The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-21 00:00:00

;a THE SUN, LONDON,

with its deliberations there might yet be hope for I
its stability and permanence, and the sorrows of the
nation might yet be compensated by the return of
good fortune to the arms of an outraged and (if
united) puissant people. Unhappily for Mexico there
is little evidence of this characteristic of inherent
strength either in the camp or the council-cham-
ber. To the proverbial indolence of the sol-
diery must now be added the jealousies of
their commanders, and the divisions of their
statesmen. There is but a feeble prospect of any-
thing like cohesion among elements so incompatible,
and still less probability of even a show of unanimity
among the advocates of ideas so incongruous and
irreconcileable. Mexico has her safeguard more in
the economic scruples of her enemies than in the cor.
dial co-operation of her own children. In one direc-
tion we find PAREDES holding a colloquy with the
famous guerilla chieftain JARANTA, and deciding
upon demanding the assistance of several of
the powers of Europe. In another, we be.
hold ArifirA dallying with the extreme powers
intrusted to his keeping, and uncertain as to the
particular course which should be adopted at a junc-
ture of such extraordinary imminence. BUSTAMENTE
is observed on one hand buckling on his brand as
Commandant-General, and on the other may be re-
cognised the desperate and almost sinister patriotism
of SANTA ANNA, displaying itself in the fervour of
his partizans, who clamour for the continuance of
hostilities at all hazards, and shout even in the hall of
Congress for War to the knife ! Separately they are
manifesting the noblest devotion to their common
country, but collectively their plans are effete and
their arm paralysed.
In the midst of these accumulated difficulties, the
members of the American Congress are beginning
to, squabble about the fundamental doctrines of the
rights of humanity. Petitions are pouring in from
different quarters, praying for the abolition of the
system of slavery. What the adjurations of CLARE.
son, and the eloquence of WILBERFORCE, and the
intense perseverance of FOSTER have striven in vain
to effect, may, perchance, be yet accomplished by the
spleen of faction and the spite of party. One
advocate of the abolition has already endea-
voured to attach a peculiar odium to the sys-
tem, by maintaining that it was with an
eye to the extension of slavery that the Mexican war
was undertaken. Whether this ingenious method
of rendering the matter odious to the citizens of the
United States, by associating slavery with a profli-
gate and costly adventure, will prove successful is
rather improbable, we must acknowledge; but it ap-
pears to us by no means improbable that the great
legalized crime of America may be expiated by the
abandonment of its repetitior, and that that abandon-
ment may originate in an incomprehensible but not
unparalleled reaction. Would that our brethren across
the Atlantic might behold and confess that the
scourge in the grasp of a republic is a far more hi-
deous spectacle than the blood-red sword of a con-
queror, or the knout of a cruel and relentless despot !

The Special Commission for the comity Clare has
been adjourned, and the results of the sittings at
Ennis have been no less impel: tent than those which
took place at Limerick. The law officers of the
Crown have conducted the several prosecutions with
equal ability and judgment, and the jurors have dis-
charged in a like conscientious manner their perilous
duties—perilous e say for persons who so readily
convict members of the organized band of desperadoes
which disturbed the peace of the county, arid unhesi-
tatingly shed the blood of those who incurred their
displeasure—were exposed to dangers of no ordinary
magnitude in the present, or—thanks to the energy
and decision of the Irish Government—we trust we
may be enabled to say, the late condition of
Ireland. No pains were spared to get up
the several cases in the most perfect manner. No
loophole was left by which the murderer might es-
cape the penalty of his crime through any deficiency
in the evidence, or any inaccuracy or flaw in the
indictment. The jurors never hesitated for a moment
in pronouncing the verdict warranted by the testi-
mony adduced before them. No reasonable doubt
could have existed in any of the cases brought before
them, and although the el-II:et of their judgments was
to consign their fellow-creatures to an ignominious
a❑d painful death they suffered no undue sensi-
bility to interfere with their righteous decisions;
they would not have the peace of their
country disturbed, and many innocent victims
sacrificed, to the desire of affording the blood
stained criminals a further opportunity of
perpetrating new atrocities, or even of obtaining a
longer time for repentance. Neither would they
permit the reproach to be cast upon Irishmen which
was so frequently and so unjustly repeated during
the late discussions in Parliament—assertions which
were repeated by some of the ablest organs of Con-
servatism throughout the country—" that Irish juries
could not be depended on, and that no juror would
hazard his personal safety by the fitting discharge of
his duties. They have well justified the confidence
reposed in them by the Government, and they will
have their reward in the approval of their own con-
sciences, and in the peace and tranquillity, and ulti-
mate prosperity consequent thereon, which their
firmness and rectitude will have obtained for their
native land.

Six capital convictions have taken place at
Ennis, in addition to the three which were obtained
at Limerick, making in all nine persons, who have
been sentenced to the extreme penalty of the law in
those counties. Many more are still awaiting their
trials, and not a single person charged with murder
has as yet escaped conviction ; indeed, we believe but
a very few, and those only charged with crimes of an
inferior degree, have as yet been acquitted in both
counties.

The parties convicted at Ennis have been guilty
of murders occasioned by very different motives.
There were three victims—one of those was a gentle-
man, agent to an extensive property in the neighbour-
hood, who had fallen under the ban of the midnight
legislators, for having, in the dis:;harge of his duty to
his principal, distrained the cattle of a farmer,
who desired to hold his land without the dis-
agreeable necessity of paying rent therefor.
This was a crime which could not be passed over, and
accordingly, as usual in such cases, professional as-
sassins were sought for, the price of human blood
was settled, and the unfortunate gentleman was bru-
tally murdered, shortly.' after having partaken of
his breakfast in the centre of his family, to whom he
was brought back in a dying state within half an
hour after he had left his residence, in health and
strength, and with every reasonable prospect of a
long and happy existence. The next victim was of a
wholly different station in society, and the causes
which led to his assassination were altogether of an-
other character.

Poor CLEARY was of the humblest rank. He had no
concern with property of any kind, and could not,
therefore, have violated in that respect the provisions of
the agrarian code ; but he was still denounced, be-
cause he had dared to give evidence honestly and
conscientiously in a court of justice; he had, under
the solemn obligation of an oath, stated the truth, and
his testimony had led to the conviction of one of the
gang of miscreants. This was inconsistent with the
system of terror and intimidation which the secret
tribunal considered it necessary to maintain, and his
doom
road, I was pronounced, and the executioners decided
on. l
assailed by two men while walking on
the high a little after six o'clock in the evening,
in the monthof
his
sNdovember last, and the gun, the
instrument of
Ras considerable difcuestruction, was almost touching
him when it was discharged—so much so, that there
tiYaein finding the orifice occa-
thoenif
the t
occa-
sioned by the bullet,
swollen
parts being
beforelisd man,
made so scorched and
convictionh e
dying
fec
wasts
of the powder. In this case
chiefly obtained on the declaration
made to his wife almost immediately
a more f:Tinal declaration, previously made beforeat ;
maAistrate, having been rejected by the Court, it nota
being nufnciently clear that the sufferer had given up
all hope of surviving, and the Attorney-General
having most property declined to press any evidence
of a doubtful character on a question involving the
lives of the accused. The murderers were brought
to justice; the majesty of the Jaw was vindicated
from the accidental interview which took place be-
tween the unfortunate man and his bereav€d partner,
but a quarter of an hour before he breathed his last.
He deplored the wretchedness that she must endure
owing to his untimely
end. He lamented the desti-

tute condition of his wretched orphans. Her brother,
he thought, might take one of the children, 1)11
union workhouse was the only place of refuge
,to which she and her two younger aril-
dren could look forward. At that last sad
moment she implored him, if he.had any the slightest
doubt about the guilt of the men (BUTLER and fox-
RIGAN), that he would not criminate them. He,
however, distinctly repeated his declaration that they
were guilty of his murder, and died while expressing
his forgiveness of his murderers. Most seriously do
we hope that the Government may take the widow
and orphans under its especial protection, and that
they may be placed in a happier position than that of
being the recipients of the pittance doled forth to
paupers. Not only the sympathy due to those who
have been deprived of their only guardian would de-
mand it, but it should be conceded on the grounds
of public policy. The father was sacrificed because
he came forward as a witness on behalf of the Crown,
and the conviction of his murderers was owing to the
testimony of his widow.

The other murder was perpetrated on the 3d inst.,
since the opening of the Special Commission at Lime-
rick, in one of those attacks on dwelling•houses
which were of such frequent occurrence. A party of
eight or nine persons visited the residence of a farmer
named APMAnoN, probably for the purpose of plun-
dering it of arms and enforcing a contribution of
money. The farmer and his brothers resisted, a
contest took place, in which one of the brothers re-
ceived a blow which deprived him of life. For this
outrage one man has been convicted, and three more
who had declined to join in the challenges,
and consequently were not put on trial at the
same time, subsequently applied to be permitted to
withdraw their pleas of " Not Guilty," and
to substitute that of " Guilty" in place thereof—which
was assented to by the Crown. It is probable that
these latter may have been less guilty, and that their
lives may be spared in consequence of their sub-
mission.

There have been, therefore, in the two counties,
nine capital convictions, and three who have pleaded
guilty on capital charges, making twelve in all sub-
ject to the extreme penalty of death. Two cases
are, however, of greater impoi:;ance, as examples,
than all the others, namely, that of JOHN CRowE, who
was convicted of the conspiracy to procure the murder
of Mr. WATsoN, and WILLIAM FENWEN, sentenced
to transportation for life as an accessory after the
fact, for sheltering RYAN (Puce), who was charged
with murder, and is now under sentence of death at
Limerick. We shall refer to these cases at greater
length on a future occasion.

The Universal Gazette (f Prussia publishes the
following letter from Vienna, dated Jan. 12 :
" The arming here continues, and creates a certain
agitation in society, where these threatening symp-
toms are seriously discussed. The purchase of
cavalry horses amounts, up to the present moment,
to the enormous sum of 1,500,000 florins. The Go-
vernment is anxious to have ten or twelve thousand
horses at once. The price of a curassier's horse is
160 florins, a dragoon's horse 180 florins, and a horse
for light cavalry 118 florins. A great quantity of
ammunition and cannon for Italy has been ordered.
The Emperor has announced, in an autograph letter,
that the present state of the Lombardo-Venetian
kingdom may be considered as revolutionary, and
that, in consequence, the superior authorities of the
State have orders to take the necessary measures for
the re-establishment of the tranquillity and security
of the country?'
The sudden recal to Copenhagen of Baron BuLow,
the Danish Minister to the German Diet, is at-
tributed to some measures about to be adopted by
the King of DENMARK for declaring the indivisible
unity of the Danish kingdom, including the duchies
of Schleswig-Holstein.

The Genoa Gazette announces that the Board of
Health at that port issued, on December 31, a cir-
cular order, declaring all merchandise coming from
the ports of Great Britain to be suspicious if shipped
after the 3d of that mouth.

The Spener Gazette gives the following account of
the manner in which the recruits are levied in Po-
land:—

" The levy is made during the night, and in order
more surely to take all persons that are destined to
recruit the armies of Russia, the houses are sur-
rounded, and married and single are torn from their
homes to serve for twenty years. Those who wish to
escape can only do so by emigration, for if he re-
mains in the country he incurs the greatest danger."

Madrid journals of the 14th have arrived.
General ESPARTERO had called on the preceding
day on the Prime Minister, the Minister of War, and
the Captain-General of the District.
NARVAEZ had, in the Senate, announced the com-
plete extermination of the insurgents in Catalonia.
MADRID BOMA, JAN. 14.—Threes, 27 ; Fives,
16k; Exchange on London, 48 15.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.

The KING received the Address of the Chamber of
Peers on Wednesday. The Journal des Debats gives
the following account of the ceremony :—" This
evening, at nine o'clock, the KING received the grand
deputation of the Chamber of Peers appointed to pre-
sent to his MAJESTY the Address in answer to the
Speech from the Throne. Almost every Member of
the Chamber joined the deputation. At nine o'clock
the KING entered the salle de reception, and ascended
the throne, surrounded by the Princes his sons, the
Duke DE NEMOURS, the Prince DE JOINVILLE, and
the Duke DE MONTPENSIER. IBS MAJESTY wore
the uniform of a lieutenant-general. The President
of the Council and the Ministers took their places on
the right and left of the throne.
" The Chancellor of France, and the other officers
and Members of the Chamber, having been intro-
duced, the Chancellor read the Address voted by the
Chamber.

" The KING made the following reply :
" MESSIEURS LES PAIRS,—

" I experience the most lively emotion at finding
in this Address the expressions of condolence and of
affection, which the Chamber of Peers offers to me
after the severe misfortune which has happened to me
in my family. I express to you my sincerest grati-
tude for them.

"I am always happy to repeat to the Chamber of
Peers the feelings of happiness which I experience
from the support, as loyal as it is enlightened, which
it continues to afford to my Government. It is by
persevering, as we have done for now nearly eighteen
years in drawing closer the ties which so happily
unite together the great powers of the State, that
we shall still succeed in consolidating more and more,
and in preserving from all injury, those institutions
which France has given to herself, and which so
efficaciously secure the progressive development of
her prosperity, as well as the maintenance of order
at home, and of peace abroad.
" I again cordially thank you for the sentiments
you just expressed towards me."
This speech was delivered by the KING in a firm
and accentuated voice, and was listened to by the
Chambers with respectful attention, and was followed
by frequently repeated cries of Vice le .Roi.
The KING having descended from the throne, several
of the Peers approached his MAJESTY, who entered into
conversation with them, and continued to converse
ith them for some time. The KING appeared to be in
the enjoyment of very good health. The Chancellor
and th& Peers then proceeded to present the homage
to her Majesty the QUEEN and the Princesses.
The National has the following, in answer to the
false and calumnious charges brought by the Count
DE MONTALEMBERT against the Swiss Federalists
"M. DE MONTALEMBERT probably did not expect
that a f rural denial of the truth of the furious accu-
sations which he has brought against the Swiss
Radicals would be given by the partisans of the Son-
derbund themselves, yet such is the case. A Gene-
vese refugee, M. HUBERT SALADIN, who resigned '
his commission as colonel in the Federal service,
beciluie he would not serve against the revolted Con-
scrvativcs, has, in the columns of the Presse, under-
taken the defence of the conq'zerors. In spite of
his political sympathies, which attach hini to the
severen
i aeaecks
n ge fano n
cause of the defunct League, he acknowledges
idr lt et aci r It
n and declares that his fellow-countrymen of the
Federal party have been as humane in battle as they
ia e bt
tn m d rye!
ttn calt
toie nrmy.
er ea pgr hgoseavrcia hot eig os
n i
h i
terms thee
indulged
ul
oratorcalumnious
uils e forx
s.
Among other proofs, M. liuniatT SALADIN cites a
private lett,r from General DUFOUR in which the
conduct of the federal soldiers i 5 made the subject of