The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-10 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DTJBLIN, MONDAY MORNING.—As the Special uom.
mission at Clonmel stood adjourned until this day, we
have no further intelligence from that quarter. The
only matter of the slightest importance this morning, in
relation to the State trials, is the following letter from
Major-General Sir William Napier, addressed to Saun-
ders's News Letters:—

" Sir,—l have " Saturday Evening, Oct. 7, 1848.
this instant been shown the weekly
Freeman's Journal, containing a letter from Mr. Thomas
Young, which I was, by process of law, compelled to
produce at Clonmel on the trial of Mr. Smith O'Brien.
" I have had no communication whatever with any
editor, or any person connected with newspapers, and
Freeman
I know not how that letter has been obtained for the
the editor, being wholly imaginary, calls for an imme-
diate contradiction, and as I am told the promptest mode
Journal, but the reply, attributed to me by
of making that contradiction public will be through
your journal, I request as a favour that you will publish
the followint, observations:—
" Ist. I did not return 'an indignant reply' to Mr.
Young—l merely made some ironical and scornful re-
marks upon the implied supposition that I could co-
operate in arms with a Birmingham attorney and a
London tailor against the Duke of Wellington!
" 2d. I did not state that from my Sovereign I re-
ceived my sword,' &c. &c.
" 3d. The Whigs did not apply to me 'requesting that
the letter would be returned,' &c.
" 4th. I did not at any time promise or state that I
would never divulge its contents, or allow it to be made
public,' &c.

_
" sth. I did never ' pledge myself to secrecy under any
circumstances.'

" I did never pledge my6.:lf to secrecy under any cir-
cumstances, nor in any manner, nor did I ever maintain
any secrecy in the matter.
" WM. NAPIER, Major-General."
APPLICATION FOR MERCY TO THE QUEEN.
_ . .

The Limerick Examiner, a Repeal journal, contains
the following speculation :
" It is generally rumoured that Sir Luciui O'Brien
and his mother, Dowager Lady O'Brien, had an inten-
tion of waiting upon the Qrieen, for what purpose it is
scarcely necessary to declare. It is also said that her
Majesty intends visiting Ireland to grant a general am-
nesty. This would tend more to pacify Ireland than the
most severe law which the Government could inflict on
us, or the most vindictive course they could adopt to-
wards the State prisoners."

THE STATE TRIALS.

We published yesterday a summary of the proceedings
on Saturday, and the verdict of the jury. We now give
a fuller report.
Mr. O'Brien having intimated his wish to withdraw
the offensive expressions used by him towards Mr.
Hodges, the Government short-hand writer,
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE resumed his charge. His
Lordship first repeated the evidence of Dobbin.—(Whilst
he was doing so Mr. O'Brien appeared to be amusing
himself by taking a sketch of a national emblem which
ornaments the canopy under which the Learned Judges
sit.) His Lordship said, with respect to this person's
testimony, I shall say nothing more than this, that the
object of the first meeting was to have an accurate ac-
count of the force of the clubs; that the object of the
second meeting was to ascertain how the proclamation
might have been obviated or obstructed; and that the
object of the third meeting was to elect an execu-
tive committee, but upon his cross-examination
he said it was a council of war, and being a council
of war, it was agreed that no clergy man was
to be upon it. This is important evidence, but it
would be per fectly untrue if I were to represent to you
that the prosecution or the charge against the prisoner
entirely depended upon your belief of it. If you believe
it, it goes to sustain the case of the prosecution; but
supposing you do not believe it, or have any rational
doubt as to the truth of the testimony of that man, in
either case I tell you explicitly to reject it from your
consideration, not to act upon it, and give your verdict
Is if you had never heard it. At the meeting at the
Music-hall, on the 19th of July, Mr. O'Brien made a
speech, which, both on the part of the prisoner and of
the Crown, has been so fully commented upon, that I do
not feel it incumbent upon me to repeat it; but this is
perfectly plain—that in part of that speech Mr. O'Brien
refers to his having reviewed the clubs in the south of
Ireland. (His Lordship read the passage in which Mr.
O'Brien stated that at Cork he had seen 2,000 men as
well prepared for action as any of her Majesty's troops,
and that he was told 10,000 more had promised to sup-
port him.) And you will find that although the mem-
bers of the new body, or many of them, were known to
be adverse to the formation of these clubs, he distinctly
asserts his own right, and the right of others like him,
to continue the same steps of organization, and he does
not profess the slightest intention to abandon
the formation or organization of the clubs.
With reference to the testimony of _Dobbin, if you be-
lieve him, ho has advanced the case on the part of the
Crown ono step farther than the other evidence. It is ,
not that he has shown an object different from that which
the other evidence established—he has proved that ob-
ject to be the same; but he has gone further in markinc
the progress of his confederates, and he has given evi-
dence that they were determined, by arms, within a very
short time to break out into actual rebellion, and that
the military council, celled the executive committee, had,
by
its members, Pledged itself that that outbreak should
take place before the Bth of August, at the very farthest.
Now, supposing you do not believe him, and that you
expunge from your memories and pay no regard what-
soever to his evidence, there would still, and notwith-
standing that, remain what I pointed out to you on the
confession of Mr. O'Brien himself—the general purpose
and object; and there would still remain the formation
of clubs for the attainment of that object; and, there-
fore, when we come to the second series of this evidence,
you will keep what I have stated to you in your minds;
because, according to the view you will take of it, it
will render your conclusions the more or less certain, as
far as the grounds of those conclusions arise from the
subsequent transactions ; that is, if you find the same
means used, and the same object proposed, then in
truth it is but a continuation of the same plan ; and,
though evinced by
different •
evidence, as extending over
a different period, it will still be the same project, have
the same object, and the same general and national
character. I shall
ornery minutely go through the evi-
dence which bears
and you will remenaberthis important view of the case ;
and I must repeat it, as it is
essential with respect t'oi the prisoner's defence, that you
should keep constant! your thoughts, on the subject
on which you are nyo: to inquire, these questions—
Whether the insurrection and the force had a
general object, or
whether that insurrection and
force were limited and
confined exclusively to
e
the prevention of the arrest of Mr. Smith
O'Brien. These are the
matters for your considera-
tion ; and it is on these questions you have to decide.
The Learned Judge then proceeded to refer to the second
branch of the evidence, commencingi with Mr. O'Brien's
departure from Dublin, e went on to read the evi-
dence of the police who had reported the speeches made
by Mr. O'Brien and his fried their a
r r iet-o journeyn.sil
itrh r os,u L;ch
Enniscorthy,
Kilkenny, Callan
Carrick-on-Snip
and, having done so, said—Does the language here, used.,
convey to the mind tho impression that the personal
safety of Mr. O'Brien was the sole and exclusive object
of these meetings and transactions, or does the language
in its fair, natural, and evident import, convey to the
mind the impression that there was an ulterior general
purpose —a purpose of the mind suggested by the evi•
dente—which may be expressed, in the language of
those papers, as making Ireland a free and independent
nation? His Lordship next referred to the evidence of
Patrick Coughlan, who brought them to Carrick. The
Learned Judge was
proceeding to read the evidence of
this witness, when
Mr. O'Hara came hurriedly into
Court, and whispered Mr. Barton, ono of the advising
Counsel of Mr. O'Brien. B
On the application of Mr. BARTON the Court adjourned
for some time, in order that the Counsel for the Crown
and for the prisoner might consult at chambers, some
the prisoner having been disco-
important evidence for
vered in Dublin.
During the deliberation, Mr. Smith O'Brien intimated
a wish to speak to Mr. Hodges, the Gov,eernt to thementrepodroteekr,,
who at once crossed the table, and
where Mr. O'Brien shook him warmly by the hand,
and stated that what he had said on the first day with
respect to his (Mr. Hodges. w
) beingas by n
a spy, was said in a
nao ment of excitement, and
to convey an imputation on the characteromeans intended
of that gen-

tleman.
On the return of the Judges to court,
Mr. Whiteside.
Dobbin was recalled by the wish or
The Attorne
SlGeneral did not oppose the application.
y-of
Mn WHITE DE (to Dobbin)—Do you remember
in the middle
the
being at a tavern, street? month of June, at
the corner of Great Geerge- Dobbin—l never
was there.—Do you remember
being at a tavern or pub-
lic-house, discussing the political grievances of Ireland
with two other men? I don't recollect that I was.—Do
you know O'Neill's Tavern? I do not.—Was there a
fourth person present reading a newspaper, whom you
afterwards discovered to be a person of the name of
Dalton? Ido not know the name of any person of the
kind.—Did you on that occasion speak of the best means
of securing the independence of Ireland? Never,
never, never.—Did any two persons say that they
were advocates of the policy of the late Daniel O'Con-
nell by emancipating
Ireland by moral force ? Did
these two, or any two persons represent themselves as
Roman Catholics, and did you represent yourself as a
Protestant and an Orangeman from the north? Never.
—Did you say on that occasion that there was but one
way to rid the country from the British dominion, and
that was by force of arms? Never.—Did you refer to
the late revolution in France, and proclaim yourself a
disciple of John Mitchel, and an advocate for a free
republic? Never.--Did those three gentlemen in the
room apply to the fourth gentleman who was reading
the paper, to decide the controversy? Such a thing
never occurred. I never saw any person reading a
paper in that way in a public-house. I swear that. I
am quite satisfied of B.—Did you afterwards wink to
that gentleman to follow you? No.—Not to a gentleman
named Dalton? Oa your oath, sir? Why do you hesi-
tate? I did not hesitate. It never occurred, on my oath.
—Did you speak with him alone? I did not.-.—Did he re-
Ply it was too late? I uevet was ha couversittion with the