It is a sign of something...
The Times, 1824-08-31T00:00:00

It s a sign of 5 Methini.g tainted in practical jtir:sPrIT.. del'c2, svhetu tlocs' Y,ho lvish to mneasiire the statc of party- fi:e:ling ;hroughout a given coimunity, are cotlpellt,d ti Awatch n3rrow]y tIle procetedings of courts of jilisce. IThi;, has of late been thle casv wvith Irelanl nltle, if we would r sort to the best titleital)le ibr the ebb amt, flow of fact iin Ive lindl it half-yearly in every Assize town ; aniu ill ti!( conduct of witnesses, tnagistrat..s, atid jul i?e, not so nttilte an illuutration of the letter or spirit of tIme laws, as att exact b:reonciter of the prevai]i,g passio)nts. in exlremne cases- that is, in timnes wlhere one party, thlrotghl the lntire p-o- s:ration of its rivals, can exerciee suci liespotic pows'er as to stretch, r lax, or t(rvert thc law to the Us5S of itu ouwn viciou. selfisliness-wve atlniL that froln its tiere 1tli- fortnlty, l(ppr-ssi:in alnoul ccasvs to be instructiv.. WV. anticil ate every resilt .t crihnu the ml titrient in whiclt wz hear who was thle perpetrator and uvlio time sictimn. All thie tworltl ktsows beforchatm:l, that gmlilt, if o:t the side of vower, wvill escape ; and( that itnilotnelce, if ott tihat of weakness, will he unprotectetd or ptinished. it i; in a dlifferenit stage of tatioimal existence that courtl of justice begin to furnish food ror lively cuTiosityand profit- able inetlij atio0. IV heni soote fresh inrtulse hlas beet, eYven to the torpid inachlitie, or its pasts been throwml into sotne new relative position, thiCti it is that we ob.er'e its actiol, * Vith utn wariedl interest. Thic chief anil. most con-picuous of mattv chanecs wliicli the last y^ar or tvo have beeti working an-ongst the people (ef Ireland, has been t1he (le- crease of that tyranmi.al piuver wvltichl a particular faction had lotig presumed to exercise over the body of the nation, throughi the mediur-tliat is, by the abuse-of the utgis- tracy atitl the laws. A marked and (for Ielan(l) a pecu. Niar character hlasbeem commnunieate(d to the admitiistratior of.justice in its lower departmeiits by the establishmeiitol petty scssions; andl in its higher, by the etncouragemeliM affotdted to witnesses on every side of a questiots, to conu forwvaril antl speak the whole truth; andl by tIme pains whiic theJuflgeshavebestowsdupon the honest forinationi ofjut ie5 A far field is thierefore oeen ed, wherein accusers antI accesec may now array thieir respective rights, instead of that whilicl left tIe poor man no hope of safety if accused, or of reilresm if lhe daared to be the prosecutor. Every trial, tierefore, wbhiel hears upon the ititerests or character of Irisb party, rntrsi be ltokomd uponi as an index to the progress of legal as.en- d7ancy, as cintrashistinguishledl from that of religiousc, leIi- tmcat, or aristocratical injustice. Sev( cal reports of judlicia; pr cededings at the tdiffrlent autunatal assizes throughoui ircand, iniight be readl witlh advantag-, as illustrative of ihe contlition of the country. WVe shall touch mpon onie oD'y, hmre the et(Is of justice app,ear to have been dIfea/i.o hy a notable andl di;graceful abu se. Our reaclers recollect tIme M;sgimc-ra riot, where, so loinz lbark as June, 18'^ ,, a Ut, ~bi:c. by niatne M'.siAsTCR, S:'s Slot iti Cu o bWooml bt .;n Oran:- natu. -fit the first place, it is sal! t' aE a . .a-:in .tgistrate, co:nnec ted ; ; a hi I ait tLitary of thbc Church, rctusetd, undler sundiy ei'ifts antl pretenees, to take examinationa apinst tho author of the poor man's death. Tn ihe t cecond place, the Grandl Jury of thle County threw out the hill of indictment. Thirdly, how- ever, tlhe man.-slayer lhas been put upon his trial-the death was proved-thie cause of it, says the Judge, Wvas nma- r,ifest. But the moat inportant wituess-namcly,.the iMla- gistrate who bad writtelu thi (lying (depositions of the mur- (lered( min anil who alone coul(l bring loine the crime clearly and" unlquestionably to the guilty person?, aeh.neded hitsrlf' from ihe ti-al, a(id a verdict of dcqutittal Was brought in. lI'Cll In;ght JulU1ge PENNEATF' Itr cxclaim against this mnore thani siuspicious absence. The Magis- Itrate, Mr. CouReTs,AY, if he was suminione(l to attelld, ougilt to be ponished in a manier the most excmplary for his g. oss brcach of a soleinn duty. The crasure of his name from the commission of the peace would, on thatsupposition, be lunity itself comparetd with his transgression: but if inot 5uminmoned, whio ani( wlihat was the solicitor for the Crowvn? Was lie ani Ori-::geinalj ? Whatevor may be his name or tihe colourofhis' party, that iuaiu deserves tile heaviest visi- tation of the Government for a neglect so glaring of his professionial busimL ss, so llaal to public justice, so daniger- ous to thc PeRce of the country, antd so contemptsuous to- wards tlhe p1)dicy whivlc now administers the affairs of Ire- land. wte lhave notiee(l this trial because conseqctencos of stl'h nimoment are molnoected with it : a party composed ol inilions of' men liave been checkedl ini their uewly- awaken li holes; of redlress for accunmildte(l injuries, andl a frcsII p)rovocation ha bcern ofR'reri them to take law into hein oewn hands. TIhere are othier trials crili nal and civil, to which we mnt'y perhap ps allude hereafter.