The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-10-17 00:00:00

THE STATE TRIALS AT CLONMEL

On Monday morning Mr. Smith O'Brien was placed at
the bar, when Mr. Whiteside raised au objection, which
the bench overruled, and declined to reserve, for the con-
sideration of the judges. Upon the prisoner being called
upon to state why sentence of death should not be passed
upon him, he stood erect in front of the dock. Not a
trace of emotion was upon his face, -except at the con-
clusion of his brief address, when a slight flush passed
over it for a moment. lie spoke in a loud and firm voice
the following words—every syllable {of which was drunk
up by the anxious ears of his silent and attentive auditory :
" My lords, it is not my intention to enter into any yin-

diedion of my conduct, hdlvever much I might have de-
sired to avail myself of this opportunity of doing so. I
am perfectly satisfied with the consciousness that I have
performed my duty to my country—that I have done only
that which it was, ih my opinion, the duty of every Irish-
man to have done. And lam now prepared to abide the
consequences of my having performed my duty to my
native land. Proceed with your sentence."

A partial burst of applause, accompanied by stamping
of feet, took place in various parts of the court, which
was suppressed by the officers.

The Lord Chia Justice Blackburne proceeded to ad-
dress the prisoner, who rose from the chair on which he
had taken his seat on the conclusion of his observations,
and presented himself to the Court with the same im-
passability of features that he had before exhibited :
William Smith O'Brien (said his lordship), after a long,
patient, and laborious trial, a jury of your countrymen
have found you guilty of high treason—their verdict was
accompanied by a recommendation to the mercy of the
Crown—that recommendation, as is our duty, we shall
send forward to the Lord-Lieutenant, to whom, as you
must know, exclusively belongs the power to comply with
it. It now remains for us to perform the last solemn act
of duty which devolves upon us, and to pronounce that
sentence by which the law marks the enormity of your
guilt, and aims at the prevention of similar crimes by the
example and infliction of a terrible punishment. Oh !
that you. would reflect upon that crime, and dwell
upon it with sincere repentance and remorse. Oh ! that
you would regard it as it is regarded by every rational
being—that you would feel and know that it is really and
substantially as repugnant to the interests of humanity.
to the precepts and spirit of the Divine religion which we
profess, as it is to the positive law, y;,tir violation of
which is now attended by the forfeiture of your life. The
few words you have addressed to the Court forbid me (1
say it with the grcatcat dictrece) to proceed any further
with this subject. It now only remains to the Court to
pronounce the sentence of death. (Here his lordship
and his brother judges put on their black caps, and the
act caused a perceptible sensation in the court on every
one but the prisoner. His lordship proceeded with much
solemnity)—That sentence is, that you, William Smith
O'Brien, shall be taken hence to the place whence you
came, and be thence drawn on a hurdle to the place
of execution, and be there hanged by the neck
until you be dead, and that afterwards your head
shall be severed from your body, and your body severed
into four quarters, to be disposed of as her Majesty may
think fit. May the Lord have mercy on your soul ! As
he uttered the words, his lordship raised his hands towards
Heaven, and seemed deeply affected, in that respect shar-
ing the feelings which had been produced by the awe-in-
spiring accents in which he had pronounced the terrible
sentence. The Attorney-General was sensibly agitated.
[The Morning Chronicle says he shed tears.] No one
who looked upon him could say that his had been a labour
of love. Amid the regret which appeared on the counte-
nance of every person in court, the prisoner alone seemed
to glory in maintaining an indifference—stoical, at least—
and which, under the terrible circumstances around him,
could have been but assu.hed. The Judges then left the
bench. The governor of the gaol put his arm 'on Mr.
O'Brien's shoulder, and was about removing him, when
Dr. Gray, Mr. Porter, (his solicitor,) and Mr. O'Hara,
pressed to the side of the dock, and with outstretched
arms sought his hand. He turned round and gave each
of them a hearty shake of the hand, bowed his head to his
friends, and almost with a smile on his face descended
from the dock in the custody of the officers of the prison.
A low murmur among the audience followed his disappear-
ance, and they immediately proceeded to address them-
selves with fresh interest to the details of the following
trial.

Soon after the sentence was pronounced on O'Brien,
Terence Bellew M`Manus was placed at the bar charged
with high treason. An objection was taken by Mr. Butt,
the counsel for the prisoner, which was soon overruled.
Two witnesses, police officers of Liverpool, were then
called. The first witness, Matthew Walcock, proved that
he attended a repeal meeting in Liverpool, in June, at the
Christian-street theatre, where the prisoner made a vio-
lent and inflammatory speech, in the course of which he
said that " every man who fought with them should have
h piece of land in Ireland allotted to him, to be retained
as his own," and that " unless repeal was granted there
would be a bloody slaughter." The next witness, Richard
Jebbett, also accompanied Mr. M`Manus to Dublin, on
board the Iron Duke steamer, and followed him to the
Felon office. He likewise saw him entrust to the care of
the steward of the Iron Duke, a tin case, which proved to
contain a suit of uniform of the 'B2 club, a pair of pistols,
a drinking flask, and some wearing apparel. [These arti-
cles were produced, and the prisoner smiled as they were
exhibited on the table.]
On Tuesday morning a letter was banded to the press,
addressed by Mr. O'Brien to his solicitor, Mr. Potter.
Its purport was that Mr. O'Brien was most anAous that
none of the witnesses or jury through whose instrumen-
tality he had been convicted should suffer any insult in
consequence, and requested Mr. Potter to give this desire
all publicity possible.
A great number of witnesses were afterwards rapidly
examined in the case of Mr. WManus ; but as most
of them had been examined in the trial of Mr. Smith
O'Brien, and repeated their evidence in many particu-
lars, it will be more concise and intelligible to put the
case of the former prisoner in the form of a narra-
tive. He was first seen in Balliugarry on the 26th, on
horseback, and during the morning was engaged in drill-
ing the people, who crowded the streets, and was observed
in frequent communication with O'Brien. lie was next
seen at Killenhaule, the day of the erection of the barri-
cades ; and a witness was called to show that he had dis-
mounted him in the town, and taken the horse away,
though it was afterwards returned. This witness, though
he bad identified M`Manus in Killenhaule, now-refused
to BWear to him.

Another witness, of had character, deposed to WAlanus
standing opposite the light in Killenhaule.
A car-driver next deposed to the conveyance of M`Ma-
nus and some other gentlemen from Kilmainham to Bal-
lingarry and the Commons on the 28th, and to the three
remaining there all night. A great number of witnesses
were then examined relative to the proceedings at Ballin-
garry, on the Commons, and at Widow M`Corrnack's.
The evidence was given rather to show the proceedings
of the insurgents, for none of the witnesses swore to
111 `Manus personally.
The constable Carrol detailed the arrest of M`Manus,
about 300 yards from Cormack's, in the midst of a large
crowd of armed people, shortly after the firing had ceased.
Carrol repeated the evidence he had given in O'Brien's
case, and narrated a private conversation he had with
111`Manus, on the strength of the military in Kilkenny.
A gentleman named Kilkenny deposed to his being tra-
velling on horseback on Saturday afternoon, the 29th July,
and to his passing in the neighbourhood of the Commons.
Large bodies of police were dispersed about the road. He
stated that his attention was attracted by a shout from be-
hind, and, turning round, he saw the prisoner, who pointed
a gun at him, and demanded whether there were soldiers
on the road, or if he were a courier. He replied in the
negative, and was allowed to proceed. The circumstances
attending M'Manus's arrest at Cork were then detailed.
This closed the case for the Crown.

On Wednesday, Mr. Butt, Q.C., rose to address the
jury. After a few introductory remarks, in which he
implored the jury to dismiss all that they had heard of
the circumstances which gave rise to the prosecution be-
fore they came into the box. and to find a verdict accord-
ing to the value of the evidence as laid before them, he
said, they might believe his client's conduct wicked, or
worse ; they might believe that acts were committed
which amounted to an evident indication of treasonable
or disaffected practices, but until they could say on the
oath they had taken that he was guilty of the precise
charge in the indictment, they could not find him guilty.
The learned counsel here referred to the indictment, and
proceeded to address himself to the several counts which
it contained. After quoting a portion of the statute of
Edward 111., he proceeded to contend, at great length,
that the charge of levying war against the Queen bad not
been made out; that all he hed done was plainly done to
prevent the arrest of Mr. O'Brien ; that he never enter-
tained any general project of revolt, and that the speech
at Liverpool, reported by an illiterate policeman, must be
left wholly out of the question.
Several witnesses were called, who gave the prisoner an
excellent character, and proved that the uniform found in
his box was that of the 'B2 club.
Mr. O'Callaghan summed up on behalf of the prisoner.
The Solicitor-General was about rising to address the
Court and Jury, when
The Chief Justice said that was the time for the priso-
ner to addrese to the Court any observations which he
might desire to make.
The Prisoner said,—l have nothing to say to the jury,
my Lord, but to endorse all that has been already said by
both my counsel. All I desire to say is, that I did not
belong to any Chartist society. I pledge my honour as a
man that I never did. I never attended any of their
meetings, nor was I connected with them in any shape or
form.
The Attorney-General.---Allow me to say that I would
not have stated that the prisoner had attended a Chartist
meeting had it not been that the policeman mentioned that
the speech attributed to him had been spoken at one.
The Chief Justice.—That was understood by the Court.
On Thuriday, immediately after the Solicitor-General
concluded his reply, which presented no new feature to
that delivered by him in the case of Smith O'Brien.
Chief Justice Doherty deiivered his charge to the jury.
The jury retired at half-past two. On their retirement,
Mr. Butt rose and begged their lordships would recall
them, as he feared that the Chief Justice had not suffici-
ently explained to them that Mr. M`Manus must have co-
incided with the intention of his asssociates, as well as
with their acts, before he could be found guilty of the pre-
sent charge. After a long discussion, the application was
refused.
O'Donohue was next placed at the bar. The same ex-
ceptions were taken by his counsel as in the previous and
similar cases. The jury being sworn, the Attorney-Ge-
neral stated the case.
At six o'clock, the jury returned a verdict of guilty
against M`Manus, accompanied by a strong recommen-
dation to mercy. He was perfectly collected.