Litchfield enquirer., 1852-06-10
Escape Of Francis Meagh6r from Van
DiemanS Land.
The New Y DIRK Herald gives the folio,

: The New Ofk Herald gives tne iohoW-
ing account of the escape Of Meagher:
MI. Meagher had the partial liberty Of a
ticket of leave at the time he escaped, but
did not violate It's condition. 1t ran as fol.
lows-"I undertake not 10 escape from the
colony as long as hold this ticket Of leave"
Having made previous preparations t9r his
flight, feet horse saddled in his stable,
aud well armed with pistols, he addressed
letter to the magistrate Of Ross, about
twenty miles distant, and a township OF
the district out of which he was not per-
mitted to 60. The place in which he re-
sided was the wild bush. 10 this letter
he returned his ticket of leave, and said he
would remain at lis house that day till
twelve o'clock, when the leave expired,
in order 10 give tile authorities an oppor.
t6nity of arrestiog him if they could
When the magistrate read The letter he
was astounded, and he Immediately order .
ed the Chief Of Police, who happened TO
be present, TO proceed at once To arrest
him. The Chief Of Police replied he
would not do any such thing, as lrs was an
lrishman, and that the young gentleman
was an Irishman. ''Bur you must do j"
re,orted the magistrate. Faith, L won'."e
replied The Irishman-"I willresign first
''But will not accept your resignation"
''Then if you don't, you may let it alone,
but ! will not arrest young Meagher."-
The magistrate gave it up as a bad case,
and rode immediately to another station
in search Of police. Meantime, the Irish
Chief of Police BET ou. for the mines, and
thought he could make more money 10
digging gold than in arfesting brave Irish
patriots. Such is one of the first fruits
Of the gold discovery id Austfalia-the
escape Of the Brilliant Meagher. Gold,
after all. Is usefal' in Rs way, Meagher
waited for sig hours afer the time. in or,
der MOTTO give the British authorities any
excuse for saying he had violated big
pledge. He was Accompanied and assist:
cd BY THREE young English settlers, Who
supplied him with horses, and had horses
themselves. They proposed TO- wait till
the police came,, and kill them. But
Neagher thought it UNNECESSARY 70 shed
blboG but waited till the police cdme. and
kept his'frisnds waiting ata short distance.
The moment the police entered the house.
hs passed out another door, anS, mOunting
his horse, came round TO the front Of the
house. and within pistol shot Of tbs m, and
told them to arrest him If they could. In
the next m6meAt he put spurs TO his
horse. and. with his friends, vas soon out
of sight. They travelled over 100 miles
without halt, having relays Of horses on
the way. They at length reached, unmo-.
Tested, a lonely spot upon the sea coast,
where, according to" previous arrange,
ments, a whale boat was waiting, and
bore him off in safety. He had no con-
cert with William Smith O'Brien, or John
Mitchell. and acted entirely on his own
They were entirely igno>
rant Of his intentions. ~'a
Mr.. Meagher arrived in New York on
wednesday nigh, in the brig Acorn from
He kept himself perfectly
intog until Thursday when he stepped into
the law office of Mr.. Richard O'Gorman,
Jr., and Mr. John B Dillon (also Irish ex
iiesl and took them completely by surprise.
He then took lodgings at The residence OF
Mr. O'Gorman in Brooklyn. and on Friday
night WAS waited Upon by the Irish Regi'
ment and large number of citizens. He
appeared on the balcony and made
speech. a.s 5sa era.'- p
MIR Meagher gives the most sxtraerdi>
nary account of the gold excitement in
Australia. The precious metal is found
10 vast Quantities. and persons Of every
description arc fOrsa1ing their usual avo-
cations, and going 10 the mines. The po-
I'ce and the turnkeys Of the jails have fed,
and the local authorities were offering
from $S to S. per day TO Others to induce
them to take their place. He calculates
that in one. year this gold discovery will
work revolution in Australia. The col