The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-02 00:00:00

TRIAL OF 1/1-1-1. KEVIN IZOD O'DOHERTY

Yesterday, tho Hon. Judges Torrens and Crampton
took their seats on the bench at ten o'clock precisely.
Mr. BUTT commenced his address to the jury, and said
that they knew that the punishment which the Act un-
der which they were trying. that young gentleman im-
posed was transportation for life, or for a term of years,
with a power in the Court to mitigate to imprisonment.
But they knew also that in every case, and he did not
complain of this, in wlich there had been a conviction
under that Act, tho penalty of transportation bad been
inflicted; and that even where verdicts were returned
accompanied with the stongest recommendations to
mercy, the Court, merciful and humane, did not consider
themselves at liberty to act on :it further than by reduc-
ing the punishment from transportation for life to trans-
portation for a long term of years; and therefore, in '
considering the case, they must consider that they were
deciding on the destiny for life of the young man at the
bar. The Learned Counsel referred to different points
on which he had already dwelt, and proceeded to say that
if they (the jury) should differ with him in think-
ing that the original article in evidence was
in the handwriting of the prisoner, he would
ask them to examine it, and judge of it by the cir-
cumstances of the country; and if they should find
that it was merely an incitement to retain the harvest at
home, not to find a verdict of guilty against his client.
He would ask them, was such an expression of senti-
ments respecting the harvest worse than what Lord
Althorp said in the House of Commons, during the agi-
tation for reform, when he declared that, if that measure
iwiiesrreesniodten gnreahnteewd,onwihdetnelithe
Judge CRAMPTON—That was not said by Lord Al-
inne?xt came to
Al-
thorp, Mr. Butt. himt xt
ceoalillecatgoar
Mr. BUTT—WeII, perhaps it was not by Lord Althorp,
my Lord.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL—Oh, no ; nor a great many
other things that have been attributed to the Whigs.
Mr. BUTT—The Solicitor-General will have an oppor-
tunity of replying to me by and by. No doubt if that
observation were not made by Lord Althorp, his Lord-
ship (Judge Crampton), as the friend of the Noble Lord,
was naturally anxious to give an immediate contradiction
to anything of which he thought his Noble Friend would
be ashamed. The Learned Counsel, in continuation,
adverted to the absence of any proof that his client had
been connected with clubs, or had committed any act
evidencing felonious intentions, and said that the fact of
such proof being wanting should be presumptive in
favour of the prisoner.
The following witnesses were then examined for the
defence:—

Edward Purdon—l printed the' Tribune newspaper.
Dr. Antisell first called upon nurysith a view to get an
estimate of the cost of printing; ypere was not a regular
written contract drawn up, but the terms were agreed on
in letters; I never entered into any contract with the
prisoner fur printing tho paper. A Mr. Meany was
appointed the editor of the paper. I accepted the
printing of that paper on condition that nothing sedi-
tious should appear in its columns. Mr. Meany super-
intended the publication of the two last numbers of the
Tribune. I did not see the prisoner at the Tribune
office after Mr. Meany became connected with it. When
the paper first appeared Mr. O'Doherty used to come to
my office.
Cross-examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL—He
often came to my office during the first three weeks, in-
quiring for proofs of the articles which were afterwards
published in the paper, and I have seen him receive them,
and take them away with him; there is some money yet
due to me for the printing of the Tribune newspaper, fur
which I hold no security.
Thomcs Connor proved that M'Keever had 5/. from
him to go to Carrick; some days afterwards he came to
I"nrYS had_not
...men -Mad Hotel; ho offered back a portion of the
51., and said he was willing to run the risk of a fine for
not obeying the subpcena. Afterwards saw him
at the hotel, and asked him, amongst other
matters, how ho had proved Mr. O'Doherty's
handwriting at the last trial, and he said that it
was his province to post the entries from the day book
into the ledger, and that he was told these entries were in
the handwriting of Mr. O'Doherty. I asked him whether
he considered such a mode of proving a man's hand-
writing a satisfactory one, and he replied that he did
not, and remarked that if I thought so too, I might
mention the fact to Mr. O'Doherty's counsel, in order that
he might raise a point upon it in the prisoner's favour. 1
know that Mr. M'Keever has for some time past been on
unfriendly terms with the prisoner.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL objected to this evidence as
illegal.

Mr. BUTT remarked that he knew what legal evidence
was as well as the Solicitor-General.

The SOLICITOR GENERAL remarked that he never
doubted the egotism of Mr. Butt on that or on any other
subject. _ _

Mr. Burr then addressed the Court and said—My
Lords, since this trial ,has commenced the Solicitor-
General has sought every opportunity of making per-
sonal attacks upon me, by adopting a tone of language ut-
terly unworthy of the place he holds under the Crown.
Judge TORRENS—It does not appear to me, or I be-
lieve to my brother Judge,, that any language has been
made use of in the course of this trial that ought to give
rise to angry feelings upon the part of counsel on either
side, or which might not be made by one gentleman to
another.
The evidence for the defence here closed.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL then rose and said, that it
now became his duty to address the jury on the part of
the prosecution. He complained that there were in-
troduced topics which might be very well used on the
hustings or in the round room of the Rotunda, but it
was an abase of the privileges of a prisoner's counsel,
upon a trial such as this, to resort to topics of a politi-
cal character, or to statements made by men in public
positions, stating all these things upon his own autho-
rity, none of which were portions of the case which was
for investigation before them. If he (the Solicitor-
General) was in their situation, he would treat it as a
personal insult to his position as a juror, if he was ad-
dressed on political topics for the purpose of swaying
his verdict. He knew many of them to be men of high
position and respectability, and he felt perfectly confi-
dent that in arriving at their decision upon the issue,
those irrelevant topics which had been touched upon for
the purpose of distracting and misleading them, would
not have the slightest influence on their judgment. He
denied that what the Learned Counsel for the prisoner
had laid down was the law of the land. Ho had said.
that a general insurrection or rising of the people in.
Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Youghal, and Galway, would
not be a rebellion against the authority of the Crown..
There never was a more untenable proposition put for-
ward, because any insurrection, incited or provoked for
a particular purpose, was high treason, and the people
should not be misled by contrary doctrines.
Judge CRAMPTON—If it would not interupt you, I
would suggest that, although Mr. Butt laid down th at
doctrine in the first instance, he afterwards qualified it
by admitting that a general insurrection would amount
to a levying of war, but would not be the particular
charge in the indictment.
Mr. BUTT—Precisely, my Lord. My argument was,
that the words of the statute would exclude that can
structive levying of war.
The SOLICITORGENERAL said he was only desirous
that the public should not understand that the people h ad
a right to rise in the different parts of the country, a,a d
resist to the death the exportation of provisions. The
questions for the jury were these:—Hatt the prisoner
tertained the intention of deposing the Queen from t 5 e
Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom, and had hen c't
manifested it by these publications in his journal?—alst
whether he compassed the levying of war, and express e d
that design? Mr. O'Doherty and Mr. Williams had me oie
a declaration stating that they were the sole and oi I:iy
proprietors of the Irish Tribune, which rendered th, et n
civilly and criminally responsible for the treasonable
manifestos which appeared in their journal. T 1 tat
they were treasonable, he thought there could be ,U o
doubt. The British " foe," referred to so often, rarer t
every man who was well afected to his Sovereign, ray d
desired to preserve the unity of this great empire. It
was possible that an article might be inserted in a dai
paper without the knowledge of the proprietor ; bu it
that could not happen with respect to a weekly jourr in I,
where every article was inserted after mature delibe ti t-
tiou; and in this instance, the paper was actually es .-
blished for the purpose of effecting a revolution—sevk
ing England !rem Ireland, and setting up a Republ d c.
Tho Learned Counsel admitted that these publicatic n is
were so seditious and so atrocious, that if the prisor.s
were indicted for sedition he would not defend h' an.
The Solicitor-General then referred to the evidence • of
M'Keever as to the handwriting of the prisoner, a nd
contended that it clearly established his guilt. It was : a
disgrace to the administration of justice in Ireland the tt,
when a man was charged with a heinous offence of tb tis
nature, tending to shake the bonds of society, eves 7
person who came forward to give evidence against hit at
was branded as an informer and held up to obloquy an d.
scorn. No one had been called to refute him.
A somewhat warm altercation here took place (occu•