The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-06 00:00:00

JANUARY 6, 1848

disperse them, even although an hour or a minute had
not elapsed. I will now proceed to call your attention
to another provision of a. preventive kind. By a clause
in the Whiteboy Acts it is expressly provided—" That
it shall be lawful for every justice of the peace,
sheriff, &c., to render all necessary assistance, and to ,
call upon all his Majesty's loyal subjects to assist them
in preserving the peace." That Act made it the duty
of every man, under the penalty of being convicted
of a misdemeanor, and suffering its punishments, to
be aiding and assisting in enforcing the law of the
land ; and by the 16th section of the late Act, in every
case of murder magistrates and peace officers in the
proclaimed districts have a right to call on all persons
between 16 and 60 years of age to search for the
culprit or culprits, and make them amenable to
justice, and those neglecting to do so were subject to
an indictment for misdemeanour, and on conviction
to two months' imprisonment. In fact, that which
was left at large by the former statutes is now es-
pecially enjoined. Gentlemen, there is but one other
provision of the late Act of Parliament to which I I
feel it necessary to call your attention—a provision
which ought to be known to you, and every one in
your county, and in every proclaimed district in
Ireland. By a section of the new statute the Lord-
Lieutenant has the power of sending a large increase
of police, and to charge the proclaimed barony or dis-
trict in which they are located with the cost of their sup-
port—he may send whatever number of men he thinks
proper, and their maintenance' will be levied off the
occupiers as well as the owners of land, in the same
way that the grand jury cess is levied. Gentlemen,
I have now called your attention to all the statutes I
thought it necessary to refer to, and I would again
impress them upon your careful consideration. I
have shown you the nature of the cases that will come
before you, and I have stated the law relating to
them. I have not myself the least doubt but that the use
of those means which are at the disposal of the anthori-
ties will be sufficient to prevent crimes and restore
tranquillity. I speak, gentlemen, from very ample ex-
perience. It is not the first time that conflicts such as
these have taken place between incendiaries and the
law of the land, but the result has always been the
same. The law has always triumphed; the designs
of the wicked were always frustrated, whilst the law
has been signally vindicated. That which has hap-
pened before will happen again, for the law is the
same now as it was before. Can any man say there
is less zeal and anxiety on the part of those who
administer the laws to give them effect? Can culprits
expect to escape now who have been overtaken before?
They cannot escape; and I will advisedly say, that
those who treat with impunity the law which is
made for the protection of all, will find, sooner or
later, that they will become amenable to justice, and
be punished ; justice will overtake them by some
means or other, perhaps by the treachery of their
own accomplices in guilt. You will now, gentlemen,
proceed to the discharge of your duties, and let me
remind you that upon the firm discharge of those
duties, and the duties of the petit jury, depend the
conviction of crime. I have no doubt you will per
form your parts fairly and honestly, and I hope the
result will be the means of restoring the country
from being a .disgrace to our common nature to her
proper position, and thereby remove the stains that
crime has brought upon her. _

His Lordship's charge occupied nearly an hour in
its delivery, and was listened to with breathless
silence.

The Grand Jury having retired to consider the
several bills of indictment submitted to them by the
Crown, the petit jury were discharged until to-
morrow morning, at ten o'clock, when the first trial
will take place. •
Their Lordships sat nearly the entire day in calling
on the prisoners to plead, according as bills were found.
It is scarcely necessary to say that in every case the
plea recorded was " not guilty."
The Court rose at five o'clock.