The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-28 00:00:00

to have a seat in the Cabinet, without either the
labour or the responsibility of holding a portfolio.
Besides the foregoing, the Earl of ABERDEEN is
understood to have formdly decided upon the
following appointments :
President of the Board of Trade.. Mr. CARDWELL.
President of the Poor-Law Boyd. Rt. Hon. M. T. BAINES.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lai-
-1 caster Rt. Hon. STRUTT.
•
Attorney-General . Sir A. COCKBURN.
Solicitor-General . Sir W. P. WooD.
Judge-Advocate-General .. Mr. C. P. VILLIERS.
Lord of the Treasury Mr. SADLER.
Lord of the Admiralty Hon. W. F. COWPER.
Under-Secretary of State for tie Colonies }Mr. F. PEEL.
Under-Secretary of State br
}Lord WODEIIOISSE.
Foreign Affairs
Secretary of the Treasury Rt. Hon. G.' HATTER.
Joint-Secretaries to the Board of tR. LowE, Esq.
Control fA. H. LAYARD, Esq.
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland . . Lord ST. GERMANS.
Chief Secretary to the Lod- }Sir J. YOUNG.
Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Chancellor of 1re1and....... Right Hon. 3.1. BRADY.
Attorney-General for Ireland__ Mr. BREWSTER.
Treasurer of her Majesty's House-
hold
}.Lan MULGRAVE.
Vice-Chamberlain of her Ma- , "
Lord BRUCE.jesty's Household

Such is the Cabinet, and such are the selections
yet made of the persons considered by the New
Ministry as most suited to fill the subordinate
offices of the Administration. It is according to
these arrangements that the affairs of the country
are about to be presided over by the Liberal Con-
servatives. Experience has • unluckily told us
rather too plainly that several of these same
Liberal Conservatives—the Whigs especially—'
during the last ten or a dozen years talked more
and done less than any other class in the United
Kingdom, in the way of general improvement.
On the other hand, their immediate predecessors,
as we have called them—and we would here more
directly suggest the name for their adoption—
the Tory .Reformers have talked less and done
more in the way of beneficial changes, during the
last nine or ten months, than any other politiciaus
in the previous six or seven years' Administration.
Now, at least, there is some chance of the country
benefitting by the example setto their successors by
the principal Members of the DERBY Government.
If that Government possessed no other claim upon
the grateful remembrance of the people, it would
unquestionably have one, for inasmuch as its brief
tenure of office settled for ever the Free-trade ques-
tion, and in addition to that left as a legacy to subse-
quent Cabinets, the necessity for fresh emulation
in the encouragement of s judicious course of in-
novation. It was for this reason that the Earl of
ABERDEEN was so very explicit last evening in his
promises that the extension of national education,
the continuance of legal reforms, the still better
organisation of our insuar defences, and the sys-
tematic amendment of popular representation
should command the particular and sedulous at-
tention of his newly-maugurated. Government.
If they really do appreciate the requirements of
the age, the Liberal Conservatives will perceive
that they must bestir themselves in earnest if
they hope to surpass the Tory Reformers in the
march of active and energetic improvement. They
must talk less and do more, if they dream of pre-
siding for any length of time over the destinies of
the British Government. Happily, the cause of
progress is safe under any circumstances. For
the nation no longer sees the advocates of an ad-

vance policy opposed by the supporters of a re-
trogressive movement—but TORY REFORMERS
pitted against LIBERAL CONEERVATIVES !

In returning to the consideration of the case of
WILLIAM BURKE KIRWAN, let us first ascertain
the issues to which distinct and positive answers
must be returned. Before the guilt of the pri-
soner can be assumed--before he can be permitted
to suffer the extreme sentence of the law—it must
be distinctly shown that his unfortunate wife met
her death—not from natural causes, but from the
-wilful and deliberate act of the accused. The
questions then will be-Ist, were the appearances
of the body, coupled with the screams—three in
number—said to have been heard at Howth from
the island, together with the other circumstances
of the case, sufficient to exclude even the possi-
bility of her death occurring from any cause save
by violence ? and 2dly, if that question be
answered in the affirmative, was Mr. KIRWAN the
sole actor, or oven a participator, in that fearful
tragedy ? In seeking to elicit the truth on these
points,. we shall endeavour to hold the balance
with an impartial hand, and to arrive at a deci-
sion uninfluenced either by any undue sympathy
for, or prejudice against, the prisoner.
Now, on the first point, it must be admitted
that the examination of the body was of a very
superfidial and unsatisfactory character. No
competent or duly qualified person was called.
The three women, AMY LACY, CATHERINE
M`GAN, and MARY RonrrtsoN, who assisted in
washing and laying out the body, could
not be deemed sufficiently close and ac-
curate observers to place implicit dependence on
their report. Nor could the opinion of the medi-
cal student—who had " attended lectures and
dissecting schools," but " never saw a drowned
body"—command much greater weight, even if his
investigation had been as close andisearching as it
was avowedly superficial. The young man him-
self admitted that " he did not think he was dis-
charging his duty in making so superficial an exa-
mination"—and, indeed, there was nothing in his
evidence in any degree bearing against the pri-
soner, or leading to the supposition that Mrs.
KIRWAN had been murdered. The experienced
Coroner who presided at the inquest, was per-
fectly satisfied with the verdict that " the deceased
had been drowned while bathing at Ireland's Eye,"
and that although the evidence of the three
women, of the medical student, of both the
NA NGLES, and others, were taken before him.
We then come to the subsequent examination of
the body, on its exhumation a month after it had
been interred. This was conducted by two medi-
cal practitioners, Surgeons HA TCHELL and TIGHE,
one of whom, however, was only examined at the
trial. We cannot, on this point, refrain from
protesting against the practice of withholding any
important evidence from the consideration of the
jury—a practice which weregret to say is springing
up in this country as yell as in Ireland. It
certainly looks as if the object of the Counsel for
the prosecution was nDt merely to elicit the

truth, but that he was endeavouring to snatch a
verdict per fas aut nefas. Such a course has
invariably been condemned, particularly when
resorted to in the case of a trustworthy witness like
Dr. TIGHE, who could. not be suspected of unduly
favouring the prisoner at the expense of his own
veracity. The only inference that can be drawn
is, that his testimony would not have helped the
prosecution, or tended to the conviction of the
accused.

When, however, the bodiwas examined by Drs.
TIGHE and lIA.TCHELL, it was found that decom-
position, accelerated by the wetness of the ground
in which the body bad been buried, had set in to

a very considerable extent. It was attempted,
from this probably accidental circumstance, aris-
ing in a great degree from the almost unprece-
dented state of the weather, to draw an infe-
rence unfavourable to the prisoner, as if he had
designedly selected the spot with a view to the
obliteration of the evidences of his guilt. The
point seems so ridiculous that it would hardly be
worth alluding to, but for the fact, that it was
pressed as one of the circumstances, showing the

animus of the prisoner towards his unfortunate
It might be worth while ascertaining
.ow many other persons have been interred in

victim,

;he same locality, and whether the surviving rela-

tives were in each case accused of the murder, or

even of showing foul play to their departed friends.
Whatever might have been the motive, how-
ever, it is certain that the effect of the decompo-
.

sition was to " render it almost impossible"—if we

are to credit the Learned Counsel for the prosecu-

tion—" to come to any exact or particular deter-

urination as to the nature of the injuries, or the

cause of the lady's death." This should imques-
••- - -

tionably have caused a great degree of caution on
the part of the Jury in the reception of the evi-
dence of the learned gentleman, who, notwith-
standing these difficulties, ventured, on his direct
examination, to swear that " pressure must have
caused the stoppage of respiration," from which
death resulted. That caution should have been
greatly enhanced by the absence of the other me-

dical witness (Dr. TiouE), who would unquestion-
ably have been produced if he could have corroborated
the statements of his colleague; and also from the
fact that, on cross-examination, Dr. HATCHELL said
" it is -very possible the appearances presented
were those when death had been, produced by a
fit brought on by congestion :" adding, " I think
that, taking the occurrence per se, it was probable
that in this instance death might have been, caused
by such a fit."
Now, that admission by the only medical wit-
ness brought forward by the Crown should have
closed the case. It was no longer necessary to
comment on the fact, acknowledged by Dr. HAT-
CHELL, that before the post-mortem examination
" he had heard that death was caused by vio-
lence," and that, therefore, all his energies were
directed to the discovery of that violence, if any,
the faintest, indication thereof was percep-
tible. But this was not all. Two intelligent and
respectable medical witnesses were examined,
who distinctly and positively controverted the
conclusions arrived at by Dr. HATCHELL on his
direct examination, " that there was something
besides drowning." A conclusion from which we
venture to assert nine out of ten medical men
would differ. And yet on that vague and un-
satisfactory opinion we are to see a fellow-creature,
a gentleman of education and position in society,•
murdered in due form of law. The three screams
said to have been heard about seven o'clock from
the Island—if we can suppose that the witnesses
were not mistaken—would be rather favourable to
the prisoner than otherwise. Dr. ADAMS proved
that "he had known persons seized with epilepsy
scream violently more than once." It, however,
completely set aside the suspicion insinuated rather
than directly charged by the Crown Counsel, that
a wet cloth had been placed over the mouth and
nose, and that suffocation was thus produced. Dr.
RYND also proved that " without any other cause
epileptic patients often scream loudly." The
screaming would also show that, if violently
assailed, she had her senses about her, and was
capable of resisting the attack. It is impossible
to suppose that in such case there would not have
been some indications of the death-struggle, and
some marks on the person of the murderer, as
well as very unquestionable marks on the deceased.
But there were no such marks on the prisoner;
and, if he had attempted the murder, he would not
have been contented with scratching her face or
cutting her breast !
It is unfortunately but too notorious that
Irish witnesses frequently become partisans,
and that, without intending to commit perjury,
they strain every nerve to impress their own views on
the Jury. PATRICK NANGLE was clearly one of
this class. Every answer given showed the pre-
judice and bias of his mind. He stated his own
opinions rather than the facts, from which the
Jury might form theirs. Thus we find him saying,
in answer to a juror, who asked " if the prisoner
might have wetted his feet in the pool where
Mrs. KIRWAN'S feet were ?" " Oh, he got no
wet !" . He admitted that " there was a heavy
shower about half-past six that evening, and ferns
growing on the island," but still " Mr. KIRWAN
got no wet !! !" In the same reckless spirit, he
swore, that "no one could have gone across to
the island without his knowledge"—a matter ut-
terly impossible for him to know with certainty,
considering the numerous approaches to the island
—and that it was a notorious resort of poachers
and smugglers, who had numerous hiding-places
and depcts for their commodities. Again, he
says, in allusion to the finding of the clothes, "it
was Mr. KIRWAN found the clothes, for they were
not in it for me to find ! I swear positively, that
when I searched the clothes were not there ; they
were subsequently found by me where Mr. KIRWAN
put them for me to find !! !" Now, it is strange,
if such were indeed the fact, that Mr. PATRICK
NANGLE should have completely forgotten it when
making his deposition before the Coroner. He
attempted to explain this omission by saying,
"Oh ! but I was put aside on the inquest before
I came to that." This startling assertion was di-
rectly contradicted by the Coroner, who said, " I
read the depositions over to each witness carefully
and slowly before they signed them, and asked, if
I had taken them down wrong, to stop me ; and
also if they had anything more to say." So
much for Mr. PATRICK NANGLE'S impartiality
and trustworthiness, and his "being put
aside before he came to that." It is
clear that no dependence could be • placed
upon his testimony. MICHAEL NANGLE, his bro-
ther, proved that he had not been where the
clothes were found—he said, " Did not go to the
rock, but searched along the strand. PAT WANGLE
and witness went back together, and told Mr.
KIRWAN they could not find the clothes. Mr.
KIRWAN then went up the hill, and witness after
him. Mr. KIRWAN brought back a shawl and
something like a sheet in his hand, and slipped
when coming down." Here, then, it is clear,
that KIRWAN was kept in sight by MICHAEL
NANGLE, and that he could not possibly have
placed the clothes " for PATRICK NANGLE to find,"
without the knowledge of IVIIcHA mr,, and that
PATRICK had not previously been at or searched
the place where the clothes were found. He could
not have seen the spot very clearly from any dis-
tance, as it must have been considerably past
eight o'clock at the time. He swore that it was
twenty minutes before eight o'clock when he left
the harbour—that it was getting very dark then.
He had a mile and a quarter to row. Mr. Kin-
WAN and the other men had been absent half an
hour looking for the deceased before he joined in
the search, and some time then elapsed before
finding the body. If we couple with this the
, fact, which may be ascertained from any Alma-
nack, that the Moon was then in its last quarter,
it will be apparent that he might- in such a light
have supposed that what he supposed to have been
only rock, were actually the clothes, which he so
confidently swore were put for him to find.
There are many other circumstances to which
we might allude, if time or space permitted. We
have, however, stated sufficient to show that
there must be, to say the very least of it, very
considerable doubt as to the cause of the death of
the unfortunate lady,—that it is more than pro-
bable that her death was occasioned by congestion,
brought on from bathing on a full stomach--from
an epileptic fit, or fright of some kind, causing
her to fall in the water, and being unable to rise,
be drowned from the want of timely assistance.
If, however, it should bo supposed that she fell a
victim to violence, is it certain that no person was
on the island but Mr. and Mrs. KIRWAN ? Might
not some of those poachers or smugglers who fre-
quent the spot have been at hand, and attacked
an unprotected female, whose husband was com-
pletely absorbed in his occupation of sketching in
another part of the Island ?
On the review of the entire circumstances, we
cannot but feel that the verdict was wholly un-
warranted by the evidence. And that if the pri-
soner should be executed, or even subjected to a
protracted imprisonment thereon, there would no
longer be security for life or freedom in this king-
dom. We call, then, upon all who feel unwilling
that the life of their fellow-man should be taken
on trivial or inadequate grounds, to exert them-
selves strenuously and energetically, to prevent
the perpetration of that which would be neither
more nor less than " a legal murder " .of the worst
description, and which would inflict a deep stain
upon the administration of justice among our
Irish brethren, at the other side of St. George's
Channel.

The Duke and Duchess of Norfolk have returned to
Arundel Castle, from visiting Mr. and Lady Elizabeth
Dickens, at Stoke-park.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Anglesey's party at
Beaudesart includes a numerous family circle, and other
visitors during the holidays. Lord and Lady Sydney,
Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, Lord and Lady Alfred Paget,
Lord and Lady Canning, Lord and Lady Clarence Paget,
the Hon. Fred. and Lady Adelaide Cadogan, are amongst
the visitors who will remain until Twelfth night.
CONTROVERTED ELECTlONS.—Yesterday, the Speaker
acquainted the house that he had received a report from.
the Examiner of Recognizances, stating that the recogni-
zances to the election petitions for the borough of Bury
St. Edmunds and the city of Peterborough were unobjec-
tionable.

A Brr OF GOLD.—A nugget of 340 ounces, purchased
by the Government of the colony of Victoria as a present
for the Queen, is stated to have been brought by the Marco
Polo. This ship, which has just arrived, after having
made the passage from Liverpool to Melbourne in 68 days,
and home in 76 days, is a vessel of 1,400 tons, and was
built last year at St, John's, New Brunswick.