The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-01

DC q 4 en1Rn 16 q matter Oh 00uDJ. Ou rrboAy
last, when arraigned before the United States
Circuit Court at Windsor, Vermont, o'Een
came up to the scratch smiling" The
ofense with which he was charged was q
serious one. The endangering of the peace
between two great nations is no trifing mat
ter. ONeil knew this last May when he mar
shalled his hosts on the border. And he was
dead in earnest about his ~disreputable uG
ness-at least he took q solemn oath that mo-
thing of him but his dead body could possibly be
dragged back across the boundary line, after
he had once contrived to cross it alive. That
the world was not compelled to witness the
narrowing spectacle of the transportation
over the line of O'Neils mangled corpse,
bleeding, like that of Bozzaris, at every pore,
was no fault Of ONeil. If bis corporal en-
bodiment had COM within reach of the teeth
and nails of the ''baste" which went providing
up and down, just N the other side of the
line, seeking a Fenian whom it might devour,
there can be no doubt that little else than the
phosphates which enter into ONeils ana
tony would ever have enriched the sterile
hillsides of Vermont. The presence of a
deputy marshal and a close carriage spoiled
LILO bbuRuluhIy buOWs oub ~ MOL m0hIb W
fight if he could but have the chance, and in
seeking his opportunity he violated the Laws
of the land. For 30 doing he deserved to be
hanged by the neck till dead, for at least one
of his deluded followers was done to death
by the British ''baste," and O'Neil was
morally and in matter of fact guilty of psri-
cipation in the murder as IN accessory and
instigator. For his double transgression an
imprisonment of two years and q fine of ten
dollars is a very slight expiration.
When O'Neil was confronted by his aocu-
he was composed and gentlemanly in his
department." says the sympathizing young
man who reported the case, and he 'smiled"
yes, he had the imperturbability, as web as
the impudence, to 'smile," when he put in q
plea of guilty to the charge of violating the
neutrality laws of his adopted country. This
little farce of a trial is q good joke, thought
OrNeil; and such huge proportions did the
Joke assume that his jollity thereat lighted up
his warlike features with a perceptible
''smile." This trick of pleading guilty was
the end of the joke, however, although the
composed and gentlemanly" ONeil did not
see it in that light for O matter of twenty-four
hours. On Saturday the Fenian hero was
told to "stand up" again in the criminals
dock, to give such reason as he had why sem
tence should not be passed upon him. 1t was
then that the eloquent tongue of the ''com-
posed and gentlemanly" 0'Neil was Embossed.
He ha0something to say about this business of
passing sentence upon him for venturing to
disturb the British ''baste" in his lair. The
tender-hearted young max who furnished us
with o report of the case states that at this
point ONeil proceeded to make a most elo-
quent address, accounting his services in
behalf of his adopted country as a reason
why his sentence should be light" Unfortu-
nately this is the only point in his harangue
that has been given to the world as yet; but
it is & sufficient to show that, instead of securing
"a mitigation of his punishment, the eloquence
of ONeil ought to have prompted the judge
to lay IN the scourge with q heavy hand. A
more brazen and bare-faced, a more impudent
and imprudent appeal for mercy was never
uttered in q court of justice. If faithful
service in the loyal army during the Rebellion
is to be taken as an extenuation of such reck-
less and high-handed outrages as these
Fenian raids upon the territory of a ~neighbor-
ing country, what is to become of us, and
how long shall we be suffered to remain at
peace with the world?
But it is scarcely worth one's while to oon-
template the gloomy possibilities in store for
us, since O'Neils eloquence proved as abor-
tive as his attempt at ~sanguinary deeds. He
has a fine of $40 to pay, and a general as
sessment of half a mill per capita on the
chambermaids and kitchen girls of Hibernian
descent and Fenian proclivities will suffice
to raise the money. The two years oonfne-
ment in Windsor Jail, however, is another
matter, in which the sympathy of kitchen
girls and chambermaids will not avail. From
this part of O'Neils sentence there can be no
relief, except at the hands of the President.
That he will be badgered and bothered to let
O'Neil loose there is no doubt. Strenuous
efforts have already been made to secure the
pardon of the Fenians who were convicted
and sentenced to imprisonment recently at
C~anandaigua, New York, and the effort will
be repeated in O'Neils case with even greater
persistency. But we trust that President
Grant will prove as proof against the elo-
quence of O'Neil's friends as did the Windsor
self, and hat the valiant hero of many an un.
fought battle will be suffered to emain in
durance vile until his allotted time is up.
Twenty years would have been more in ac-
cordance with the demands Of justice, but
two years residence in free and contracted
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