The Irish standard., 1889-03-02

the laws. and to offer with tende
benignity, their opinions of the motive
by which he was actuated in the crlm
of which he was adjudg'd guilty. Tha
a judge has thought it his duty so t.
have done l have no doubt; but wher'
is that boasted freedom Of your institu-
t,ons-where is the vaunted impartial,
ity. clemency, and mildness Of you
courts of justice if an unfortunate
prisoner whom your policy, and not JUS
tice, is about to deliver into the hand!
of the executioner, is not suffered to ex
plain his motives sincerely and truly
and to vindlcate the principles by whicI
he was actuated? My lords, it may be
a part ct the system Of angry justice tl
bow mans mind by humiliation tc
the purposed 1gnominy Of the scaffold:
but worse to me than the purposed
shame or the scaffold's terror would be
the shame Of such foul and unfounded
imputations as have been LAID against
! me in this court. You, Ny lord, are a
Judge; am the supposed culprit. ! am
man; YOU are a man also. BY a revo.~
luton Of power we might change places,
though we never could change charact-
ers. II stand at the bar of this court
and dare not vindicate my character
what a farce is your justice? If stand
at this bar and dare not vindicate my
character how dare you calumniate it?
Doi s the sentence of death, which your
unhallowed policy infiicts upon my
body, also condemn my tongue to silence
and my reputation TO reproach? Your
executioner NAV abridge the period of
my existence, but while exist SHALL
not forbear to Yindicate my character
and motives from your aspersions; as a
man to whom fame is dearer than life,
l will make the last use of th It life in
DUNG justice 10 that reputation which
is to live after me, and which is the
only legacy I can leav6 to those honor
and love, and for whom L am proud to
perish. AS 70 en, my lord, we must ap-
pear on the great day at one common
tribunal. and it will then remain for
the Searcber of all hearts to show COL
lective universe who was engaged in
the most virtuous actions or actuated
bv the purest mo,ives-my countfy's IS
oppressor, Or
LORD NoRBURY--''Stop, sir! Listen
to the sentence of the law
My lord, shall dying man be denied
the legal privilege Of exculpating him
self in the eyes Of the community from
an undeseryed reproach thrown upon
him during his trial, by charging him
with ambition. and attempting to cast
away for paltry sum the liberty Of his
country? Why did your lordship insult
me? ur rather, why insult justice in
demanding Of ma why sentence of
death should not be pronounced?
know, my lord, that form prescribes
that you should ask the question. The
form also presumes the right Of answer.
irg. This, no doubt may be dispensed
with, and so might the whole ceremony
of the trial, since the sentence Was al
ready pronounced at the Castle before
your jury were empaneled. Your lord
ships are but the priests Of the oracle.
submit to the sacrifice. but insist on
the whole Of the forms.
AT tx
Sir"
am charged with being emissary
Of France. An emissary Of France
And for what end? 1t Is alleged that
( wished to sell the independence of
my countrymen; and for what end I
Was this the object of my ambition ?
And this ths mode by which tribunal
of justice reconciles contradictions
No; am no emissary. My ambition
was to hold place among the deliver
ers of my country-not in powor, not in
profit. but in the glory of the achieve.
ment. Sell my country's independence
to France And for what? A change
Of masters? No; but for my ambition.
Oh, my country was it personal am
bition that Influenced me, had 1T been
the soul of my actions, could not, by
my education and fortune, by the rank
of my family, have placed myself
amongst the proudest OF your oppress-
ors ? My country was my idol. To it
sacrificed every selfish, every endear-
ing sentiment; and for it l now offer
myself, o God No, my lords; l acted
as an Irishman, determined on deliver
ing my country from the yoke of for
elgn and unre)enting tyranny, and from
the more CALLING woke Of domestic
faction, its joint partner and perpetrator
in the patriclde, whose reward is the
ignominy of existing with an exterior
Of splendor and consciousness of de.
pravity. Il was the wish of my heart
to extricate my country from this
double -riveted despotism-[ wished to
place her independe beyondithe reach
of any power on earth. I wished to ex-
alt her to that proud station in the