Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-01-05
OUR LONDON LETTER.
TIE o'DoENELL CASE AND ENGLISH
FEELING.
What a Judge Forgot CoDjunctions OF
Events-;hs other Side Of the
Irish Question
LONDON, December 10, 1883.

LONDON, December 10, 1883.
There has been growing feeling among
the English people for some time that the
American Government looks with a certain
degree of favor upon the measures of vio-
lence which Irishmen are using against the
Government of Great Britain. 1t was prob
ably a surprise to many on your side of the
Atlantic that the employees of the Under.
ground Railway, in condemning the recent
dynamite outrages, should have directed
copies of their resolutions to be sent TO the
American ambassador but to those on the
ground it was no surprise, and, however
unjust the aspersion may have been, the
painful fact remains that it expressed the
honest conviction of these workmen, and
not of them Only, but of the great mass of
their countrymen. This week fuel has been
added to the fires of national suspicion by
the action of the American Congress in
THE o'DoNNELL CASE.
What effect this action may have in pre-
venting the execution of the condemned
man, your readers will know long before
this is read, but its effect on the views and
feelings of the people is only too obvious
already. 1t was understood here that the
fact of O'Dounells American citizenship
was fully established some weeks before
his trial occurred. Certainly Mr.. Lowell
was satisfied on the subject, and he has
been under the impression that he took all
necessary steps to assure himself that the
accused would be dealt with according to
international law. The Judge, the jury,
and the counsel on both sides were like
wise in possession of the secret of O'Don-
nell's allegiance to the United States. I
have reason to know, too, that this in.
formation was not monopolizad by the
press and people of this country, but that
it was common property with the Ameri'
cans, for l have an American newspaper
dated three weeks ago, which gives all the
particulars in the case, stating where and
when his naturalization was effected, and
furnishing the additional intelligence that
he signed his name with mark. 1t APP
pears, therefore, as though the only per.
sons in a middle on this subject at this
late day are the American Congressman,
who passed a resolution last Monday re-
1uestirg the President to ask suspension
Oh " DOuuGll bGuIcuCS until MS ClalIu W
American cit zenship shall have been in
quired into and settled. lean only surmise
hew people ON your side regard this action.
and the reasons assigned for it, but am in
no uncertainty as to the opinion enter
tanned with reference to 1t by the English
people, and candor compels me Ito say
that, taken in connection with the appeal
of Congressman to President Arthur to re-
member, in dealing with the case. that he
himself was of Irish descent, the affair
appears to British minds to be nothing
more nor less than an attempt to assist
disaffected Irishrhen in embarrassing the
English Government, and in setting Eng
lish law
AT DEFIANCE.
This, let it be borne in mind, is not given
as your correspondents personal opinion of
the matter, but IS simply candid state.
ment from him, after careful observation,
of what is thought of the action OF Con.
gress by English people. 1t appears now
as though the fstes rather favored ODon-
nell at his trial. The only thing that gave
him the ghost of a chance before the jury
was his personal statement as given to
them by Mr., Russell, and that this was
allowed to be put in seems to have been
owing to the defective memory of the pre-
siding Judge. Two years ago the Justices
of England took a vote on this subject,
and by majority OF l9 to , decided not to
allow such statements from counsel.
Justice Denman, who tried O'Donnell, was
present at the time and voted with the ma
jority, but the circumstance, singular to
say, had slipped his mind. Otherwise, as
he has since explained to Chief Justice
Coleridge, the statement which so plausibly
bolstered up the theory Of self-defense
would not have been admitted, nor would
any case have been reserved on it in the
event of legal objection being taken to
his ruling. But while the fates seemed
propitious to the accused, he proved at the
last to be his own worst enemy. The mas
terly defense made for him produced deep
Impression both inside and outside the
Court, and the difficulty the jury seemed
to have in coming to a conclusion intensi-
fed this favorable effect Up to the time
when sentence was pronounced there were
many CLEANS OF hope in the case. a calm
protest of innocence Just then might have
done wonders | am sure it would have
caused a strong effort on the part of the
Engl sh people to get the sentence com.
muted to imprisonment for lie. But when
the condemned man wound up the scene
by breathing curses on the British Govern
ment and calling for three cheers for
could Ireland and the United States,
Eapl sh sympathy was paralyzed, and
people at once made up their minds
that the law must take its course.
The fact that up to a few days ago counsel
for ODJnnelps defense had not been able
to ascertain the name or address of a single
iuryman who sat on the case, reveals
condition of things which will awaken sur
prise in American minds, and which many,
looking at it from the American stand
point will feel inclined to condemn. Spe-
Cial precautions seem to have been taken
TO keep the identity of these Jurors a Sc
cret. This. however, Is done from no an
tipathy to O D0Dnell, and from no desire
to defeat Justice, but simply as means OF
protection to the jurors themselves. W nat
juries who convict lTishmeu may expect
has been only too often demonstrated and
in the present case there slem special rea.
cons for anticipating evil consequences, for
those who vii threaten the hangmsn, who
merely executes the penalty las some name
sake of the condemned has Just done will
surely feel still more vengeiul toward the
men whose verdict caused the penalty to
be decreed What may be developed in
the next few days in the way of retala-
ton, in case G. d ,unell is executed on Mon
day, no one can tell but the worst that
might come would not take anybody by
surprise. The Chicago citizen notifies us
that the destruction Of the Houses of Par
lament, of s.. P4u.'s and OF London Bridge
Will now be in order,
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE MAY SMILE
Al these threats but the people OF Fog
land have learned from sad experience
that they mean something. What adds to
the general feeling Of apprehension is that
though it IS now established, with refer
euce t, the explosions in the railway tun-
nels, th5t they were the work of dynamite,
and though more than six weeks have
elapsed SINCE they occurred, the police
have IS yet, despite the large reward Of