The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-03-07

even so unimportant member of the SER
vice should be convicted on any evidence
that has not been full, complete and salts
factory. And may, perhaps, be allowed
to say, that more would be done towards
confirming the loyalty Of the army by the
failure to prove that even one of their COM
rades was tainted with disaffection than
could possibly be done by establishing his
guilt" Having declared that the evidence
OF an 1nformer ought not to be relied upon,
ne fatty declared that he was not the
oitice OF the Irish People with his name
attached to it. s'The letter was written"
ne SAID, by some one anxious to do me On
injury. would, had ever entertained
Fenian sentiments, have been sure to have
spoken something, at one time or another,
giving evidence Of my feelings; and if
had been cautious enough not to do so be-
fore, is it at all likely that in the very way,
and at the very time when disclosure
must prove most dangerous. I would vo-
UNFAIRLY make it-at a time, too, when the
very language attributed to me would in
itself show that 1 fully realized the risk
incurred by person writing to the paper?
The letter is not mine; and I respectfully
and earnestly invite The attention os the
court to this suspicious circumstance, that
the post-mark on the envelop and the date
OF what is produced as the enclosure are
wholly inconsistent with each other 1t is
not for me to clear up this difficulty; but 1
am confident that the court will consider
it well deserving Of consideration" Flood
next dwelt at some length upon the danger
OF convictinng man in his position upon
the alleged identity of his handwriting
with that in the letter. ssThe members Of
this honorable court must ALL he argued,
have heard trials in courts of law in
which there has been the most opposite
swearing on this very subject-the swear
ing, too, not OF persons destitute of the
skill to form correct judgment, SO far as
correct judgment can be formed about it,
or on whose veracity any imputalion was
thrown, but persons of unusual experience
! and unquestioned truthfulness. Indeed,
the notorious fact that thousands of
ing establishments of the country, on
forged checks, purporting to be signed by
customers, whose signatures the cashier
paying those checks was in the habit of
examining, and which it was his peculiar
duty to know the genuineness of, is, per-
lance can be placed on this sort of evil
dence." The prisoner concluded by saying:
81 am not charged with conspiracy, and
one title of proof has not been offered to
! the court to connect me with the Fenan
; organization, and 4 respectfully submit
that it Is repugnant to every rule of law,
as 1t Is contrary to every principle of JUS
| tice, that should be held in any way re-
sponsible for the acts of persons to whom
L am and ever have been an absolute
stranger. To make any article in the Irish
People newspaper evidence against me, it
should be proved that had sanctioned and
adopted it, and had done something to
disseminate 1t, to the prejudice Of military
dlsclphne, or in some way contrary to my
duty as soldier or loyal citizen. Other
wise. it would be as just and legal to give
In evidence against me the writings of any
one in any quarter of the globe. .'-Du5lin
(Feo. 15) Correspondence London Post
ATTEMPTING TO SURPRISE THE sENTRIEs AT
THE MAGAZINE FORT, DUBLIN.
An eyewitness informs us of somewhat
strange occurrence, which took place at
the Magazine Fort, Phoenix Park, one
night last week. It appears that some
time near midnight, the sentinel, whose
post of duty is nearest the entrance gate,
heard footsteps approaching the gate on
the outside, and on his moving towards it
to look out, the parties, evidently more
than one, moved away round the fort to-
wards another sentinel stationed on the
works, who says he distinctly saw four
men, whom he challenged" but received
no answer. The men outside, at the same
time, crouched down and crept along to-
wards another OF the sentinels, who in
turn challenged the strangers and alarmed
the guards and inmates of the fort, when
the intruders probably thought that they
had carried their rreconnoissancefa far enough |
1or one nlghG, and scanpered off, and were
not seen again, Notwithstanding every
search was made through the park by
parties of military and constabulary till
far in the morning. However, reinforce
ments were sent the following morning,
and such orders given to guard against
surprise, that similar experiment, whe-
ther in frolic or in earnest, will, in all pro-
liability, convince the parties who seem so
interested in that place that gunpowder is
dangerous ching for children or fools. |
and the less they interfere with it the |
better: er:-Saunders' Dublin Ne,rs Letter,
Feb. ~.
THE DUBLIN FEMIAN FACTORIES.
With respect to the seizure of Fenian
munitions Of war, which I reported by tele-
graph last night, there is little more to be |
added. 1t is the most extensive and i'm |
portant discovery OF the kind vet made,
and, taken in connection with the three
other factories, it shows how formidable
have been the preparations made by the
conspirators for actual war, and pushed
forward even while the special commission |
was sitting. Assuming that the police |
are right in their conjecture that these
four factories are only a small portion of
those which exist in the city, and that
there were similar preparations going on
IN the provincial towns, we can account
for the staggering manner and the tone
OF insolent defiance adopted by the Fenian
convlcts when their sentences were being
passed upon them. Encouraged by the
large remittances from America, and de-
luded by O'Mahony's magnificent pro-