The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-25 00:00:00

Gf thy PUBLIC JOURNALS.
raosi THE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
GLOBE.—The O'Driscoll case was last evening
brouhgt before the Heu-se of Cennamee
.by. -Mr. Ross.
The facts and circumstances Of ibis 111o4strous perver-
sion of power by the Irish Government are fresh in the
recollection of the public, from which they will not
speedily be obliterated; - The debate in the House of
Peers, in the last week, on Lerd Fortescue's motion on
the same subject. had already furnished the defence of
the Government to this charge upon it; administration
of the prerogative. There was, therefore, nothing of
novelty in the discussion of last evening. The debate
was not, however, devoid of interest ; nor will it be
without its effect. The Government me), show itself
alike deaf to the voice of reason and prudence ; it may
even manifest a stolid indifference both to the estimation
in which its character is held in this country, and to the
dangers which the impolicy of its rule tends to produce in
the sister kingdom. But it is impossible for the repeated
instances of fatuity which the Government is constantly
exhibiting in Ireland—and in matters intimately con-
nected with th'e cause of the dis,satisfaction which per-
vades the mass of the population in that land of misrule
—to be exposed to public view, without producing a
powerful effect on the thinking part of the community
in both countries. Ministers may for a time succeed in
obtaining Parliamentary majorities when their Irish
policy is impugned in Parliament ; but the effect upon
the public mind does not pass away with the division.
The facts remain—memorials of the treatment which
statesmen, as they call themselves, deem it consistent
with their reputation as a Ministry, and with the safety
of a country they undertake to govern, to adopt toward
a sensitive and, at present, provoked and suffering peo-
phe It is not, therefore, a needless labour—a waste of
time and words, as some of the Ministerial journals in-
timate, and would willingly induce a belief—to iterate
the facts of such instances of misgovernment. The
public mind is thus saturated with proofs of the indis-
position or incapacity of Ministers to preserve peace and
security in Ireland—they leave the House of Commons
without excuse, if it persist in supporting them in a
course fraught with danger and di-grace—and they will
at length, if slowly, yet surely, induce that reaction in
the constituencies which will deprive the men who now
abuse the power with which they have been entrusted,
of further opportunities of tnischief. We therefore invite
attention to the debate of last evening, as one which
compensates by the imnortance of its character for the
absence of novelty. The conduct of the Govern-
ment in the case of an individual magistrate
is indicative of the spirit by which it is ac-
tuated with reference to the body of the magistracy
in Ireland. The good of the people—the equit-
able and satisfactory administration of the laws among
the entire community—the determination to preserve
the law from the reproach to which unworthy or un-
suitable magistrates expose it in the estimation of the
people—these are not the considerations that prevail
with our present rulers. An O'Brien, who had made him-
self conspicuous as a renegade repealer; who recently
beslavered O'Connell with laudations as the saviour
of his country, and repeal as the only means by which
its salvation could be secured; but who has become the
vituperator of' the leader and the cause which he so
lately espoused—this man was selected by the Govern-
ment for a stipendiary magistrate ! That the people
would have no confidence in his administration was re-
garded as of no importance by those who selected him.
The object was to offer a bounty to renegades ; and to
exhibit Mr. O'Brien as a specimen of the qualities
which the Government was disposed to purchase,
in order to encourage their appearance in the
market. Mr. O'Driscoll was superseded by the Lord
Chancellor for a series -of acts, for any one of which
his name would have been removed from the com-
mission by any Government worthy of the, name. But
his cause was taken up by, the party which in Ireland
has invariably dictated to Tory Governments what they
should do, and what they should not do, in such-ffietters.
The Castle, thus coerced, proved too strong' tit the
Chancellor. The man who had shown himself in-
eapeble of restraining his hands from violence, and his
tongue from insulting the magistrates on the bench; who
were compelled to visit his violence with a fine—this
intemperate and reckless man, who had acted as a
judge in a case in which he was also the accuser and
the witness—and (contrary to the Petty Sessions Act)
chose his own house as the scene of the monstrous exhi-
bition—who in the case of his tenant, Sullivan, had
shown himself the tyrant of his little demesne, as cruel
as he was unjust—this man, whose complicated
demerits would disgrace any bench of justice, and
who was righteously dismissed from the magis-
tracy as unfit to remain a member of the body—
was six months afterwards reinstated, on the memorial
of a set of partisans who sympathised with him in his
dismissal, and who apprehended that if magistrates were
too severely dealt with for such peccadillos as those Mr.
A. O'Driscoll had committed, that a sufficient number of
" gentlemen " would not be found to perform the duties
of magistrates in the " wild districts " of Ireland !
STANDARD.—The case of Mr. O'Driscoli's re-
appointment to the magistracy was again dragged for-
ward by a Mr. Ross, who appears, by the Parliamentary
list to be a Member for Belfast, but of whom we know
nothing more. The motion of Mr. Ross, which was for
an address to remove Mr. O'Driscoll, was seconded by
Mr. Dillon Browne, of whom we do remember that
he was returned for Mayo shortly after the
pseudo Archbishop of Team, . boasted
of his power to return " two cowboys" for the
county in questio,n. But whether Mr. Dillon Browne
was or was nut returned by an extreme exercise of that
power we have no means by which to decide. We should
owe an apelogy to our readers for again adverting to
this trumpery grievance, notwithstanding that the House
thought it deserving of a grave debate upon the very
night on which the Appropriation Act was announeed—
that death-warning of the session—we should, we say,
owe an apology for again adverting to this
trumpery grievance, were it not that the Irish Romanist
Members imparted to the discussion a new and amusing
character, by raisine, a contrast between the case of Mr.
O'Driscoll and that of the dismissed repeal magis-
trates. Let us for a moment fellow up this
contrast. Of what has Mr. O'Driscoll been guilty ?
Of certain personal delinquencies—delinquencies not
committed in his judicial capacity, or in his po-
litical
character, as a public officer. These delin-
quencies have been, in our judgment, greatly overrated
on both sides: e but all at least admit this, that they affix
no stain of dishonesty, dishonour, or disloyalty, or of
anything but defect of temper, and perhaps of conven-
tional good manners. Mr. o'.Driscell is, in fact, accused
of nothing which many good men and loyal subjects have
not done, are not doirg, and. will not continue to do,
to the end of time. Now, let us turn to the repeal
magistrates. Having taken the oath of allegiance
these men have promoted 'ter attended monster meet-
ings, which it was their sworn duty to prevent or to
disperse. Having also sworn to prevent to the utmost
of their power the commission of all treasons, felonies,
and misdemeanours, they have allied themselves
to a conspiracy, the proposed end of which
cannot, as they have been assured by both
the Crown and the Parliament, be accomplished but
by successful treason. They have allied them-
seves to a conspiracy, the daily acts of which, as the re-
cords of the Irish Court Or• Queen's 'Bench show, were
misdemeanours of the very highel class-misdernea-
nours closely appoximatine to the crime of trea-
son
itself—and .of this, amount of perfidy and crime,
they have been guilty, in defiance of repeated friendly'
warnings eof the Executive. - Why, if the qua-
liticatione for a magistrate
.were simply negative,
these offender® whti have so positively, as well
as scandalously; violated their duty as subjects ought not
to be iecluded in the' commission of the peace. Bet the
qualifications for a magistrate are not merely negative—
it ie his duty 'to enforce the law, end; therefore, it is
his neces'eary-qualification to, be cordially disposed
to assert 'the law's authority—further, it is his
duty to ,co-operate sincerely and zealousy with
the Executive in preserving" the public peace, and
providing against iebutever can endanger the public
peace. But can such zealous co-operation be reasonably
expected from men who urge the people to unite
for an ObjeCt which the Sovereign and the Legis-
lature have again declared shall be resisted even
by arree if en:cosset.), ? The repeaters are not
merely unqualified fur the coninussion of the peace,
they' •ee disqualified by their own acts. And we
A
do riot hesitate to say; that in case of necessity, it
would be much more proper to replace the dismissed
repealer.; by so many woolly-headed blacks from Ja-
maica then restore them. Iu general intelligence
ant decency of conduct the negroes might have but
a small advantage, thought they probably would have
some ; but in the, freedom front disqualifying guilt,
they would have a clear and decided superiority.
Mr. Daniell' O'Connell is one of the dismissed;
Wo;uld Messrs. Ross and Shell- amid -Dilloti "Browne
propose to head the list with his name ?. By the way,
when the restoration of Mr. O'Driscoll, unconvicted of
any offence Jorire grave than a trifling assault, is made
the subject of complaint, it ought to be remem-
bered that the: Whii,es placed Mr. O'Connell in
the eemesisSiose -of the peace after his conviction,
upon a plea of guilty, of is seditious misdemeanour, and
even proposed to him to take the highest seat-upon the
Exchequererteneh. One-word kuore. Jo the session to
he tatffersd.3a., expire without calling, the attention of
Parliament to the, prosecution elf. Mr, Fry, at Roscom-
mon? What are the Irish Protestant 'Member& about?

THE LATE. FATAL OCCURRENCE
'AT BLACICFRIARS-BRIDGE.
ADJOURNED INQUEST.
(The examination ,of Mr. John 13readCott, In continuation
from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)
By a Juror—lt
might be half-past seven, or twenty
minutest() eight o'clock.when he went on There was no
crash, all was quite easy., He did 'not see raanir where: he
was. He toOk 'the children with him to see. the rowing
match. He is not deaf; and did' na
hear guns firing, -
the bridge crack, or the last witness make any observat or'
Ile was pulled out by one of the bier-men.
Francis Tapley* said he was a ,fisii„saiesmin, ,in Lower
names-street, 'and had just !anded from One of. the iron
boats. He was standing on the bridge; at least he had
one foot 'On ft. lie heard' an observation that the boats
were 'abut starting; and turning round, he rooked towards
the river.' ,At the same moment the bridge-gave way. He
should iy, that there were from eighty to one, handred on
the 'vi'oodeti bridge altogether,' • .
The CORoN•T,R—UoW persons differ fa thßir estimate of
numbers-
Witness stood for some minutes, and therseor4 had an
-opporinity ofjudging. The principal persona on' the htidge
were look,:rtg at the rowing; ithAt he never saw . persons
crowded close); all up and down the stab* than they were.
When the bridge,„ broke, moot of the persons ran back, but
he (witness) ran forwZd, and iou imstrumental in dragging
)
two out. The bridge fell hin ha cart *rested against
the stone-work. He thong Oere might t)* 44i=;fen persons
saved. The girl Rhoda was 'i)i-ekw'fl out by a pew; in a
skiff, who was not now present. He has no donb#that toe
accident arose from the number of persopS42l the bridge.
Thomas Eves, 303 City policeman--He dtd not see the
accident occur, but went there Immediately aftertyaA.d.g, and
sty the girl Rhoda pulled out_ by a liglatettliim, who was not
present, anal whose name he did 114 t 114101 Y. TritS raised I

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