The Sun.
London, England, 1807-01-02 00:00:00

IRELAND.

. ••.
• Tile Attorney-General of. Ireland (Mr. PLUNK F.I'TY'
oft Op-c`ni the : Sf:ecial Commission at Sligo, tl ea
progeeding-s of which we have "al ready men ti oned,.au-
dressed the Bench and the Jury in- a very • elorfuent
speech; .in which,•-:after entering. into a detail of the
crimes committed by the persons. calling thernselv• 9
Thrashers, ..he .proceeded -to make the following ob-
servationemith respe6t to the propriety of resorting
• in theseinstances to the laws of the country. in pre-
ference trea More summary mode of proceeding :
. .." Gentlemen, in speaking as I do, with indigna.
tion for those 'Crimes, • I feel compassion from the
• verybottoth ofmy heart .for the vietime of them.— -••
Seeing the --miSchiefs which have been spreading
in the .country by the artifices of miscreants, it..
does not surprise me at all that many persons
should' be of opinion, that measures more sum
mary should have been adopted, for the pur-
pose of at once extingushing these mischiefs. Tam
satisfied that the opinion of these men was dictated
by a feeling.of the truest- regard for.the interests of
their Country--of 'genuine compassion and mercy
towards the unfortunate delinquents themselves. But
yet, my-Lords, aed Gentlemen of the Jury, I trust
that the Governtrienrof (he Country will ultimately -
acquire creditfrorrethose. who entertained the opinion
I ..have
.mentioned; for the course which has been
adopted in the '. present: instance. The feeling of
the Government has been, that-the insult which has -•
been; given to the jaws of country, is' best .vin-:
diceted by the laws themselves. The persons,.
whoin we ,zire nowtaped upon. to Cope-with, do flat
-compose tutiltitudeltOo strong for the : arm. of t '
law. • --It is not. ail ~assenriblv daring to stand bet'efre
the-exertions .of the m teal;i racy., but .it -is' a. law•
less:-association . of men; who -find their safety
in their obscurity • and I cannot • helps feeling a
-confidence; the viaimstof delusion shalt
.have beerreindeeived--,;;-when theyefind, that the law
wes:adequate‘eck•their punishment—that the Laity -
Make a cern, raon.eatise 'with the Ckergy,--.when they -
see atardielisrit:made . to the-lows-by- the speedy and:.
energ-etie: administration- ofji,stice; now in progress
prwngstyott-;:I say I feel-extonfidence, that•after -
thuy:haveseen'theerray athie-ccuiatrydrawir up for.,
t he, kwestigation o f t heiiecri mes-alter they hare .seert
the7,7asseetriblege, this day; of every man of rank, Oa-
tirderiatecilrroperry, •feeling.their, interests _united'•
iwith thos-e-.who'.have beetethesubje6t of lawless
.‘ittackthat'the.• most salutary consequences will be
experieate4and that these. people will, at length be-,
convinced that when they dare to raise their ham's
against the-.!aws of their, Corfnery.,- those laws -will-be
found to have weight.eneregh.t6 fall 4own'epon and •
crush them. What-, Gen tlemen,would it not be a rni-..
serable state ofour Country to suppose: that, armed as•.'
weare-bythelaw—supported as we are by xlie aid of
every•Gentlerrm in the Country,.and; with.an _armed:it
force, if such be neeeisarythatessociations of tnerii
whose'names arc not known—L.oEoo rank, properly,
or station, ;Could not.; be put . down, • without
away, for.a7:tithe,at least, the:orcliniry cohstittitiort,.
of he land! If the. time _should uufortunately come,- •
when,- What nutv tumultuous rieing shall assume
an aspen of a difi*ent nature7e-ifi,ever, which God
forbid ! those:scenes shall be which we.'t
formerly witnessed—if Treason shall rear its head
in- then Cblintry, ana.supersede the Law, these'
wretches .will have .to sink under the tide 'of ruin
w.hich'will be let in upon them., But I trust that.no
'visitation of that kind will occur; but that, with. the
ready assistance of the Government, and: the aid
of every loyal reran, we be able to bring punish-
ment Upon the guilty; and that the. law . wide be .
strong enough to wrestle with and put tlow.n these
disturbers of the public peace."

MARLBOROUGH-STR2BT. —On Tuesday a case_
came before. the Magistrates of this Otiice, respeCt-
ing two watchmen having endeavoured to extort a
one pound note from a young Nobleman on Sunday
morning. He had. called at Stephens's Hotel, in
Bond-street, on Saturday night, after the Opera, and
on his return home, about two o'clock in the morn-
ing, he ejaculated. rather loudly in passing along the
street,.when the watchmen detained him. He of-
fered to give a ona.pound note to be discharged, and
the watchmen 'accompanied him back to the Hotel,
'and having no change, he requested the loan of a
note to
,give: to the watchmen who had him in
charge. One:of the partners. in the house, finding
:that the Gentleman had not broke the peace, refused
to comply, .and demanded his liberation. An.up-
roar ensued; which was 'followed by .a scuffle be-
tween the waiters•and.thewatchmen, and on a com-
plaint being made- against the latter at this Office,
the Magistrates referred it to the Watch Committee.

Yesterday John Perry was-charged with obtaining
,:monerbby false: etenees -from various families. It -
appearedin evidence that. the Prisoner had.been very,
busy,- during.the last-week,' in colle&ing money by
way 'of Christmas- boxes, in the vicinity of Russell
and Bloomsbury-squares, by. representing himself as
a delWerdr of twopenny-post letters. He was 'asked
at several houses, by what authority he, who was
not the regular postman, asked for Christmas boxes ?:
He replied that there were three' of them calleded
the annual donations, and he officiated in that dis--
tri& for, the regular postman, who was calling .in
the adjacent • streets. This-statement "procured hiln
a considerable sum before the regular postman de-
teaed the fraud.. .The Prisoner was-remanded until
it 'should be ascertained to what extent these and
similar frauds had been carried on.

MANSION-E-Mt7sE. John 111`Dermot, hte Sea-
man of His. 'Majesty's Ship Leviathan,' Who .was
taken up Some days since, charged with defrauding
the Patriotic Fund of 301. yesterday underwent his
final .examination before the LORD MAYOR. He
was fully committed to take his trial.. It was stated
in evidence, that the Prisoner applied to the Patrio-
tic Fund, at their Office, at Lloyd's Coffce-house,
on the ti Bth of June, and' presented his Greeawich
pension ticket; whichstated him to have been wound-•
ed on the 21St of Oaober, Isos, at the Battle of
Trafalgar, in consequence of which he received from
that Fund 301. On the Prisoner applying after-
i.vards to Captain Baynton, to certify his having
been on board the Leviathan, with a view to ob-
tain prize-money, it was then discovered that he
was in the hospital at Gibraltar on 'the 21st of Oc-
tober, and had, after that, obtained a passage in the
Leviathan to England. Captain B. having commu-
nicated these fads to Greenwich Hospital,- the 'fraud
was discovered.'