The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-09 00:00:00

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IRELAND.

DUBLIN, Nov. 8.
It is satisfactory to find that there is no real
ground for supposing that the resolution of the Go-
vernment with respect to the Fenian prosecutions
has been in the least shaken by the claim to Ameri-
can protection set up by some of the prisoners. One
of the circumstances which occasioned some misgiv-
ings in the minds of loyal people who are sensitively
vigilant was the postponement of Nagle's trial.
This, however; is now fully explained. The Daily
Express, noticing the misconception which. existed,
says :—" We have authority to state that the case
of the prisoner Nagle has been postponed from the
Dublin Commission until the Sligo Assizes in con-
sequence of information received by the Crown Soli-
citor that Nagle is an alien by birth, and of the
advice of the law officers that, by reason of this fact,
there were technical objections to the inadmissibi-
lity on a trial in Dublin of some evidence essential
to the prosecution in Dublin, but quite immaterial
in reference to his trial in the county of Sligo. The
impediment to Nagle's trial was what lawyers call a
question of venue. There is no doubt that Nagle will
be tried at the spring assizes for the county of Sligo.
This assurance will remove the impression which
the mere fact of the postponement, without an ex-
planation, was calculated to produce. At the sit-
ting of the Court yesterday morning Mr. Heron,
Q.C., proceeded to address the jury on behalf of the
prisoner Costello. He said that in ordinary times he
would have no doubt about the prisoner's acquittal,
but these were times of panic. In proof of this asser-
tion he pointed to the gallery, in which there ap-
peared only six policemen, a few soldiers, and some
people " whom he would not insult by saying that
they were detectives." The learned gentleman did
not add that the populace outside evince little or no
desire to be spectators of the present trials. There
are no assemblages about the court-house such as
were to be seen on former occasions. He thought
this panic was not unlikely to be attended with
disastrous effects, because in striking down the
guilty the innocent were frequently involved.
He bore testimony, however, to the " dignified
and considerate" manner in which the case for the
Crown had been opened by the Attorney-General
and asked the jury to discharge their duty calmly and
dispassionately. He was not called upon to deny
that a Fenian conspiracy existed, or that the vessel
in question was a Fenian vessel, but the case against
the prisoner rested entirely on the tainted evidence
of informers. So pressed were the Crown with the
flimiy character of the evidence that, for the first
time in the annals of justice, the conversation of a
wretched prisoner with his gaoler was deposed to.
The solo issue raised was whether Costello was on
board the Fenian vessel. He admitted that if the
prisoner was on board, under the circumstances
stated, he would be guilty. He contended that the
evidence of the informers bad not been corroborated
and was wholly unreliable. With respect to the
letter found in Aylward's boot, it had not been
clearly proved to be in Costello's handwriting.
In the course of the learned gentleman's address
Judge Keogh suggested that a nolle prosequi should
be entered upon certain counts in the indict-
ment, and that the Crown should rest the case
upon the other counts. If the jury could not find
against the prisoner upon those counts, he would be
disposed to tell them to acquit him upon all. The
Solicitor-General adopted the suggestion. Mr.
Heron then resumed, and argued that there was no
reliable evidence to connect the prisoner with the
conspiracy for nearly a year before last March. He
asked the jury to disbelieve the evidence of
the informers, and lamented that the lives
and liberties of men should be in the hand of
such wretches. The Solicitor-General, in reply,
vindicated the administration of the law in this
country from the imputations cast upon it by the
prisoner's counsel, and denied that the doors of the
court-house were closed even against a Fenian. The
proper explanation of the absence of the public was
that they had-got sick of hearing the details of a
conspiracy which had been repeated over and over
again. Ile commented upon the evidence, and pointed
out portions which could not be called tainted, and
which, he .said, corroborated the informers. Mr.

Justice Keogh charged the jury. Atter-paying a
compliment to the prisoner's counsel for the ability
which he had shown, his lordship referred to
-the
claim which had been set up at the outset of the
trial for a jury composed in part of aliens, and ex-
plained that the law of England repudiated the
right of any person leaving the country to throw
off his allegiance to the Crown of England. lie cited
ICent's Commentaries" to show that the principle
of the American law was the same, and that no
citizen of the United States could renounce his alle-
giance to that country without the consent of its
Government. With respect to the observations of
the prisoner's counsel upon the appearance of the
Court, his lordship observed that neither the Chief
Baron nor himself believed that there was any im-
proper interference with the administration of jus-
tice, nor would they permit it. Reviewing the evi-
dence, he said he thought the case for the Crown
would be very meagre indeed if it were not for two
facts—namely, the arrest of Costello so near the
place where the 30 men landed, and the finding of
the letter in Aylward's boot. If the jury enter-
attained a rational doubt they should acquit the
prisoner. in the language of Chief Justice
Burke, he said " Acquit the prisoner if you
can ; convict him only if you must." The jury re-
tired at a few minutes before 6 o'clock. At half-
past seven they returned into court and asked
whether the fact of the prisoner's having come to
this country on the Jacknell expedition was corro-
borative proof of the informers that he was a Fenian
on the sth of March last. Judge Keogh replied in
the affirmative, and called attention to the fact that
his having borne the rank of captain in April was
corroborative of the fact that he was a Fenian before
that time. The jury again retired and returned into
court at 5 minutes to 8 o'clock, when the foreman
announced that there was not the slightest proba-
bility of their agreeing. The disagreement among
them was as to certain matters of fact upon which
they would require further evidence. They were
directed to return to their room, where they re-
mained for three hours in deliberation, and at 11
o'clock they came back to court, and, repeating the
intimation that there was no chance of their being
able to agree, they were discharged, and the prisoner
was re-committed to gaol under an escort of police
and military.

The police exercise a very proper amount of
caution as to the admission of persona to the court-
house during the trials, and have excluded some
suspicious-looking characters who have been lurk-
ing about. No other personrexperience any diffi-
culty in getting in, but the lower classes manifest
no interest in the proceedings. Other precautions
have been thought expedient for the security of
the Crown witnesses. An extra picket, consisting
of a non-commissioned officer and 24 men, has been
placed at Ship-street Barracks, and were under
arms last night in consequence of a rumour that an
attack would be attempted on the depot of in-
formers located in a • court which is opposite the
barrack.

gaol on the Lord-Lieutenant's warrant. It was
stated that documents of a treasonable character
were found in his possession, which will be used in
evidence at the Commission. _

Mr. Walter Boyd has been appointed to the
office of assistant-Crown prosecutor at Dundalk,
vacant by the death of Shegog.

The Story of a Joint Stock Company.