Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-03-02
the WRIT OF AABEAs CORPUS.
An 1ncsdcns In Irish History.

An 1ocsdcne In Irish History.
In the year 1913, Tone, then young man,
became compromised with the society OF
United lrishmen. an organization having LOT
its object the Independence Of Ireisnd. ne
ficd 10 this country, bringing win MN ="
wife and children, and oil his wosio'y pos
sessions. At that time france Was IN 'hs
heat Of = revolution, and at war win Eng
land. Tone, restless in his exile conceived
the plan Of engaging tho French govern
men. 10 Oh expedition TOT the conquest Of
Ireland. He recrossed the ocean. appealed
70 tho French directory. end soon persuaded
them 70 undertake the ssscution Of his
favorits sehsos. Several sspsdisieos we're
fitted out, bot vses dispsrssd By stoens.-
Tone ssssopasisA thsa ~, Viii The rank
Of sdjvtaas general n The fseosA ssmy.
Finally, The vessel b was 10 w. captured,
after dsspssaAe rseislaass, By - EnglisA
frigats, and Toes bsiag sses6nissd By an
old acquaiataDee. Woe q eoes bsoughs BE-
fore ust-mastial for trial. He attempted
no dslencs. So fer from denying the scts
charged against hin, he admitted them oil.
ard eloried in them. "Undes the flag Of
the French republic" said he 70 the court.
II originally engaged with view to save
and libcsate my own country. For that
purpose have repeatedly braved the ter
rors Of the oosan, covered, - knew il 10
be, with the triumphant fleet Of that power
which It was my glory and my duty to OPP
pcse. have sacrificed my views IN
life +; ! Rave courtcd poverty | have
left beloved wife unprotected, and chilly
dren whom I adored, fathesless. After
such sacrifices in . cause which have al
ways concientiously considered ~ the cause
Of Justice and freedom, it is no great effort
at this day ~ add the sacrifice Of my
life" And then he added: ~ wish to
spare tho court al useless trouble. The
charge against me, presume, Is that have
been found in arms against the soldiers OF
the king Of my native country. ! admit
the accusation 10 Its most extended sense.
From my earliest youth have regarded the
| connection between England and ireland ~
the curse Of :he Irish nation. end felt con
vincsd that while Il lasted this country
could never be FREQ or happy. A. TO that
connection. therefore, | repeat Il, oil that
has been imputed 10 me. words, writings
and actions, here Deliberately avow. l
have spoken and sctsd With reflection and
On principle, and am ready to meet the con.
sequences. Whatever be the sentence of
the court, I am prepared for It. lite mems
bers will surely discharge their duty
shall take care not to 10 wanting in mine"
The sentence Of the court was that he die
on the scatTold in forty eight hours.
There wss one friend who did not forsaks
the young patriot In that trying hour. That
| fried Was Curran. who had known Tone in
HE yhood, and loved him, and who was
determined that this outrage upon law
should not be contaminated without resist.
snos from him. What followed We give IN
the language u Charles Phillips:
On the morning Of the day fixed fos the
execution, the moment the court Of kings
Bcnch opened, the dauntless advocate
advanced, leading Tones aged father
By the hand, who produced IN affidavit that
his son had been brought before bench d
officers who had sentenced him 10 death.
The scene the moment passes oil dsscrip'
tion-thss brcathless crowd, the hearty
broken old IMAM. the pure and venerable
Judge. and above al, the voluntary and
unrivalled advocate, the real friend-mis-
fortunes frisnd-who, while others held
| aloof, alone stood forward to hold the @gis
of the Law between injustice aud its victim
to be appreciated. il must have been seen.
~ do not PRETEND" began Curran, "tha'
Mr.. Tone 10 not guilty Of the charge Of
which he is accused presume the OIL
GERS were honorable men, but il Is stated
in this affidavit, AS solemn fact, that Mr.
Tone had no commission under his majesty
and. therefore. no court>mArtal could have
o, enhance Of any crime imputed TO hin
while the court OF kings bench sat IN thu
capacity Of the great criminal court OF thu
land In times when war WAS raging ,wher
man was opposed to man in the field, COZ rts
martial might be cndur, d but every Law
authority il with me, while | stand upou
the sacred and immutable principle Of ii.
., -. Incompatible, and that the Tor CT mus
cease with the existence Of the latter. Thi.
Is not, however, tho time for arguice thi,
momentuous question. Ny client must ap-
pear in court. lie 10 cast tor death thi.
very day. lie may be ordered for cxecu
ton while address you. | call on ths
court to support the law. and move for I
writ Of habess corpus. to be directed 10 thu
provost marshal Of the barracks and Mai
Sondys, TO bring up the body Of Zone "
| Chief Justice. ''lIavc 4 wit instantly
prepared
Curraa- "MyEclient may die ~hils The
writ is preparing
Chief Justcer-"Mr. Sheriff, proceed e
the barracks, and acqusnf the provost mar
shsl that wit Is preparing 10 suspend Mr.
Tones execution, and STE that he be no,
executed
la short time the sheriff, having return
ed, thus addressed the court:
'My Lords, have been to the barrack in
pursuance tn your order. The provost mar
shall says he must obey Maj. Sandys. Mai
Sandys says he must obey Lord Cornwall
| hs."
At this time Mr. Curran annouccd the
return Of Mr. Tones father with "A message
that Gen. Craig refused to obey the writ Of
habsds corpus.
Chief Justice-"Mr. Sheriff. take the
body Of Tone into custody. Take the pro-
voss marshal and Maj. Sandys into custody
and show the order Of the court to Gen.
Craig"
1t Was nov universally believed thst the
military authorities who bad thus presumed
to sritis with the powers Of The kings bench
would have Tone executed ON the instant
Lord klwssden, great constitutional
judge. vac very much affected. His asi,
tati0n," said Curran, "was magnificent
Il soon trsnspissd, however. that Tone, in,
dignant at the menacsd degradation Of hi,
death, had, with email penknife which h,
had managed 70 conceal, indicted such
wound in his throat that he had little I,
fear from this woslds jurisdiction. tn,
chief justice, however, % . matter Of pre
caution, ordered writ to Be issued, sus.
pending the execution. Il 10 said on thu
surgeon expressing - epiaion that . The
casotyd araesy hasdsseaped, The wound ~,
not necessarily fatal, Tone family muttersd
II Am sorry, then, % find that have bees
% bed IN anatouist" lie survived. how.
ever, 10 silent agony for seven days, When
he same surgeon, seeing hs was sinking