The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-02 00:00:00

every accommodation at various public meetings—
we treated him as a guest, and now it turns out that
he was a spy. I think he has no right to be present.
The LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE intimated th there was
no established rule for laja_withdrawal. -
Trie—p.ri-s-Onei_r am overruled by the Court, but
I do not acquiesce in it.
Mr. Hodges then withdrew, it being arranged that
his son and a gentleman named IPDermott (both of
whom are also witnesses for the Crown) should re-
main for the purpose of reporting the proceedings in
thin trial.

Mr. LYNCH, the junior counsel for the Crown,
opened the pleadings. The prisoner, he said, was
charged with high treason. The indictment con-
tained: six counts ;: the first five charged the pri-
soner with raising and -levying war against the
Queen ; the sixth charged him with a conspiracy to
bring and put to death the Queen. The first count
found that the prisoner and others named in the in-
dictment did on the 17th of July of this year, and
on divers other days between that and the 30th, at
Ballingarry, traitorously levy and make war against
the Queen ; and further, that on that occasion they
marched through divers towns, villages, and lands,
and erected certain obstructions to prevent the march
of her Majesty's forces—that they assaulted a num-
ber of constables, made a warlike attack at Bailin-
garry, and fired on a large body of constables there
assembled. The second count charged a similar
offence at Mullinahone on the 26th of July ; the
third a similar offence at Killenaule on the 28th of
July ; the fourth a similar offence at Farrinrory on
the 29th of July ; and the fifth was a general count
of assembling in arms; the sixth count charged the
prisoner with compassing the death of the Queen,
and laid down seven overt acts unnecessary to be
stated as evidence of that conspiracy.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then said that it was his
painful duty to state to them the facts of the case,
and the evidence he meant to bring forward on the
part of the Crown in support of the very serious
charge that he had considered it his duty to submit
to a jury of that county against the prisoner at the
bar, Mr. Smith O'Brien. He was charged with an
offence the highest and greatest in contemplation of
law which a subject could be guilty of, namely, that
of high treason. Fortunately for them all trials for
high treason were of very unfrequent occurrence,
and therefore it would be necessary for him to do
what he was not in the habit of doing in criminal cases
—to state to the jury the law of the case, and the evi-
dence to be brought before them as applying to the
case, in order that they should see the nature of the
charge they were about to try. In very early times,
so far back as the reign of Edward the Third, an Act
was passed which defined treason. It was passed in
13.50, and so far as the precise charge now before
them was concerned, it would be necessary that he
should read a small portion of it. The Hon. and
Learned Gentleman then read the section, and pro-
ceeded. His Learned Friend (Mr. Lynch), in open-
ing the case, stated that the first count contained the
whole of the charge, and that the others were only
portions of it. The first five charged him with the
offence of levying war, and the question they would
have to determine in the evidence, whether his conduct
was such as amounted to a levying of war. With
respect to what the offence was, it was perfectly set-
tled by a train of judicial determinations ; and very
little doubt or difficulty, therefore, existed as to what
constitutes that crime. Judge Foster had done so,
and at a subsequent period it was stated by Lord
Tenterden, in the trial of Thistlewood. The Learned
Gentleman having referred to a speech made by Mr.
O'Brien, continued—lt was impossible to hear that
speech without believing that his intention was to
establish Ireland into an independent kingdom. lie
(the Attorney-General) did not mean to read all the
speeches of the prisoner, but in that he said that,
although he objected before against any force, yet he
changed his mind, and recommended young men
to learn the use of arms, and also engineering,
in order to cut off supplies. Another gen-
tleman, o❑ the same occasion, cried out that the time
was coming when they should up with the barricades,
and invoke the God of battles. This occurred so long
ago as the month of March, and it may be naturally
asked why they were not stopped, or why the Govern-
ment did not interfere. But they would recollect,
that up to the last moment there was a constant con-
spiracy against the law, and that everything was done
by those who so conspired to avoid the consequences.
The jury would understand that although at that time
the taking the field in arms was high treason, yet
seditious speeches were made merely the subject of a
prosecution for a misdemeanour. They took advan-
tage of the law, and the use Mr. O'Brien made of his
iiberty was to prooeed to France to present an address
tio the French people ; and one of the questions they
"'would ha►e to try was, whether the journey he and
Mr. Meagher took to France had for its object
to obtain assistance from that country ? They
went to France in the month of April, and
shortly after endeavoured to establish a national
guard, which should be officered and drilled
in military array. On the 27th of April, 1348, it
was thought necessary to pass an Act of Parliament,
making it felony what had been previously but sedi-
tion. It will appear in evidence before them that
some weeks after a prosecution was instituted against
Mr. Mitchel, for publishing articles, intending to
depose the Queen. That gentleman was a member
of the Confederation, and the offence for which he
was convicted was for a speech made at Limerick, at
a meeting over which Mr. O'Brien presided. It will
also appear before them out of the mouth of one of
Mr. O'Brien's co-conspirators, that discussions and
consultations were held, whether it was possible to
effect a rising—and whether it could not, and ought
not to commence by rescuing Mr. Mitchel, if he were
convicted. Some of them were of opinion that he
ought to have been so rescued, no matter at what
loss of life ; but others thought that as there was no
food in the country, they should wait until the har.
vest was ripe, when it should be commenced. That
decision having been come to, the question then was,
what they should do in the meantime. It was ac-
cordingly arranged that clubs should be esta•
blished in every part of the country, the members of
which should be prepared to turn out whenever it
was found necessary. In the month of July, how-
ever, Mr. Duffy was arrested on the same charge as
Mitchel ; as, according to the arrangements, his trial
and that of a Mr. Martin were fixed to take place on
the Bth of August ; and it was then determined by
Mr. O'Brien and the others, that the rising which was
to take place in January previous, was to begin cer-
tainly in August. Mr. O'Brien then went to Cork,
where he said he found two thousand men, as well
disciplined as any in her Majesty's service. At the
same period the other leaders went in other directions.
Mr. Doherty to Carrick, Mr. Dillon and Mr. O'Gor-
min to Meath, and it would appear from letters writ-
ten giving an account of what they called their
" expedition," that the intention was to effect a
rising in various parts of the country at the same
time, in order to distract the attention of her
Majesty's forces. Mr. O'Brien returned to Dublin
about the 14th of July, and a meeting was called of
the council of the Confederation, when it was
resolved that the rebellion should commence.
The gentlemen of the jury, he knew, well understood
that those having the responsibility of Government
often received information of what was going on,
but which would not amount to evidence fur a con-
viction, and such was the case at present, as he would
show them. There was a meeting, as he said, of the
council held on the 14th of July, at which delegates
were in attendance, when the period for the rising
was finally fixed. Some thought at that meeting that
a resolution to that effect ought to be come to ; others
objected to the time, but there was no second opinion
as to the movement itself. The city of Dublin was
proclaimed on the 18th of July, which prohibited the
possession of arms, and accordingly it was discussed
among them whether they were to resist at that period
and make the demand for arms the occasion of it.
They were probably aware that the Government
intended to suspended the Habeas Corpus Act, the
nature of which privilege the jury no doubt all
knew. By that Act, no person could be ar-
rested on suspicion, or a private information,
no matter how strong, unless parties came for-
ward to prosecute ; and so, it was hoped, that by
suspending it, and arresting the leaders, the country
would he spared the horror of a civil war. As he al-
ready informed them, a meeting was held on the 19th
of Juily, and as it was thought that a council of
twenty-one was too numerous for war purposes, a
second meeting was held on the 21st, when five per•
sons were elected in that capacity. Mr. O'Brien was
not one of them, for it was determined he should. take
the field ; but Mr. Meagher, O'Gorman, Dillon,
O'Reilly, and another, whose name he then forgot,
were chosen. By a providential event the Govern-
ment found in the papers of Mr. Lalor the actual
balloting papers used on that occasion, and they would
produce a witness on the table who was present, and
actually, took a part in the proceedings of the tveonty-
nine persons who took part in the election. That
brought him to Friday night, and Mr. Dillon, and
other barristers among them, knew that so long as
the Habeas Corpus was in existence they could not
be arrested ; but that Act being about to be sus-
pended, they were driven to a more desperate course.
Accordingly, Mr. O'Brien left Dublin on Saturday
morning, the 22d July, for Enrsiscorthy, in order
to break ground. Previous to his departure, how-
ever and at the time Lord John Russell, the Minister
of the Crown, was announcing the fact of his inten-
tion to pass the Act suspending the Habeas Corpus
Act, they were in council in Dublin devising mea-
sures for the revolution. Mr. O'Brien having left
Dublin early in the morning, did not know the fact,
nor could he he aware that it would be the law of
the land in a day or two after, not one being found
in the House of Commons to oppose it. The news
was received in Dublin by the proprietor of the Free-
man's Journal on the Saturday, it being forwarded
to hitn by electric telegraph, who communicated it to
Mr. O'Gorman, and knowing that if Mr. O'Brien

were arrested they would have no leader, it was de-
termined
to communicate the fact to him as soon as
possible. Mr. Meagher and Mr. Dillon left Dublin
on Saturday evening, in order to do so, to lake the
field. They left a Mr. O'Hara's house, near`liings-
town, being afraid to go into Dublin, lest the Govern-
ment might arrest them on their resporsibility, and
perhaps they were right, but they took the coach at
a place called Langhlinstown, and proceeded to En-
niscorthy. He had not, ofcourse, an opportunity of pro-
ducing Meagher orDillon to show what the purpose was
of leaving town, but as soon as they got to Ennis-
corthy, Mr. Dillon stated to Mr. O'Brien that the
time was come when the rising should take place.
Mr. O'Brien resided. while in Enniscorthy, at a place
called Ballinkeel, the residence of Mr. Maher, and
came into that town in the morning, it being a Sun-
day, when he addressed the people, telling them that
the time was come, and Mr. Dillon, in his presence,
said he understood that the people of Wexford always
kept their powder dry. The Attorney-General
should have also mentioned, that previous to his de-
parture from Dublin, Mr. O'Brien procured some
Ordnance maps of the place of his intended operations,
which he carried with him. On the Sunday they
proceeded to Kilkenny, where they remained until
the Monday, and while there Mr. O'Brien ascended a
high tower connected with one of the churches, where
he took a view of the surrounding country, with what
object it was not necessary for him to state. From
Kilkenny they proceeded to Carrick-on-Suir, but in
passing through Callan they again called the people
together, made speeches to them, in which they said
that the time was now come fora rising; and also made
observations calculated to hold out the hope that her
Majesty's forces and police would join them. At
Carrick-on-Suir they took the same course, and at a
subsequent period Mr. Dillon, according to the evi-
dence, was called a colonel. From Carrick they went
to Mullinahone, on their way to Killenaule, but he
was not able to tell where he slept on that Monday
night. At the time of Mr. O'Brien's arrest he stated
that a bag of his, or a portmanteau, was at Mrs.
Deheny's, in Cashel ; and from that circumstance,
and papers found there, he was led to believe he
passed through Killenaule on Tuesday, and probably
stopped there. It was on that day the actual levying
of war commenced, for which Mr. O'Brien was placed
at the criminal bar. It was known before his arrival
that he was to come ; great numbers of people as-
sembled—the bells were rang—and on his arrival in
the evening great rejoicings were made, when the
actual levying of war commenced, treasonable
speeches were mide, _and .the usual inflammatory
language delivered, to excite the people. Mr.
Meagher and Mr. Dillon arrived the same evening,
and on the next day Mr. T. B. M‘Manus arrived
also. That gentleman resided in Liverpool, and
came over in the Iron Duke, with a green
uniform. He (the Attorney-General) did not know
whether it was that of a club or not, but it looked
very like a military uniform. As he took a leading
part in Chartist proceedings, he was accompanied by
a policeman, who lost sight of him in Dublin, but his
trunk was seized, and his uniform got. M`Manus
arrived in Killenaule on Tuesday, and, with Mr.
O'Brien, proceeded to Mullinahone on the Wednes-
day. There he was recognised as the future King
of Ireland, and took on himself to take up his quar-
ters on every occasion wherever he pleased, and it
was said among the country people that the future
King of Ireland was within the walls of Mullina-
hone. At Mullinahone he stopped :at the house
of a man named Wright, and while there pro-
' ceeded to the police barrack, where he endeavoured i
to induce a man named Williams, and five others
of that force in the barrack, to surrender their
arms, telling them that resistance would be useless.
Ile gave Williams an hour for consideration, but to
his credit Williams said he would sooner lose his life
than surrender them or abandon his duty. At the
lapse of an hour, however, something occurred, and
he did not come back to the barracks, as he pro-
mised, but proceeded to Ballingarry. He should also
mention that Mr. O'Brien was armed, having a pike
in:his hand and a pairjof pistols in his breast. At
Ballingarry Mr. O'Brien procured a body guard, and
took up his quarters at a house belonging to John
Kavanagh. On that day he was marching up and
down with a military array, sometimes with his
body guard, and sometimes sending an advance guard
before him ; and as many of the people had not arms,
he directed that such of the farmers as had arms
should be deprived of them. From Ballingarry he
proceeded to Killenaule, where he remained on
Thursday night with guards mounted before his
door, and performed other military operations con-
stituting an actual levying of war. He stopped in
Killenaule on Friday, and while there received infor-
mation that a troop of dragoons were coming through
the town ; and by directions of O'Brien a barricade
was erected across the principal street. Mr. O'Brien sent.
to him to know if he were coming to arrest him; and as
Captain Longinore, who commanded the party had
no warrant for his apprehension, and was only going
from one town to another, the barricades were re-
moved, and the troop allowed to pass off quietly.
From that Mr. O'Brien proceeded to the commons at
Ballingarry, and as intelligence of his movements
reached Dublin by this time, a proclamation issued
for his apprehension, and accordingly Mr. Trent,
with a party of police, was sent to arrest him. Ar-
rangements were made that his force, consisting of
about forty-six men, should be reinforced from the
other districts, but they did not arrive in time, and
Mr. Trent, seeing the danger of being surrounded by
several thousand armed men, retreated to a slate-
house a short distance from him, which he fortified.
Here Mr. Trant gave directions not to fire on the
people unless they were fired on, and Mr. O'Brien
came up himself and endeavoured to induce the police
to join him, and that he would give them better pay.
He held a parley with Mr. Trent, and when he
did not succeed, if the evidence laid before him
was correct, Mr. O'Brien himself gave directions
to his men to fire on the house, and they
did so. His words were, he believed, " Fire
away," or " Slash away, boys," and after doing so
the police fired in their own defence, and some few of
the country people were killed, and others wounded.
When the reinforcement, consisting of twenty-two
men, heard that O'Brien was on the common, and
Mr. Trant and his party in the widow M‘Cormack's,
they in the most gallant manner, with Mr. Cox, who
commanded them, advanced to -rescue him. Mr.
Cox behaved with great courage, for, although on his
coming up the country people determined to fight
him, he prepared to oppose them, and after firing a
few shots they dispersed. He then went to Mrs.
MiCorrnack's, where he released Mr. Trent and his
party, and found some arms, consisting of a gun and
some pikes. Mr. O'Brien having discovered that he
could place no reliance on his expectation that the
police would join him, and finding that every man
of them was determined to lose his life in the dis-
charge of his duty, he disappeared, and was not heard
of until arrested, some days after. He (the At-
torney-General) had forgotten to mention one cir-
cumstance. On the morning of that day a man
named Carroll, a policeman, was taken prisoner by
the O'Brien p irty, and his horse kept and appro-
priated by Mr. O'Brien himself; but as Carroll
was liberated after the attack on Mr. Trent, he
met Mr. O'Brien on the road, riding his horse, and
with whom he had a conversation, which should be
detailed to them in evidence. He had now stated
to them the principal facts of the case ; he had
shown that an actual levying of war took place
against her Majesty's forces; and what the defence
of his able friend, who was undoubtedly an excellent
lawyer, would be, he could not of course anticipate.
It may be contended by his Learned Friend, that an
actual levying did not take place ; but he was in a
position to show, from papers found in Mr. O'Brien's
possession, what those intentions really were. Find-
ing he had no chance of succeeding against the mili-
tary or police, he found himself placed-in a painful
and perilous position ; his-irrned followers had de-
serted him, and although he eluded the vigilant search
that was made for him for some time, he was ulti-
mately arrested on the Bth of August in Thurles,
where he came on his way to his own residence in
the county of Limerick. He was taken, as they all
knew, at the railway stating, and as usual in such
cases, his papers seized. The Learned AttOrney-Ge-
neral then real the documents, one of which was a reso-
lution come to by a party of Irishmen at Philadelphia;
another a letter of \lr. Duffy's urging him to bring
about a revolution, and a third letter written to the
owners of the mines in Ballingarry the morning of
the attack on irr. Trent, in which he declared, that
unless better wages were given to the colliers, he
should direct them to work the mines themselves.
They would probably be told that the letter written
in Ballingarry was not written by Mr. O'Brien him-
self; but did he not act on it ? and in addition, the
very intentions of Mr. O'Brien would be proved out
of his own lips. If there was not a particle of evi-
'"deli'je in the case but that lie now laid before them,
it was conclusive. That was a letter in his own hand-
writing, and dated from the Commons, on the morn-
ing of the 29th of July, when the attack was made on
Mr. Tr'ant. There were coal mines in the district
where lie was, and those with him were colliers, and
as Mr.O'Brien probably thought the owners would
object to paying them for not working instead of
fighting for himself, he wrote the letter. He had now
discharged his duty by laying the case before them,
and it that course were supported—as he believed it
would be by the strongest evidence—they should find
the prisoner guilty ; but if any doubts of his guilt
existed, he would implore them to give him the be-
nefit of those doubts.

Mr. Hodges, the Government reporter, was the
first witness examined. He deposed to his having
gone to a meeting of the Confederation in March,
1848, and communicated to Mr. O'Brien that he was
sent by the Government to take notes of their speeches,
and to identify the speakers. He was about to prone a
speech made by Mr. O'Brien on that occasion, when
his evidence was objected to.
Mr. WrarzsinE contended that it was not admis-