The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-29 00:00:00

MB, GLADSTONE AND THE FENIAN
PRLSONERS.

At Wednesday's meeting of the Dublin Town Council a
letter was read from Mr. Gladstone, in answer to an ad-
dress which the council had presented to him. The
?remier said it was a lively satisfaction to his col-
ltagnes and himself "to know from a sonrch of such un-
questionable authority as this distinguished municipality
t.lzat their conduct in regard to legislation for Ireland
during the past session of Parliament is approved in the
capital of the country. We acknowledge ourselves
(added Mr. Gladstone) to be under a solemn obligation
to deal, to the best of our ability, in a like spirit of
justice and equality with other subjects not
yet happily adjusted." In regard to the Fenian
prisoners Mr. Gladstone refers the Lord Mayor to his
letter to the Limerick Committee, continuing—" It would
be more agreeable to us had we found ourselves at liberty to
give effect to a desiro founded, we are confident,
on the most honourable motives. We have not
arrived at our conclusion without giving to the
subject, in all its bearings, that anxious consideration
which was clue to it on many accounts, and not least on
account of the benevolent interest in it that has been
expressed by your lordship and your colleagues of the
municipal body." Sir John Gray, who spoke on this letter,
said its general purport was very gratifying. He believed
Mr. Gladstone's desire and that of his colleagues was to
release the prisoners. "He was also determined to deal
with the land' question in the same manner as he had
with the Church—to abolish the exterminating policy of
the landlords."

THE MURDER AT DEPTFORD.

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At the Central Criminal Court, on Thursday, Joseph
Welsh, a good-looking man, 42 years of age, was
indicted for the wilful murder of John Abrahams, at Dept-
ford. Mr. Patey, who prosecuted, stated that the prisoner
had done some work for the deceased, and put him into
the County Court for the money. They met the same
night at a public house, words ensued, and the deceased
was stabbed in the abdomen, and died from the result
of the injury then sustained. The learned counsel
did not think there was anything in the case
to reduce it to a crime of manslaughter. Cor-
roborative evidence was given, and the policeman who
took the accused into custody said that the prisoner, when
charged with the offence, said, "I am quite willing to go
with you," and soon after said, "I know where the
knife is ; I will give it to you at the station." On being
searched at the station, a clasp knife, several inches in
length, was found, with blood on it. The surgeon who
attended the deceased said the wound was as deep as it
possibly could be, and must have been inflicted with great
violence. Mr. Ribton addressed the jury, and asked them
to reduce the crime to that of manslaughter. Several.
witnesses were called who gave the prisoner an excellent
character.

Mr. Justice Keating summed up for a conviction. He
pointed out that though a good character made the position
of the prisoner all the more lamentable, still it ought not
to alter the state of the facts.

The jury, after an hour's deliberation, found the accused
guilty with a recommendation to mercy.
The judge said that from the evidence the jury could
nave returned no other verdict. A case was made of sup-
posed provocation; but he had never heard of a
case where there was less. The provocation was
more on the side of the deceased. There was no doubt the
prisoner owed a grudge against the deceased. He would
forward the recommendation of the jury to the proper
quarter; but the case was not a question of character, but of
fact. Ho trusted the accused would not put much faith in
the recommendation, and the learned judge implored him
to make his peace with Heaven. Sentence of death was
then pronounced in the usual form.