The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-14 00:00:00

IRELAND.

MR. SMITH O'BRIEN.
Dunr.ix, OCT. 13.--The meeting called for to-day
to promote a public petition, that the recommenda-
tion of the jury in the case of Mr. Smith O'Brien
should be conceded by the Government, was com-
posed of representatives of all parties, save perhaps
the extreme Repealers and the extreme Tories. Mr.
Sharman Crawford, M.P., presided. In consequence
of a report prevailing that the warrant of execution
of Mr. S. O'Brien had been forwarded, an immediate
deputation was appointed to wait on the Lord-
Atieutenant to ascertain the fact, and arrangements
were made to have a memorial signed as exten-
sively as the time would permit, which will be pre-
sented by deputation. The following is a copy of
the memorial:—
" To his Excellency the Earl of Clarendon, Lord High
Chancellor of Ireland, &e. May it please your Excel-
lency, we, the undersigned, consisting principally of the
inhabitants of Dublin and its vicinity, respectfully ad-
dress your Excellency as the representative in Ireland
of her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen. We fully
concur in the recommendation of the jury, by whom
William Smith O'Brien has been found guilty, and we
humbly and earnestly entreat that her Majesty's prero-
gative of mercy may be exercised by your Excellency in
favour of Mr. O'Brien."

The following is the official announcement made to
the meeting of yesterday of the interview with Lord
Clarendon :

Mr. Sharman Crawford having retaken the chair,
stated the result of their interview with his Excellency.
He said: we were detained a considerable time in con-
sequence of the Lord-Lieutenant being out; but as soon
as he returned, we sent up the memorial which was
adopted here to-day, and he immediately received us. I
explained to him the reason why we came so promptly
—that oar apparent urgency arose from a report that
had been stated at the meeting to the effect that a war--
rant had been issued for the execution of Mr. O'Brien—
that for .tat reason -the tieputation which then- waited
upon his Excellency was appointed for the purpose of in-
quiring—first, whether there was any truth in that re-
port; and secondly. whether his Excellency would be
pleased to receive a deputation at a futuro day to present
that memorial after it had received more extensive six.
natures? His Excellency, in reply, said, first, he had no
hesitation in stating that the report of any warrant
having been sent down to Clonmel was utterly false and
unfounded; and, secondly, that he should be ready to
receive a deputation to present the memorial, when he
was informed that it had obtained signatures to the ex-
tent which the promoters of it desired.

THE SPECIAL COMMISSION.
TRIAL OF INPMANUS.

CLONMEL, OCT. 12.—The Court sat this morning at
half-past nine o'clock, and was attended at that early
hour by few indeed, except those compelled to be pre-
sent. Very little interest appears to be felt for Mr.
WManus, except by his immediate friends and con-
nexions, who are here to give him the benefit of their
advice and assistance. The principal scene in this me-
lancholy drama has closed, if we except the trial of Mr.
Meagher, whose case promises to afford as much inte-
rest as that of Smith O'Brien himself. As soon as Mr.
M•Manus appeared at the bar the proceedings com-
menced.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL rose to reply on behalf of
the Crown. After some prefatory observations, he pro-
ceeded to say that he had had some experience in a court
of justice, but it was the first time he ever heard counsel
say that a jury was bound to agree as to what the ver-
dict should be before- they heard the charge of the
Learned Judge who may try the case. That indeed was
new doctrine to him, for he had always conceived that
when counsel in their zeal on behalf of their client,
misled the jury in points of law, or as regarded the
evidence, the Court always stepped in, and in the
proper administration of justice, explained the subject-
matter to them. The two questions they should have
to try were, first, was the rising which took place in
July last, in this county, fcr general purposes, no matter
what particular object was immediately in view? and,
secondly, was that a levying of war for the purpose of
effecting a revolution in the laws and constitution of the
realm at which the prisoner was present? If a man set
up as a leader in the country, at the head of an armed
force, and told the !people it was their duty to protect
him from arrest, for the purpose of carrying on a general
object of insurrection, that was as much treason as if he
had at once proceeded at the head of an armed force in
actual and open rebellion. Now, as regarded the pri-
soner at the bar, another question they had to decide
was, whether he was engaged in any part of these melan-
choly transactions, and what part he took in it? They
had the evidence of more than ten witnesses who iden-
tified him in the proceedings at Mullinahone and Bal-
lingarry, and it appeared to him that, next to Mr.
O'Brien, he was the most prominent leader among
them. They . should ask themselves what brought
Mr. O'Brien, a gentleman of rank, fortune, station,
and family, to an obscure village like Mtsllina-
hone, forty miles from his own home and tenantry,
and fOr what purpose did be go there? Had they any
doubt, from the evidence produced, that he went there
to rouse the people to armed resistance against the
lawful authorities of the country ; and that were it not
for the prompt measures taken to suppress it, the jury,
in all probability, would not now bo trying that case,
but be, perhaps, engaged in a sanguinary and desperate
struggle for life and property. As regarded the prisoner
at the bar, he (the Solicitor-General) should ask the
jury who he was, and what brought him to Ballingarry
on the 28th of July lie, a Liverpool merchant, of re-
spectability, and in good business, is found there on that
day, drilling an armed party, as if by a miracle. Tho
prisoner no doubt denied, and ho (the Solicitor-General)
gave him the benefit of it, that he was an English Char-
tist ; but if ho were not an English Chartist, he was an
Irish Revolutionist. Then, again, great stress had been
laid on the assertion that reporters from the newspapers
were admitted to the meeting at Liverpool, but it was not
so. It was distinctly proved in evidence that they were
excluded, and, if present, why not have them summoned
to contradict the evid4ce of the police ? The police
themselves were obliged to go in coloured clothes to
such meetings, and prohibited using note-books or taking
notes, because had they done so they would not have
been permitted to remain. What, he would again ask,
brought Mr. I!..lelLinus from Liverpool to Dublin with-
out any luggage ?
Mr. O'CALLeotelei observed that it was his intention
to have returned the same evening.
The SOLICITOR GENERAL resumed—lt was said he
was about to go to Liverpool in the evening, but if so,
why did he tell the steward of the vessel to take care of
his tin box, which contained the uniform of the 'B2d
Club ? Because he might perhaps return. If his object
was to avoid arrest in Liverpool the jury should recol-
lect that the Habeas Corpus Act was not suspended in
England, and that in coming to Dublin he exposed him-
self to the very danger he wished to avoid. And what,
ho would again ask, brought him to Ballingarry? lle
was, as they had heard in evidence, a native of Ulster.
and an advocate for the tenant-right—but why did he
not go from Dublin to his friends and relatives in that
province instead of to Mullinahone, where he was found
with Mr. O'Brien, coquetting with the allegiance of the
police. That was not a levying of war, forsooth, against
the authority of the Crown. They would be told, he had
no doubt, by many outside the box in which they sat,
that such a levying of war could not take place until the
people from the hills of Waterford and the Gaulties of
Tipperary came down and stormed Clonmel I That, in the
opinion of many, woule constitute only a levying of war;
but their Lordships on the bench would tell them dif
ferently. From Mullinahone they found the prisoner at Kil-
lenaule, :assisting in erecting a barricade; they found
him on a horse, which, as usual on all similar occasions,
he pressed into his service—drilling armed men, and
doing all those acts which constituted an open insurrec-
tion. The Learned Counsel next referred to the docu-
ments given in evidence particularly the fatal letter to
the Mining Company, an% proceeded to comment on the
affair at the widow M'Cormack's house, where the con-
flict took place between the police and the people. On
that melancholy occasion Mr. M`Manus was found taking
an active and a controlling part. It was in evidence that
he gave directions to have the house burned, and it was
positively sworn that he was the person who took con-
stable Carrot a prisoner. Then they had the evidence of
Mr. Lloyd, a young gentleman who was stopped on the
road by the prisoner at the bar. He asked him the
number of troops at Kilkenny—the strength of the army
at Willingford—whether he was himself a courier—or if
a force was on the road marching towards Ballingarry?
What did all these things mean but a plain manifest
determination to resist the constituted authorities by
force? The prisoner at the bar was bound up with his
leader Mr. O'Brien; he was bound by his acts and in •
tentions—he should stand or fall with him; and he (the
Solicitor-General) therefore submitted that the jury were
bound tQ return a verdict of guilty against him.
Chief Justice DollEßTf then charged the jury. The
case (he said) having now drawn to a close, it became
his duty, as the organ of the Court, to make a few ob-
servations to them in laying down the law before he pro-
ceeded to read to them his notes of the evidence; and it
would be a gratification to bear that lie did not antici-
pate it would he necessary for him to trespass long on
their attention, because the law, as applicable to the case,
was so perfectly settled by the highest authorities, by a
long train of decisions, and laid down very recently by
th At Court without cavil or dispute. With respect to the
evidence, tlsey heard observations made upon it by the
able counsel at both sides; and as an apprehension
seernc,d to have existed that it was the intention of the
Court to trespass on their peculiar duties, and were
about to interfere with what was exclusively their pro-
vince in dealing with the facts, let him at once set their
minds at ease, and assure them that it was not the wish
of the Judges in the slightest degree to invade their
province. The responsibility of applying the facts to the
law rested altogether with them, and if ever there was a
o
case where it was unnecessary by anticipation f counsel
to make such an observation, that • was peculiarly the
case, because if there was any difficulty in it, it would
arise in appl) ing the law to the farts of the case; but
none reap( ctiug the conduct of the witnesses. Long as that
trial lasted—and ho was far from saying it lasted too
long—a ease was never brought before a jury with less
impeachment to the credit of the witnesses, a less die-