The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-05-23 00:00:00

!hy 23, 1848.

IRELAND.
TRIALS OF SMITH O'BRIEN AND MEAGHER..
On Monday the trial of Mr. W. S. O'Brien took 011
in the Queen's Bench, Dublin. The Court was crowded'
in every part, and the traverser, who was attended by hit
securities and Mr. J. F. Meagher, whose trial was fixed for
Tuesday, was loudly cheered. A jury (one of whom is
member of the Society of Friends) having been sworn,
the Attorney-General, in a very able address, stated the
particulars of the case against the prisoner. He was'
charged " with (being a wicked, seditious, and turbulent
person) having delivered a speech on the 15th March, ill
Dublin, for the purpose of exciting hatred and contenlPt
against the Queen, and inducing the people to rise in re"'
bellion." The meeting in question was that at which ao
address of congratulation to the French republic-wit
carried.
The speech and address having been proyed by It
Hodges, the government reporter, Mr. Butt, Q.C., rose
to address the Court for the traverser. After alluding o".
the high family of Mr. O'Brien—" a family so ancient
that the Viceroy who prosecutes him is proud to boom'
relationship to his blood," he said that Mr. O'Brien,„,
was not a man who had nothing to lose, but a Inall_A
of fortune— a man of station, who had embarkr:
and risked all he possessed in that, whether it be rig,;
or wrong, which he believed to be for his count',"
good. He then went on as follows :—" Now that I hand
met and conversed with him, as between counsel all
client, I can confidently say, that there is not in the
inmost recesses of his heart a single thought that is WI
worthy of a high and noble-minded man ; and when I
reflect that the effect of a verdict of guilty will be to cow
sign such a man to prison, I am, I confess, anxious for you,
gentlemen, for himself, and for the country—for, believe
me, all cannot be right in a country in which such a tell
as Wm. S. O'Brien is guilty, if guilty you pronounce b"
to be, of sedition."
At the conclusion of this sentence, the majority of the
bar, together with the ladies and gentlemen in the gel'
leries, rose, and loudly cheered the sentiments of the
learned counsel.
THE•COURT..---1. beg to state, once for all, that if there
be attempted a second manifestation of this kind, I Will
order the court to be cleared.
The learned counsel expressed his regret at the occur-
rence, and then went on to contend that Mr. O'Brien
was a firm supporter of the monarchy, and that he hid
made no attempt to subvert the authority of the. Queen in
Ireland, but merely wished to restore the ancient consti-
tution.
Mr. Sergeant Warren replied, after which the Chief Jus-
tice summed up, observing that it was quite clear that Mr'
O'Brien had expressed his disapprobation of, the disturb-
ances in London, and left the question of guilt entirely
for the consideration of the jury.
The jury retired, and having been twice asked the clues'
tion, said they could not agree' upon their verdict. TheY
were then locked up for the night, and at ten o'clock on
Tuesday morning returned into Court, when, by consent
of the counsel on both sides, they were discharged frose
giving a verdict.
The trial of Mr. Meagher was then proceeded with. It
was a charge of sedition.
After hearing the speeches of counsel, and the witnesses.
the jury retired, and the court then adjourned till nine
o'clock in the evening. At that time a tumultuous crow('
assembled at the doors of the courts, and attempted t°
obtain admittance. This, however, was successfully re-
sisted, and some of the learned counsel were for a time
excluded. The jury, upon being called in, said that the!
could not agree upon their verdict, for one of their null:
her stood out. A second juryman said that there Were
two dissentients, and that one of the number, a Roman
Catholic, would wait a fortnight before he would agqe
with the rest. Upon this being stated, his Lordship egal
ordered them to be locked up, and the court adjourned to
next morning, when, on the jury being called, one of theta
said that they were unanimous in finding a conviction ex-
cept one. His lordship then ordered the jury to be di'
missed, and the traverser was discharged.
Mr. Meagher addressed the crowd from the windows of
the confederate rooms in D'Olier-street. That it waso
treasonable, he himself plainly insinuated. " Dublin;n
says he, " is in our hands; aye, and what is more, we
keep it."

MR. MITCHEL IN PRISON.
The information on which Mr. Mitchel has been cog;
mitted to prison, charges him with publishing. in
United Irishman of the 6th and 13th instant certain ar':,s
des tending "to compass and deprive our most graei°,,uf
lady the Queen from the style, honour, and royal namelf
the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom, and to io,
war against her Majesty within the said United Kingd° to
n order by force and constraint to compel her Mikiest.'
change her measures and counsels." ded
On Mr. Mitchel's arriving at Newgate he was han oa
over to the gaoler. He was then brought into a roranoli-
the upper story of the prison, with a single window It'od,
ing into Green-street. It contained no bed or beast as-
and he was informed that such was the apartroel'r, one
signed to him, and that he might have straw to slee,f: this
that they had nothing else. Indignantly refusiv,i,Jit
" kind accommodation," and resolved to spend tbe
walking abouthis cell, he was told that any further elnve, if
ence he might require he would be permitted to 11 hair
brought to him. He sent to his own house for settled
rilattrass, which was at once brought, and hay.ing V 00
it on two or three forms, he passed the night ther* lady
Sunday morning, at an early hour, Mr. Mitchel s.whop
came to the prison and was permitted to see him• 0.4
linhircreekdr.WeltiEMtuttheirothes MA% ds
cide with his, visited him. He was allowed
and many whose political doctrines did not exactly-. e°ll
friends and legal advisers in the prison yard, a narrow
flagged square. dmit
An application was made on Wednesday to a d
Mitchel to bail, which the Lord Chief Justice seem
e_
disposed to listen to, if the defendant would discontinTs
the publication of his treasonable writings ; but as
was not complied with, the application was refused.
faeieceiveriolivsc

The speeches of Messrs. O'Brien, Doheny, and O'C't,
man, were more violent than ever. So much for the
The Repeal Association met on Monday. The atteuu
ance wretchedly thin and ill-tempered. Rent £33. ,„y.
The Rev. Mr. Nolan, following the example of the -P."
Mr. Bermingham, has made his peace with his bishePr:
and has been restored to his functions. He has, howS,
been removed from Tipperary to a parish in Clare.
Rev. Mr. Kenyon is still unyielding.
ettt
The United Irishman pays the following compa..- t
to Roman Catholics :—" When our British rulers la
any specially odious, mean, vexatious, and unprindP
piece of work done, they generally commit it to a Cath°
of better classes.' "
The Lord Lieutenant has forwarded 100 guineas, 1:3,
contribution of the Bishop of Durham, to the central, to
lief committee, together with an additional sum of for
guineas, his own contribution, to be expended in seed
those districts where it is most needed.
POPERY AND REPEAL.—TWO further declaratie:
itnc,
calling upon the Queen to convene a parliament of
land, have been published—one from the arch-diocese
od
Cashel, signed by Dr. Slattery and one hundred of
thirteen clergymen ; the second from the diocese co,
Elphin, signed by Dr. Brown and eighty-eight clergYre,ir
Dr. Brown is one of those prelates who signed the de'
ration in favour of law and order. dal
DEATH OF THE BISHOP OF CORK.—On 10` --bop
morning the Right Rev. Samuel Kyle, D.D., Lord 13,i50.
of Cork, expired at his residence in Merrion-square,
lin. His lordship had been long suffering under
acutely-painful disease, which he bore with exemPlarYdrhio
tience and fortitude. He had, we believe, complete aid,
78th year, and breathed his last, we are happy te.:l3ds
without struggle or a pang. He has left many e
and admirers, who deeply deplore his loss. „pigs'
BRUTAL MURDER IN CLARE.—A man named 0,
mara, herdsman to Richard Calcott, Esq., of EnnistYr°?4,
was brutally murdered in his own house, at Kilcooli;ed.
on Wednesday night, and robbed of all he Russesdeea
There was no one in the dwelling when the atrocious /0
was perpetrated, the unfortunate man's wife being at
very
Calcott's that night. His murderers carried off the at
shirt he wore. M`Namara prosecuted to convictiuttilic
last Ennis assizes, three fellows for stealing his cow,
were since transported.—Limerick Chronicle. Of
THE TREASON-WRITERS.—In the United Irishtno, try'
Saturday, Mr. Mitchel says, after speaking of his eeenhoe
men's love for the rattle of arms, &c.,—" They
there
marched past my prison windows to let me know heartare ten thousand fighting men in Dublin, felons' ill, of at
and soul. I thank God for it. The game is a-lecoote
butlast. The liberty of Ireland may come sooner it 1
later, by peaceful negociation or bloody conflict, e
sure; and wherever between the poles I may Cll3ll.cbrice
be, I will hear the crash of the downfall of the
accursed ' British Empire. " iu tbe
With refpect to the non-agreement of the jun'
case of O'Brien, the Dublin correspondent of The were
says—" It was very generally known who the parties
that held out against the majority for a convictioue, the
fact, as soon as they were empanelled, and buil° a
Attorney-General opened the case, bets were offenrellilt!,l
20 to 1 that there would be no conviction. An, tir-cieVo'
was never contemplated by the traverser or his
The numbers I believe were ten for conviction, °nine t°
for acquittal. The traverser's friends allege that lotto
three was the proportion, others assert that it was ~
four, but such statements are certainly groundless.

LAW INTELLIGENCE. of
CHARGE OF PERJURY AGAINST THE mis.
CHANDOS.—In the course of Thursday the Old -`",t
Grand Jury came into Court with a true bill 04,4'11,rrnP,"
Marquis of Chandos, for committing wilful anuSiifica''
perjury. The charge arises out of the pecuniarY "f per'
ties of the father of the defendant, the allegation by bie
jury being that the marquis, in an a' ffidavit wade tbatlij
in the course of a suit in Chancer
aware y, stated untruly ecoteo
was not of the character of certain der
by him, in which an annuity of five thousand 04, bit"„
charged upon certain estates in which the marlin, 'by re
life interest. The indictment has been remove°
tiorari into the Court of Queen's Bench. c
COUNTY COURTS.—DEFENDANTS EXPENSE'-'*---0100/t
not be generally known that a person may he sin' ,
by the County Courts Act, to answer a debt froa, 81,e tlitso
of England, provided the debt was contracted tiff fail
trict where the plaintiff resides, but if the plaint,' ivisv,l'io
the defendant his expenses. A case in point
prove his case, the commissioner has the power 0' atirrea
oesttaalej.,
London, on Saturday last. Mr. J. G. ShiPleY.' er
of Jermyn-street Haymarket summoned Air' ioion,,a
Gaskill, of this town, to appear before the Cour! ,ilegv„t
of the Westminster County Court, to answer acii'efeticn
debt of £5 18s. 6d. due to.the plaintiff. The ,
however, acknowledging its justness, was bound to appear personally, or pay the oialu;e3r,. 'er,er
a verdict being given in his favour, the Con),olP
made an order upon the plaintiff to pay P-nr.
guineas for his expenses. he did aPl_i,slo,o,