The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-11 00:00:00

p absenteeism, the curse of their country, if resi-
dent and improving landlords, men anxious to
discharge the duties incidental to their properties well
and efficiently, are to be butchered in the middle of
the day, at their own thresholds, for attempting to
enforce their legal rights, and that in by no means a
harsh or oppressive manner.
The statements made and the address adopted
at the meeting of magistrates of that county,
assembled at Cashel on Thursday last, for the
purpose of taking into their consideration the
course to be pursued in consequence of the
recent murder of WlLLtsm ROE, Esq., a brother
magistrate, exhibit melancholy illustrations of the
demoralised condition of the people. The un-
fortunate gentleman whose untimely death had
occasioned the assemblage was, it appears, "an
upright magistrate, a kind and considerate landlord,
charitable to the poor, and most generous and liberal
in the measures he adopted to provide employment
for the peasantry upon his property. For that pur-
pose he was about commencing, in addition to pre-
vious works, an extensive system of drainage ; and
during the late period of distress, he established a
depot of food at his own expense, which was gratui-
tously distributed to the destitute under the superin-
tendence of his sisters, both of whom were attacked
by fever caught in the discharge of their benevolent
duties." Such is the statement of the assembled
justices of the character and conduct of the unfortu-
nate gentleman, and there is no reason to suppose that
it is in any degree exaggerated, or not fully warranted
by the facts; and yet such a person is deliberately
and wantonly assassinated on the high road, near his
own demesne, and in the immediate vicinity; indeed,
within a few yards of several inhabited houses, at
eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and the audacious and
heartless perpetrator is suffered to make his escape
unmolested, leaving his innocent victim weltering in
his blood. Such a fact would alone speak trumpet-
tongued as to the necessity of some prompt and
vigorous measures to bring to justice all parties in
any manner implicated in this foul and infamous
murder, not merely the wretched hirelings by whose
agency the fell behest of the human demons
was carried into execution, but also every one in the
slightest degree cognizant of the offence who could
be regarded as an accessary before the fact. But if
the statement made at the meeting as to the causes
can in any manner be substantiated it becomes much
more essential that a striking example should be
made, and a death-blow given to the system that
could lead to such harrowing results. The magis-
trates state that " the generally supposed cause of the
murder is that Mr. Roz had ejected one of his
tenants who held seven acres of land at a moderate
price. He owed Mr. ROE two years' rent last May;
Six out of the seven acres were lying waste and un-
cultivated. Mr. ROE offered 101., to forgive all arrears,
and to let him have the crops growing on the one acre
he had tilled, if he would yield possession of the
land. This proposal the tenant refused, evidently
resolved to hold the ground without paying rent,"
and they add, " we have reason to believe that a con-
spiracy existed to deprive Mr. Roz of his legal
claims, among others of his tenants, and that this
crime formed a portion of the plan." It is really
shocking to contemplate the existence of such things
in a civilised country. The mode of reasoning by
which the murder was decided on exhibits a specimen
of hellish ingenuity hitherto unparalleled. We know
not where Lord GLENGALL derived the information
which he laid before the meeting ; but it is to be
hoped, from the explicit and decided manner in which
his Lordship stated what had taken place, that such
revelations have been made as will lay bare the entire
proceedings. We extract the following from his
Lordship's speech :
"It appeared that a combination had been formed
by several of his tenants—that a determination ex-
isted among them not to pay him large arrears of rent
which they owed. Some of the parties met to con-
sider what steps they should adopt to carry out their
infernal schemes. It was understood that it abso-
lutely became the subject of consideration among
those persons who met, whether Mr. Roe, or the
gentleman who officiated as his agent, should be
shot I They admitted in their hellish committee
that Mr. Roe was an excellent, extremely liberal,
and generous gentleman, and that it would be a pity
to shoot him I and that it would be better to shoot
the agent ! But when the fellows had fully discussed
their machinations, they came to the determination of
shooting the landlord, whom, alas ! they did. The
reason why they had selected the landlord was this :
—Mr. Roe's children were very young ; that if Mr.
Roe was dead the property would be probably placed
under the Court of Chancery, and the consequence of
which would be that the receiver from the court
would be appointed over it; that the receiver, as was
the general eastern in those cases, would pay little or
no attention to the interests of the minors ; that those
scheming tenants would be enabled to get a reduc-
tion in the rents, and that, as it had often been the
case when properties were placed under the courts,
the minors and widow would be plundered of their
only existence IN
Surely there must be something radically wrong
and requiring an immediate remedy when such things
are practised and freely spoken of. It may not be
possible to defeat or set aside evils that are of ancient
growth in a brief period, but no efforts should be
spared to trace their source, and to introduce such
enactments as will be adequate for the vindication of
the law, to strike a salutary terror into the minds of
the wrongdoers, and to establish something like se-
curity for life and property in that unhappy district.

The Journal of the Two Sicilies, of the 27th ult.,
says—" An official report, received this morning,
from the authorities of Reggio, announces that the
heads of the revolt, GIOVANNI ANDREA ROMEO,
STEFANO ROMEO, and the son of the late DOMENICO
ROMEO, have given themselves up to Mayor SCALEZE,
of the gendarmerie. There, therefore, now remains
no other person of that family, nor any other head
of their insurrection, for the other promoter of dis-
order, the famous canon PAOLO PELLICANO, is also in
custody."

The Diario di Roma, which is the official journal
of the Pontificial Government, contradicts, in the
most positive manner, the reports which had been
current in Rome, of defeats sustained by the royal
troops, and of the defection of some detachments of
the army.

A letter from Berne, of the 4th, says—
" The grand military review which took place on
Sunday, in the canton of Vaud, and the ceremony of
taking the oaths by the militia, formed one of the
most imposing patriotic solemnities which have taken
place since that canton conquered its independence.
In each of the nineteen districts into which the can-
ton is divided, the troops of elite and of the reserve
took with enthusiasm the oath to the cantonal consti-
tution and the federal authority. The battalions were
fully complete, and the arms and equipments left no-
thing to be desired. The formation of an auxiliary corps
•f volunteers has been effected in a manner which sur-
passed the expectation of the Government. Accord-
ing to the statement which the Government has made
to the Vorort, the Diet can reckon on 22,000 armed
men of the elite, on a reserve of 10,000 men, and on
from 4,000 to 6,000 volunteers. The troops of the
Yaud are generally considered the best of the confede-
ration. The Landsgemeinde of Uri, which only pos-
sesses a population of 15,000, whilst that of Vaud
is 200,000, has declared its approval of all that has
been done by the Sonderbund, and asserted that it
will not submit to the decrees of the Diet. The
Grand Council of Lucerne, on its part, has decided
that the people shall be consulted as to the course to
be pursued under existing circumstances."
The canton of Zug has decided not to submit to
the decrees of the Diet dissolving the Sonderbund.
The Federal Directory has addressed the following
notification to the confederated States :

" We inform you by the present that, according to
a notification of the 29th ult., by the Executive
Council of the canton of Berne, some soldiers of
Fribourg, on the 25th, fired with ball from the village
of Übeistorf upon some houses on the territory of
Berne. We have requested the Government of Fri-
bourg to instute an inquiry into this affair, and to
give satisfaction."

Madrid journals of the 4th inst. have arrived.
The Gaceta publishes the following royal decrees
announcing the change of the Ministry :

ROYAL DECREES.

"In sight of the reasons which Don Florencio
Garcia Goyena has exposed to me, I hereby accept
the resignation which he has made of the charges of
President of the Council of Ministers, and Minister
of Grace and Justice, remaining well satisfied with
the zeal and loyalty with which he has fulfilled
them.
" Given at the Palace the 4th October, 1847.
Zshe signedllinite rof
bsyther oyal
Instruction,iland
Commerce, and
Public Works,
L " ANTONIO itOS DE oLANo."