The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-04 00:00:00

IRELAND.

RUMOURED ESCAPE OF SMITH O'BRIEN.
DUBLIN, AUG. 24.—We are still as much in the
dark as to the proceedings or fate of Mr. Smith
O'Brien as ever. The town is, as usual, full of the
most absurd rumours. We are, however, inclined to
think that Mr. O'Brien has succeeded in quitting the
kingdom. Up to the present we have nothing in the
shape of accurate intelligence respecting him.
A correspondent of a morning contemporary writes
as follows :
"It is confidently affirmed, by parties who feel the
deepest interest in the fortunes of Mr. Smith O'Brien,
that he has already succeeded in ef ecting. his escape.
How he accomplished this rumoured escape, or whe-
ther he has withdrawn, I could not ascertain. But
his friends in Dublin are satisfied of his safety, and
pronounce him beyond the reach of da.tger. This I
give you on good authority.
" We hear from another source that a person
answering in description to Mr. S. O'Brien, bereft of
his whiskers, arrived at Bristol from the west on
Sunday morning, travelled by the Great Western line
to London, and arrived just in time to catch the
Batavier steamer for Rotterdam, which place he
reached—not exactly without a passport—hut with
one very much out of date. On being confronted
with the authorities on this account, the fugitiVe
owned at once that he was one of the Irish leaders."
Reports of a contradic!ory nature are rife in
Dublin. The Freeman of this morniree, whose ac-
count is confirmed by the .Kilkenny Journal, states
that Mr. O'Brien was somewhere in the county of
Kilkenny, and was seen lute on Sunday night in the
company of two horsemen. Other accounts state that
he had reached Scollogh Gap, in the county of Wex-
ford. In fact, we are bewildered with reports.
The correspondent of the Soutkernßeporter, writing
from Clonmel on Monday evening, says—
" I drove by Slievenamon to-day, and saw no appear-
ance of meeting on it, or about its western base.
" The Sub-Inspector's horse, on which Mr. O'Brien
left Ballingarry, on Saturday evening, has been returned,
from what quarter is unknown."
The Freeman's Journal of this morning contains
the following letter from its special correspondent :
LATEST FRO THE SOUTH.
" KILKENNY, WEDNESDAY NIGHT, NINE O'CLOCK.
"Notwithstanding that the utmost vigilance charac-
terises all the movements of the authorities here, they
remain in perfect ignorance of Smith O'Brien's where-
abouts. There are rumours innumerable as to the di-
rection he took after leaving Ballingarry, but they are
so conflicting that it would be difficult to come to a cor-
rect conclusion on the subject. However, the best au-
thenticated accounts represent him—as stated in my
dispatch of last evening—as having been seen at Clo-
manto, a few miles from this city, in the Thurles di-
rection, on Monday. He then wore a portion of the 'B2
uniform.
" I read a private letter from Limerick, directed to a
party in this city, to-day; and it states that it was confi-
dently asserted there that Smith O'Brien sailed from
the part of Limerick in the Jane Black, on Saturday
night. The letter in question further states that this
vessel had got under weigh suddenly, leaving behind
a number of emigrants who had engaged a pas-
sne in her. Now, Ido not at all believe that Smith
O'Brien made his escape in this vessel; for, though it
would not have been impossible for him to reach Lime-
rick on the same evening that he left Ballingarry, it
would have been exceedingly difficult for him to du so.
Besides, I have no doubt that he was seen in this county
on Monday. Many think that he is about the collieries
still, and General M'Donald has a portion of his forces
encamped in that locality, which fact proves that the
authorities are of opinion Mr. O'Brien's /sews in quo is
in the neighbourhood of the scene of the late encounter.
" A cautionary notice, warning all persons against
harbouring any of the implicated parties, was posted
through Kilkenny this morning, but it was immediately
torn down by the people, as I have been informed by
some of the authorities.
" The military out-posts of the county have been
strengthened considerably. This morning 300 men of
the 75th, commanded by Major Delanzy, marched from
this city, taking their tents with them for Callan, to be
there encamped to act in conjunction with General Mac-
donald, and under that officer's command. A company
of thend, under Lieutenant Crow, also marched to
Castlecomer, to strengthen the garrison there. Intelli-
gence, stating that Major-General Prince George of
Cambridge will come to Kilkenny in case of an outbreak
here, has been received;
" There was a street riot in Thurles yesterday morn-
ing. It appears that some of the people attempted to
prevent the conveyance of bread from u baker's shop to
General M‘Donald's forces, and broke a few panes of
glass in the endeavour; but they were dispersed, without
loss of life, by a troop of dragoons.
" This evening, as two industrious citizens, Mr. Gaff-
ney, a merchant tailor, of High-street, and Mr. Grace,
gunmaker, of Patrick-street, were proceeding on private
business in the Bennett's Bridge direction, they found
themselves overtaken at Millinount, about two miles
from town, by Carroll, the mounted policeman, who was
taken before S. O'Brien on Saturday. Carroll told them
that he had been dispatched by the county inspector to
search the car on which they sat, as he had been in-
formed that they were conveying arms out of the city.
Messrs. Gaffney and Grace at once returned to the city
with the constable, and when it was found that they
were perfectly innocent of having us much us a pistol
lock with them they were discharged.
" Considerable anxiety prevails hero to-night respect-
ing 1)r. Cane, as it is generally rumoured that he will
be removed from the county gaol to Newgate, or some
other distant prison iminez:iately. Some say his removal
will take place before morning.
According to the Vindicator, everything in that
locality is in a state of great tranquillity in and
about Nenagh, save the plunder of sheep from the
pastures of some persons since the withdrawal of the
constabulary from the out stations. At first mass in
Nenagh chapel, on Sunday, the Rev. Mr. Power,
C.C., spoke in the most persuasive terms to the people
to keep the peace. The Itev. Mr. Bowles addressed
the congregation to the same effect at last mass.
The same journal says—lt is melancholy to reflect
on the state of the country throughout this wide and
extensive district. Business suspended—farming
operations unattended to—men's minds torn by
anxiety—a wide-spread sentiment of sympathy,
which I forbear, for obvious reasons, from describ-
ing. • The Roman Catholic clergy everywhere exert-
ing themselves to dissuade the people from joining
the insurgents, and earnestly and zealously exhorting
the insurgents to abandon their arms, and give up,
what appears to be, an insane and desperate move-
ment.
It will be exceedingly difficult, notwithstanding, to
arrest Mr. William Smith O'Brien. In many parts
of the country the Government proclamation, offer-
ing a reward of 500/. for his capture, has been torn
down or covered with mud and gutter; and unless
he be betrayed, the authorities, from present appear-
ances, will have a long chase after him.
It was stated to-day that a gentleman, said to be
the Rev. Mr. Coghlan, from Waterford, had been
arrested near Castleotway, on the suspicion of his
being Mr. J. B. Dillon. It is said that Mr. Dillon
has made his escape in the direction of the Shannon ;
but it is well nigh impossible to believe one word you
hear on this head.
In Cashel, yesterday, the police arrested a respect-
ably-dressed person who they thought was Mr. Dil-
lon. He would not give his name, as he did not
conceive what authority there was to demand it. He
was committed for further examination. In Cashel
there is no business whatsoever doing.
It is stated that a discovery of five hundred pikes
and sixty kegs of gunpowder was on Monday made
in the neighbourhood of Killenaule. A strong body
of police from the Northern Division of Tipperary
was yesterday drafted to the districts stated to be in
a state of disturbance. One hundred men left Ne-
nagh for that purpose.
Thirty of the police from the out-stations are con-
centrated in Cloghjordan, under head-constable
Burke, and a great number of police from the out--
stations occupy the barracks at Borrisokane.
In the provinces, Mr. John Francis Blake, proprie-
tor of the Gahvay Vindicator, Mr. Coll Rochford, an
attorney of that town, and a gunmaker, named Cal-
laghan, have been committed to the gaol of Galway
under Privy Council warrants. Mr. Marson, of the
Drogheda Argus; Mr. Houston, of Belfast; Messrs.
J. B. Russell, James Purcell, and Edward Smith, of
Clonmel, are also arrested under like authority.
Seventy pounds were found on Mr. Purcell's person
on his capture. It was supposed he was proceeding
to join " the camp."
The bills against the Kilkenny agent for the Felon
and Nation have been ignored by the grand jury.
The information was of a monstrous size, and fright-
ened the jury into an " ignoramus." The crown
solicitor should have been more skilful or cautious.
CARRICK-ON•SUIR.—At Carrick-on-Suir the bar-
racks. are crowded with troops; two houses adjoining
are also occupied by the military, and the Temperance
Hall, and it is contemplated to take otherthhoeu houses and
occupy them with troops. This is one of
strongholds of the Confederates:. it is with the utmost
difficulty they are kept in check bys thmeiardelefaodrerasr.mOsn;
Friday and Saturday a search
wa
blades, and one full-
thirty pike handles, four pike
mounted pike were obtained; somebarrelsicifiggins
gun-
powder were taken from a vendor named
with one case of fire-arms. They tranmiplloedoktihng f
the po-
tatoes and corn on Father Gaffne y,s far
arms, and the field of one poor man, aged 80, who
stood on a
ditch and opposed the 500 men, armed
with a pitchfork ;he was arrested and imprisoned.
The soldiers and police had been confined to barracks
for the previous fortnight, and were under arms every
night.
A REBEL CHlEF.—Mahony, the rebel chief of
Ballyneal, near the slate quarries, drills a thousand
men every morning at six o'clock ; he is a man of
powerful stature; his arms are a blunderbuss slung
over his shoulder, a pike two feet and a half long,
containing three pounds weight of steel, with a pair of
pistols slung in a belt of untanned leather. It
appears there is a warrant out for his arrest, which
will be rather a difficult task, as he can summon from
the wilds of Slievenamon a formidable force to his
rescue,