The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-28 00:00:00

THE FENIAN TRIALS.

(Continued from our First Edition of yesterday.) •
The Lord Chief Justice, in continuation, read through
the evidence given by Mrs. Heppell and the boy Morris,
tending to corroborate Mullany in what he had stated in
reference to Barrett, and what he said and did in the
interview alleged to have taken place on the evening of
the explosion. He proceeded to touch upon the conver-
sation which Vaughan said he had with Timothy
Desmond, after the explosion, in another conversation
with William Desmond and English, in which he asserted
the former said that Timothy Destnoud's being taken into
custody served him right, for he had no right to have been
at the explosion. This evidence must be taken, however,
with the caution which he (the Lord Chief Justice)
had already pointed out, and must apply to
the testimony of such a man as Vaughan.
It became necessary, then, to see how the case
stood against the prisoner individually. Taking the case
of William Desmond, it must be remarked that Mullany
when first at Bow-street said nothing about his having
been concerned in the conspiracy, and only remembered
that he was so on turning the matter over in his mind.
Mullany was corroborated by Vaughan no doubt,
but perhaps the jury would not thin'c that
that was sufficient corroboration of two bad wit-
nesses, but going far to make ono good ono. There
was nothing to show that William Desmond was at
Clerkenwell, and practically Mullany's evidence was only
supported by that of Vaughan. The case of
English was the next to be considered, alai in the
evidence of hallway, in this instance, bo was cor-
roborated, as far as his visits ware concerned, by Mrs.
KeppAl, and the apprentic i, Morris. As to his being
itt Cl!rkenwell the landlady of the Bells believed she saw
him on the d,,y of explosion when he came for refresh-
ment. The barman Stratton. who said he saw English
at the Bile-in aud'init all-dayv Was- not a.swisfactory wit-
ness, and his detneauour when in the box showed that he
had, as ho said, btu drinking before he came into court.
There was no doubt that Timothy Desmond was at
Clerkeuwell on the 13th, but was he engaged in
the conspiracy ? The evidence referring to his
case was read over at length by his lordship.
Tim effect of that evidence, especially that portion given
by•lnspector Thompson, negatived the idea that Timothy
Desmond Was at the scene of the explosion, or could have
taken au active part in the fie pug of the barreL It was
stated that he must have boon drunk. It was not shown
that he had been admitted-into the councils of those en-
gaged iu the conspiracy, and it was possible, knowing that
something was to happen, he had been attracted there
simply by curiosity. Approaching the case of Barrett,
if Mutla ty was to be believed, his guilt, his lordship re-
marked, was clear. In several respects he was corrobo
rated by Mrs. Koppel and the apprentice Morris. It was
much to be regretted that Mrs. Mullany, who was said to
be present when Barrett was washing his neck after the
explosion, and who it was further stated
took away a bundle of clothes, was not
called, as she could have given . most material
evidence. It had been remarked as strange that the Crown
had not called Mrs. Martin to prove that the man who
visited so frequently at her house was the prisoner Bar-
rett, but the answer to that was that she was known to
have Fenian proclivities, and it might well be said that
Mrs. Martin was of all others the person whom the defence
should have called to say that the man who used to visit
at her house, and who was seen walking out with her on
the Sun lay night, was not the prisoner rot the bar.
The evidence from Clerkenwell affecting Barrett was not,
said the Lord Chief Justice, altoget her satisfactory, and
the testimony given by Bird was valueless. But then -
came the question whether the general acquaintance of the
witnesses with the man was nut sufficient to identify hm,
and whether the evidence of Keppel and the boy Morris
in corroboration of Mullauy was worthy of belief. In
reference to the alibi set up for Barrett, the Lord Chief Jus-
tice said it was of a more remarkable kind than any that
had ever come under his notice, and would demand the
most careful vigilance on the pait of the jury. It wa
only during the last few days such a defence had been
heard of, and his lordship remarked upon the fact that it
had not been brought forward when Barrett was first ar-
rested, when it would have been so conclusive in answer
to the charge brought against him.

Ills Lordship, in concluding his charge, which
had occupied four hours in its delivery, urged upon
the jury to bear in mind that while it was of great
importance that the guilty should not go un-
punished it was of infinitely greater moment that
the innocent should not be punished.
At four o'clock the jury retired to consi ler their
verdict.

• The jury at twenty minutes past six returned into
Court with a verd.Ct of not guilty iu the case of
William Desmond, Timothy Desinond, and Nicholas
English ; and guilty in the case of Barrett.
The prisoner made a long statement denying his
guilt.

The Lord Chief Justice pronounced the sentence
of death in the usual manner.

We are requested to state that several thousand
clergymen officiating iu England and Wales have already
signed the memorial to Her Majesty the Queen against the
disestab!isliment of the Irish Church. The Archbishop of
Canterbury will take the chair at a tneeting to be held at
St. James's Hall on the Gth of May, after which no signa-
tures to the memorial can bo received.

FREIGHTS AT LIVERPOOL.—Tho news of the
sudden conclusion of the Abyssinian war has caused con-
siderable excitement in the Liverpool freight market. The
fact that the vast number of kith steamers and sailing
vessels chartered here and at Bombay and Calcutta by the
Government wilt shortly b 3 discharged will have the
effect of disturbiug•the rates of freight for sumo time to

coins.
PROPOSAL TO ABOLISH Tin OFFICE OF PARISH
heldA althdiosuczuhssinziniotl:ssnie-s
CoNsTABLE.—Ode of the branches of the North Riding
put in
.Y 0"" sinc.- • . constablesstill t• dto '
1 operation, parish
con loud exist, CAIN-.
the Rural Police Act was passed and
ing coneilerable expense for no purpose. It wa3 6t.ited
leestuZ:s.jo. of
fpAArisrhicclioltnusfut° hb31,8,5.
that their cost was £lOO a year to the Scarborough Union,
which was money paid fur nothing at all. The office was
also vexatious, and sime instances were given whore in
eases of robbery the parochial constables had arrested the
offender and next day handed him over to the rural police,
but no allowance was made for the expense incurred. It
tl les
money
the, foes
faeneds
was also hold that, as taxes iu the rural districts were
yearly increasing, every effort ought to be made to keep
down useless expenditure. A resolution declaring the
ploanidgei;
napcpondeuetqluueolinct eoaf parishwaste constables s
ratepayers'
the desirability of abolishing the typoui' t
intit, was car.
ried.