The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-27 00:00:00

LIBERATION OF O'CONNELL.

Yesterday the friends of free discussion, assembling at
the Belvedere Tavern, Pentonville, had a dinner at that,
house in commemoration of the liberation of Mr. O'Con-
nell and his late fellow-prisoners from the Richmond
PenitenOary. William Hewett, Esq., presided on the
occasion, eeid was supported by T. S. l)uncombe, Esq.,
M.P., .on his right ; Major Revell and Mr. Parry, &c.,
on his left. .dmong the company we also observed
Henry Patten, Esq., Common Councilman ; Dr. Kirk-
wood, Mr. Sharpe, Shillibeer, Dr. Simpson, Mr.
Doyle, Mr. G. Robinson, Mr. Yates, Captain Keogh,
Mr. M'Phail, &c. Upwards of sixty gentlemen sat down,
and did ample justice to an excellent, substantial, and
varied dinner, served in admirable style by the worthy
host, and accompanied by wines that were fitting asso-
ciates for such a dinner.
The cloth having been removed, and the usual loyal
toasts duly immured,
The CHAIRMAN proposed the toast of " The people,
the only true source of legitimate power." Ile was con-
vinced that the voice of the people must, in a righteous
cause. be ever omnipotent. They bad always been the
real producers of wealth, and none were so entitled as
thew to have their voice heard and attended to.
The toast having been received enthusiastically,
The CHAIRMAN again rose, and said they had met
that day to celebrate the liberation of Daniel O'Connell
and his colleagues. He need scarcely say that they bad
not assembled either to support or oppose repeal. They
wen there merely to rejoice over the triumph of truth.
anti justice over falsehood and error—the triumph of law
over the iilegal course of policy that had been carried on
by Government against Mr. O'Connell and his late fellow-
prisoners. lie had great pleasure in proposing the toast
--" Daniel O'Connell and his Colleague;. who have been
liberated from an illegal imprisonment ; aid may they
continue to publish their nation's wrongs until they ob-
tain full justice."
Mr. W. O'KEEFE DENNEHEY acknowledged the vast,
and condemned the gross injustice and oppressioe, pf
which the Liberator and his companions had been the
victims. . .

The CHAIRMAVI thee proposed "The Principles of Free
Discussion, and thanks to Lords Denman, Cottenham,
and Campbell, for the!!' conduct in the late proceedings
in the House of Lords."
Mr. PARRY, in an eloquent epee•edf, eulogised those
Noble Lords, and contended that the late triumph was
one that involved the very essence of the principles
free discussion. Hence was its value, ar.td therefore
should Englishmen, as well as Irishmen, rejoioe over the
victory that had been achieved.—(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN proposed the health of " l'hornas
Slingsby buncombe, Dl., and the other real Representa-
tives of the People, who have honestly advocated And
supported the rights of the people en all occasions."
Mr.T. DCNcoNBE, who rose amidst enthusiastic cheep-
ing, said he was convinced all must feel deep congratu—
lation at the triumph of constitutional law and Justice
over the chicanery of the Conservative Government as
lately directed towards the Irish people. The more he
considered Lord Denman's admirable judgment, the
more he agreed in what he himself had expressed at the
time in the House of Commons, that that judgment
ought not only to be printed for general perusal, but
printed in letters of gold—(Loud cheers)—as a manual
of every man's right.—(Renewed cheers.) They should
all remember, too, that the measure of injustice and op-
pression that was attempted to be meted out to Ire-
land yesterday, would, if it had proved successful, have
been, in all probability, meted out to England the
day after. He did not believe the question could re-
main where it was. Ile thought that when Parliament
assembled some strong motion must be submitted on
the subject ; and even if an impeachment of the
Ministers were proposed, he should feel it his duty to'
support it, as he was convinced that if any Ministry
ever deserved impeachment the present did.—(Cheers.)
All should make every possible exertion to maintain the
full right of free discussion ; and it was the right of the
people of England to use it, in a constitutional manner
and peacefully, and it did not affect the legality at &Ire
whether it was before 5,000 or 500,000 collected toge-
ther. The Hon. Gentleman resumed his seat amidst
general cheering.
Major RESELL said he rejoiced in finding so many
sympathisers with O'Connell and his colleagues. The
proceedings of the evening had called to his mind an
anecdote he had heard of Mr. O'Connell. That Hon.
and Learned Gentleman had observed upon the remark-
able fact that lie had only been charged in five counts,.
whereas he had been found guilty on fifteen ; and, on a
friend having asked him whether he had, among other
matters, been found guilty of the murder of the Italian
boy, he answered that he had not—because the jury had
not been asked.—(Cheers and laughter.) He (Major
Revell) concluded by proposing the health of the Chair-
man and Stewards, to whom they had all been so much
indebted. _ _

Some other toasts succeeded, after which the com-
pany separated, not far from midnight, after a most
agreeable evening—the enjoyment of which had been in
no slight degree enhanced by the vocal efforts of Mr.
George Robinson, Mr. Sharpe, and others of the com-
pany present.

IMPORTANT INQUIRY.—SERIOUS CHARGE AGAINST
THE MASTER AND MATRON OF THE ETON UNION WORK-
HOUSE.—IIEAVY CENSURE OF THE JURY.—On Wednes-
day Mr. T. Wakley, M.P., coroner, and a jury impan-
nelled on the 14th instaat, at the One Tun public-house,
Old Brentford, resumed for the third time an inquiry
into the circumstances attendant upon the death of John
Shaw, aged 22 years, whose thigh was severely frac-
tured by a fall of earth on the sth of August last, at
Slough, and was removed to the Eton Union Workhouse
at that place, where lie died on the 12th instant. The
inquiry having excited a most intein e interest throughout
the town and neighbourhood of lkentford, the inquest-
room was on each occasion crowded to excess. The
following verdict was returned :—" The deceased, John
Shaw, died from the mortal effects of a fracture of the
left thigh-bone, produced by accidental causes. In re-
turning a verdict of accidental death, the jury consider it
to be their duty to state that they are decidedly of opi-
nion that the refusal of the governor and matron of the
Eton Union Workhouse to allow any conversation to
pass between the afflicted man and his wife, sister, and
mother-in-law, except in the presence of a listener and a
spy upon their conduct, is a part only of a system of
moral treatment adopted towards the poor man which is
a disgrace and a scandal to a Christian country ; and
that the refusal to receive and give shelter to the wife
and other poor relations when they arrived at the Union
Workhouse at midnight, in a strange place, many miles
from home, to pay, as they thought, a last visit to a
husband, brother, and son, was, in the opinion of the
jury, an act of so cruel and inhuman a character, that any
person by whom such conduct could be perpetrated, is
altogether unfit to be intrusted with the care of the
poor."
A NOCTURNAL DISTURBER.—An incident, laugh-
able enough (except to the party who was damaged
in purse by it), occurred on Sunday night in
Harmer-street, Gravesend. At about half-past twelve
o'clock on that night, as Penman, the policeman,
who was then on duty in Harmer-street, was pass-
ing the shop of Mr. Brown, upholsterer, in that street,
he heard a heavy tramping in the house, and drawing close
to the shop window a strange noise which he, much ter-
rified, believed to be supernatural, issued from within.
Suddenly a mighty crash, as of shivered glass, caused him
in great alarm to withdraw from his listening position
close to the window shutters, and before he could well
clear the kerb of the footway in his retreat, another
crash and a dash through the window of what ap-
peared to his appalled sight a monster of unearthly
shape compelled him to cry aloud for aid. The in-
mates of Mr. Brown's house, as well as those of
the adjacent houses, being by this time alarmed,
rushed into the street, and there they found the
terrified " guardian of the night" gazing with horror at
an animal not far from him, which, upon Mr. Brown's
approach, he discovered to be his own horse. It 80012
appeared that the poor animal had done his master con-
eiderable damage, without any intention of burglariously
breaking into his house, having, in fact, broken out of it.
The horse had been put into an apartment in the rear of
the house, as a temporary stable, from which there was a
passage leading to another passage, which opened into the
shop. The door of the stable having been, through inad-
vertence, left open, the animal wandered into the passage,
and thence entered the shop, when coming in contact
with a pier glass of considerable size and value, he with
a kick (it is assumed) demolished it, and by the crash
was so terrified, that after plunging and kicking amid
the articles of furniture in the shop, he bolted through
the shop window, the policeman having narrowly escaped
coming in contact with the animal in his violent egress.
The damage done to Mr. Brown by this nocturnal freak
of the horse is estimated at 501. or 60/.
TREATIES FOR THE APPREHENSION OF OFFENDERS
—ln The Sun of Tuesday appeared the first case of an
alleged French fraudulent bankrupt being committed in
order to be conveyed to France for trial. The commit-
ment took place under the Act 6th and 7th Victoria,
e. 75, which came into operation on the 22d of August,
1843, on a hich day another Act was passed in respect to
persons charged with offences committed in America,
or who had absconded into that country. These acts
were framed to carry out two conventions between
the high contracting parties " for the apprehension
of certain offenders." There is a difference in the
offences mentioned, and the point which arose in the*
case reported was on the designation of a " fraudulent
bankrupt," which the Lord Mayor held in effect to mean
a felonious bankrupt under the English law. With re-
gard to the treaty between England and France the
crimes specified for which fugitives can be apprehended
consist of murder, attempt to murder, forgery, or frau-
dulent bankruptcy. After a commitment of two months,
if the offender is not conveyed to the place where the
alleged offence was committed to be tried, he is to be
discharged. In the treaty between England and
America the crimes mentioned are murder, assault
with intent to murder, piracy, arson, robbery, for-
gery, or the utterance of forged paper, committed within
the jurisdiction of either of the high contracting par-•
ties. After two months confinement, if the party is not
removed, he is to be discharged. Only two cases have
occurred during these treaties, one in which the Ameri-
can Government claimed an alleged offender in a British
colony, where he was refused because the parties had no
evidence of the alleged offence, and the case which was
brought before the Lord Mayor on Monday last. By
the preamble in the two acts it is declared that parties
are to be given up " only when the commission of tha
crime should be so established as that the laws of the
country where the fugitive or person so accused should
be found would justify his apprehension and commit-
ment for trial, if the crime had been, there committed."
Copies of depositions may, however, be given in evidence
of the criminality of the person apprehended.
INCENDIARY FIRE.—A few nights ago a destruc-
tive fire (which is supposed to have been caused by an
incendiary) broke out upon the premises of Mr. Parsons,
I a farmer, at Bromley, near Basingstoke. In the CuUiSo
of less than an hour a barn, filled with barley, a stack
of wheat, and a barn-rick, were totally consumed..