The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-17 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, Is4s.

A verdict of guilty was returned on Saturday
night against Mr. P. O'DoNoncE, the third of the
State prisoners who was placed on trial at the
Special Commission at Clonmel. There was, how-
evor, in his case a very mitigating circumstance
which materially reduced the character of his offence,
viz., that previously to the attack upon the police at
Ballivgarry he had withdrawn and disconnected
himself from his associates—a fact that was dis-
tinctly established by the verdict of the jury, who,
on that ground, most strongly recommended the
prisoner to the merciful consideration of the Crown.
Thus it appears that Mr. O'DoNoriur. did not
participate in any act of violence whatsoever, that
he was not present when a single shot was fired
in anger, or where any person, even on the side of the
misguided insurgents, was in the slightest degree in-
jured. The most probable solution of the entire
circumstances seems to be that the unfortunate man,
who was the vicespresident of one of the clubs. had
fled from Dublin on the passing of the Habeas Corpus
Suspension Act, intending to remain hid until the
course of events was fully ascertained, Mr.
MEAGHER, to whom he appears to have snore pecu-
liarly attached himself, was the person from, or
through whom he expected to have obtained shelter
and protection. With him he travelled through the
disturbed districts, and it seems to have been
pretty clearly established that he was at
Killenaule when the barricades were erected,
to imi,,ede the passage of Captain LONGAIORE and his
troop o Dragoons until the assurance was given that
they did not tome for the purpose of attempting to
arrest fir. SMITH O'BRIEN. Grave doubts might
justly have been entertained as to how far he had
been implicated in demanding the arms of the police
at Mullinahone, the evidence in that respect wholly
resting upon the testimony of SunnsvaN, the ex-
policeman, who could scarcely be regarded as a
trustworthy witness, particularly if the unaccountable
absence of the informations which he had sworn
respecting the affair, and the alleged discrepancies
between the statements therein contained and those
which he made when produced upon the table, were
taken into consideration. It was perfectly clear that
the prisoner, along with Mr. IslEaciaen and :Mr
LEYNE, had voluntarily abandoned Mr. O'BRIEN or:
the evening preceding the affair at Farrinrory. That
was established beyond the possibility of doubt, on
the testimcey of HANRANAN and of MARY MAHER,
while the slightest credit could not be attached to
the evidence of MoaaN, the only one of the police
who swore to seeing the prisoner on the day in ques-
tion, and whose imagination appears to have been of
a very lively character, fur he it was who, in oppo-
sition to all the other evidence, and to all probability,
swore that Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN had given the word
to his followers to attack the constabulary, by
saying, " Slash away, boys, and slaughter them
all" —a statement which the Lord Chief
Justice in his charge adrisitted to be wholly a mis-
take. What then could have been the occasion of
that separation ? It must clearly have been that the