Jan. 20,] 



THE NEWSPAPER. 



impanelled, when Sir Coleman O'Loughliu, Counsel on 

 behalf of Mr. O'Cormell, rose and handed in a "challenge 

 tothc array," that is to say, to the whole jury panel, on the 

 ground of the omitted names in the Recorder's list, of 

 which so much has already been said. He read this plead- 

 ing at length, and stated that each of the traversers would 

 put in a similar hut separate and distinct paper, and that 

 these were being prepared. The Attorney -General said 

 that whilst the challenges of the other traversers were en- 

 grossing, he would confer with his learned brethren, and 

 consider what course they would pursue with regard to this 

 challenge. A delay of two hours was thus occasioned, 

 and it waa near two o'clock in the afternoon before the 

 challenges*' of the other traversers were put in. The 

 Attorney- General then rose, and said that on the part of 

 the Crown he demurred to these challenges, and pro- 

 ceeded to argue against their validity. The question now 

 raised was essentially the same with that which was dis- 

 cussed on Friday last, on the motion of the traversers, 

 to postpone the trial on the alleged defect in the Jury 

 panel. The Attorney-General pursued the same line of 

 argument that was used on that occasion. He remarked 

 th it no attempt was made to attach criminality to any 

 known individual, and that unless corruption or fraud 

 were proved or alleged against public officers, the pie- 

 sumption in law was that they discharged their duties 

 correctly. If this chullenge were admitted, it would 

 nullify the jurors' list for IS! 14 altogether— and this 

 merely on the ground that some 59 bmu-s had been 

 omitted, nobody could tell by whom. He (the Attorney- 

 General) would be most happy to discover the author or 

 authors of any fraud, or wilful omission in the forming of 

 the jury, and was ready at once to institute a prosecution 

 against him or them ; but whilst all the public officers 

 were, even by name, acquitted of all blame— and, so far 

 as they knew, ;,ll the requisitions of the Act of Parlia- 

 ment in forming the speciul jury panel had been com- 

 plied with— he must insist that the panel retained all its 

 legal validity, and afforded no ground for such a plea as 

 that which had been put in by the traversers. Sir Coleman 

 Loughlin argued in support of the thai ;e ; and was 

 followed on the same side by Mr. Fitzgibbon, Queen's 

 Counsel. The Solicitor-General (Mr. Green) replied. 

 He contended that there were no legal meaus pointed out 

 in the Act of Parliament, or otherwise, to amend the 

 jurors' list in such a case as the present, and strongly 

 insisted that the traversers could suffer no injury by its 

 being maintained in its present state. The Counsel at 

 the other side had expressly declared that they had no 

 fault to find with the gentlemen iu attendance to serve as 

 jurors on their trial. Mr. Moore, Q.C , proposed on the 

 part of the traversers to send back the lists to the 

 Recorder by consent, nnd to have the omitted names 

 inserted in it, and the trial to be postpone a till after this 

 arrangement had been effected. The All ry- General 

 rejected this proposition with great Ladig lion as one 

 utterly illegal. The Chief Justice then announced that 

 the majority of the Court were of opinion that the chal- 

 lenge to the army was bad, and that the demurrer of the 

 Attorney-Genera must be allowed. His I. ship and the 

 other Judges then delivered their judgments, Mr. Justice 

 Perrin dissenting. The other Judges s they were clear in 

 their dc on, and Mr. Justice Perrin said that he gave a dif- 

 ferent judgment from his brethren with considerable doubt. 

 Second Da;/.— The Court assembled on Tuesday at 10 

 o'clock, and the jurors and traversers were called over. 

 The jurors all appeared ; but two of the traversers, Messrs. 

 Duffy and Barrett, were absent. The Court waited for 

 some time, but neither of these parties appeared. Their 

 solicitors offered an undertaking that they should abide by 

 anything done in their absence, and their counsel argued 

 that this being merely a case of misdemeanour, there was 

 no absolute necc ty for the parties accused to appear in 

 person. The Attorney-General however said he could 

 not accede to this arrangement. The tl ersers were 

 bound in recognizances to appear personally throughout 

 the whole of the proceedings, and their appearance by 

 attorney could not be accepted— particularly as it might 

 be necessary in the course of the evidence to establish a 

 case of identity, in which they were concerned. After some 

 further delay, the Chief Justice on! cd them to be called 

 on their recognizances, when they immediately came 

 into Court ; the swearing of the Jury to iry the 

 case was then commenced, and after a few excuses 

 for non-attendance on the ground of ill-health, which 

 were all allowed after a sufficient investigation, it was 

 completed. The Jury comprised the following gentlemen: — 

 1. James Hamilton, 14, Upper Ormond quay, wine- 

 merrhant; 2. Captain Edward Roper, 15, Eccks-street ; 



3. Edward Clarke, 128, Stephen's-green West, Esq. ; 



4. Francis Faulkner, 78, Grafton-street, grocer and wine- 

 merchant; 5. John Croker, 3G, North Great George's- 

 street, wine-merchant ; 6. Henry Flvr.n, 25, William- 

 street, pianoforte maker; 7. Henry Thompson, 28, Eus- 

 tace-street, w.ne-merchant ; 8. Anson Floyd, 19, Melling- 

 ton-quay, china warehouse; 9. John Rigby, 175, Great 

 Brunswick-street, gunmaker; 10. Robert Hanna, 12, 

 Henry-street, wine-merchant; 11. William Longfield, 

 Esq., 19, Harcourt-street; 12. William Ord, 79 and 81, 

 Cork-street, tanner. Mr. Napier opened the pleadings, 

 and briefly stated the heads of the ;sevcral counts in the 

 indictment. At half-past eleven the Attorney-General 

 (Mr. 1. B. C. Smith, M.P. for Ripon,) began to state the 

 case to the Jury, and continued speaking until half-past 

 four without finishing his statement. He commenced by 

 an exposition of the general nature of the charge. It 

 implied, he observed, that the traversers had conspired 

 and confederated together to create discontent and dis- 

 affection among her Majesty's subjects in Ireland, and 

 by the display of physical force and other means to inti- 



midate the Government, and bring about a dissolution of 

 the Legislative Union. He next proceeded to quote 

 the opinions and decisions of various Judges both in 



ngland and Ireland on the laws of conspiracy. 

 With regard to the " boasted peacefulness" with which 

 the traversers carried on their unlawful designs he con- 

 tended that this very peacefulness was only an aggravation 

 of their guilt. Having disposed of this branch of his sub- 

 ject the Learned Gentleman commenced his review of facts 

 and public events with the passing of the Roman Catholic 

 Relief Bill in 1829. He adverted to the various Associa- 

 tions which had been formed since that period, having for 

 their object the Repeal of the Legislative Union between 

 England and Ireland, to the hostility which they encoun- 

 tered from Lord Althorp and the Administration of Earl 

 Grey, their denunciation from the Throne, and the pro- 

 clamations issued against their meetings by the Irish 

 Government under a temporary Act of Parliament now 

 expired ; the formation of the Precursor Society, and 

 finally that of the present or Loyal National Association, 

 iu which all the traversers took an active part, and of 

 which they must be presumed to be members. He then 

 entered into an explanation of the nature and constitu- 

 tion of this Society ; its mode of connecting all ranks of 

 society by means of cards and subscriptions varying from 

 a shilling to a pound, and creating the different orders of 

 associates, members, and volunteers. He exhibited these 

 different cards and described the devices upon them as being 

 all of a seditious and inflammatory tendency. He de- 

 scribed the institution of provincial inspectors, Repeal 

 wardens, and collectors, and the arrangement which in- 

 sured the circulation of inflammatory newspapers amongst 

 all su: ribers to the funds of the Association. He read 

 and commented upon several articles in the Pilot and 

 Nation papers patronised and circulated by the Asso- 

 ciation, and particularly dwelt on some of the songs 

 which they contained. He next proceeded to the 

 monster meetings and took them up by order begin- 

 ning with Mullingar ; and the dinner speeches of 

 Bishops Cantwell and Higgins. He passed thence to 

 I lie meetings at Longford, Drogheda, Mallow. Cork, 

 Donnybrook, and others, reading passages from speeches 

 delivered at each, and describing the multitudinous 

 assemblies collected, the devices used, the processions 

 marching in array from various quarters, headed by tem- 

 perance bands &c. Most of the matters recounted by the 

 learned gentleman were however tolerably well known to 

 the greater part of the auditory, and the recapitulation of 

 them, even under the existing circumstances, was not there- 

 fore attended with all that interest to his audience which 

 otherwise it might have been. It was suggested by 

 counsel on the other side that the Court should adjourn at 

 a_reasonable hour, aud that the Attorney-General should 

 resume his speech on the next day. The Learned Gen- 

 tleman said he would attend to the hint, and closed for the 

 day at half-past four, after speaking for nearly five hours. A 

 discussion then arose as to what was to be' done with the 

 Jury ; it was finally agreed on all sides that they should 

 retire to their homes alter receiving a caution not to hold 

 communication with any person on a the subject of the trial. 



Third Day.— The Court assembled on Wednesday 

 morning at 10 o'clock, and the Jury and traversers having 

 been called over the Attorney-General resumed his state- 

 ment. He took up the thread of his narrative at the 

 Baltinglass meeting held on the 6th August. He read 

 some selections from the speeches delivered on that occa- 

 sion, and to show the effect produced by them recited dif- 

 ferent observations made by the people among themselves, 

 such as these :— " We are determined to get Repeal, for 

 we are a sober people now and cannot be put down as we 

 were in '98 >" others exclaimed that they " would turnout 

 and fight for Repeal to a man ;" others said that " Father 

 Lalor told them In the chapel they would get the Repeal, 

 but not without blood ; but the time is nearer than you 

 think." A contemporaneous publication in the Nation 

 newspaper was next commented upon, and particularly a 

 passage in which it was said that it was " the absence of 

 vice or riot at those meetings which made them a 

 stromr and formidable event." The Attorney-General 

 said"fie rejoiced that he had been saved the misery of wit- 

 nessing the results which must have followed had the 

 multitude attempted to carry out the designs of the con- 

 spirators by physical force ; but the absence of such an 

 event did not, he contended, take away from the illegality 

 of the proceedings of these parties, because it would °seem 

 that they were only waiting to complete the organisation 

 of tne country and for certain contingencies in order to 

 make an effort of the last extremity. The learned 

 gentleman proceeded then to give an account of 

 other meetings in the County of Monaghan, and 

 Tara in Meath. At Tara the ancient Kings of Ire- 

 land were elected, and it was also the scene of a 

 defeat of persons engaged in the rebellion of '98. It was 

 chosen, he said, for these reminiscences. The conduct of 

 the people and Mr. O'Connell's speech on this occasion 

 furnished a fruitful subject of observation— more particu- 

 larly Mr. O'Connell's announcement that the Union was 

 totally void, and not binding on the people either in law 

 or conscience. The Attorney-General combated this 

 assertion ; he then adverted to the assemblage at Lou*h- 

 rea, and thence passed to a meeting of the Repeal Asso- 

 ciation held in Dublin at which the plan of Arbitration 

 Courts as recommended by a committee was brought for- 

 ward and adopted. Her Majesty's speech from the 

 Throne at the close of the last session was next introduced 

 and next Mr. O'Connell's manifesto in reply. Contem- 

 poraneous publications in the Pilot and Nation formed 

 part of the history, and supplied the principal materials 

 of the case sought to be established against the traversers, 

 particularly the design of corrupting the army aud render- 



* 



ing the soldiery indisposed to maintain th 

 prerogative of the Crown. A speech made bvoa*^ 

 traversers at Clifden in Galway county, regrettinTiU ** 

 state of trade and the absence of all manufacturing " 

 in the county gave occasion to the Attomi>g. rf.lL 

 retort upon the speaker, and to charge the condoct'liS 

 traversers as one of the most efficient causes of n *-jzS 

 that ruinous state of things which they affected tod2S 

 He came next to the great meeting at Malla»ki^!» 

 which he dwelt at great length, going through* 

 particulars. He concluded his history of the 





in Abbey -street. His address now verged to a c!qjT 

 after a short peroration in which he recapitulated ? 

 charges in the indictment and glanced at the %nj^ 

 evidence, he appealed to the jury if they would bal* 

 doubt of the guilt of the accused if he should succe? ' 

 substantiating all the allegations he had made. H c * 

 eluded by a quotation from a charge delivered by task 

 Chief Justice Bushe upon a special commission at Ha? 

 borough. The Learned Gentleman's speech was ^J ? 

 ingly temperate but consisted for the most part of %■* 

 narrative of facts and recitation of contemplated evuW 

 It was concluded at a quarter past four o'clock audi, 

 Court then adjourned to next morning, when theextmm 

 tion of witnesses was to commence. 



Fourth Day.— The whole of this day up to fouro'd* 

 was occupied in the examination of the first witness )t 

 Hughes, the Government Reporter, proving the time* 

 made at the meetings. Mr. Frederick Bond Hub 

 examined by the Solicitor General — Is a shorthand wri< 

 and has been in the habit of reporting for the last ITje* 

 On Sunday the 1st October he went to Mulligan** 

 there were many persons on the ground when he ar. 

 there were about 45,000 persons on the ground dorkt 

 the day ; witness saw bodies of people coming hit* 

 banners ; took a note of the speeches made on the oca* 

 sion ; on one flag was "Huzza for Repeal," and » 

 another " A nation of nine millions is too great to a 

 dragged at the tail of any nation ;" and in front of tit 

 platform n The man who commits a crime is an eaeairii 

 his country ;" the musicians wore fancy costume?, inii 

 number of men had staves in their hands, and pun 

 marked " O'Connell's Police." The witness here idee 

 fied Mr. O'Connell as being present, and Mr. O'CosmI 

 bowed to him. Dr. Gray was present at that sett- 

 ing ; also Mr. Steele and Mr. Ray. Mr. O'Coaai 

 was dressed in a sort of velvet robe, of a safe 

 colour. When Mr. O'Connell arrived several gen- 

 tlemen proposed him to the chair, which was pal* 

 Witness took a note of what he said, and produced M 

 the transcript and the original note. [Mr. Hughes as 

 read the opening address of Mr. O'Connell at Muili^> 

 mast.] The Chief Justice requested witness to read m 

 of the closing passages again in which the speaker decafli 

 that the Union was absolutely void, although supported bf 

 the policeman's truncheon, the bayonet of thesoldierandtk 

 courts of law. The traversers' counsel requested thattat 

 whole of the speech should be read, as there weretev 

 many passages which would qualify those parts read k| 

 the Attorney-General. The witness read the spetc^ 

 which was of great length. Mr. Aylmer proposed* 

 first resolution at the meeting and Mr. Hackett of & 

 kenny moved the second, declaring in the face ofAa* 

 rica and France that standing on the graves of the a* 

 tyred dead, they themselves in the face of high heavea, 

 declared that no power ought to make laws to ta» 

 the Irish people except the Queen, the Lords, aad Co* 

 mons of Ireland. After this resolution passed a roa» 

 velvet cap was placed on Mr. O'Connell's head anda 

 address presented to him by a committee ; he made abns 

 address after the national cap had been placed on his hajj* 

 Another resolution was passed to follow his guidance u*» 

 all and every circumstances ; the meeting was held in * 

 open day. I was present at the dinner ; Mr. John O'O 

 nellwas there, Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Steele, Mr. Bsrrt* 

 Dr. Gray, and Mr. Ray ; I had never seen any of tM» 

 gentlemen before that day except the Messrs. O'Coant 

 Mr. John O'Connell presided at the dinner aad aft* 

 dinner he made a speech, (the witness read extracts fiat 

 it and also a letter of the Hon. Thomas French) ;*£ 

 told on that evening that the name of one of the geojf" 

 men who spoke was Mr. Barrett ; the health of JJ 

 O'Connell was proposed, and he spoke : he state ~?5 

 the Queen, if she made one hundred speeches iaste "^ 

 one, it would not change the purpose of the ^P**J? 

 although he had a great respect for her Majesty wto> 

 the first of her family that was not a decided en * m l ^ 

 Ireland (these several addresses the witness reaa 



ik 



length). In alluding to the Duke of Wellington- 

 O'Connell said that the poor old man was not an WJJ 

 men ; he was born in Ireland, but it was not Deca0 f^ 



man 

 ah 



Vim 

 might be born in a stable that therefore he ^j"*^ 



orse. He also denounced the county members, - 

 O'Farrell and Archbold, and called the latter a traits 

 their cause. Mr. Ray responded to the toast ; o 

 Repeal Association ; he asked " Where was the £ l1 ^. 

 that could measure their power? " and praised the 

 ing of the arbitration courts, which for the first ^ n,e .C 

 cheap justice to Ireland." He told the asserooj 

 " that the will of the liberator must be their la*> 

 that if they were not willing to lie down as slaves wj 

 should join the Association. Dr. Gray also 8 P° ^'^ 

 among other matters he observed, " that he mylS ^& 

 the statement that the Judges appointed by the P*"JjJ 

 were powerless, but they had greater power than 

 Chancellor Sugden." On the 2d of October ^^^ 

 tended the Association, and mentioned that he caai 

 to report. He obtained a ticket on the 3d from 3*r. 



