The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-07-26 00:00:00

IRELAND.

THE QUEEN'S VISIT.—It is stated in " certain high
places," that in the event of her Majesty's health being
completely restored, she will leave London for Dublin the
day after the prorogation of Parliament, which is ex-
pected to take place on the 25th of August.
THE POTATOES.—The reports respecting the. Poti‘t°-
crops daily received from the country are watched with
intense interest. Up to the present there has been no
evidence discovered of anything at all like the disease of
the past four years in the splendid, crop which is fast
arriving at maturity.

DEATH OF THE COUNTESS OF BANTRY.—in noticing
the demise of the Countess of Bantry, the Cark Comti-
tutiort says :—" In the neighbourhood in which she lived
the removal of this excellent lady will be a general loss.
An active promoter of every work of benevolence and
utility, she was endeared to a large class of the popula-
tion,, and she will be followed to the grave by the rezretS
of many whose struggles she assisted, and whose suffer-
ings she relieved. Her ladyship was the third daughter of
the late, and niece of the present, Marquis of Themond."
CAPITAL CONVICTION FOR MURDER,—,OII Thursday,
Alexander Mullen received sentence of death at Tyrone
Assizes for the barbarous murder of his aunt, a woman
of nearly 70 years of age. The wretch effected his
object by cutting her throat. They had had some intem-
perate words, but the murder was not committed for
some time afterwards, and when the poor old creature.was quite off her guard.. Judge Torrens, in passing seri-
t ence, held
the 20th e
f
out nohopeof
Auguste fe
rthe mitigationex
eocef
tpieun.uish mente
and named
THE LIBERTY OF TIIE PREaS.—The result of the
extraordinary case, which has occupied the assize court,
at Athy, in which the notorious Birch sued the Dublin
Freeman's lovrna7 for an alleged libel, must be gratifying.
to every man in the empire who values an independent
and honourable press, as it is a relief to every mac'
woman and child in Ireland, not so entirely destitute aS
to be beyond the incidence of blackmail. The jury re-
turned a verdict for the defendant on all the counts.
They pronounced, in effect, that it was but a wholesome
exerelse of the liberty of the press to comment upon the
plaintiff's conduct as the several papers had done. " The
press," said Judge Crampton in his admirable charge,
"is a noble engine. It is an engine of immense peeqr
and value ; and I only add, that the noblest things In
nature are those which do the greatest mischief when
they are abused." As an incident in the transaction
another wreath has been added to Lord Clarendon 's
Civic Crown. We envy not his feelings when he
shall read Mr. Justice Crampton's withering remarks
upon his motives, his measures, and his associates
paper,
" Lord Clarendon said he did not read Mr. Birch's
and was not therefore aware of the nature of the articles
published in it. However, the work was done for Lord
Clarendon by Mr. Birch, and was paid for. If I employ
a man to do work for me, and if without any communica-
tion with me he does other work, and that I adopt Sad
pay for it, I cannot afterwards be heard saying I did not
employ him to do it. The letter from Mr. Corry Con-,,
nellan, telling Mr. Birch that the morale of tile cases. o!
the great Communist leaders in France might be appliel
to Mitchel and Co., appears to me to have been pres,seu
too far. That and the other letters from Mr. Conneilan
to Mr. Birch show that Mr. Birch was, as ho told you,
in intimate communication with the governor of tll.°
country and his secretary. They also show that
services were highly appreciated. Ultimately he was
paid for them. Observe, then, how the case stenos
with regard to the first count. It is unquestionably !
libel ; but in answer thereto there is a plea alleging tbase
two facts—first, that Birch was unscrupulous in the
conduct and management of his paper; and secondly, tbat
_
he was employed by Lord Clarendon for wages to write 11
support of government, and that in pursuance of tFeue
agreement he wrote the various libels sot forth in
first plea. if those libels were written entirely out of
his
own head—if they were the voluntary effusions 0f..11/1
malicious mind, having no connexion whatever sc.."c.
government, why you ought not to take them into 'of
count at all ; but if they were written for the purP°"the
supporting the government, and were paid for by ,r
government, my opinion is that there are grounds fu
your arriving at the conclusion that the first plea I? and
taine 1." The jury agreed with the Learned judgb/ir.
found accordingly as to both master awl man.'"
Evening Mail,