The Sun.
London, England, 1807-01-09 00:00:00

SPECIAL COM4fISSIOKITV tRELAiIa

WE have been favoured with the follos'trint?o: accu:
rate report of the ATTORNEY GENERAL'S Speech
upon opening the Special Commission. at Sligo

"My Lord, and Gentlemen-of the JUry,. .
" In Allis ease, Counsel for the CrOwn, it is
t
my duty before you the grounds of the pre-'
sent prosecution. The Indiatuents upon which the
prisoners are arraigned have 'been-read, and you are,
thereby apprized of the nature of the= charges pre:
(erred against them: The charges go to a variety of
-aels, all by thelaW of the laud capital ) 'and if the
prisoners are guilty of all or any of them, the cense_ -
quence is death, The charges in their nature are
such as draw down the higheSt punishirient of the
law. The prisoners are charged with the breaking
and entering the dwelling-house-of their fellow-Imb.-
jea in the night-time. robbing that fellow:
subject of his money, and with' inflicting torture
upon .his person, for. the purpose of compelling hiz-n
to.b.ecothe-amember of their own lawless and dan-
gerous associations.`. These :Ire crimes, Gentlemen;
which no civilized society can 'tolerate—,they bid et:',l
fiance to all law, and gssert a claim of unconditional
submission to-thoSe `.".'h'Q ;WOW themselves the bear-
ers 'of that., defiance. These. are conditions unde-r
Which no GOVernment Can 'But if the crimes
with which the unfortunate men at the bat aro'
charged, . however atroCions, did not involVe conse-
quences of a peculiar nature, they would have been
left, to the ordinary visitation of thelaw, and would be
tried at the regular assizes of the county. It. is be-
canse they form'part 'of a class ofarrocities which
disturb the tranquillity, and in' their progres endan,-
ger the safety of the country, that you have been a;i-
sembled at this season
_of the. year for the linni,:diate
and solemn dispensation of justice.'
" Gentlemen, 'it is with great. satlsfaakin I see
upon xsubjea of this emergency so full and respect=
able an attendance—calculated' to impress every
triind with a sense of obedience to the - Eei:>ry
Gentleman of chum-der—of rank—of considtiratiOrt
and property, appears at his post upon this important
Occasion, to give his 'sanction to' the law. The
Judges Of the land are sent, armed with his,
jestl's Comniission, sand armed-with a charaa-er,
sulting frcifn their learning 'and virtues, which re=
fleas lUstre and`dignity on that Commission.-
Gentlemen, every thing has been done cm the
part of the Government to let the wretched people
of this country' see that there are laws for the
nishment of ,wilt; and that no nerve wili be lest un-:
strained to g'ioeffea and vigeur to them. l'there7
fore rejoice to see, such an array Of rank and property
Upoii the Gtand Jury which has found the bills, and
such a respeaable description of Gentlemen com,-,
posing the Petty Jury, which I now address; because
it-must remove 'froin the minds of t lie wretched Peo-
ple engaged in these outrages, the deluSions which
have been industriously spread 'to excite the hope 'of
impunity.'ln aid-of the magistracy, from whom in!
formation 'have been 'procured', they see the whdt
body :Of thy-county—every • nun who has talent,
Charaaer, and propaty, rallying round the Cen,-.
stitution.

" therefore,' not merely for the Rurpose of
enquiring into the guilt of the persons now on
trial, but to bring• home punishment to the great
body of theguilty—and prote6tion to the gielt, body
of the innocent—to undeceive the abused, and give
confidenee to the disheartened, and restore peace
and tranquillity to the country, that this Special
Commission has been issued—and you, Gentlemen,
to perform your sacred part, have been sworn upon
the Jury.

" Gentlemen, it is far from my purpose, or my
wish, that by having your minds 'strongly moved
with a sense of the misehiefs prevailing in the coun.
try, any of the prisoners should be visited with pe-:
culiar hardships : on the contrary, upon an occasion
6f this kind, it is my duty to-eautiOn you against the
suggestions of rumour or prejudice : it is our duty tO
vindicate; not to strain, -the law. If the prisoners
are guilty:the guilt should be brought home'by clear
and legal evidence. God forbid ! Gentlemen, that
your abhorrence of the crime should work injustice
to the criminal or the accused. But, Gentlemen,
you will feel that it is not irrelevant to the subject to
call your attention to what. is, and has been the state
of the country, because it grows 'out of the associa
lion impUted to the prisoners, and it is therefore
that the consequence of guilt and punishment at-
taches 'upon them. And, thelefores- Gentlemen, iii
calling your attention to the state of the country
and the nature of the outrages, I feel that I do nut
transgress 'my duty in the case now before you.
" Gentlemen, it is unfortunately to notorious to
need'anyminute statement, that fot 'some time past
the peace -of the country haS been infested by a set
of persons assuming the name of " Threshers."—
Their outrageous associations have been in dire& dek=
ance of the law : the business originated with men
possessing ne-situation7-whom nobody, knows ; a
set *amen who dare not avow themselves : a de=
scription .of persons not possessed of any property,
,of any talent, of any education; men who are nut
placed in any situation, either by conventions of so,
ciety, or their own fitness, entitling them to didate
to their fellow-subjeds, or, to take upon themselves
the task of reformation and legislation. These 'per-
sons have discovered that the existing laws are not
to their mind—they have found out, that there aro,t
errors in the State and in the Church, and they.have
conceived, that they are the proper persons to under-,
take the-task of reforming them. But not satisfied
with infringing the law in their own persons,,indi-,
,vidually, they become associated fur the purpose of
saying that no' other person ill the community shall
dare to obey the law. SO that the first ad of those
who profess to interfere upon principles of liberty,
is to exercise compulsion over the consciences of
others, and that 'no man shall presume to form an
opinion for himself, nor' ad upon it, unlesS it met
the approbation of these self-created Reformers.—
The pretext upon which these illegal confederaries
is formed, is a repugnance to the payments in 'stip-,
port of the legal establishment of that Churo of the
country, and also, of the fees which hale been
Usually paid, without any law to. 'enforce them',
,to the Clergy of the Catholic persuaSion. The
mode. taken to accomplish this Objed:, has been
sometimes with arms, going to the Muses of 'such
persons as. refuse to associate themselves in their
body, and if necessary for their: purpose, breaking
open the houses of those personS and robbing them
of their prof erty,--inffiding torture upon those who
become objedS of their enmity; and, if necessary, for