The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-03 00:00:00

LONDON,
TUESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 3, 1829.

The Special Commission at Cork terminated
its labours on` Friday last. This was to be ex-
pected after the turn which the course of the
trials took in the second instance, strengthened
as it was by the unanimous acquittal in the third
trial. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL saw in the
temper of the Jury, the sympathy of the Judges,
and the convulsed feeling of the public mind,
that it was of no use to proceed further, and the
other prisoners were allowed to return to their
homes. The question now come., what will be
done with the four first prisoners who were found
guilty ? Ihe Judges appointed the 14th of
November for their execution. But will they be
executed, when their fellows in guilt (for they were
all presumed to be guilty) are suffered to go at
large ? We hope not. Such a proceeding
would seem harsh, though it might be just.
People will now naturally say, that if the con-
victed prisoners had been tried by the subse-
quent juries, they too would have escaped.
They may have been more guilty, but the pre-
sumption will now rise up in their favour, that
it was only their misfortune, not their guilt,.which
placed them first on trial. We know that it
is usual to try those presumed to be most
guilty first, but the singular turn which the
subsequent trials, took will all be so me.9y
points with the multitude in favour of the
convicts. Let Government take the matter
either way, and they are placed in a very awk-
ward dilemma. Ti ue, they have the, verdict of
the Jury in their favour, if bloody-minded—but
so had Shylock his bond. Mercy, in such a
predicament, is the wiser coune ; and sure we
are, that Government is mercifully inclined. It
was only an imperative sense of what was
due to public justice and public safety, that
dictated the Special Commission. The up-
rightness and impartiality of the Government
were displayed by their promptitude in meeting
a manifest public evil, and the result has vindi-
cated the character of the Government, while it
has established the purity of the administration
of Justice. We say then, let mercy be
shown to the unfortunate, :and Government
will find the best reward in the gratitude of the
people. The character of the evidence, apart
from other considerations, is sufficient to war-
rant this course.

The proud impartiality with which the trials
were conducted will greatly tend to make the ad-
ministration of the law henceforth respected in
Ireland. Upon this subject we have the con-
currence of the Cork Constitution, which says
that the necessity of the Special Commission
was self evident ; but that as to the conduct of it
--,( never since the introduction of English
law into Ireland, has justice been exhibited in
a form so near perfection." The Cork Consti-
tution is what is termed an Orange Paper, and
this avowal comes from it with accumulated

weight.
It adds, " As far as the state of society in
Ireland will permit the trial by jury to put forth
its intrinsic—blessings—we will call them—and
we say with regret that the actual state of Irish
society, does greatly limit the full measure of the
direct and consequential advantages of that in-
comparable mode of trial—so far, and to the
utmost practicable extent, they were carried.
Such a panel of Jurors never was seen be-
fore in this county—never was exceeded
in any-for the intelligence, independence,
and moral character of those of whom it
was formed—and we may say for all the
essential qualifications proper for men who are to
pronounce upon the lives of human beings." And
again it observes, in answer to a charge by the
Dublin Evening Post that the whole proceed-
ing was a struggle between Parties ;—" We
(the Conditution) are spot—the trials