The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-15 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1844.

This morn dawned upon the commencement
of a trial, the effect of which, to the Govern-
ment of the country, to the people of Ireland, and
to the well-being of the empire, it is totally impos-
sible to calculate. The trial of DANIEL O'CON-
NELL, for a seditious conspiracy, would at any
time have excited the liveliest feelings of sym-
pathy, and called forth all the anxiety of friend-
ship, among those who recognised in him the
great assertor of his country's rights, and the
regenerator of her religious freedom,—whilst
those, whose Orange bigotry saw, as the result
of his acts and deeds, the downfal of their own
long-continued selfish legislation, would have
hoped to witness his conviction, his punishment,
and his disgrace.
But at the present time, when the utmost
power of a Government has been stretched, to
procure, if possible, the certainty of a triumph,—
when the bitterness of enmity has sharpened
every weapon, and the vehemence of a party,
desperate, in proportion to its want of judgment,
has called upon the legal officers of the Crown
to cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war, upon
one, who, whatever his occasional errors, has
always been the firm supporter of civil and reli-
gious liberty all the world over, and who, whilst
claiming for himself and his own countrymen en-
tire freedom, has always been equally ready to con-
cede it to others—how gratifying to himself must it
be to feel, and to every Liberal to know, that let
the result of the present trial be what it may,
neither punishment nor disgrace can attach to
him. The jury must decide upon a conviction—
we believe that they must decide rightly, and
that conviction of unfair dealing will attach to
the prosecutors—acquittal of all offence to the
traversers.

In our last number, we gave a sketch of the
various practices by which the current of jus-
tice has been sought to be impeded, corrupted,
and polluted. Upon the additional means to pro-
cure a conviction, namely, the exclusion of every
Roman Catholic from the jury panel, in a coun-
try where seven millions of Catholics are fomid
to one million of Protestants, the grand aggre-
gate meeting of the Catholics of Ireland, held on
Saturday, and which is reported in our columns
this day, has pronounced its indignant opinion.
In that opinion every honest Liberal will con-
cur, and denounce the proceeding as the greatest
insult to religious feeling, and the grossest in-
justice to an entire faith, that even the history of
Tory official conduct of political prosecutions can
show.

The other instance of Tory official manage-
ment, the suppression of 63 names out of a panel
of 780 qualified jurors, proved to have occurred,
no matter how—and by a Judge of character un-
impeachable, declared to be ?natter for grave
suspicion—and yet to have been done in such a
way, that no remedy exists for the accused until
after conviction, adds burning coals of fire upon
the heads of the Irish officers of the Crown.
And thus, to sum up all, the trial in which justice
is pretended to be about to be administered, has
this day commenced, with a total denial of every-
thing that is worthy of the name; and the sacred
temple of the laws is attempted to be polluted
by a perversion of that justice which it is the
boast of Britons, that it belongs to their very soil,
and is inherent in the very spirit of their con-
stitution.

No correct copy of the indictment supplied to
them, contrary to law and to English practice ;
the names of the witnesses withheld, contrary to
law and to English practice ;—the witnesses
sworn in secret, and not in open court, contrary
to law both in England and Ireland ;—the
striking orf the jury of all men of the Catholic
faith, contrary to Christian charity and common
justice ;—and the suppression of nearly one-tenth
of the entirejury panel, contrary to law, princi-
ple, and all fair dealing,—these are the pre-
parations for a great act of justice, in the year
1844, in the time of a Tory Government, but
after all—and greatest shame of all—in the
Y►emiership of Sir ROBERT PEEL. We had
hoped better things from him, but it appears we
hoped in vain; the regret is now ours,—the eter-
nal infamy which these proceedings must entail
upon their concoctors, will attach equally to
their abettors, and will be his.

The jury have now committed to them, the
care for the interests of justice, which Tory
officials have shown they totally disregard. The
jurors sworn to determine upon the evidence sub-
mitted to them, may still keep from degradation
an Irish tribunal. They must decide, whether
the traversers are guilty of doing acts, with any
5u2,11 intentions as the Crown officers impute to
them. No matter what those acts may be, it is
the intent. that affixes their guilt or innocence.
The intention to do an illegal act must first
exist, before any criminality can attach to that
act. No act can amount to a crime unless
it be proved to be committed in fulfilment
of a premeditated intention, and the establish-
ment of an act, is no establishment ofan intention
to commit that crime.

There can be no doubt, that if multitudes as-
semble, with intent, by force and violence, to
compel the repeal of any law, a crime is thereby
committed; but if the intent be, to produce the
repeal of the law, without force or violence, no
crime is committed by the assembling of multi-
tudes, however numerous. The law deals with
intents, not with numbers; and jurors will—all
jurors must—remember that no suspicion, or pro-
bability, or chance of guilt, will suffice, but proof,
clear and indisputable, of guilt and intent pre-
existent, is requisite to enable them to pronounce
an accused party guilty, in accordance with their
oaths.

The Roman Catholics of Ireland are promptly
and boldly resenting the gross insult passed on