The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-06-23
The Speech o. Thomas z. Meagh:r, en- Receiving
Sentence of Death.

Mr. Meagher, with great fuency and r. :
narkab,c firmusss, thus addressed their l"rd-
ships
at s i.lv intention to say few words.
desire that the last act of ocerding which has
occupied so much of the public tiae, should be
OF short duratinfi nor have the Indt iicate wish
tn close the drearv ceremony of State prose.
cuf.on wit. a vain display of words. Dad 1
fear that, hf rHattpr, when shall be no more,
tlr counrv | have tried 10 save woiId think i'll
of me, mi III indeed avail myselfof this solemn
moment TO vindicatp nv sentiments and my con,
duct Bu, have no such fear. The country
will iudr, # those sentiments, and that con-
duct, in a light, think, far different from That
in which The jury by which have been convic-
ted have viewed them and, perhaps, the SEN
tence you my lords about to pronounce,
Will be remembered cnIy as the severe and SOL
emn attestation Of my rrctIiued and truth.
Whate yer may be the language in which that
sentence will be spok, n, | know that my rai,h
viii meet with that sympathy, and that my
memory viii be honored. In speaking thus,
accuse me Mt my lords of an indecor"us pre-
sumption TO the efforts have made for what
| conceived to be just and noble cause,
ascribe no vain Importance nor do claim Tor
them any high reward. But so II happens, and
it will ever so happen, that they who have tried
tn serve their country, no matter how week their
efforts may have been, are sure to receive the
thanks aud blessings Of lis people. With the
sountry, then, | leave my memory, my s"nt'-
mcnts, my acts, proudly feeling that they re
oui.c no vindica,ion from me this day. A jury
OF my countrymen, it is true, ave found me
guilty Of the crime of which | was indicted
For this entertain not the slightest feeling ot
resentment against them; influenced, as they
must have been, by the charge "f the LORD
Chief Justice, they, perhaps, could have return
cd no other serdict
What Of that charsc: Any strong observa-
tons upon ii, | sincerely feel, would Ill bei the
solemnily, of this scene, but would earnestly
beserch Of you, my lords,-you, who preside
upon that bench, ,-whcn the prcludces and
passions of this hour have passed away, to ap.
peal to vour own conscience, and ask of it Twas
your charge as il ought to have been, impartial
ana Indifferent between the subject and the
CROWN My lords, you may deem this lang
uare unbecoming in me, perchance 1t may seal
nv fate :; but am here to speak the truth,
whatever it may cost. ! am here to regret
nothinp that have ever done-to retract moth
inc that | have ever said am not here to
crave, with lying lip the life, consecrnte to the
liberties of my country. Far from 1t. Even
here, where the thief, the libertne, the murder
cr, have left their foot prints in the dust-here,
rounds me, and from which see an early grave
in an unannonted soil, open to receive me
even here encrcled by these terrors, that hope
which beckoned me to the perlous sea Oh which
have been wrecked, still consoles, anmntes,
and cnraptures me. No! | do not despair OF
my poor old country-her peace, her liberty, her
g.ory.
For that country | can now do no more than
bid her hope. To lift thus island up-to make
her bcnctactor to humanity instead Of what she
is-the meanest beggar in the world-to restore
to her her native powers and her ancient constl-
tuton-ths has been my ambition, this ambi-
ton has been my crime. Judged by the law of
England, | know this crime entails upon me the
penalty of death. But the history OF Ireland
explains my crime and iustihes it, Judged by
that history, | am criminal land turning
round to his fellow prisoner, McManu<, You
are no criminal Taud to O'Donohoe, ,-]you are
M criminal. and we deserve no punishme mt -
Judged bv that history, the treason to which
have been convicted, loses all its quilts
sanctfed as duty, and viii be ennobled as a
sacrifice
With these sentiments, my lords, swat the
sentence of the court. Having done what feel
to be my duty-having spoken now as did on
every occasion during my short life, what felt
to be the truth, now bid farewell to the country
Of my birth, my passion, and my dea,h-thai
| country whose inisortunes have invoked my
svmpathies- whose factions sought to still
whose intellect prompted to a lofty aim-whose
freedom has been my fatal dream. offer tc
that country, pledge 'f the love bear her
and til. sincerity with which thought, and
spoke, and struggled for her freedom, the life o
| a Young heart and with that life, all the hopes
the hcnnrs, the endearments Of happy and al
! honorable home.
Pronounce then, my lords, the sentence whicl
the law directs, and trust will be prepared tc
hear it, and meet its execution trust too, tina
| shall be prepared, with pure heart, TO appear
5cfore a higher tribunal.