The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-01-30 00:00:00

of any of the runes they played; the procession moved in
a column of about five abreast.
James Johnston examined. by Mr. Sergeant 'Warren—
head-constable constabulary belonging to the Sligo es-
tablishment ; I• was at Longford on the twenty-eighth and
twenty-ninth of miay last ; there was a large repeal meet-
in, held there on the latter day. As near as I could guess
the number assembled was forty or fifty thousand—seve-
ral of the persons.were on horseback ; I should say about
one hundred of them, who stationed themselves in font
of the platform : the people were led in large bodies,
headed by horsemen and priests ; they were in many in-
stances accompanied by bands who were in uniform.
There were several banners with mottos of which I took a
note. State whet those mottos were that you saw ?
" Cead Failtha." Ireland for the Irish, and the
Irish for Ireland." "Every man who commits a crime
gives strength to the enemy." " Breathes there a man
with soul so dead." " Welcome Ennis brightest star."
" Repeal and no separation." "A population of Ni, .e
Millions is too great to be dragged at the tail of any
other Nation." I saw Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Steele at
the meeting, accompanied by several other persons whom
I don't know ; thetirst speaker was the Chairman, Count
Nugent; he said the Irish would get all they wanted
if they attended to their priests ; " he also referred to
the conduct of the landlords, but I did not take his
words: he also said that it was the duty of every Irish-
man to rally round the standard of repeal i Priest O'Brien
was the next speaker ; he said—" This is not a time to
give a silent vote; every Irishman must rally round re-.
peal. The loyalty of Ireland is not the loyalty of expe-
diency. Ireland will be raised again to the dignity of a
nation, and cease to be legislated for by those who are ig-
norant of her condition and hostile to her prosperity."
A person named 'Carberry said, " they ought to join to
crush England—this year will, close with your parliament
in College-green. -Your liberator's prophecies will be
fulfilled, we will legislate for ourselves, and make our
people happy and contented." Another person spoke,
but I don't know his name. The next person who spoke
was the Rev. Mr. Gavern, as he took it. He said " Ireland
was coerced sotneyeare ago." I was told that Bishop Hig-
gins was the gentleman who next addressed the meeting,
but I could not catch what he said. Mr. O'Connell,
senior said •—""I can tell you yours is no vain cause"—
" we are peaceable"—let them but attack us—then—we
stand at their defiance. (The pauses are to denote the
emphasis.) I will tell you what they will do—they will
take the commission of the peace from your respected
supporters ; but an Irish parliament will help us
one of those days to punish them in an exemplary
manner ; talked of the depressed state at present of the
Irish linen trade—and said, we will see that the tempo-
ralities of Ireland are not all allocated to the church of the
minority. I will tell you what repeal would give you—
fixity of tenure, I will explain what this is. It would
prevent you having any landlord but one that would give
you a lease of 21 years. " I'll tell you what the union
has done for us ; it has carried away nine millions of mo-
ney from the country that could otherwise be spent in it
—hurra ! bravo !) We will not continue under the do-
mination. of the Saxon, (depreciated the English charac-
ter in a comparison with the Irish.) We will not submit
to the Saxon oppressor, and be ground to dust, but (long
and expressive emphasis), but were never conquered.
' Ireland must be Irish.' You will be libel ated from their
oppression. ' You are too good not to have the majesty of
your nation raised—you must fight for repeal and liberty.'
Go home quietly and tell your friends, and when I want
you again I will let you know the day." I took no more i
notes further than the character of the meeting.
The court adjourned at a quarter to five o'clock.

The Judges took their seats on the bench a few minutes
past ten o'clock on Tuesday mording. Mr. Justice Bur-
ton was absent f,om indisposition.—The first witness
called was John 'Maguire, Head Constable of Police at
Sligo. He deposed, that he attended the Longford meet-
ing on Sunday the 28th of May. There were several
bands of music there, dressed in military caps. He cal-
culated the number of persons present to be about
40,000. Some of them came inio the town in military
array, led by a person he believed to be a Roman Catho-
lic Priest. Bishop Higgins was in the same carriage with
Mr. O'Connell. Messrs. O'Connell and Steele were the
only traversers the witness could identify who attended
the meeting. The last sentence of Mr. O'Connell's
speech on that occasion was, •‘ Go home quietly, and tell
your friends what was said, and when we want them here
again, to be ready."—John Jolly, a head constable of
police, said he had attended at the Malton meeting, in
June last. There was a large procession, about six deep,
headed by two persons who seemed to command, carry-
ing wands, with ribbons attached, in their hands. Mr.
O'Connell and Mr. Steele were in the procession. Mr.
0' Connell, in addressing the meeting, said they should
have the Union repealed. That they should have Ireland
fur the Irish, and he defied the English to withhold it,
for the Irish were too strong, too virtuous, and too tem-
perate to be kept in slavery.—Henry Godfrey, a police-
man, was the next witness. He was examined by Mr.
Freeman, in reference to the Batting-glass meetings in
August last, and deposed, that Mr. O'Connell and Mr.
Steele were present, and that some violent language was
used. An interruption on the part of Mr. Cantwell,
during the examination in reference to a leading question,
led to an altercation between the counsel on both sides,
which terminated by a threat, on the part of the Chief
Justice, to have Mr. Cantwell removed on a repetition
of such conduct. Nothing interesting was elicited by the
cross-examination. Patrick Lennaghan and Mander
Hughes, constables, corroborated the testimony of the
previous witness, and added, that previous to the meeting
he had beard several persona declare " that Mr. Sander's
house should be attacked because it was once the scene of
blood."

Mr. Justice Burton was still absent from indisposi-
tion on Wednesday.
At the opening of the court there was some discussion
about a letter written by Mr. Samuel Maunsell to the
High Sheriff, couched in very abusive terms, because that
fuuctionary had refused him a ticket of admission to the
court. Mr. Maunsell apologized through counsel, but did
not attend in person when summoned.

The first witness called was James Healy, a constable,
who attended the Mullaghmast meeting on the Ist of Oc-
tober. He calculated that there were 250,000 persons
present, and stated that many came preceded by bands in
a boisterous manner, driving all before them. Others
came in a very regular manner. There were about thirty
bands. Some were dressed in uniform and some in dress
resembling very much the Hussar bands. Purchased for
a penny a printed document, of which several thousands
were distributed. Tore up his own copy, but remembered
another being purchased by John Donohan, a sub-inspec-
tor. [The document was understood to be an account of
the massacre at Mullaghmast.] Saw a great many per-
sons who had labels on their hats—" O'Connell's police."
—and a piece of timber in their hands, from five to six
feet in length. Were they thick ? No, your Lordship,
(laughter) quite small, about the size of a cane. The
witness proceeded to describe the banners, mottoes, &c.,
but gave ❑o account of the speeches. Cross-examined—
Mingled very much with the crowd, but the only expres-
sions which he could catch were, " Repeal and Old Ire-
land," although sent specially from Cork to watch the
proceedings. It was a very peaceable assembly so far as
be saw. The people were enjoying themselves in
tents and other places in peace and quietness. Those who
were driving all before them did no mischief. Did not see
any of the papers give❑ away for nothing. People were
in the habit of attending large meetings for the sale of
ballads.

There was then a long legal argument as to the admis-
sibility of ballads or papers sold under such circumstan-
ces, the counsel for the traversers contending that it
ought first to be shown that they had some connexion with
them, but the Court ruled unanimously that the document
was admissible.

The Attorney-General put in the Queen's speech on
the prorogation, after another legal argument, observing
that he did so because it had been asserted that it was not
her's but that of her ministers—that it was a lie ; and was
the language of a fish-woman from Billingsgate.
James Irwin, who is connected with the police-force of
this town, stated that on the 14th of October last. he saw
a number of placards posted in the streets of Liverpool,
(O'Connell's address.") He produced a copy.
Mr. Charles Vernon, registrar of newspapers, was
called to prove the proprietorship of the Pilot, Freeman's
Journal, and Nation newspapers. He did so with re-
spect to the two former, but with respect to the latter,
could only say that he received the declaration of the pro-
prietor of thr Nation newspaper on the 18th of Novem-
ber, 1842, and saw it signed by a person whom he under-
stood to be Mr. Duffy, but did not know that gentleman,
and could not speak to his handwriting. This wits
objected to as insufficient.
The Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Crampton, in the
first instance, seemed to think further evidence of pro-
prietorship requisite ; but the Attorney-General contend-
ing that he had done all that was required, they ultimately
ruled the proof to be wifficieut, Mr. Justice Perrin dis-
senting.

The Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Crampton, and
Mr. Justice Perrin, took their seats upon the bench at
ten o'clock precisely on Thursday. The jurors and tra-
versers having answered punctually to their names, Mr.
M'Evciv Gartlan (agent for Mr. Duffy) applied to the
court to grant his client permission to retire until two
o'clock, on the ground of Mr. Duffy's illness. The Chief
Justice said it was not in the power of the court to make
any order upon the subject; but it was for the Attorney-
General to say whether he had any objection to such a
course, and whether he would insist on having Mr. Duffy
t take any
called upon his recognizance. The Attorney-General in-
timated that it was not his intention so to do. He would
no
notice of Mr. Duffy's absence from court.
The
proceedings commenced with the reading of docu-
ments from the Nation and the Pilot, which gave rise to
more legal discussion and lasted the whole of the day.
The court adjourned at five o'clock.

The whole of Friday was occupied, like the day before,
in reading from the Nation, Pilot, and Freeman, the va-
rious passages referred to in the indictment. The crown
very properly declined entering into proof of the con-
nexion of the traverseswith foreign sympathisers, which
would be unnecessary in reference to the general objects
of the prosecution, and would hare had the effect of in-
creasing the tedium of an already sufficiently tedious pro-
ceeding.
The case for the crown closed at a quarter-past three
o'clock,
and Mr. Moore, sa.c., applied to the court
adjourn till the next morning, as Mr. Sheil, who was to
open the case for the defence, was confined to his bed by
to
illness. The court acceded to the proposal.

On Saturday Mr. Sheil delivered his address on behalf
of Mr. John O'Connell, and occupied the whole day in
doing so. This speech was in the possession of most, if
not all the Dublin journals, prior to its delivery, and was,
me are informed, in type, if not published, on Saturday