthems were
performed—" 0 praise 0,x1," " 0 thal,thou hail east us out,"
and " Thy word is a lantern"—in a manner which showed
his transcendent genius as a sacred composer. It was in-
teresting to ob►erve the manner in which these pieces were
performed. Mr. Turle, the worthy successor of Purcell as
organist of Westminver Abbey, accompanied on the
pianoforte ; his eminent brother urgauist, Mr. Puss
of St. Paul's, gave the time ; the solo parts were
sung by Messrs. Benson, Barnby, Stevens, and Lawler;
and the choruses were sustained by the greatest part of Ow
company, assisted by young gentlemen from the choirs of
Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, an 1 the Temple. The
anthems had been carefully rehearsed, and the effect of
their performance was wonderful. Every one that heard
them must have felt that Purcell had caticip.ited all that
has since been done in the grandeur and beauty of pure
vocal harmony. Nay, we are not sure that Purcell !ma not
transcended all his successors in this branch of his art. We
du not think that any composer, from Handel to Beethoven,
has produced anything more rich in harmony, more power-
ful in expression, or more sublime in effect, then the con-
eluding chorus of the anthem, " 0 God, thou hest cast us
out."

The secular portion of the entertainment consisted of the
" Ode for St. Cecilia's Day." Dryden's Ode to St. Ceci-
lia's Day is famili.ir to every schoolboy ; and vet there are
not many people who know anything about the patron
saint of music, or of the otservances paid to her in Eng-
land in " the olden time." We extract, therefore, from
the books of the Purcell Club the account of the festival
in honour of St. Cecilia, given in a periodical of the year
1692:

"The
22ad of November, being St. Cecilia's Day, is ob-
served through all Europe by the lovers of music. On that
day, or the next when it tails on a Sunday, most of the
lovers of music, whereof mane are persons of the first rank,
meet at Stitioners' Hall in Dintion, nut through a principle
of superstition, but to propagate the advancement of that
divine science. A splendid entertainmeut is provided, and
before it is always a performance of music by the
best voices and hands in town: the words, which arc always
in the patroness's praise, are set by some of the greatest
masters in town. Six stewards are chosen for each succes-
sive year, four of which are either persons of quality or
gentlemen of note, and the two last either gentlemen of
their Majesties music, or some of the chief masters in town.
Those chosen for the next year are Sir Thomas Travel,
Bart., Josias Ent, Esq., Sir Charles Carteret, Bart., John
Jetfrys, E•q., Henry Hazard, Esq., and Mr. Barkhurst.
This feast is one of the genteelest in the world; there are
no formalities nor gatherings like at other., and the appear-
ance there is always very splendid. While the company is
at table the hautbois and trumpets play successively.'
The annual celebrations of the Feast of St. Cecilia txk
place in Stationers' Hall from the year lbS3 to 1703. There
was always an ode, written by the most popular poet, and
composed by the most popular musician of the day.
Among the poets we find the names of Dryden, Shadwell,
D'tirtey, and Congreve; and, among the composers, Pur-
cell, Draghi, Clarke, Blow, and Eccles—all men of emin-
ence. Pope afterwards wrote an ode for St. Cecilia's Day ;
but Pope had neither taste nor ear for music, and wrote
merely because Dryden bad written before him ; and we
are not aware that anybody ever set his poem to music.
The Ode of 1692, written by Bratty, the welt-known
versifier of the Psalms, with Purcell's music, performed
last night, is, in so far as the music is concerned, a most
magnificent work. Its melodies are still (and, we believe,
will always be) fresh and beautiful ; and, in the choral pas-
sages, there is a masterly construction with a greatness of
effect, which, down to the present day, has never been sur-
passed. So much for the musical portion of this interest-
ing meeting. Ina social point of view it was not less pleas-
, ing. The eminent Professor of Gresham College filled the
chair with an animation which excited a sympathetic feel-
, ing in every one present ; and, in giving the memory of
Purcell, made some tasteful and judicious observations on
the character of the father of Engli.h music.
It appears that the Purcell Club is in a most prosperous
condition. It has established itself on a solid basis, and
has become one of the most valuable and important of our
musical bodies.