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

117
- OCTOBER 25, 1848.

- ARM
A gentleman was examined, who stated that he
had known the traverser for twelve months, and had
always found him a mild and gentlemanly person.
Judge TORRENS, addressing the traverser, said
that he had made all the reparation in his power for
that which he had done, by pleading guilty to the
accusation of the law, and by offering compensation
to the person who had suffered from violence of
which he had been the instrument. His Lordship
dwelt on the unfortunate nature of the occurrence,
and the statement made by the prosecutor as to his
sufferings, and said he hoped it would weigh on the
traverser's mind so as to cause him hereafter to ab-
stain from ardent spirits ; and said that in the opinion
of the Court the sum of 101. compensation offered by
the traverser was not sufficient, and that 41. should
be added to it. The traverser should in addition be
fined 6d., and should be confined until such time as
he paid the fine and the compensation, for a period not
exceeding six months.

CAPITAL SENTENCES ON M'AIANIiS,
O'DONOHOE, AND MEAGHER.
ADJOURNMENT OF THE SPECIAL C 011•
MISSION AT CLONMEL.
CLONMEL, MONDAY. The Lord Chief Justice
Blackburne, Chief Justice Doherty, and Mr. Justice
Moore, took their seats on, the bench at half-past ten
o'clock this morning.
The Solicitor-General, Mr. Scott, Q C.,Mr.
Lynch, and Mr. Sausse, appeared as counsel or the
Crown. The Attorney-General was not present,
having gone to Dublin to attend the Commission in
that city,
" Mr. Butt, Q.C., Sir Colman O'Loghlen, Mr.
O'Callaghan, and Mr. Francis Meagher, were in at-
tendance as counsel for the prisoners who had been
tried and convicted.
The SOLICITOR.-GENERAL desired the Clerk of the
Crown to bring to the bar the following prisoners :
dames Orchard, Patrick Denis Tyne Patrick
'O'Dthinell, Wm. Pert, Thomas Finane, John Bren-
nan, John Preston, and Thomas Stack.
The prisoners were accordingly arraigned. They
are all men in humble life, labourers and mechanics ;
two or three of them are fine stout men, particularly
Stack, the rest are miserable and impoverished crea-
tures. Each of them pleaded not guilty to the in-
dictment, which charged them with high treason.
They were some of the followers of Mr. W. S.
O'Brien, and the overt acts imputed to them were
similar to those set forth in the indictment under
which that gentleman had been tried.
Mr. O'CALLAGHAN applied to the Court, as counsel
had done in all ether cases, for lists of the witnesses
and the jury panel, and handed in a plea correspond-
ing with those previously put in. He made the pre-
liminary motion merely to prevent its being said
that the cases of the prisoners then at the bar were
distinguished from the others because no claim had
been put in for the privileges which counsel had con-
tended should be extended to them.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said he would assume
that all which he had done in the previous cases had
been done in that case.
The pleas were then signed by the prisoners, and
handed in to the Clerk of the Crown, and the Solici-
tor-General directed them to " stand by." .
They were then re-conducted to the cell.
Mr. BUTT, Q.C,, asked the Court if it would con-'
sider the' points which Mr. Whiteside and he had
urged on Saturday evening ?
The Curer JUSTICE said that the Court had them
under their consideration ; they did not think there
was any substance in them, but they would give them
all the weight which they might deserite.
THE SENTENCES.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL then prayed the Court to
bring up for judgment the three prisoners who had
been found guilty.
Directions were accordingly given to conduct the
prisoners, Thomas Francis Meagher, Terence Bellew
Mclslanus and Patrick O'Donohoe, from the goal,
and shortly afterwards they were placed in the dock.
The Clerk of the Crown, having read over the in-
dictment, and in the usual manner, read the re.
cord of the arraignment, the pleas of the prisoners,
and their convictions, asked each of them what he
had to say why sentence of death should not be passed
upon him ?
The first prisoner whom he addressed was Mr.
McManus.
Clerk of the Crown—Terence Bellew M'Manus,
what have you to say why sentence of death shall not
be passed upon you ?
Mr. McManus said—My Lords, I trust I am
enough of a Christian and enough of a man to under-
stand the awful responsibility of the question that
has been put to me. My Lords, standing on this
my native soil—standing in an Irish court of justice,
and before the Irish nation—l have.much to say why
sentence of death or the sentence of the law
,hould not be passed upon me; but, my Lords, on
entering this court I placed my life—and
what is of much more importance to me, my honour,
in the hands of two advocates; and, my Lords, if I
had ten thousand lives and ten thousand honours I
would be content to place them under the watchful
and glorious genius of the one, and the high legal
ability of the other. My Lords, I am content in that
regard. I have something to say which no advocate,
however anxious, can utter for me. I have this to
say, my Lords, that whatever part I may have taken
through any struggle far my country's independence
—whatever part I may have acted in that short
career—l stand before your Lordships now with a
free heart and with a light conscience, ready to abide
the issue of your sentence. And now, my Lords,
perhaps this is the fittest time that I might put one
sentiment on record, and it, is this—standing as I do
between the dock and the scaffold—it may be now or
to-morrow, or it may be never, but whatever the re-
sult may be, I have this sentiment to put on record,
that in any part I have taken I have not been actuated
by animosity to Englishmen, for I have spent some
of the happiest and most prosperous days of my life
there ; and in no part of my career have I been
actuated by enmity to Englishmen, however much 'I
may have felt the injustice of English rule in this
island. My Lords, I have nothing more to say. It
is not for having loved England less, but for having
loved Ireland more, that I stand now before you.
Clerk of the Crown—What have you to say,
Patrick O'Donohoe, why sentence of death shall not
be passed upon you ?
Mr. O'Donohoe said—My Lords, I have written
out a few remarks, which, with your Lordships' per-
mission, I will read.
The COURT having assented,
Mr. O'Donohoe said—My Lords, I beg to say that
the Attorney and Solicitor-General have conducted
the case against me fairly, but strictly, and I find no
fault with them nor with the evidence given against
me, so far as it was acted on by the jury. My
Lords, I do complain that in such a country the
jurors summoned to try me, a stranger, for a political
offence, were exclusively political opponents, and with
such a panel I regret that your Lordships did not, as
my counsel requested, allow my jury to have been
called from those who had not served, or been re-
jected, on a former trial. My jury, thus selected,
could not be supposed to overcome all bias, and I be.
lieve they found a most mistaken verdict. Mr. Justice
Moore, in his direction, told the jury that if I assisted
Mr. O'Brien whilst engaged in a treasonable design, I
was guilty of treason, although I might not know of his
intent, and from their recommendation it appears
that they found me guilty on that direction. To one
unlearned in the law, and supposing that treason
depends on intention, it seems contrary to common
sense that I can participate in a treasonable design of
the existence of which I am ignorant. I do not,
however, presume to dispute the law as you Lordship
has stated it, but no earthly judge is infallible; and
as the doctrine is so startling, and one stamped with
the authority of Mr. sMoore's high constitutional
character, would form a precedent dangerous to the
lives and liberties of the best men, I humbly request
your Lordships to reserve the point for the considera-
tion of the Judges. If your Lordship be in error
that error ought to be corrected—if not, it will be a
protection to every one to know that the law so laid
down has been confirmed. It is not fit on this solemn
occasion to defend my opinions or conduct—l will,
therefore, only say that those opinions have
always been tolerant, sincere, and consistent. I
ameminent counsel, h
t e
more 11.1
ir. r Be s
o because
ut t , for his
eloquent abledefence,
generously given without fee or
nt o
trulyasmyeln
m
reward, and given, too, to his political antagonist. I
that grateful
defeandee was
cannot but express my admiration for the ingenuity
and great talent shown by my junior counsel, Mr.
Francis Meagher, and his zeal in my defence. I also
beg to thank my solicitor, Mr. Laffan, for the ability
with which he conducted my case, and the general
exertions made by him on my behalf. I thank your
Lordships for this patient hearing.
The Clerk of the Crown then asked Mr. Meagher
what he had to say why the sentence of the law should
not be passed upon him.
Mr. Meagher, with fluency of utterance, and re-
markable firmness of manner, then spoke as follows :
—My
I d
Lords,esir it is my intention to say a few words
only. e that the last act of a proceeding which
has occupied so much of the public time should be of
short duration ; nor have I the indelicate wish to
close the dreary ceremony of a state prosecution
with a vain display of words. Did I fear that,
hereafter, when I shall be no more, the country
_I have tried to Wye would think ill of nie, I might

indeed avail myself of this solemn moment to vindi-
cate my sentiments and my conduct. But I have no
such fear. The country will judge of these senti-
ments, and of that conduct, in a light, I think, far
different from that in which the jury by which I have
been convicted have viewed them ; and perhaps the
sentence you, my Lords are about to pronounce will
be remembered only as the severe and solemn attes-
tation of my rectitude and truth. Whatever may be
the language in which that sentence will be spoken, I
know that my fate will meet with sympathy, and that
my memory will be honoured. In speaking thus
accuse me not, my Lords, of an indecorous presump-
tion. To the efforts I have made for. what I conceived
to be a just and noble cause, I ascribe _no vain im-
portance; nor do I claim for them any.Aiigh reward.
But it so happens, and it will ever selappen, that
they who have tried to serve their counfl; no matter
how weak their efforts may have hied' aresure to
receive the thanks and blessings' 'people.
With the country, then, I leave myAnentiory, my
sentiments, my acts, proudly feeling that they.
require no vindication from me this day. A
jury of my countrymen, it is true, have found me
guilty of the crime of which I was indicted. For
this I entertain not the slightest feeling of resent-
ment against them ; influenced as they must have been'
by the charge of the Lord Chief Justice,- they, per-
haps, could have returned no other verdict. What.
of that charge? Any strong observations upon it I
sincerely feel would ill befit the solemnity of this
scene; but I would earnestly beseech of you, my
Lord—you, who preside upon that beach---when the.
prejudices and the passions of this hour have passed
away, to appeal to your own conscience, and ask of
it—was your charge, as it ought to have been, im-
partial and indifferent between the subject and the
Crown? My Lords, you may deem this language
unbecoming in me, and perchance it may seal my
fate; but I am here to speak the truth, whatever it
may cost. lam here to regret nothing that I have
ever done—to retract nothing that I have ever said.
lam not here to crave with lying lip the life I con-
secrate to the liberty of my country. Far from it.
Even here—here, where the thief, the libertine, the
murderer, have left their foot prints in the dust—here
in this spot, where the shadow of death surrounds me,
and from which I see an early grave in an unanointed
soil opened to receive me—even here encircled by these
terrors, that hope which beckoned me to the perilous
sea on which I have been wrecked, still consoles, ani-
mates, and enraptures me. No I Ido not despair of
my poor old country—her peace, her liberty, her
glory.. For that country I can now do no more than
bid her hope. To lift this island Up—to make her a
benefactor to humanity instead of what she is—the
meanest beggar in the world—to restore to her her
native powers and her ancient constitution—this has
been my ambition, and this ambition has been my
crime. Judged by the law of England I knowLthil
crime entails the penalty of death. But the history
of Ireland explains my crime and justifies it. Judged
,by that history I am no criminal—(and turning to
his fellow-prisoner M‘Manus)—you• are no criminal
(and to O'Donohoe), you are no criminal, and we
deserve no punishment. Judged by that history,
the treason, of which I have been convicted,
loses all its guilt—is sanctified as a duty—
will be ennobled as a sacrifice. With these senti-
ments, my Lords, I await the sentence of the Court.
Having done what I feel to be my duty—having
spoken now, as I did on every occasion during my
•short life, what I felt to be the trutb, I now bid fare-
well to the country of my birth, my passion, and my
death—that country whose misfortunes have invoked
', my sympathies—whose factions I sought to still—
whose intellect I 'prompted to a lofty ;din—whose
freedom has been my fatal dream. I offer to that
country, as a pledge of the love I bear her, and the
'sincerity with which I thought, and spoke, and
struggled for her freedom, the life of a young, heart ;
and with that life all the hopes, the honours, the en-
dearments of a happy and an honourable home. Pro-
nounce, then my Lords, the sentence which the law
directs, and I trust I-will' be prepared to hear it, and
meet its execution. I trust, too, that I shall be pre-
pared with a pure heart to appear before a higher
tribunal—a tribunal where a . judge of infinite good-
ness as well as of infinite justice will preside; and
where, my Lords, many, many of the judgments of
this world will be reversed.

[A low and protracted murmur of applause per-
vaded the conclusion of the prisoner's most eloquent
and impassioned address.]
Lord Chief. Justice Douewrr-efrisoners .at the
bar, Terence Bellew MiManus, Patrick O'Bionohoe,
and Thomas Francis Meagher, after deep considera-
tion, before entering into this court it was 'my
intention, in the performance of the very painful
duty which devolves upon me, not to have prolonged
your stay at that bar by, any length of observation.
You, and each, ofyou, appear there having been con-
victed by the verdicts of three successive juries of the
crime of high treason—the crime of the greatest
enormity known to our laws.- I feel bound to say-
this, that it is the deliberate, dispassionateeand calm
opinion of the Court that the :verdicts which were
found by those juries, and the verdict which was found
by a former jury, could not have been other than they
were—that no honest,' fair, impartial, and conscien-
tious jurors, attending strictly to their oaths and
listening to the evidence that was pieiduced in
this court in the course of these unusually pro-
tracted trials, could have come to any other .conclu-
sion .than that which they have done. They have
pronounced you one and all guilty of the crime of
high treason.- That crime consists in having levied
war in this county within and during the last week of-
the month of July—of having levied war for trea-
sonable purposes—and that you, and each 'of you,
more or less participated in, excited to, .and prepared
for, and were yourselves some of you more, some less,
actively engaged in the furtherance of that project.
In order to constitute the crime of high treason by
the levying of war, it is no ingredient that the means
should be proportioned to the end sought to be ac-
complished, or that there should be a rational pros-
pect of success. The parties who engage in such
transactions become responsible if they have arrayed,
assembled, collected, drilled, and prepared those vs ho
by force endeavour to accomplish that object—the
common object that was in view. It is not, I am
sorry to say, to any forbearance on your part that
that rebellion—for such I may term it— which
broke out in that week, was brought to a
speedy conclusion. It is not due to you ; it is
under God attributable to the fidelity and the
bravery of the police force. When I reflect on what
might have been the consequences if that police
force, either seduced by promises or intimidated by
threats which were made use of, had yielded to the
advances that were made to them, if they had been
overwhelmed by the congregated numbers that assem-
bled and attempted their destruction, or if they had
failed in dispersing those bands of rebels who assem-
bled around them on the hills, I think there is no fair
man who, looking at and contemplating what the
state of this country might have been, will not see
how rapidly a temporary success might have added to
the numbers of the insurgents, and how soon this
country might have been deluged in blood, and given
over to all the horrors of a civil war. It is from that
we have escaped by the fidelity and by the bravery of
the police foree. lam very far, God knows, from wish-
ing to say one word at this moment that can raise or en-
hance the feelings which some of you may endure. But
I cannot, in looking to what was the state of this country
in the month of May last, avoid adverting (without
entering into particulars of it) to that authentic
speech which was given in evidence upon the last
trial ; eloquent no doubt it is ; but who can avoid
seeing, in the perusal of that speech delivered by you,
Mr. Meagher, on the 6th of June, a terrible picture of
what was at that time the state of this country, and
the calamities which were impending and meditated,
and from which, by God's assistance, we have es-
caped. I have told you that it was my wish to abstain
from enlarging or giving any details, and I shall do so.
I shall merely add this observation, that from the
commencement to the conclusion of this commission,
which has now extended to the fifth week, there has
been
a perfect coincidence in the views of every mem-
ber of this bench as to the law ; and if the observa-
tions of the distinguished judge who presides here did
seem to you, and I can make every allowance for
their doing so, to press and bear severely upon you—
perhaps, in a cornier moment, when you come to
reflect upon it, you will see that it was from the very
nature of the transactions themselves that those com-
ments legitimately arose, which appeared to you to
press with undue severity on you. Perhaps, when you
come to reflect dispassionately, you will see this in the
same light, and I trust that you may be more recon-
ciled than you appear at present to the justice of the
unhappy fete which awaits you, and which there is
not an individual with a heart to feel who must not
deeply deplore. I shall not now detain you longer.
r have merely to exhort each of you to reflect on the
awful situation in which each of you at this moment
stands, and to prepare for the dreadful fate that im-
pends over you. We have not failed to send, as was
our duty, to the Lord-Lieutenant, the recotnmenda
tions with which the juries in your respective cases
have accompanied the verdicts that have been found
againsiYou. But you must be well aware that it is
with the Executive Government, and the Executive
Government alone, that the fate of these recommen-
dations rests. And we in the discharge of our most
anxious and painful duty have now only to proceed
you, the awful
to iass upon you, and upon each of