The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-25 00:00:00

IRELAND.

THE TRIALS AT CLONMEL•
DUBLIN, TUESDAY.—It will be seen by the follow-
ing report, that sentence of death - was yesterday
passed upon Messrs. M'Manus, O'Donohoe, and
Meagher, after which the commission adjourned to
the sth of December next. The speeches of the ill-
fated convicts are deeply interesting.
The time for carrying into effect the executions on
O'Brien, M`Manus, O'Donohoe' and Meagher, were
yesterday entered in the judge's book, but it was not
announced to any of the parties most deeply interested.
A .communication was made to Orchard, Tyne,
M'Donnell, and the other peasants, against whom
bills for treason bad been found, that if they
pleaded guilty '„e mitigated punishment would be
inflicted upon them. Their attorney intimated that
if the sentence were only 18 months' imprisonment,
they would withdraw their plea of not guilty ; if;
however, the Crown insisted upon " transportation,"
his clients were resolved to take their chance of a
trial. They would not even join in their challenges.
The Attorney-General declined this, and they will
be tried at the adjourned commission, -to be held in
December next.
The correspondent of Saunders gives the following
account of the scene in the Court-house.on Saturday
night :
" CLONIIBL, OCT. 22.--The jury in Ilf.'lleagher's
case were about three quarters of an hour consider-
ing their verdict, and the period ' which intervened
between their withdrawal to their room and their re-
appearance in Court was one of great interest. A
number of constabulary arrived, with muskets and
fixed bayonets, and were stationed round the dock, and
at the several doors. The corridors and various passa-
ges were also filled with armed men. The Court-house
was dimly lighted, and, to use the metaphorical lan-
guage of Mr. Butt, the gloom that pervaded it was
slightly diminished, or rendered a little less intense,
by the dim and partial lights; and one could scarcely
avoid conjuring up the shadows of those who had
been hurried to the grave of the felon, and beholding
them flitting around that dock where the prisoner,
with all his genius, power, and chivalry, stood upon
the very spot which had been trodden' by many an
assassin, and from which so Many had been hurried
to an ignominious death. It was a scene that the
graphic and gloomy Dante .could have described.
[he night was dark and rainy, and the dismal, dreary
appearance of the streets, in which few persons but
armed constabulary were to be seen, was in keeping
with the aspect of gloom that met the eye in the in-
terior of the building. The feeling could not be sup-
pressed that it was a melancholy termination to the
career of a gifted young Irishman, who, had he
directed his talents to the attainment of prac-
ticable and useful objects, might, in the senate
or at the bar, have advanced the interests and
promoted the prosperity of his native land. The
scene afforded an affecting but useful lesson,
that misapplied faculties, perverted eloquence, and
misdirected enthusiasm, the end, lead to the
ruin of the rash and unreflecting possessor, and blast
those prospects whose very brilliancy and promise
render downfall and discomfiture more overwhelming.
The prisoner, for some time after the Judges had re-
tired, sat in the dock with a cloak folded about him.
He conversed with his friends, chatting and, laughing
with them, in apparent good spirits. The High
Sheriff told him he might retire, which he did, and
remained in the cell till the Judges returned into
court. At twenty minutes after seven o'clock their
Lordships resumed their seats, and the jury were in-
formed that they were ready to receive their verdict.
As each juror entered his serious and anxious look
was a sufficient index to the decision ' • and the solemn
and reluctant manner in which the foreman handed
the issue paper to the Clerk of the Crown must have
removed any hope of an acquittal that the friends of
Mr. Meagher entertained. The Clerk of the
Crown put the usual qaestion 'How say
you, gentlemen, is Thomas Francis Meagher
guilty or not guilty ?' The foreman replied,
y: T
in a faint, low voice, Guiltword The ran
through the court, and soonwhispered
from lip to lip in
the streets. The foreman read
commendation of mercy, on thefgrroomunadpoafpetrhethyeourtei;
of the prisoner, and other reasons,l and handed it to
the judges, who made no rep
retire, and gave the order y.
They then rose to
'Remove the prisoner.'
Mr. Meagher bowed.to them very respectfully, shook
hands affectionately with some friends, and was re-
conducted to the cell. The dock
only a dim lamp pendant from was so dark, having
to one of the bars, that
the prisoner's figure was little more than visible. The
prison van was then driventhe court-house, and
the horses were backed to the little doer which leads
i.
from the cell into the area before tTe of themhegat e were
was
locked to keep out the crowd, and one
re-opened for the departure of the prisoner. The
such a manner constabulary were arranged in
surround the conveyance, which thder as to
a i
, us guar e an
environed, was driven as slowly as a hearse ,to the
gaol, and Mr. Meagher was escorted to his apartment.
It is expected that the three prisoners who have been
convicted will be brought up for judgment to-morrow.
The sentence, which must be pronounced according
to the law, is one of the most appalling that could be
devised—hanging, decapitation, and quartering ; but
it is very generally desired by all classes in Clonmel
that justice should be tempered with mercy, which
blesseth him who gives, him who receives, and drop-
peth like the gentle dew from heaven.' "
THE CONIMISSION IN DUBLIN.
Yesterday plichael Moran, John Joseph Moran,
and John M'Cormack were indicted; Michael Moran
for maliciously assaulting with intent to kill police-
constable John Byrne, by stabbing him with a dag-
ger, and the other two prisoners for aiding and
abetting in said assault.
There were five other
•
counts in the indictment, in which Michael Moran
with assaulting, with intent to disable,
to charged
to do grievous bodily harm, &c., and the two other
prisoners with aiding and abetting.
The prisoners severally pleaded not guilty.
words from Mr. Curran
The case was, after a few
counsel for M'Cormack, ordered to stand over.
Case or ASSAULT. —Henry Mac Ilree was indicted
for assaulting M. Smith.
The traverser pleaded Guilty.
It appeared that the assault had been committed
under the following circumstances :—The traverser
had served on board her Majesty's frigate Castor,
on the New Zealand station, and while performing
duty there received a severe blow on the side of the
head, which very nearly cost him his life, and from
the effects of which be slowly recovered. His
subsequent state of health became such that the use
of spirits was forbidden him,
with . a
friend but on his return to this
country, while in companyone day, the
weather being cold and wet, he was induced to par-
take of some liquor ; he afterwards went with his
friend to the house of the prosecutor, with whom the
former was acquainted, and while there took a glass
of punch. The effect of drinking upon him was to
bring on a temporary delirium, under the influence of
which he struck the prosecutor a violent blow on the
front part of the head with a stick, without having
received anything like provocation. He was imme-
diately given into custody, and removed to the
station-house, but on recovering from the delirium
he remembered nothing of what had occurred. These
facts were disclosed in an affidavit made by the tra-
verser himself, by the direction of the Court, his
counsel (Mr. Curran) having previously mentioned
them in explanation of the case. The affidavit furth?r
stated that when the traverser was made aware of
what he had done he offered the prosecutor 101. by
way of reparation, being all the money he Was pos-
sessed of, and expressed the greatest sorrow for what
had happened.
The prosecutor was sworn and stated that he had
undergone much suffering from the wound, a dan-
gerous one, from which he was not yet recovered,
and had besides been put to expense for medical
treatment.