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London, England, 1844-02-08 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 18,14

The Lords did not meet yesterday, and the Com-
mons sa4 only for three-quarters of an hour. The few
proceedings that took place will be found in the Par-
liamentary report.

The case for the defence of O'CoNnELL and his
fellow traversers has now closed, and the Solicitor-
General for Ireland has only to reply upon the evi-
dence in order to make the whole matter ripe for the
summing up of the Chief Justice. This week, will
therefore, in all probability, see the end of this most
important trial, so far as the Court of Queen's Bench
in Ireland is concerned. We have elsewhere com-
Mented upon the speech of O'CoNNELL—a speech
worthy the best days of the English or Irish bar,
combining all the oleaginous nature of SCARLET; in
his best days, with the forcible eloquence of O'Cox-
NELL. And here let us pay a passing tribute to the
matchless talent displayed by the Counsel for the de-
fence. We doubt whether any bar could ever have
afforded such splendid specimens of genuine oratorical
power as the Irish bar has exhibited on this occasion.
SHED., MOORE, HATCITELL, FITZGIBBON, WHITESIDE,
WDosouem, HENN, and O'CONNELL, will go down
to posterity, side by side, as having combined to
show the very perfection of talent, and the happiest
instance of useful combination upon legal record.
Now comes the part for the Chief Justice and for
the' jury. The real trial of the accused is gone by,
and the public mind is made up as to their guilt or
innocence. For never was guilt more foully charged,
more signally disproved, and more utterly discredited,
or innocence more clearly apparent, than on the pre-
lion. The public has pronounced its fiat of
and no man in the three kingdoms, who is
an honest opinion, will or can pro-
nr verdict.
which the Crown officials have eon-
judgment they have displayed—

the discretion which they have exercised, in trans-
ferring the seat of repeal agitation from the Corn
Exchange to the Court of Queen's Bench—in publish-
ing to the entire empire in a legal form, speeches and
proceedings which they denounce as illegal, and in
allowing the arguments for, and in justification of
repeal, to penetrate to the interior of every house in
Great Britain, and to the firesides of every man in
England, Scotland, and Ireland, speak for themselves.
We need not make one remark, save that the atten-
tion of the world has been drawn to the condition of
Ireland, to the real cause of this repeal agitation, and
to the necessity of doing justice to Ireland, more by
those prosecutions, instituted by the Government,
than years of unchecked agitation could have accom-
plished.

Thus Providence always ordains, that from ap-
parent evil, real good shall spring—out of the very
depths of sorrow, comfort shines forth,—and if

O'CONNELL had wished to raise the character of his
country, to call attention to its wants, and to place it
on the very pinnacle whence it would attract the most
attention, he could not have done half. so much as
the Attorney-General has done.
Ireland now stands proclaimed as a country whose
natural capabilities have been checked by artificial
and unnatural means—whose union with England
has produced only the results of ill-assorted unions,
disquiet and discomfort and whose happiness
must be sought by far different means to
those hitherto employed. Ireland claims and
must have justice—not in words only, but in deeds.
She demands equal laws, equal privileges ; and then,
when she has these, will she forget, in solid, sub-
stantial enjoyment of actual benefits, the injury in-
flicted upon her by centuries of misrule, terminated
only by a corrupt annihilation of her separate Legis-
lature, to be again tortured by Tory and arbitrary
rule.

Let Ireland feel that she is truly a part of the em-
pire, and truly cared for in the Imperial Legislature,
and no cry for repeal of the union will then be heard.
Until that be the case, no wonder that " the captive
leaps to break his chains."

The public interest attached to the Irish State pro-
secutions which had been flagging for some time past,
was revived in all its ardour on Monday by the an-
nouncement that the chief traverser, Mr. O'CONNELL,
was on that day to be heard in his defence An im-
pressive speech was expected from him on the occa-
sion, and the expectation was not disappointed, for
his defence was admirably conducted—skilful in its
management of details—lucid and forcible in its lan-
guage—argumentative and, to a great degree, matter
of fact in its tone—and characterised throughout by
a temperance—a moderation—and even a deference to
his legal opponents. Mr. O'CONNELL kept the strictest
watch and ward over his feelings throughout his
speech, preferring rather to convince the understand-
ing, than to rouse the sensibilities of the jury. He
made out a strong case in his favour, and was par-
ticularly happy in his comments on the " conspiracy"
part of the charge, on which, it maybe remembered, the
mild and gentle-natured Attorney-General laid great
stress in his opening address. " The entire strength of
this prosecution," observed the Hon. and Learned
Gentlemen, " consists in that cabalistic word ' con-
spiracy.' If I look to the dictionary for its import,
or if I ask common sense, I find it means a secret
agreement among several to commit a crime. Really
it is too hard for one to defend himself against any
conspiracy committed in open day, and com-
mitted by public announcement with the ring.
ing of bells, to know who would come as wit-
nesses to the conspiracy. A conspiracy ! Where
was the secret agreement made—when was it made
—how was it made ? Was it made in winter or
in summer—in spring, or in autumn ? When was it
attended ?On a Sunday, or on a work-day ?
Who was by—who made the secret arrangements—
who moved and seconded the resolutions ?" Mr.
O'CONNELL continued, at considerable length, to
comment on the folly of his public agitation for re-
peal being tortured into a secret conspiracy, and his
pungent, apt, and forcible remarks will not, we sus-
pect, be without their due effect on the jury. This
new doctrine of conspiracy, indeed, applied to
public agitation that may happen to be unpalat.
able in Downing-street, is oae that cannot be too
strongly reprobated, for it strikes at the root of all
freedom of discussion. Once establish the precedent
in Ireland, and the malign consequences will' not be
:law rnemsetves in England. Such a
convenient doctrine—so admirably suited to Ministe-
rial views—will be sure to cross the Channel ; and,
Mr. O'CONNELL being convicted of conspiracy for
agitating an obnoxious question in Ireland, what
is to prevent Mr. COBDEN being convicted of the
same misdemeanour, for agitating the ugly
question of the corn-laws in England ? Hav-
ing succeeded in the one country, Government—
goaded on by the furious monopolists—will exhibit
no great reluctance to try their chance in . another;
and should their efforts be crowned with success, a
stop will be put to all public agitation the instant it
reaches a point that may render it troublesome to a
Tory Ministry. If there be a conspiracy in Ireland,
it is not on the part of the traversers, but on the part
of the Irish Executive, who, it is clear, have con-
spired together to bring the word into contempt, and
drive common sense out of court.

Mr. WALLACE has followed up the notice he gave
to exclude from the Committee on Railways all those
Members on the list given in by the President of the
Board of Trade, who were directors of railways, or
shareholders ; and the Honourable Member succeeded
in so far as to stop the appointment of the Committee
until the names :should be revised, and a more fair
selection be made. The Member for Greenock has
done good service, by attracting the attention of the
House of Commons and the country to the construc-
tion of Parliamentary Committees; and it will be the
fault of the country and of the public press if the
evils arising from the shameful manner of appointing
Committees, in which almost always are to be
found many who have direct pecuniary interests
to protect, be not remedied. It says but little
for the composition of the House of Commons, while
it speaks volumes as to the notorious existence of
class legislation, that men of all parties are always
ready to become members of Select Committees in
which their own interests are or may be concerned.
Take the case before us. A Committee was to be
appointed to inquire what changes should be made
in the Standing Orders of the House of Commons
respecting rail ways, and also to see how far the re-
gulations under which the existing railways are
conducted are such as the public are entitled
to. A more important question cannot be found ;
for now the existing railways have superseded all
other modes of conveyance, and having attained
thereby a monopoly far more complete than even the
most sanguine of their projectors anticipated, it is
time that the system should be overhauled and
thoroughly sifted by an impartially selected tribunal.
Let us see how the President of the Board of Trade
views this. Being officially called upon to
select proper persons to place on this impor-
tant inquiry, he fulfils his official duty by select-
ing no fewer than six Chairmen of Railways to be
of the number of the Committee, in addition to him-
self—a large shareholder of railway stock. Here are
seven persons out of fifteen, all having a direct inten-
tion to protect themselves and their railway sharehold-
ing constituents, placed by the President of the Board
of Trade on a Committee of the utmost importance to
all ranks, and especially to the working classes! We
do not know how many out of the eight remaining
Members are concerned in railways.
A new list of names must now be laid before the
House of Commons at least one day previous to their
being appointed members of the Railway Committee,
and we trust that those who have so well defended
the public from the infliction of an injury by a
Committee evidently nearly all on one side, will
take care that, :this principle of impartiality shall be
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The English Catholics have resented the
I
gross
insult lately offered to their Irish brethren in a manly
and becoming spirit. At a public meeting held yes-
terday, at the Freemason's Tavern, the following,
among other equally significant resolutions, was pro-
posed and carried unanimously, amid loud cheers :
" That the officers of the Crown, in striking off every
Catholic from the panel, in the trial pending in the
Court of Queen's Bench in Ireland, have raised in