The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-04 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR, —The wide circulation which your journal has given
to the statements of the Attorneys-General for England and
Ireland, in their endeavour to prevail on the House of
Commons to afford its sanction to relax the exercise of its
great prerogative, namely, that of carrying an address to
the Sovereign, where the rights and liberties of the subject
are being imperilled, as evidenced on the face of the offi-
cial documents, h;therto withheld (but now insisted on by
the hon. and learned member for the King's County, as
laid before the house in my case), will, I hope, induce you
to find space for the following statement.
Suffice it to say, that the bar of Ireland felt the wrongs
inflicted on me so strongly as to forbid my being disbarred.
I feel assured that neither the Right Hon. Mr O'Hagan
nor Sir Roundell Palmer would intentionally state any-
thing that they did not believe to be true and correct ; and
that consequently they had been. misled by the documents
which were so recently placed in their hands; but the fact
is surely beyond all doubt that their statements put an un-
true complexion on the whole affair, and misled the House
of Commons.

This manifestly appears not only by the documents now
on record in the Howe of Coma :ns, and open to the in-
spection of every member, but by the facts which her most
gracious Majesty herself is personally aware of, together
with her noble lords in waiting. I will take a few in-
stances ; first, as to facts, and secondly, as to the law, as
stated and relied upon by the learned functionaries.
The Attorney General for .Ireland stated to the house,
that my letter of the 30th September, 1836, addressed to the
law advisers of the Crown, Chief Secretary's Department,
Dublin Castle, clearly proved that my case, as to the missing
letter, was a snore afterthought, and that " I did not
venture to say to the law officers, who prosecuted me, that
they had suppressed evidence."
The Irish Attorney-General will find that upwards of
three months previous to the 30th September, 1836, namely,
in May; 1836, the House of Commons had actually printed
in its appendix to 17th report on public petitions, at page
566, my petition, which Col. French, the hon. member for
the county of Roscommon, presented, stating as follows :--
"That the suppression of tho aforesaid official documents
by the then officers of the Crown in Ireland, so conclusive
of petitioner having had the sanction of said Johnston, was
the committal of a great outrage upon the character, the
feelings, and the liberty of a subject, which ought to be
the object and especial care of the Crown ;" and that
although " I particularly required the production of said
original official letter of the 12th October, 1834, to said
Chief Secretary from said Robert Johnston, Esq,, which
had the post mark dates thereon, and which letter peti-
tioner discovered the existence of, same was not produced,
nor how the Chief Secretary disposed of same in any
manner accounted for, and only a document, purporting
to be a copy thereof, produced, which had no reference
to the post mark dates thereon,"
Facts are stubborn things, and it is therefore manifest
from the date of the petition, May, 1836, that in the follow-
ing month of September, 1836, the missing letter was not a
snore afterthought, as the Irish Attorney-General so fallaci-
ously assured the House of Commons, and also that I did
say to the law officers of the Crown who prosecuted me that
they had suppressed evidence.
By the right hon. gentleman directing his attention to
the petition which, in October, 1837, my noble relative, the
Countess of Charlemont, then in waiting on the Queen,
presented, to be laid in the proper constitutional manner
before her Majesty, and also to the petition which:l had the
very great honour of presenting myself to the Queen in
person, at her Majesty's levee on the 20th February, 1839,
he will see that I did venture to say that the .officers of
the Crown, who prosecuted me, did suppress evidence.
I have also now before me a letter which the Earl of
Fingall addressed to me, dated Juno 9th 1839; stating therein
as follows :—" I recollect perfectly having, as the Lord in
Waiting, at the last levee, read to her Majesty the object
of a petition presented by you."
If there was one duty in a discussion on such a grave
constitutional question—than which none could be of higher
import—which belonged to enlightened men holding the
high places of Attorneys-General for England and for Ire-
land, and which affected the Royal Prerogative not to deny
right or justice, it was, that they did not by any licence of
speech or any carelessness, mislead the House of Commons
by a statement of facts, which our most gracious Sovereign
personally and the records of the House of Commons are
able to controvert, or to mislead the house in even one
single point of law.
In dealing with the question of law, a misleading ten-
dency pervaded the speech of the learned Attorney-General
for England, who evidently made a vain attempt to draw
the mind of the house away from fixing itself with becom-
ing intensity on the invasion of the rights and liberties of
the people. The simple point atissue between the servants of
the Crown and myself being, whether the right hon. gentle-
man the Home Secretary and the Attorney-General for Eng-
land (who, the learned member for the Qaeen's County so
truly designated, as the real defendants in the case) had a
constitutional right to substitute their own Ministerial
authority in lieu of the proper judicial tribunals of the
country, appointed by laVr. They would, in fact, decide in
their own favour, without hearing me, although " audi
alteram parkm" is a maxim of law as old and authoritative
as law itself.

It was scarcely conceivable that so learned and enlight-
ened a personage as the present Attorney-Generel for Eng-
land, with his knowledge of the law, could imagine that
a subject of her Majesty, who claimed, according to an
act of Parliament (233 and 24th Vict,, c. 31, s, 1), to
rest secure beneath the ample shield of the Lord Chief
Justice of England and a jury of Middlesex, was to hays
his lordship's Court closed against the subject by Mini-
sterial authority ?

I complain, too, of the way in which the Attorney-
General for England quoted Blackstone for the purpose
of making out his case, mitb.out having ventured to con-
trovert the authorities relied on by the learned member
for the King's County. The Attorney-General stopped
short in his quotations from Blackstone, when he came
to that part which had reference to the servants of the
Crown, 'for whom the law, in matters of right, enter•
tains no respect or delicacy" (but according to Black-
stone, vol. 111., chap, xvii., pp. 233-6), furnishes various
methods of detecting the errors and misconduct of those
agents by whom the King has been deceived, and induced
to do a temporary injustice,"

My perseverance for so many years to vindicate my
character from the stain cast upon it, by the suppression of
documents now admitted to be available, is but a duty
which I owe to my sovereign, to my noble relations, to the
bar, to the public (whose rights and liberties are being im-
perilled), and to myself. This duty I shall not cease in
every constitutional manner to,discharge, until the genuine-
ness of those documents ie proved, and validity thereby
given to the award of the Lord High Chancellor of Eng-
land, who reported to the Home Office, that if those copies
were genuine, " I suffered grievous injustice."
Mr O'Hagan stated " that the opinion of the present
Lord Chancellor was based on the assumption that Mr
Irwin's statement was to be relied on, and that there was
no opposing testimony, He himself, Mr O'Hagan, pro-
ceeding on that assumption, was equally ready to admit that
Mr Irwin was a wronged man." I take Mr O'Hagan at his
word; and with my Petition of Right in one hand, and the
Petition of Right Act in the other, dare him to the combat.
My glove is on this page. That issue is in accordance with
the prayer of my Petition of Right; and I claim therefore
that the documents, now admitted to be available, may be
submitted to the Lord Chief Justice of England and a jury
of Middlesex, for their decision, pursuant to the rights and
liberties of every British subject, and the good laws of the
realm.—l have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient
servant, GEORGE O'MALLEY IRWIN.

August 2, 1864.

MURDER ON THE SEAS.—One of those fatal'
affrays which unfortunately have been of frequent
occurrence of late on board ship recently took place on board
the British schooner Florence, of St Kitts, while on a voy-
age from Key West to New York. On the arrival of the
Florence at New York, on June 22, the captain reported at
the British consulate that on© of the seamen, named Edward
John, had been stabbed during the voyage by another of
the crew, named Charles Blackman. It appears that shortly
after the vessel sailed some angry feeling—from some cause
not explained—sprung up between Blackman and John,
and during the first part of the voyage frequent quarrels
took place between them. On one occasion an altercation
occurred between them, when Blackman stabbed John, and
although every assistance was given to him, the injured
man died from the effects of the wound a few hours after.
Mr. P. Edwards, acting British consul at that port. know-
ing that the local courts would take no cognisance of a
crime committed under such circumstances, applied at once
to a United States Commissioner, obtained a warrant, and
had Blackman committed to gaol on a charge of murder.
The prisoner was subsequently taken before one of
the United States courts, and on an application being
made to Mr Seward he was ordered to bo handed over to
the British authorities under the extradition treaty. lie
was given into the charge of Inspector Farley, of the New
York detective force—a gentleman who on former occasions
has rendered good service to the Liverpool police—and by
him taken on board the Cunard steamer Kedar, to be
brought to Liverpool. A telegram was received yesterday
at the detective office that the vessel, with Mr Farley and
the prisoner on board, was off Qaeenstown, and Detective
Inspector Carlisle and Detective Jones were instructed to
be in waiting for her arrival, so that the accused might be
handed over to their custody. After waiting some time,
the vessel being detained at the bar owing to the lowness of
the tide, the officers went out in a tender, when the man
was handed over to them, and he was taken to bridewell.
He is a strong-built man of colour, and he seems to look
upon the affair with the greatest nonchalance.
ANECDOTE OF MARSHAL DE MACNIAIION, DUKE
OF MAOENTA.—Daring the Crimean war when in
command of the first division, he received orders to take
Fort Malakoff by assault. After a terrible struggle, in
which his men could only advance by fighting hand to
hand, he obtained a footing within the works. He then
with a pencil wrote one lino to the commander-in-chief,
which, for simplicity, has never been surpassed, It was—
"J'y suis, eti y reste," which he certainly did,—Tfte Pa, it
Correspondent of a Irlornitig Contoni.Porari.

Curt - orsibr,
•

HER MAJESTY,

OSBORNE, Aug. 3:
The Queen and Princess Louise, attended by
Lady Augusta Stanley and Lieut.-• General the
Hon. C. Grey, drove out yesterday.
Their R)yal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales and Prince and Priucess Louis of Hesse
cruised in the royal yacht Fairy.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has
condescended to inaugurate the statue erected by
voluntary contributions, on the grounds of the Licensed
Victuallers Asylnm, Old K,--nt-toad, to the memory of nig
illustrious and beloved father, his Royal Highness the hile
Peince Consort, and has named 12 o'clock on Tuesday nelt'
the 9th inst., for that purpose. The Prince of Wales sine
ceeds his late father as patron of the institution. The
of his royal highness is of pure Carrara, marble, and is uP-
wards of eight feet high; pedestal on which it rests being
a solid bock of Sicilian marble, the weight of which in ale
ten tons, and its height a little over six feet—the wh° 6
standing on a granite base of a foot and a half in thickness:
The memorial itself is consequently little short of 16 feel
in height. His royal highness is represented in the cos'
tumo in which he appeared when laying the foundation
stone of the " Albert " wing, and appears in the aot of rs'
plying to an address which was then presented to him--1
hand is resting on part of a Corinthian column, whilst the
other holds a scroll. The whole was designed and 001°
by Mr Thomas Earle, of Vincent-street, Brocaptno.

cost of between 6`.)0 and 730 guineas.
The Duke of Newcastle has, since his last relapse'
about ten days ago, more or less fluctuated. His gracell
however, improved within the past three days, and' ifrf t:
continues to regain strength, will remove nest 'wee' -
Clumber. e
The Duchess Dowager of Sutherland has arr-1
at Hanover from Berlin.
The Duchess of Sotomayer and fa bags
lai'
arrived at Maurigy's Hotel from Madrid. eft
The Marquis and Marchioness of LansdoWne - left
town on Tuesday on a visit to their estates in Ireland.
le
The Marquis and Marchioness of Abercorn 116 t
left Beaudeeert, near Lichfield, for Baron's Court, tbeir°
in Ireland.
The Countess Cowley and Lady Feedor°;,,
Wellesley arrived on Monday last at the British 81ub3..
at Paris, from London. -
-°O.
The Count und Countess de Flahault and illy
Madlle de Fahanit have left their residence in ricca-1

for their seat, Nairne Castle, in Scotland.
Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston left to •e,
yesterday for Delapre Abbey, the seat of General Boover
in Northamptonshire. A the
Viscount and Viscountess de Vesci 011— t,
Misses Veseyleft Charlton-house-terrace on Tuesday
on a tour of visits in Scotland, before they go to their 5

in Ireland for the autumn months.

;cott,

is
We may announce that Lady Victoria $
eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchoas of Boccielicbtst
engaged to be married to Lord Schomberg Kerr'
brother of the Marquis of Lothian. their
Lord and Lady Burghley have taken Upgo
residence atioltyde, Isle of Wight, for the yachting se°,„",.l3iii
The noble lord, as vice-commodore of the Royal Vie'
Yacht Squadron, will remain to the end of the sias°,3' re.
tow°
The Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, M.P.,
in Pecto
tary of State for the Colonies, will continue bis o 0
act as Secretary of State during the absence of
leagues.
The Right Hon. Sir George Grey is detainedt ihtle
town from delicate health. There is no danger, but
right hon. baronet will remain.

The Prince Consort Memorial at rertil'

The colossal statue of the Prince Consort' the
inauguration inauguration of which her Majesty has agreed to
attend a week or two hence, is now nearly readYdie,
leave the hands of the sculptor, Mr William Bre tit
R.S.A.. Mr Brodie has amply justified the Fercor
committee in their selection of a native sculptor j_A
the execution of a Scottish memorial of the latnente:
prince. Her Majesty has, we believe, expressed be
r
warm approval of the work, a photograph of will
has been laid before her; and Mr Brodie maY ;e4be proud of the distinction of being the first Scot b 1
sculptor whose work has been inaug,urated
royalty in Scotland. The statue, which is nine feet
ii
in height, is carved out of a single and singoler'il
pure and fine block of freestone from 8ed135/,
Quarry. It will stand upon a pedestal 13 feet
the total elevation being thus 22 feet. The site'
on the North Inch, at the west end of the bridge-130
one of the most prominent and favourable ill tea
town. The statue represents Prince Albert as st,tireos
in the robes of the Order of the Thistle---a droll
which suits well the requirements of sculpture' ere
sets out the tall, manly, and well-proportioned " $
of the prince. The right hand, which rote eyitleo
square-shaped column or pedestal, holds serierreat
scroll, on which is traced an elevation of the vioce
Exhibition Building—thus identifying the nos'
with that first and best and most original of the
trial expositions. His left hand rests Will °iciest
from belt of his dress. The legs are both kept its
of the robe, which falls behind them loppy
shoulders, and the whole attitude is of that '&00
character in sculpture which suggests a trEilu i 0
stage between activity and repose. The glicivoci'
not entirely quiescent, for that is apt to Pipe cries
ness and heaviness to a statue ; it is not in roper
motion, which would be inconsistent with a P d ie
feeling of permanence and dignity. Thell,,:erdB
finely modelled; slightly raised and turned tob.
the right, the expression at once animated B,n e god
dued ; and, in point of portraiture, both reed that
figure are admirable. it may be Meetieneurge
Mr Brodie has had the advantage in the;
his modelling of many valuable sugget3t.° k 10.0
his Royal Highness Prince Alfred, who t(ra nee le
interest in the work, and, during his reel e molt
Edinburgh, repeatedly visited the studio 08000
its progress. There can be no doubt that the via
will add greatly to the sculptor's reputation'
0,
in every respect a complete success.—Seotsnla

I%fri
CRINOLINE AGAIN.—Yesterday afternoon t oje
W. Carter, coroner for East Surrey, held an inquest to the
Duke of Clarence, Penton-place, Walworth, relative i; tIO
death of Harriet Willis, aged 18. The deceased w 99 dor
service of Mr Vincent, chemist, of Bradley-terraeet : ,vin°
worth-road. On Saturday morning, while liglitivr: '13%
drawing room fire, the milkman called, and on vti11:113t0
round her cotton dress ignited from behind. lqr JO/
and his assistant, hearing the screams of deceased, ar'eoven
attended and extinguished the flames. She
so seriously burnt that she was conveyed to Stcru ":".„-it:air;
Hospital, where, after enduring the most
agony, she expired at 11 o'clock the same night' vi 1).
coroner expressed his opinion that all servants etwt", it la
prevented from wearing crinoline. He had abolist'e'.g.bcr
his family. The jury expressed their wish that tilt:Ili:0c)
classes of the community would set their faces agaias
rile
dress, as the human figure did not require it, sud rata
a verdict of "Accidental Death."
'g9fti
THE GOVAN OUTRAGE.—We 007
the Glasgow Morning Journal) that Miss Addle ISi5 jot
making slow progress in the way of recover
intended to bring M'Cilinchey to trial at the nut the POI
suit, as it is unlikely that Miss Addie, even ill 'id tetia.
favourable circumstances, will be able to appear in
befas a witness. 111,1;
REPORTED Loss OF THE CLIPPB-
NLTHERBY.--A letter, dated Hong IC°l3g.efasistlf
11, just received in Liverpool, states that much ticci
was felt at that place in consequence of the reports .TP4
the ship Netherby in the neighbourhood of FOl5 :11, or
letter says :—" Accounts from Formosa, dated
of
state that there were then at that place a qua 1000 ah
chow tea, and that there were upwards of I,u boot th°a
among the Pescadores shoals, The Chinese etate 'Lon-
f
middle of April a large ship went ashore on ti"o
of these islands, and after throwin over a largo q:tatt
tea, floated cff. The Wild Waves chooner hae fila6e„,
Pescadores in consequence, but saw nothing of artheottfe
The tea at Formosa has been identified as a nett oi an. t
of the Netherby, which left Foo-thee for Lollu°-
Olg
.:oth April." ; st
FIVE BOYS BURIED ALIVE.---An 'lL`tiCoo the
held on Tuesday, at Ashlon-uncieriloe'four ()art
body of Thomas Nally, a boy, aged 7, wh° wion atilisacalityreo'
boys, as the evidence showed,' was pleYing sver,lder
of ground near the railway station. The w°'l,ole, t/".„ a
tending to be navvies, and had dug a largo whea -tijo
which they had tunnelled a considerable dent;l,o,o of
moment the sand and earth gave way' others Woo
children were totally buried, and the three
to it'sso
covered up to their necks. Fortunatel):_seo eiletrPot
to tbeooa
working in the neighbourhood of the aceltiDtd
alarm being given, they immediately rune 1,,
Vas
with their spades, and dug the children_
o_tas soy
was in attendance as soon 88 possible. Th:_ vo, Wee' A.
quite dead when got out. John Cunnin", I:_,,overecl.
ble for some time, but ho and the others c'
verdict of Accidental Death was returned,

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