The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-25 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, JULY 24.
Two political notabilities have been engaged in a
legal contest in Sligo. Mr. P. Somers brought an ac-
tion for slander against Mr. J. Reilly. Mr. Somers
is a gentleman whose family once possessed an estate
in the county of Sligo, to which he succeeded on the
death of his father when he was yet but a child.
He was educated at Harrow,where he made steadfast

political friends. Having returned from his travels,
Mr. O'Connell advised him to take part in public
affairs. In 1837 he was returned to Parliament,

without opposition, for Sligo. In 1847 he was re-
elected, but was unseated on petition. In 1848 Mr.
Townley offered him a large sum of money to retire,
which he indignantly refused. Mr. Townley was

unseated, and Mr. Somers, his opponent, became
member for the borough again. Since that time his
public life has been one of unsuccessful opposition.
At the last election he opposed Mr. Tenison. Mr.
Reilly, a Dublin barrister, on that occasion stated
" that Somers was a traitor, and sold the borough

of Sligo to Mr. F. Maedonogh for hard cash." Every

word of this he declared himself able to prove

Both the plaintiff and the defendant were

placed in the witness-box. Mr. Somers, examined
by Mr. J. Robinson, Q C., gave his electioneering
history. In 1852 he fought a contest with Townley,
in 1853 with John Sadleir, in 1857 with Mr. Wynne,
and in 1860 he was a candidate, with three others—

Tenison, Macdonogh, and Reilly. He polled only
two or three votes at the close of the poll. On that

occasion the defendant called him " traitor,"
" caitiff," a "snake in the grass," and said that he
had been trading all his life in the borough as his only
capital. Mr. Ball retired from Sligo in 1857 because
demands were made on him with which no gentle-
man could comply ; Mr. Tenison in 1860, because,
he said, " he was in the hands of the Philistines."
He admitted on cross-examination that he had
called the defendant a " stump orator," with no
reference to his physical infirmity ; but he denied
that he called him a " tailor." Mr. Reilly, cross-
examined by Mr Morris, admitted that he charged
Mr. Somers with selling the borough, and said, "I
will tell you the story by and by, and I will fit the
cap so tight on the traitor that when taken off it
will not leave a hair on his head." The people
were so excited that they burnt the plaintiff twice
in effigy, and he (the witness) " roasted him next
morning." Mr. Robinson, Q.C., replied for the
plaintiff, end in a review of the case showed that
Mr. Somers did not complain of any reflections on his
political character, but when the defendant charged
him with basely telling the borough for money he
did that which any right-minded man would do—
namely, give the defendant an opportunity of justi-
fying the slander if he could, and which he dared not
attempt to do. His lordship having charged the
jury, they retired, and, after half, an-hour's consul-
tation, found for the plaintiff, with 6d damages and
6d costs.

The trial of William Herdman for the murder of
Mr. John Herdman, at Belfast, excites extraordi-
nary interest. The prisoner was arraigned yester-
day, when the spacious court was filled with a select
assemblage, admitted by tickets ; but at the request
of the prisoner's counsel, to which the Attorney-
General assented, the case was adjourned to this day.
Mr. Walter Fitzsimons, solicitor, who was charged

with having committed several forgeries on a pro-

vincial insurance company for which he was agent,
was yesterday placed on his trial, and, before Ser-
geant Sullivan had completed his opening state-
ment, pleaded guilty. Sentence will be passed today.
in the threatening letter case against John

O'Connell and Morgan O'Connell, the trial was post-
poned until next assizes, on the application of the
Crown.

Next to the Herdman case, the most interesting
trial at the present assizes was the poisoning case at
Clenmel, which has ended in the conviction of the
Prisoner, Richard Burke, on the clearest evidence.
The
poison used was strychnine ; the victim was his
wife, and the death was one of frightful torture. If
guilty at all, the prisoner's guilt is enormous. It was
a cool, deliberate,
thwell-planned murder of a wife by
her husband, with the view to get rid of the burden
of her support,
and
Yet, strange to eity, toe at liberty to marry another.
theory recommended the pri-
soner to mercy on account of his good character!
The trial was commenced
Tuesday, at Clonmel,
before Baron Deasy. Owing teetleiel 850 respectable social
position of the accused, who in
has held the
Unionn,i_oe of
deceased Water-
ford, the case
situation of clerk to the Poor-law
excited great interest.
and the prisoner were married in 1847 Z
any family, and since his appointment never had
%
ey had not
and
lived together, he residing at Waterford -
she at
Clogheen, in the county of Tipperary,where she
had
property. She was subject tileptic fits and „io.
/13.
hnt palpitation of the heart. 111 August, 1861 NI
Burke, having heard that her husband had formed
an improper intimacy with anot.tler woman, visited
him at Waterford for the purpose of getting from
him a separate maintenance. On that occasion he
gave her £5, and she returned to Clogheen. This
circumstance was dwelt upon by the Soiicitor-Gene-
ral as supplying a motive for the commission of the
crime. On the Bth of last March Burke visited his
wife and spent two daye with her, during which his
manner was very affectionate. He commiserated
the state of her health, and promised to send her
some medicine made up by a Dr. Harrington, which
he strongly advised her to use. On the 28th of
March he sent her a parcel containing some coffee, a
bottle of essence of turpentine, and a paper package
of a white powder, labelled in his handwriting,
L Lose
of salts and magnesia—to be dissolved in