The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-18 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, April 17:

The Master of the Rolls has at length given judg -
ment in the case of the Supplemental Charter of th e
Queen's University, granted last year by the advice
of the late Government. The petitioners were
three graduates of the University, who contended
that the Supplemental Charter was null and void
because it was inconsistent with the previous char-
ters, and that the Senate had no right to act upon
it. In dong so they wool 1 arrogate to themselves
the exercise of the QIICC7I'6 prerogative just as any
other authorised body of persons would do if they
took upon them to confer academic degrees and
honours. If, o•► the contrary, the petitioners were
wrong in their view, they were i❑ this suit seeking
to interrupt the due exercise of the Queen's prero-
rogative by those to whom she had deputed it, and
to deprive all the Q teen's subjects who might claim
degrees under the powers conferred by this Supple-
mental Charter of the advantages to which they
were entitled. The,se rights either to be asserted
by the petitioners or to be defended against them
were those of the Queen and the public. The At-
torney• General was (save in the case of some rare
exceptions not applicable here) alone recognised by
the law as the proper litigant to represent such rights.
He was of opinion that the petition in the cause
was unsustainable, on the ground that the Attorney-
General was not a party to it. If that were the
only defect in the suit, it might be remedied by
bringing the Attorney-General as a defendant ; but
he had come to the conclusion that the suit could
not be maintained at all by the present petitioners,
even if the Attorney-General were a defendant. In
order to maintain a suit as a plaintiff a litigant must
show some injury to himself as an individual, to be
redressed or prevented. If no private right of his,
such as the law recognises, is violated, and no loss
has been or is about to be suffered by him as an
individual, he cannot become plaintiff in asuit merely
because others do not perform their duty to the
public. It appeared to the Master of the Rolls that
the petitioners had only the same grounds for main-
taining the suit which any of the public might assert.
There had been no grievance to them as individuals,
and they had no locus standi in the Court. His im-
pression on a subsidiary point was that the charter
of 1864 did not invest the power of accepting the
Supplementary Charter in the Senate exclusively.
But that impression was extra judicial, and could
not bind any one. He did not entertain it confi-
dently, nor did it enable him to secure the petitioners
from paying the costs of the defendants, who had
successfully resisted the hint. His Honour, there-
fore, dismissed the petition with costs—one set of
costs, " without prejudice to any further infor-
mation." _

The papers this morning contain a list of the
witnesses to be produced at the forthcoming trials
for high treason. But irrespective of this long list
there are 109 witnesses belonging to the civil and
military forces to be examined by the Crown.
Many of the witnesses are approvers, now residing
under the protection of the police. The chief of
these is the person called "Godfrey Massey," but
this is an assumed name. The real name of the
hero who fainted on the Limerick Junction platform
is Patrick Condon, formerly a colonel in the
Southern army, afterwards a canvasser for a com-
mercial house in New Orleans. There is a nume-
rous company living together pleasantly at " the
depot for Crown witnesses," Fairview, North Strand.
Others are lodged in the Lower Castle-yard, and at
the Chancery-lane police-station.
A party of 18 prisoners, charged with high trea-
son, were lodged in Nenagh Gaol yesterday. They
are described as extremely respectable-looking and
able young men, their parents, in some instances,
being farmersin comfortable circumstances. Tharles
Bridewell is still fully occupied by prisoners of this
description, who are awaiting an investigation into
their several cases prior to their ultimate discharge
or committal. It is said that several districts from
which the prisoners have been brought—Thurles,
Holycross, Borrisoleigh, &c.--are in a very back-
ward state of cultivation, and in consequecce of the
unsettled state of those places, and the numerous
arrests which have been made, no preparations for
putting in the crops have bcen made.
Since the arrest of Mr. Locke, at Callan, county
Kilkenny, some young men in that neighbourhood
have emigrated to the United States, fearing, it is
supposAa aimi!.r fate.
The Royal Dublin Society's Cattle Show, tp be
held next week, promises to be very successful. The
number of entries for the forthcoming display is
greater than on any preceding similar occasion.
The number of cattle entered is 278, which con-
sist of 214 bulls, 43 cows, 38 heifers, And 27 fat
cattle. There have also been entered 30 lots of

sheep and 45 lots of swine. The contrast between
these figures and those which represented the en-
tries of the first show 37 years ago is remarkable.
At that time the number of bulls entered for
exhibitors was 13.

Mr. John Francis Waller, LL.D., barrister, but
better known as a literary man than a lawyer, who
used to write under the name of " Slingsby," has
been appointed by the Master of the Rolls to the
office of Reader and Clerk of the Rolls Court. The
announcement of Dr. Waller's appointment has
been received with general approval. No one is
better qualified to fill the office ; and none better
entitled to obtain it from his high literary attain-
ments, and his personal character.