The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-03 00:00:00

would remain undisturbed. But suppose twelve hundred or
twelve thousand such men met and passed similar resolutions,
the Minister would begin to look about him—would see that the
public mind was stirred, and would consent to discuss remon-
strances which he had hitherto treated with contempt. A
meeting of twelve thousand such men would produce important
results ; and yet no man, no legal officer of the Crown, would
dare to treat them as conspirators. They would not be con-
sidered conspirators even if one of their number spoke rashly,
or if the incendiary or the spy should have been among them
uttering treason and sedition. Now, the humbler classes of so-
ciety had the same tight to -meet and discuss their grievances as
persons in the rank of the gentlemen of the jury, but the opinions of
the men of the multitude were not equivalent in individual im-
portance. and therefore they were obliged to make up the
deficiency of moral force by superior numbers. But then,
if meetings of those classes, however numerous, were
.more
orderly than the House of Commons—although, as that
august body was now sitting, he must not allude to it—( A
laagh)— if the English reporters were astonished at the po-
liteness of Irish manners—at the moderation of the savages
who occupied this portion of tho United Kingdom, then the
meetings were as legal as any that might be formed of their
more elevated fellow-subjects. He would now call the at-
tention of the jury to some meetings which had beer, held
in England—held under the nose of the Attorney-General,
and at the door of the Prime Minister. The first meeting to
by
yh
.he R
osshul
so,
theel
Crown
nwas
itthnaets s w. h ilcth
whaasd
attended been
mentionedby tw o
hundred thousand of the lower classes—for it would be an
insult to call them rabble—and was met for the purpose of
discussing the severe sentence whieh had been passed on
the Dorsetshire labourers. Mr. Ross stated that he never
had seen such ameeting—a small party of 200,000 men, march-
ing in procession to the Prime Minister's office, with a petition
which it took twenty men to lift, on the subject of a sentence
which had been pronounced by one of the Judges of the land !
How was that meeting headed? By a clergyman of the Esta-
blished Church, dressed in his sacred robes. He (the Learned
Counsel) mentioned this fact, because one of the charges against
Mr. O'Connell was, that he attended a meeting in his red
robe of office. Now he (the Learned Counsel) thought that
that fact should' be taken as an indication of Mr. O'Connell's
wish to preserve peace and order. No man in office would,
if bent on disturbance, go to a meeting decked in the insignia
of authority ; he was sure that if their Lordships—with re-
spect be it spoken—should ever feel inclined to encourage
riot, the would never do so decked in the judicial ermine.—
( Loud laughter.) But the meeting to which he had alluded
marched through the streets of London, and he would read to
the jury some account of its proceedings. (The Learned Coun-
sel here read reports from the London papers of the meeting,
and other great meetings held in England, and then proceeded. )
He would now draw their attention to the way in which the
Evening Mail spoke of the great meeting at Hillsborough, at
which 75,000 men attended. The people who appeared at that
meeting were called " the brave men of the North." He liked
them to be called so, for they were a brave body of men. They
travelled many miles to attend the meeting at Hillsborough, and
they assembled at that meeting in such numbers for the purpose
of declaring that by physical force " the union should be main-
tained, and that they would resist its repeal with their lives
and fortunes." And did they think that if these 75,000
smamenemboet again
d forete r tmh
ien
ed self-samefront,
that
the purpose, A at
tnod r
neyandexhibited
Soli-
citor-Generals would not be very much obliged to them;?—( A
laugh.) Did they think that if these men met again, and
expressed their determination, not only to uphold the union,
but to support the Gthernment in the prosecution of those
who sought to repeal that measure, that the Attorney-Gene-
ral would not be most gratified? Did they think that they
would not hear from the Attorney-General the expression of
his thanks to these brave men of the north for the honour
they had conferred on himself individualiy, and upon the
Government whose unworthy servant he was—(Laughter)
for having, by the demonstration of physical force, expressed
their determination to uphold the Church and State, and
maintain the sacred institutions of the country?—( Laughter. )
There was not one of those 75,000 men that could not
handle a gun ably and well, and the Attorney-General, at the
bottom of his heart was glad of it ; and could they doubt that
if these 75,000 well-armed and well-disciplined men had met
and declared that the union between this country and England
was a grievance and must be repealed—did they doubt, he
would ask, that an Act repealing the union might not, in a
very short space of time, be the law of the land? But they
did meet in " border fashion," and they declared they were
ready to uphold the union.; and with the view of giving con-
t age to the Queen's Ministers to oppose the repeal of that mea-
sure, they stated their determination of being ready to sustain
them with their lives and fortunes. If that had been a
meeting composed of 500 persons, of what value would
such a declaration have been? If it were a meeting of
5,000, or of even 15,000, its value would be doubtful, as re-
garded this expression of feeling in favour of the Government ;
but it was of the first consequence when it came from a well-
organised body, such as the 75,000 men who met at Hills-
borough. No doubt the Learned Solicitor-General would
endeavour to draw a difference between the meeting at Hills-
borough and those which took place at Tara at Mullaghmast ;
but tie was sure that twelve high-minded and honourable men
would not allow paltry, personal, or political considerations,
to influence them when they were called upon to give their
opinion as to the character of these respective meetings. He
would now direct their attention to the evidence which had
been given in respect to the several repeal meetings. The wit-
nesses examined were chiefly policemen, and one or two magis-
trates ; and yet every one of them admitted that peace and order
prevailed at all the meetings ; and this, if it had been necessary,
could have been fully established with hundreds of witnesses
for the defence. And here, he might observe, that there was
not one witness who was able to say that these meetings pro-
duced the slightest fear or annoyance to either the resident
gentry, the merchants, or the traders who resided in the
localities where they took place. In fact, all, from east to
west, was order and perfect tranquillity. But the Learned
Attorney-General contended that the more quiet the meetings,
the more criminal—(a laugh)—so that if the question which
they had to try was the insanity of an individual, the best
evidence, according to the dictum of the Learned Attorney-
General, that could be given in support of it, would be to show
that the party bad always acted in a perfectly sensible and
correct manner, and that in truth his intellect was
wholly and entirely unclouded.—( A laugh.) If those
men who assembled at the meetings in question had
been drunk, and if they had broken each ether's heads,
why that would have been all right. It would have been the
good old fashion and system by which heretofore Irishmen
settled their differences ; but the moment they lay aside their
national characteristics, and soberly and steadily meet its large
numbers to obtain a great object, then down comes the At-
torney-General and immediately calls for Coke and Hale to see
if he cannot out of this peaceable and orderly proceeding make
out something that will ensure a conviction for conspiracy,
and this be is to do by means of the gentleman with the
scissors—( A laugh)—and then by stringing this speech and
that together so involve both speakers and journalists in one
common crime as will completely overwhelm them, and pre-
vent them from appearing at a meeting for the future. It
would be absurd to present petitions of the meetings held in
August to the House of Commons, when perhaps there
might not be thirty persons present—they were, therefore,
necessarily reserved until such an impression might be made
by an accumulated mass, as well as by the number and variety
of the signatures, as could not fail to make an impression on
the understanding and feeling of Parliament. Now as to
the Mullaghmast meeting—and here he would ask, was it
a lawful or unlawful meeting? What was the test to try the
legality or illegality of a meeting ? They would say, no
doubt, ;that it was to be tested by the acts of the speakers—
by the speeches made—by the general conduct of those
assembled—whether they had separated quietly, and whether
they returned to their homes peaceably. It was the duty
of the jury to look at those features, and look at them with
the eye of charity—to look at them as freemen, anxious for
the rights and privileges of freemen. They were not to
view things with the critical eye of a lawyer—they were not
to find men guilty who assembled for a peaceable purpose ;
nor were they to be looking for something different from what
really appeared. Would the great meeting at Hillsborough, at
which the Marquis of Downshire and other noblemen and in-
fluential persons attended, be deemed illegal because some ob-
scure criminal, a spy, an incendiary, went there—some ballad-
seller from Belfast, to sell and circulate treason or slander ?
Surely it would not. Such was the case of the Mullaghmast
meeting. Did Mr. O'Connell, or any other of the tra-
versers, cause to be published, printed, or circulated, the do-
cument which was produced in Court, and received in evidence?
They did not. They had produced on the table here the
Eeriztreoru;vhhtowihrhpimublreedonelvyeltgheinflfaocrartice 2issociation, and
which was pub-
lished for the Mullaghmast meeting, and which they directed
to be printed, and for which he was paid. Were, then, the
traversers to be tried, sentenced, and condemned, upon the
act of a man whom even the police did not know—who cire
culated a document giving a description of something which
occurred, no one knew when or where—a document received
in evidence to prove the common plot set forth in the indict-
ment—as evidence of a common union to promote a com-
mon object—to promote and effect a preconcerted plan ?
And yet there was not one particle of evidence pro-
diced to prove that the paper was printed by the Associa-
tion, or by their direction. 'Why did not the Attorney-Gene-
ral produce the man who printed that scandalous and wicked
document? Why bring forward a document not proved
by its printer? Why keep back his name? And were the
jury to fasten the guilt of such a man upon the traversers—
to fasten upon them a lying, slanderous document, which
they never saw? He complained, then, of keeping back such
a witness, and which the Attorney-General should have pro-
duced. It was not their business to criminate themselves,
nor should it be done by any party but by clear and unequi-
vocal proof; and although that piece of evidence was received
by the Court, it should net be received by the jury, unless it
was proved that it was part of a common, a preconcerted
plan ; for he would lay it down as law, that if that document
was even the act of one of the eight traversers, it should not
be received as evidence against the others, unless they believed
it was, by the assent and consent of all, a part of a precon-
certed plan.
The Court adjourned for refreshment, for a few minutes.
At five minutes past two the Court sat again, and
Mr. WHITESIDE resumed his address.—Mr. Fitgibbon had
given a full statement of what might be considered the best
passages of Mr. O'Connell's speeches, and he (Mr. Whiteside)
would now take a view of what might be considered the worst.
Many of those speeches had not been given in evidence, but the
nature of the indictment was such that the prosecution- were
enabled to put in a vast number of papers containing reports of
speeches, and the jury had to distinguish between those
that were proved and those that were not. It was also
well known that many speeches were reported which never
had been delivered—particularly in the way of poetic ex-
tracts which the speaker never uttered, but which some-
times found their way into the written speech. In one
of those reported addresses Mr. O'Connell was represented
as alluding to the battle of the Boyne, and defeat of the
Irish people there. It was singular enough that Sir Walter
Scott, in alluding, on one occasion, to the battles of his coun •
trymen in " flood and field," admonished the Scots not to fall
into the mistake of their ancestors, but to be steady, firm, and
united, in their moral agitation, and not to be divided and
wavering as their ancestors were in their physical conflicts.
This was precisely the meaning of Mr. O'Connell's allusion to
the battle of the Boyne. He encouraged the people to firm-
ness in the political struggle in which they were engaged, by
a reference to historical facts. His language plainly meant no-
thing mote nor less than this—" By their want of perseverance
your ancestors lost the memorable battle of the Boyne; in
the constitutional struggle in which you are engaged, be
sure that you preserve perseverance and unity, and you

certainly succeed." The speeches given in the indictniellk
were for tha most part made after dinner, and the worst p ots,
sages of them were extracted for-the purpose of showing what
a wicked man Mr. O'Connell was. As to the word " fog
reigner," Mr. O'Connell took that word from the law
A cv4-was reported in 3 Barnewall and Adolphus, where a 1411
of exchange was drawn on a person in Ireland, and as there ‘sao
only a verbal acceptance, it was contended that that was sutlis.
cient, Ireland being a foreign country.-(Laughter.) It cmei
pressed on the other side, that that could not be ; but it wig
ruled by the Court that Ireland was a foreign country,
and that a verbal acceptance of the bill bound the ac-
ceptor.-(Laughter.) It was observed by one of th•
counsel who argued the case that they did not even know
where Dublin was.--( Laughter. ) When Mr. O'Connell.
said England was a foreign country, he was speaking a I..id
truth ; he was certainly speaking of a place beyond the seas;
but he (Mr. Whiteside) would require the Solicitor-Genend
to prove that, because Mr. O'Connell said this, his (Mr. WA)
client conspired to do all the wicked things with which Mr.
O'Connell was charged. All that he said about the " stunted
corporal" (the Duke of Wellington) and Sir Robert Peels,
oa
stied
distinguishedw as draw nforth r
persons
because
were he
going(Mtro.
puto e oh
in;
sical force than was at Waterloo," was a mere boastful entree..
pdnreaolwinetdbhnyoouptithyitnsgitch,al force. His expression, " Here is more phy.
sion of pride, showing that the confidence of the masses of the
people was enjoyed by him, and that their opinions were as
much entitled to be discussed as those of the 75,000 eh.
violent
of. !h
or
e
massacre at Mullaghmast, he does not stir up a sectarian .
-he told the people that it was not a massacre committed b
went " shoulder to shoulder" to the Hillsborough meeting.
Gentlemen of the jury, in lookin at the Mullaghmast meet.
ains cannot
igzoruoper;
for consider
whe u
alludingAlr. O '
oo ntuheel l's
historicalspeech
fact
as
s
a Protestant on a Catholic, but one perpetrated by Cathu ice
on Catholics. The Attorney-General called your attention to
the character of the proceedings by which the meetings were
got together-he told you the people were drilled, and he
quoted a case to show that such drilling was illegal ; but
he did not tell you that the drilling in that case was per.
formed at night, and by a soldier. You, gentlemen, saw the
meeting at Donnybrook ; it was composed. of respectable arti-
sans-we, coming to court, saw them-would you believe any
man, if he could be found, to tell you that he was put in
terror ?-that he apprehended a breach of the peace, or any
danger to either life or property? No, surely -" Ex uno
disce omnes." From that one meeting learn the character of
the whole. But the Orangemen have met hundreds 'of time*
with music, with banners, and mind, gentlemen, with arras,
which they well knew how to use, for they were often tr'ed
for using them-(Laughter) -and then only for the riot, not
because it was asserted they had no tight to meet, or that
such meetings were illegal, for such was never asserted;
and when they did wish to put them down, they had to
get an Act of Parliament to empower them to say so. Well.
Lord Stanlay put them down with a strong and a tight
hand, and the only objection which was made by one of the
present Judges on our bench was, that he did not think the
law went far enough, and put down all meetings of the descrip-
tion which were then under debate. Mr. Lefroy, who now SO
ably administers justice in au inferior Court, resisted wits
great ability the passing of that Bill. There were also two
other persons who resisted it, both of whom are at present
traversers at the bar. One of them was Mr. O'Connell and
the other was his son. They resisted it on constitutional
grounds, and eloquently, ably, and constitutionally they argued
the case, even though it took power from their enemies
to injure them. He told them that the spirit of
the Orangemen could not be put down ; it might
be properly directed, but it could not thus be repressed.
The Association was not obnoxious to the charges m the in-
dictment. Its object was, not to diminish the prerogative of
the Crown, but to extend it-not to subvert the throne or the
House of Peers, but to add to the strength of the one, and to re-
store the other, and to bring back to Ireland the House of Cont.-
mons, whose absence they deplored. If the jury were to judge
fairly, they should place themselves in the situation of the ti
versers, and then, he would confidently ask them, would they
adopt different means to effect their object ? The fact was,
that the people had found out the secret of their strength,
that what wasdenied tojustice was conceded tomoral force. The
history of Ireland for the last century almost was but a series of
Associations like the present. After adverting to a numbet of
cases in favour of the traversers, the Learned Counsel thus coo.
eluded-A large proportion of our countrymen were unhappy, die.
contented, and despicable. They looked around on the cause
of their misfortunes-they beheld a country blessed by Pro.
vidence with the means of greatness, and strong men pinilig
for a daily sixpence, starving with gaunt famine in the midst
of fertility, and they uttered the language of indignation and
remonstrance. If, under such circumstances as these, a
man thought a native Parliament would give him the means
of life, was he criminal to wish for the means of life? %I as
he seditious if he said so? And if he, knowing that lis
single voice would be passed by unheeded as the idle wind,
joined with other men in declaring their common wanes,
grievances, and sufferings, were they conspirators? Were
they conspirators because they thought a local Parliament
might, perhaps, give them those blessings for which they nos
sighed. They thought, perhaps, the resident aristocracy ail
gentry were the source of industry and the means of weals,..
They said that the mischief of absenteeism was daily an
hourly increasing. They thought perchance a native Patin -
ment might induce the absentees to return. Were they con-
spirators because they said so ?-They knew, and true it was,
that the beauties of Ireland were few ; she had little to indue•
gentry or nobility to return. What were her beauties con -
pared with the fascinations of the Imperial Senate, or the gli
tering splendour of a Court? They believed that their
country's wealth was daily and hourly diminishing ; beim
then they saw a gloomy prospect and little hope ; they
transferred their eye to this metropolis in which we stand ;
they see what an acute and sensitive people cannot shut their
eyes to ; they see the houses of the nobility turned into
barracks, the Stamp-office extinguished, the Linen-hall
deserted, the University forsaken, the Custom-house almost
a poor-house, and not long since they had read a debate in Par-
liament to remove from their asylum the old Irish pensioners,
who bravely served their country, to transplant them in th .ir
old age in another country, for the purpose of saving a miser-
able pittance. They saw every possible source of expenditure
withdrawn from the country by the application of polite. II
economy and the unbending principles of imperial centralie
tion. They looked at their parliament house converted it, o
a bank. In their eyes it stood a monument of past glory
and present degradation. The glorious labours of our gitt4
countrymen within those walls were not forgotten. Tito
works of the understanding did not easily perish. The ver -as
of Homer livel 2,500 years, without the loss of a sin; 'er
letter, while temples and cities had been swept away ; and t• •
even now read without emotion the exalted sentiments her ie•
spired sons poured forth in their exquisite language to save t •
expiring liberties of their country. Perhaps their genius II
-
a resurrectionary power. and in later days quickened a dog .
nerate posterity from the lethargy of slavery into the active y
of freedom. We, too, had among us in better times, many
who approached the greatness of antiquity. The imperishabia
records of their eloquence would keep alive in our hearts a zeal
for freedom, and a love for our country. The comprehenti,•
genius of Flood, the immortal eloquence of Grattan, the sple, .
dour of Burke, the noble simplicity and Demosthenic eloquen,
of Plunket and of Curran, had failed to save the ancient con.

stitution of Ireland! Had learning, genius, eloquence, w
their power over the souls 01 men ? With one great exee,s..
lion, these distinguished countrymen had passed away, List
their memorials had not perished with them. Their name,
would be remembered by a grateful posterity, while genius w as
honoured or patriotism remembered. Those who dosir sd
the repeal of the union believed that the Imperial
Parliament did not attend sufficiently to our peculiar wants.
Our character was misunderstood, and sometimes slanderc4.
Our vices were magnified into crimes, and the crimes of •
few were visited upon the nation. The Irish—the mere
Irish—had been treated as creatures of impulse—men with
out settled understandings, without a rational power, OP
moral sense. They had their faults, God knows, and
and he (Mr. Whiteside) grieved to say it, but their faults were
redeemed by splendid virtues. They had rushed into this agi,a.
tion with ardour. It was their very nature where they fell
strongly to act boldly, and speak passionately—ascribe these
excesses to their enthusiasm, and forgive ! Recollect that thi
same enthusiasm had borne them triumphantly over fields of peril
and glory—had impelled them to shed their dearest blow,
and spend their lives, in defence of the liberties of Englanr4
Nor is their high spirit useful only in the storm of battle ;
cheers their almost broken heart under their misery—it
sweetens the bitter cup of poverty, which thousands of your
countrymen are admitted to feel. The emanations of genius,
the imperishable works of art, and the labours of heroes, a
the attachment of patriots, have all been prompted by entlin.
siasm. The deep passions of the soul are sometimes summoned
into action for great and noble purposes, and are awakened by
the hand of Omnipotence, by whose touch this island fi.-st
started into existence—that hand which has stamped upoil
this bold people the enthusiastic desire for the regeneration of
Ireland.
The Learned Counsel here, overpowered by exertion, sank
into his seat, amid loud and continued applause.
Mr. Moo RE, Q. C.—My Lord, he is exceedingly exhausted.
Mr. HENN, Q.C.--He has not concluded, my Lord.
CHIEF JUSTICE—We will not consider him to have done s>`
The Court was then adjourned to ten o'clock to-mono
morning.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]
THREE SUPPLEMENTS GRATIS,

WITH THE "DISPATCH."
GREAT NATIONAL TRIAL AT DUBLIN.

The immense size of THE WEEKLY DISPATCH has,
hitherto, enabled its Proprietors on all occasions to presents a
copious, and, at the same time, interesting account of the eves.to
of each week. It is, however, now found utterly impossible t•
give anything like a faithful report of the Trial of Mr. O'Con
nell and his Repeal associates, without excluding a great mass of
interesting domestic and foreign intelligence ; the Proprietors,
therefore, feel that their journal, which has been for years, +.nd
is new, honoured with more patronage than any other in f
a-
istenee, should be, in all respects, complete; and, with that
view, they intend to insert a summary of the proceedings
during the progress of the trial in their usual columns, and
present to their friends and subscribers
THREE SUPPLEMENTS, GRATIS,
Which will be published in the following order, viz. :
Columns.
The first on SUNDAY NEXT, February 4,
containing Mr. Sheil's speech, which may be 16
onsidered the gem of oratory
The second, the FULL SIZE of thel
WEEKLY DISPATCH, on the Sunday suc-
ceeding the delivery of the Verdict, containing
the Speeches of Mr. O'Connell, Sir C. O'Logh-
in, the Attorney-General, and other leading L
Counsel; together with the Summing up of the r: "
Judge, the Verdict of the Jury, and other matters
of importance that may arise up to the latest
hour, for which the services of several short-hand
writers of eminence have been engaged
The third on the Sunday following (also of thel
full size of THE WEEKLY DISPATCH)
which will form the early portion of the trial, and
embrace the proceedings from the commence-
ment to that stage at which the first begins,.
so that every subscriber to THE WEEKLY 45
DISPATCH will be in possession of a com-
plete and faithful report of this great national
trial—a trial which must become a matter of
history, and ever be regarded as an event of no
ordinary importance in after time

112
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MR. O'CON.
NELL will precede the account of the Trial, which a'll
be written by a gentleman intimately acquainted with the
" great Agitator; ani consequently one who has treasured ue
many reminiscences that will render the Biography a paper 4
general and absorbing interest.
The Three Supplements, forming One Hundred and Twelr
Columns, will be printed uniformly with THE DISPATCHI
and contain a quantity of matter equal to at least an war
volume of 600 pages.

nuni‘iibOerßTot
those
Deaths cafursoemd bsyc
air: etui
nuai oli:.ba
29, as compared with the pr o-
-1,011, showing a decrease of rodtigs.
j—anuTaryhe27,ol:aisi
vious week, and an increase over the average of the last five
winters of 65. The increase has taken place chiefly in deaths
(inflammation of the lungs) being 109, while the average IS
only 91. Deaths from small-pox are 18, and of those carried
(LleaTtYhs dluNrin Tgl I tsliellElwee:°en
oeffauls2ed•habdyndiotsebaseeesn o\f-actchienaluten7l.,-,
being 17 above the average, and violent deaths, 14 or 11 few ar
than usual. Of these 4 are from falls, 4 from burns, 1
from suicide. and