Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-06-30
EASEMENT TO DIE
FOR HIGH TREASON
Irish knight Found Guilty by
Jury and Sentenced to
Death.
REA DS FINAL STATEMENT
Wants 1t to Reach People of
America, Whose Own Strug-
gle Inspires Irishmen.
READS FINAL STATEMENT

LONDON, Juno 29.-Viscount Reading.
Lord Chief Justice of England. with the
black cloth, by tradition called the cap,
spread over his head, and his two as
black capped, pronounced the sentence
Of death for high treason on the Irish
man. Sir Roger Easement. shortly be-
fore o'clock this afternoon. half an
hour after the foreman of the jury. in
shaking voice, gave the verdict OF
guilty.
Sir Roger addressed the court. read
ing his final statement with the cx-
planation that he wished it might
reach a much larger audience than the
one before him. and particularly the
people Of America. from whom had
come many messages of sympathy to
him. and whose own struggle for lib
erty he said always had been an in
spiration TO Irishmen.
Sir Rogers auditors. among whom
were Niscount Bryce and many other
prominent men and women. listened in
deepest silence. some moved TO tears
The prisoner declared he did not re-
gard trial by Englishmen in an Eng
l!sh court as a tr.al by his peers, TO
which he was entitled He reviewed
recent events in Ireland. particularly
the formation of the Ulster volun-
tecrs, and said: We have seen the
constitutional army refuse to obey the
constitutional government, and we
were told the first duty Of Irishmen
was to enter that army. If small ma
tons were to be the first consideration.
! saw no reason why Ireland should
shed any blood for any people but her
own. If that be treason, am not
ashamed to avow 1t here. IF the
unionists chose the road they thought
would lead to the good side, I knew my
road led to the dark side Both of us
proved right So am prouder TO stand
here, in traitors dock, than TO fill
the place OF my accuscrs
SELF-GOVERNMENT Is NO THING
TO BE WITHHELD or DOLEDOUT
self government is our right. II is
no more a thing to be withheld from
us or doled out 10 us, than the right to
life or light. to sunshine or spring
lowers"
Throwing aside his manuscript, Sir
Roger said:
My lords. have done. Gentlemen OF
the jury. wish 50 thank you for your
verdict. l meant no reflection upon
you when / said this W.: not trial
by my peers"
There were numerous striking SEN
tences in Sir Rogers speech
There is an objection. possibly not
In law, but surely good on moral
grounds" he said, against the appli-
cation to me here OF this old English
statute. Sos years old, that seeks to
deprive an Irishman to-day of his life
and his honor. not for adherinE to the
Kings enemies, but for adhering TO his
own people
When this statute was passed, in
1851. what was the state of mems minds
on the question OF n far higher alleSi-
ance. that of man TO God and His king
dom? The law of that day did not
permit him 10 forsake his church or
deny his God. save with his life. The
hereto then had the same doom as the
traitor. To-day man may forswear
God and His heavenly realm without
fear or penalty, all earlier statutes hav-
Ing gone the way Of Nero's edicts
against the Christians; but that con-
phantom. the King, can still
dig up from the dungeon and torture
chambers Of the dark ages a law that
takes mans life and limb for an
exercise of his conscience.
IF true religion rests on love. it is
equally true that loyalty rests on love.
The law l am charged under has no
parentaGe in love, and claims that
of to-day on the ignorance
and blindness of his past.
Il am being tried, in truth, not by
my peers of the living present. but by
the fears of the dead past: not by the
civilization of the twentieth century,
but by the brutality of the fourteenth; :;
not even by statute framed in the
language of the land that tries me. but
emitted in the language Of an enemy
land, so antiquated is the law that must
be sought to-day to slay an Irishman
whose offense is that he puts Ireland
first.
SINCE 1T DEMANDS no LOVE
CAN EVOKE NO LOYALTY
Loyalty is II sentiment. not law
1t rests on love. not on restraint. Tho
government Of Ireland by England rests
on restraint, not on law. and since IL
no love. 1t can evoke no
loyalty.
This jury, this court. the public
opinion OF this country, England. can
not be prejudiced in varying degrees
against me. most of all. in time of war.
I did not land in England: landed in
Ireland. II was to Ireland ] camc, to
Ireland wanted to come, and the last
placed desired to land was England.
But for the Attorney-General OF Eng-
land. there Is no Ireland: thore is only
England. only the law Of England; no
Il.,a.. ira..a-i eri-i..-l 49,