The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-19 00:00:00

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insurrectionary movements in 1, .
more particularly on this, in his elaborate endeavour to
prove a systematic attempt to corrupt the allegiance
of the army ; he cited Mr. O'Connell's well-known
allusion to the disparity of the condition of the non-
commissioned officers in the British army, and in the
armies of other States, with respect to their prospects
of promotion. He read a letter which appeared in
the Pilot of the 28th of August, headed the " Duty
of a Soldier," in connection with this charge ;
also other articles from the same parer, referring to the
advantages of the pike, as a weapon, over the musket
and bayonet, particularly when used by night.
From this he passed to the question of the establish-
ment of the Arbitration Courts, and then entered on
the speeches made at the great Mullaghrnast meeting.

He detailed the crowning of Mr. O'Connell with the
cap made in imitation of the old crown of Ireland, and
pointed out the effects which such acts and speeches
were likely to have on an ignorant multitude, though
to some there might be something of the ridiculous
in them. The far greater portion of his address con-
sisted in reading documents, gathered from the re-
ports, articles, and correspondence of the Repeal papers.
Mr. O'Connell sat with his Counsel as before, in
legal costume, and was busied throughout the day
with books and papers. For some time he sat next
to Mr. Sheil, M.P., on the bench immediately under
the Judges. Mr. Sheil seemed to watch the points of
the Attorney-General with great attention. It may
be considered certain that he lets nothing escape him.
There is a general impression that the conviction
of O'Connell by this jury is certain. Had all Dublin
been picked, it is said that twelve men so well dis-
posed to carry out the views of the Crown could
hardly have been found.
The Attorney-General concluded at a few minutes
after four o'clock. The examination of witnesses was
to commence on Thursday at ten o'clock.

If the prosecutors of O'CONNELL ever had any claims to
sympathy, or to public approval, by their mode of governing
Ireland previous to the agitation for Repeal—if they had any
right to ask for confidence from any one class of her MAJESTY'S
subjects by their conduct during the progress of that agita.
tion—or, if they had any grounds for appeal to the minds
and intellects of men of judgment, or of even common sense,
—their conduct, since they appealed to the law, has taken
away all claim to approval, all right to confidence, and all
claims to judgment and common sense. The choice of a jury
from a mutilated list, bounded on one hand by fraud, on the
other by a religious creed, to try men from whom all in-
formation as to the mode in which the charge against them
had been found, and how it was to be supported ; and from
whom all the privileges usually conceded to persons accused,
had been studiously withheld ; and the evident straining at the
chance of a conviction, have created nothing but loathing and
disgust, in the public mind.
The various modes by which the prosecutors have exposed
themselves, during the progress of these prosecutions, to public
opprobrium, and to the utter condemnation of all liberal and
impartial men, are now so notorious that they need no repeti-
tion from us. Similar proceedings cannot be found in any
record of similar trials. But the country will deal, as it has al-
ready dealt, with them; the tribunal of public opinion has pro-
nounced, and will pronounce, its verdict upon the proceedings
of these trials. And in vain have all the scribes of Govern-
ment attempted to gloss over, or to pass by, the glaring facts
which have done, and will do, more to defeat the persecutors,
than any defence of the accused could have effected.
From a Government which, by its conduct, had created that
cry for justice, for whose attainment the repeal of the Act of
Union, to some, seemed to offer the only chance ; which, month
after month, saw meeting after meeting pass by, without a
single breach of the peace, or one act showing even riotous
intent ; which on the very eve of the last meeting that was to
be held, drew the sword; and sent its artillery, its cavalry, and
its foot soldiers, to prevent, if need had been, by force of arms,
a meeting of peaceable and unarmed Irishmen ; it is not much
to be wondered at—as injustice and injury caused the Repeal
cry, as imbecility of purpose or something worse permitted its
continuance, and as rashness or treacherous desire for ven-
geance at length sought to put it down—that injustice, imbe-
cility, and rashness should be found prevalent, in the conduct
of these prosecutions.

The Attorney-General has opened his budget, and has de-
tailed the matter of the indictment to the jury ; he has
opened out one vast conspiracy, extending from the
Giant's Causeway to the Hill of Howth, and pervading
the entire length and breadth of the land ; he has opened
months of conspiracy from Tuam to Clontarf ;
at meetings attended by hundreds of thousands, and held in the
face of day—continued publications, songs set to the tune of
Repeal, and every matter and thing that nearly one twelve-
month has witnessed in Ireland, all crammed into one vast
count, and that count conspiracy. Conspiracy was always
conceived to be hatched in secret, to be the product of dark-
ness rather than of light; but in Ireland they have (as Lord
LYNDHURST more forcibly expressed the idea), a different mode
of doing everything. It would seem that they conspire in
public—the more public, the better,—the larger the meeting,
the greater the conspiracy,—and, lest it should be kept secret,
as the end is illegal, they publish all their intents, and sing
them about the streets. O'CoNNELL co. cocting a conspiracy,
with 800,000 people assembled together, distributing the pro-
gramme of his intended illegal acts, and to the tunes of the
Irish Melodies !! ! Why, the whole charge is a farce ; but
let the jury beware, lest they should fall into the trap laid for
them. The Irish Attorney-General makes his first ap-
pearance on the stage as a Crown prosecutor—he begins with
farce ; let not the jury allow him to play farce first,
and then end with tragedy. The conclusion of the Irish mon-
ster meetings, might have been the tragedy of Clontarf ; let
not the end of the Irish monster indictment, be the tragedy of
Crown Vengeance, with the Irish Attorney-General as director.
It is said by every body, and the subalterns of Government
repeat the saying everywhere, that the conviction of the tra-
versers is certain—that twelve men could not have been
selected, more calculated to do the behests of the Attorney-
General, than the jury now in the box. We do not believe it.
But be it so. Let everybody say it. Let the Government
glory in the prospect. Let the Attorney-General rejoice in
his anticipated success. Let the concoctors of the jury list
triumphantly chuckle in the completion of their trick. Let
the prosecutors, in short, convict all the prosecuted. What
then ? We pause for a reply.
Will the ends of the prosecutors be attained by the convic-
tion of O'CoNNELL ? Will Ireland be tranquillised by his
punishment? Will the people of England be satisfied by any
verdict of the jury, fraudulently got together, and confessedly
selected from a partially suppressed list ? We answer, No.
The Government of Sir R. PEEL will find, and in their
own persons prove, that honesty would have been their best
policy. They will find that neither Governments, States, nor
individuals, can repudiate the principles of honour and fair
dealing with impunity. They will learn, by bitter experience,
that the only colours under which party fights can take place
with credit to the parties engaged, are those of principle.
They will learn that though office may be gained by the over-
threw of political opponents, it cannot be maintained by poli-
tical tergiversation. And their last, their bitterest, draught of
political disgrace, will be administered to them in Ireland,
where success cannot save them—where defeat awaits them—
and where the curses of indignant millions attend, and will
follow to its grave, the Administration of Sir R. PEEL.

Accounts from:Madrid to the 11th inst., state that the Go-
vernment insisted upon NARVAEZ retaining the rank of Cap-
tain-General, conferred on him by her MAJESTY. Honours
are thus thrust upon the modest warrior, and he must wear
them. The fact is officially announced in these words .