Widnes Examiner. — 1883-03-31 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

THE STATE OF IRELAND. THE CROSSMAGLEN CONSPIRACY. The trial of the first batch of members of the" Patriotic Brotherhood" for conspiracy to murder was concluded at Belfast on Good Friday. In his summing up Mr. Justice Lawson directed the attention of the jury to the consideration of the question whether the evidence of the informer Duffy was corroborated by the" minute book" relating to the Crossmaglen branch of the Assassination Society. This book recorded speeches by the organiser Burns, who said he was an emissary of O'Donovan Rossa, and thA P. J. Sheri• dan was the organiser for county Mayo. His lordship pointed out among other entries in the book the following : —" At the request of the Land League, conveyed through Thomas Murphy, men have been sworn in specially to kill Mr. Brookes." After a consultation of about three hours and a half, the jury convicted all the prisoners. Sentence was deferred. The trials were resumed on Monday, before Mr. Justice Lawson. Six other men, alleged members of the "Patriotic Brotherhood," were indicted for conspiracy to murder orl the same charge as that upon which Nugent and others were convicted on the Friday previous. The prisoners' names are Peter Devlin, Patrick Finegan, Patrick Geogheghan, James Hanratty, Peter Coleman, and Bernard Smyth. There was a seventh name included in the indictment, that of John Donnelly, but in his case the Crown entered a wile prosepi. The prisoners all pleaded not guilty. The trial concluded on Tuesday, when the jury, after consulting for an hour and a half, returned a verdict of guilty on all the counts. Sentence in this, as in the previous case, was deferred.  The members of the Patriotic Brotherhood who have been convicted were on Wednesday sentenced by Mr. Justice Lawson. When the first batch had been placed in the dock the learned Judge, addressing them, said no more extraordinary case had ever been investigated in a court of justice, and the proceedings of a notorious association had been exhibited to public view by the discovery of a record, of which the prisoner Watters was the writer and custodian. His Lordship said he considered this prisoner the worst in the dock. He was the teacher in a National school, and it had been clearly proved that all the threatening notices were in his handwriting. He thought there could not possibly be a worse case than this; he should therefore pass the extreme sentence which the law assigned to the offence, viz., ten years' penal servitude upon Nugent, Daly Kelly, and Watters. He did not think M‘Bride was quite as active a member as the other four, and therefore he passed Ur )fl him a sentence of seven years' penal servitude. O'Hanlan, who at first gave information to the authorities, but afterward changed his mind and then attempted to escape from the country, received a sentence of five years' penal servitude. Six other prisoners, Peter Delvin, Patrick Finnegan, Patrick Geoghegan, James Hanratty, Peter Coleman, and Bernard Stnith, were then placed in the dock, and in addressing them Mr. Justice Lawson remarked that the object of the new society was to overthrow English rule. Now that the veil had been thrown aside he wondered if the people would learn sense. The elements out of which the country was to be regenerated by the process of murder and assassination were a few small farmers, tailors, labourers, and National schoolmasters. He wondered if the people of Ireland would ever learn the futility, the vice, and tho folly of assassination. The six prisoners were then sentenced each to ten years' penal servitude. As they were being removed one called out, " O'Hanion did it all."