The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1844-03-14
O'CONNELL'S SPEECH
AT THE
IRISH STATE TRIALS.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5.

Long before the doors Of the Queens Bencl
were opened this morning they were surrounded b!
crowds of persons anxious to obtain admission
We never saw curiosity excited to such pitch
and we do not exaggerats when we state that seve
raj thousands went away who were disappointed il
obtaining places in the galleries and body of thu
Court. The arrangements made by the Sheriff
were we'll calculated to maintain order and regula
rity. At ten o'clock precisely their Lordshps took
their seats on the bench, and as soon the names
of the traversers and jury were called over.
Mr. OCoNNEIL rose, and, having bowed to the
bench, proceeded to speak asfsi!ows Gentlemen,
| beg your patient attention whilst endeavor to
show you in as few sentences as possible, and in
my own plain and prosalc style, my right to de,
mand favorable verdict at your hands. shall
ask that verdict without disrespect on the one
hand, or fattery on the other. shall not appeal
either to your passions or your feelings but trust
that shall be able respectfully to show that have
a right to ask 1t in the name OF common sense and
common justice, and those being the basis upon
which shall rest, have too high an opinion Of
your understandings. to doubt for a moment shall
mind that am entitled to your verdict of acqultta,
and after the brilliant display of eoquence you
ranted in respassng on your attention at any great
length. Gentlemen have addressed you, with
whose eloquence you must have been delighted as
we'll as instructed. will not, because cannot,
you plain unanswerabe facts that will come
home to your understanding and good sense,
and convince you that in anything have done,
have transgressed no law, and was actrated solely
the Jury, am here not as my own client alone
my clients are the people OF lreland-l am here as
counsel for the Irish nation stand here as the ad
vocate Of the righ's, liberties, and privileges of
their rights. should be iimpeded BY any thing /
have done, or by my want OF power to sustain their
cause here this day. ] trust, however, that shall
be able to convince you, that they ought not to SUI
fer by any proceeding of which lave been instru-
mental ! am the advocate. OF Ireland, and the
Irish people, am a Repealer-I avow it. am
conscious Of my integrity Of purpose, and, 1tell
you, that when commenced that line Of conduct
which has brought me before you this day, the OBJ
ject had in view was the Repeal of that Union.
tell you that cannot bear tit was forced upon
the Irish people by the most foul and unjustihable
means that ever government had recourse to, and
have the highest authority for saying 80. ! have
the authority of one who had seat on that bench,
you, gentlemen, that will be as brief as possibly
can-and may repeat again, that it would be un-
fair towards you, after all you have already heard,
to attempt to travel over the same ground as those
those facts will condense as much as possible.
am not here TO deny anything that ! have done,
or deny anything have said on the contrary
am here to assert what have often before stated
right Of not being made accountable for the clum-
sy mistakes of newspaper reporters, and newspa-
per speeches squeezed into such compass as might
have suited the convenience OF those who published
them. No doubt may In the excitement OF mo-
men; have said harsh things Of individuals that,
upon reflection, | would rather had not said but
the substance of all have ever said am now mol
onyready to vindicate, but to reiterae again. Them
them, but to justify them. All that have done
was in the performance Of what believed TO be
a sacred duty, having no other object In view but
the restoration of the Irish Parliament, and the
Parliament, because found that the Irish people
mad been cheated of this sacred right. found that
The Union was accomplished at revolutionary Pc
nation Of Europe was disturbed by the
nhdel philosophy OF France, and Overrun by her
great military force-the dynasty Of nations was
were banished and mOnarchies
)verthrown-it was at that period that Ireland Was
.obbed of her legislative independence. saw that
he day Of restoration and regeneration had come
or every country but my own, and summoned
Ill my energies to arouse the people to obtain what
hey lost, by moral, peaceable, and constitutional
means, which, believe, were pleasing in the sight
IF Heaven, and ought TO be approved of by num-
That was the course that pursued, and ought I,
gentlemen OF the jury, to be ashamed TO come in
here this day to justify it! know that labor un-
der great disadvantages; let me not for moment
be understood as saying that they are not such as
The law and the court have sanctioned land ought
not the time to discuss how you have been brought
INTO that box or if the Attorney General has done
anything that the law did not sanction; but | am
acre to address plain facts to your sense and under
standing ] am here to speak to you with courtesy,
out without fiattery; and deceive myself much if
hat love OF honesty and fair play, which constitute
the noblest and best part of our common nature,
shall not be triumphant over all preconceived pre-
at your hands. There is great discrepancy Of
opinion between you and me. You differ with me
on the question OF Repeal; and if you did not you
would not be here to day to try case like this
not, not one Of you would be in that box to-day; if
you proiessed the same faith that do you would
not be allowed to Sit in judgment upon me- Imay say
that all the differences which exist between us
by my being a Catholic, and that have
done more than any other man to put down Protes-
tant ascendancy, of which some of you were, per-
haps, the champions, and, if not the champions,
you were not the antagonists. This is one great
disadvantage, but does not terrlfy me from the
Of those general principles of unl-
make me feel for moment that my cause shall
not be safe in your hands. glory in what have
done and, being now in the power of your homes
,y and integrity, appeal to you on these grounds
only by common sense and justice in your verdict
and it is not in any way despairing of your Justice
that have made these observations but must
say that would prefer that it had been otherwise
loI yOut oWu sdNVS anu iOI Illnc 4 WOulu prefer
that your verdict, whatever it may be, should not
be liable to Misrepresentation, and that no nfrmity
of human nature could be supposed to have any in
nuence in the case. have now done with the sub.
ject, and come to the itself. | must say that
never knew OF a more curious case. 1t certainly
is the strangest case Of VIII ch Ihavc had any expe-
Renee it is not case consisting OF fact, OF
two facts, or Of ten facts, but of the history
OF nine months You are called on to- go
through all the details of the events which
have taken place in this country during the
last nine months. An enormous mass Of matter is
placed before you-a mass of matter which defy
the most brilliant understanding SO to investigate
and scan to take in all its important points; those
points wsich are necessary for forming a ground
and just judgment upon the whole at Ole view
Where such quantity OF materials are placed be
Tor, 1t, the human memory falls or, what is much
worse than failure, il is apt to forget those facts
which are of rebuttng and mitgatory character
and to bear away only those ones which form the
prominent parts of the charge. Therefore, do 1 ar
ragn Misrepresentation, not from any hostility to III,
trainers Of it, but for the utter lmrosslby in which
it places the jury, to disengage from that mass o
materials, the real facts of the case, one side
and, on the other TO find out in word. the rea