IRELAND.

Attempts to delay the State trials were kept up to the last. In the Court of Queen's Bench, on Friday, Mr. Moore, one of the traverser? counsel, moved that the panel of Special Jurors struck in the case be quashed ; that a mandamus issue to the Recorder, commanding him to place on the Jury-list the names of 27 persons who had been omitted, and whose claim had been allowed by him ; that a new Sheriff's list be made out ; and that until the Jury be struck from that amended list, the trial be postponed to the 1st February 1844. This application was made on the strength of an affidavit by Mr. Pierce Mahony. Wherever the mistake had occurred, Mr. Moore said, there was no ground for imputing any error whatever to the High Sheriff's department. He added, tin reply to Mr. Justice Burton, that the person making the affidavit al- leged a corrupt suppression of the Daisies; bat they did not ascribe the misconduct to any particular person. It had been ascertained that fifteen persons, in four parishes, admitted by the Recorder, and all Roman Catholics, had been omitted in the Sheriff's list; and twelve more, in other parishes, also Roman Catholics, had been omitted. The Attorney-General opposed the motion ; and he read an affidavit by Mr. Kemmis, the Crown Solicitor, who stated his belief that there was up just ground for supposing that an impartial Jury could not be obtained and chosen from the Jury-panel for 1844. The Attorney- General said, it was strange, if it were true that sixty-three names had been omitted, of whom only twelve or fourteen were Roman Catholics, that Mr. Mahony had not so stated. What could be the meaning of making it appear that all the omitted names were Roman Catholic, but to create an unjust excitement and a feeling against the Law. officersof the Crown ? He went on to describe the process of striking the Jury ; said that, ac- cording to his belief, all the Jurors stated to be struck off as Roman Catholics—at least ten or eleven of them—were subscribers to the funds of the "Loyal National Repeal Association " ; and contended that the Crown was not called upon to postpone a trial when its own conduct had been perfectly correct. In supporting the motion, Mr. Whiteside read a letter, written by Mr. Archer, Clerk of the Peace, by desire of the Recorder, explaining how the omission had occurred : Mr. alag-' rath, who acted as Registrar to the Recorder, prepared the classified list from the original parish-lists ; the lists being on separate sheets, one, containing the names of traders worth 5,000/. in A.udeon's Ward, acci- dentally dropped from the remainder ; Mr. Magrath did not discover the omission until after the matter had been brought before the public and the Recorder had ordered an investigation, when the dropped list was found in the inner room of the Clerk of the Peace Office. Mr. Sheil, who appeared for Mr. John O'Connell, observed, that the Attor- ney-General was mistaken in supposing that all the Roman Catholic*

struck off the list were Repeaters. The Attorney-General objected to such statements being made not on affidavit. Mr. Sheil said he would feel much pleasure in complying with the suggestion thus conveyed. The Chief Justice stated, that the whole Court were unanimous in re- jecting the application, which was against principle and against reason. The charges had been made in general terms, against no individual. He could understand that misconduct might have taken place which would call for investigation, (and in that case, said Mr. Justice Perrin sub- sequently, punishment would be the proper course); but now, the Court was called upon to quash the Jury-panel for 1844, after all the proceedings required by law had been completed. If that were done, every suitor who might, during the year, have a cause to be tried by the panel as it now stood, would be injuriously affected. The application, therefore, was refused.

On Saturday, the Attorney-General applied for an order, that if the trial lasted after the end of term, the whole period of its duration, up to next term, should be considered part of Hilary term. The Chief Justice doubted if the order was necessary, as, in the case of a trial at bar, the vacation was taken to be part of the term ; and Mr. Justice Perrin thought that the order would have a tendency to protract the trial. The Attorney-General contended, that the order, if not neces- sary, was advisable, as making all safe against objection ; and that it would have a tendency to shorten the trial, as an early day fixed for its termination would hold out a bonus to the other side to protract it and throw it over that day. Eventually, the order was granted.

On Monday there was another delay, though it was fully expected that the trial would commence on that day. The Court, which is scarcely capable of holding three hundred persons, was at an early hour crowded with barristers and spectators, including a few ladies. The principal traverser arrived at the Four Courts soon after ten o'clock, in an unusual procession, consisting of twenty-four carriages, headed by the City Marshal : the Lord Mayor, in his state-carriage, conveyed Mr. O'Connell and his son John to the place of trial ; in other carriages rode the Liberal members of the Town-Council in their robes, the Reverend Dr. O'Connell, the Lord Mayor's Chaplain, and the Reverend Dr. Doyle, the Liberator's Chaplain. Mr. O'Connell entered the Court leaning upon the arm of his son John and the Lord Mayor. Among the persons then present were Major Magennis, Aide-de-Camp to Lord De Grey ; Mr. A'Court, Secretary to Lord Eliot ; Mr. Recorder Shaw ; Mr. Hamilton, M.P.; and Mr. A. Bushe, an artist, sketching. A Government reporter sat at the Solicitor's table. All the Judges were on the bench—namely, the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Burton, Mr. Justice Crampton, and Mr. Justice Perrin. The counsel for the Crown were—the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, Sergeant Warren. Mr. Brewster, Queen's counsel, Mr. Martley, Queen's coun- sel, Mr. Freeman, Queen's counsel, and Messrs. Holmes, Smyley, Baker, and Napier. The counsel for the traversers were—Mr. Moore, Queen's counsel, Mr. Henn, Queen's counsel, Mr. Whiteside, Queen's counsel, Mr. M'Donagh, Queen's counsel, Mr. Monahan, Queen's counsel, Mr. Fitzgibbon, Queen's counsel, Sir Coleman O'Loghlen, and Messrs. O'Hagan, O'Hea, Close, and Perrin. The Crown Solicitor and his assistants, and Messrs. Mahony, Cantwell, Gartland, and Forde, the attornies for the traversers, were also present. The traversers were called into Court—namely, Daniel O'Connell, John O'Connell, John Gray, Thomas Steele, Richard Barrett, the Reverend Thomas Tierney, Charles Gavin Duffy, Thomas Matthew Ray, and the Reverend Peter James Tyrrell. Mr. Cantwell formally announced the death of Mr. TyrrelL Mr. O'Connell obtained leave to robe himself, and reappeared in his wig and robes. Proclamation was then made for a Jury. Some gentlemen did not appear ; some sent or handed in certificates of ill health ; and two gen- tlemen made statements that their Christian names were improperly set down. Fines of 501. were inflicted on all of the defaulters except one who had sent an affidavit of ill health.

Before the Jury were sworn, Sir Coleman O'Loghlen' on the part of Daniel O'Connell, challenged the array, on the ground of the irregu- larities in the preparation of the Jury-lists which had already been so amply discussed. Sir Coleman stated that the challenges of the other traversers were identically the same, and would be handed in very shortly. While they were preparing, the Crown counsel retired to consider Mr. O'Connell's challenge : they left the court at a quarter past eleven, and returned at one o'clock ; but still no more challenges were ready. The Chief Justice complained to Sir Coleman O'Loghlen of the time consumed by want of documents to be handed in by the traversers. They were not produced till a quarter to two o'clock. The Attorney-General then demurred to the challenge ; which was tanta- mount to asserting that the allegations of the challenge, if true, were not sufficient in law to authorize the Court in quashing the panel. This raised the very question debated on Friday ; which was argued all over again, at great length. The Solicitor-General showed that the effect of allowing the motion must be, either to throw the trials over till January next, or to restore the Jury-list of 1843, which had been so strongly condemned by the traversers themselves. The arguments being closed, Mr. Moore proposed that the panel should at once be referred back to the Recorder, to make out a new panel from his own lists ; the trial to go on immediately afterwards. The Attorney-General could not consent to a notoriously illegal act ; for the Recorder had no power to do what was proposed ; and he expressed some surprise that Mr. Moore should make such a proposition, which would render illegal every trial that might take place on the panel for 1844. Mr. Moore declared that he had been misconceived; that his proposition was made in per- fect good faith ; and in making it, he did that which he thought could be done without displaying the degree of impropriety or pro- fessional ignorance which Mr. Smith had thought proper to impute.

ere there was some applause in the gallery ; and the Attorney-Ge- erved that if it were renewed he should ask the Court to

make t e be cleared. The Judges pronounced their decision seriatim. The Lo '€hief Justice observed, that over the Recorder, -within his own jurisdiction, the Court of Queen's Bench had no con- trol, unless fraud or malversation were charged against him, which it was not ; and therefore the Court must accept the panel as it came from the Sheriff. He condemned the proposition made by Mr. Moore, as tending to open the door for ruinous delays of justice. Mr. Justice Burton and Mr. Justice Crampton concurred with the Lord Chief Justice. Mr. Justice Perrin, with some doubt, dissented : he consi- dered the duties of a Recorder in the preparation of the Jury-lists to be ministerial ; and he thought that if the list prepared by the Sheriff were discovered to be wrong, there must be a remedy, and that the Re- corder ought to go to the Sheriff and call upon him to substitute the real for the corrupt list. The demurrer was of course allowed, in ac- cordance with the decision of a majority ; and the Court adjourned at half-past seven, without swearing the Jury.

The Court resumed at ten o'clock on Tuesday morning. Mr. O'Con- nell arrived in his private carriage ; but appeared in his wig and gown, as before. When the traversers were called, all answered to their names except Mr. Duffy and Mr. Barrett. It was stated for Mr. Daffy, that he was ill when he left the court on the previous evening ; and for Mr. Barrett, that he lived four miles from town ! The Court did not admit these excuses, but consented to wait a few minutes for the appear-

ance of the missing traversers. Meanwhile, their attornies pro- posed to put in an appearance for them, undertaking that the clients should consent to what occurred in their absence. Mr. Justice Cramp- ton observed, that in misdemeanour cases the parties were some- times allowed to appear by their attornies. Only by favour of the Crown, said the ready Attorney-General : in this case, if the irregu- larity were permitted, it might be renewed during the proceedings ; and if the parties were allowed to appear by their attornies, perhaps they could not be identified hereafter. Twenty-five minutes having elapsed, the Court again inquired for the traversers, and again con- sented to wait a little longer. Four or five minutes more passed, and then Mr. Henn renewed the proposal made by the attornies. The Chief Justice referred him to the Attorney-General ; saying—" It is the Attorney-General whom you are to satisfy : I am quite satisfied." Mr. Smith stuck to his refusal. At length the patience of the Court was exhausted : Mr. Daffy and Mr. Barrett were once more called, and they entered the Court ; Mr. Barrett appearing, amid great laugh- ter, just as his reeognizances were about to be forfeited. He apologized for his absence, and said that it had been caused by a sickness in his family. The Chief Justice warned him to be more punctual next day.

In the mean time, the no less tedious process of calling the Jury had been going on. Some defaulters were fined ; others were excused on the score of ill health ; but Captain Roper, who pleaded that he was seventy-two years of age, and infirm, was compelled to serve. The pleas for excuse on account of ill health were opposed by the traversers' counsel ; and in Captain Roper's case it was contended that he ought to have applied to the Recorder to strike him from the Jury-list on the score of superannuation. At length twelve gentlemen were sworn : these are their names—James Hamilton, foreman; Edward Roper, Ed- ward Clarke, Francis Faulkner, John Croker, Henry Flynn, Menry Thompson, Anston Floyd, John Rigby, Robert Hanna, William Long- field, William Ord.

Mr. Napier opened the pleadings with a formal exposition of the in- dictment and its several counts ; and then the Attorney-General rose to state the case. He first described the nature of the charge against the defendants— In the words of the indictment, the traversers stood accreted of having "coal, spired and confederated together to raise and create discontent and disaffection' among her Majesty's subjects, and to excite them to hatred and contempt of the government and constitution of the realm as by law established, and to unlawful and seditious opposition to the said government and constitution ! and to stir up hatred, jealousy, and between different classes of her Majesty's subjects ; and especially to promote among her Majesty's subjects in Ireland feelings of and hostility towards and against her Majesty's sub- jects in England; and to excite discontent and disaffection in the Army ; and to cause large numbers of persons to meet together, at different times and at different places, for the unlawful purpose of obtaining, by means of the intimi- dation to be thereby created, and by means of the exhibition and demonstration of great physical force at such meetings, changes and alterations in the govern- ment, laws, and constitution of this realm as by law established; and particu- larly, by those means to bring about and accomplish a dissolution of the legis- lative union between Great Britain and Ireland; and also by means of inflam- matory and seditious publications to intimidate Parliament, and thereby bring about changes and alterations in the laws and constitution of this realm as now by law established ; and to bring into hatred and disrepute the tribunals esta- blished for the administration of the law therein, and to assume and usurp the prerogative of the Crown in the establishment of courts for the administration of the law."

He proceeded to explain the offence of conspiracy in the legal accep- tation; citing various received authorities. Conspiracy is a combina- tion and agreement by persons to do some illegal act or acts, or to effect some legal purpose by illegal means. It is not necessary to prove that two parties came together and actually agreed to a common design ; but it might be inferred from their pursuing a common object and re- sorting to common means. In the case of the Queen versus Murphy, Mr. Justice Coleridge observed-

" I ought also to tell you, that by finding the defendants guilty you will not, as has been said, affect the right of petitioning. It is not wrongful to as- semble in a public meeting to petition Parliament against that which is alleged to be a public grievance ; neither is it unlawful to refuse payment of the church- rate in money, and to leave the collector to obtain payment by taking the goods of the party, as is constantly done in the case of the Quakers: but it is unlawful, by means like those charged in this indictment, to prevent those rates being levied on the goods of the party. It is not necessary that it should be proved that those defendants met to concoct this scheme, nor is it necessary that they should have originated it. If a conspiracy be already formed, and a person joins it afterwards, he is equally guilty.

The act of either party is considered to be done by the rest, and is evidence against the rest. In the case of the King versus York, Mr. Justice Rooke instructed the Jury, that if the defendant went beyond the mere purpose of enlightening the minds of the people upon specu- lative points, to excite a spirit of discontent and sedition, or even if his speeches had that tendency, he must take the consequences. In 1819, in the case of the King versus Hunt, Mr. Justice Bayley said, alluding to " drilling "—

. If the object of the drilling is to secure the attention of the persons drilled to disaffected speeches, and give confidence by an appearance of strength to those willing to join them, that would be illegal; or, if they were to say, We will have what we want, whether it is agreeable to law or not '—a meeting for that purpose, however it may be masked, if it is really for a purpose of that kind, is illegal."

Mr. Smith proceeded—

He should be told, forsooth, that the meetings dispersed peaceably. Why,

the dispersion of those meetings peaceably, and the intention that they should disperse peaceably, was one of the most aggravated parts of the whole pro- ceeding. The multitude were peaceable, because the parties knew that the time had not arrived for an outbreak. "The hour of England's infirmity was to be Ireland's opportunity!" That was the language of one of the traversers. a Wait—will you be ready to come when we call you? You must wait till the time arrives." If that course were not adopted, the conspiracy would necessa- rily be broken up at a much earlier period ; because part of the conspiracy was, to have the organization complete from North to South and from East to West: then the signal was to be given. Therefore it was that those meetings peaceably dispersed. " Others again might go there," as Lord Tenterden said, 66 who meditated mischief at some future time, when those drilled, who up to this period had been without arms, might have arrived at a further stage in military discipline." In another part of his judgment Lord Tenterden said, " When we consider that these country-people came marching in this way through the town of Manchester, bearing Hags and banners inscribed with mottoes, not merely containing high-sounding words, as the leccned counsel would infer, (for the Court cannot so view them,) but inscriptions of 'No Corn- laws,' Better die like freemen than be sold like slaves,' and various other expressions of defiance, it is manifest there was an avowed intention to moult those who were intrusted with the administration of justice and the laws ; and, if possible, by a show of numbers, to overawe and prevent them from interfering with the object their leader might be supposed to, have had." Mr. Justice Bayley followed in giving judgment, and said, " It appears by the evidence in this case that the meeting was com- posed of an immense number of persons—a very large portion of physical strength. It appears on the evidence in the case, that there was an eleva- tion, from which elevation persons would have an opportunity of making speeches; and it appeared also, that among other persons there was one who had no particular connexion with the place, and who had come from a consi- derable distance for the purpose of communicating his sentiments to that large body of people which was assembled at that place; and he might, by the inti- mations which he then made, give to that physical force so assembled a direc- tion which might operate either in perfect innocence or with a great degree of danger to the public peace." Were they to be told, and was it consistent with what the learned Judge laid down, that they might have hundreds and thou- sands of persons assembled, whose course of proceeding was to be regulated by the direction which they might receive from any individual who might tell them to separate peaceably—who might do so for the purpose of carrying out further the designs of his conspiracy, aware that the organization was not com- plete, reserving the withdrawal of the mask which concealed his design until the time arrived for doing so P He denied that the circumstance of their being peaceable or ending peaceably, when they were assembled together under the control of any one man, who might give them one direction or another, was consistent with the law of the land; and he should ever hold an until he heard the contrary authoritatively laid down.

The Attorney-General next applied himself to the facts of the case : and he began the history of the Repeal agitation with the Association established by Mr. O'Connell soon after the Emancipation Act, in 1829; suppressed by a proclamation of Earl Grey's Government in January 1831. Be cited Lord Althorp's declaration against Repeal in 1831—when he said that "civil war itself would be preferable to the dismemberment and destruction of the empire "; King William's speech from the Throne in 1833, asking for "such additional powers as might be found neces- in Ireland for-controlling and punishing the disturbers of the pub- lic peace, and for preserving and strengthening the Legislative Union between the two countries"; Lord John Russell's declaration against Repeal in the debate on the address replying to that speech ; the Co- ercion Act ; the rejection of Mr. O'Connell's motion for Repeal, by 523 to 38, in 1834, showing the fixed determination of the Legislature. In 1838, Mr. O'Connell established the "General Association," which had for one of its objects, as was the case in every association that had been formed by Mr. O'Connell, the collection of money, or, as it was then called, "Justice-rent." In 1838, the Precursor Association was formed ; in February 1840, the Repeal Association. Mr. Smith minutely ex- plained the organization of that society, composed of "Associates" paying Is., " Members " paying or collecting 20s., and "Volunteers." He produced Repeal cards, engraved with the names of battles in which the Irish triumphed over Danes or English, and other anti-English allu- sions; with the declaration of the Dungannon Volunteers in 1782, that the Union was illegal ; and Mr. Saurin's declaration, "You may make the Union a law, but you cannot make it binding on conscience." They would, he dared say, in the course of that case hear extracts, not only from a speech of Mr. Saurin, but also from Lord Plunket, and the late Lord Chief Justice of that Court : but the defendants, in using them, never added that those speeches were delivered by those illustrious personages as Members of the Irish House of Commons, and never after the Act of Union was carried. Mr. Smith described the provisions for sending the Repeal newspapers to towns contributing certain amounts of "rent "; and observed that it was by means of a newspaper, L' Ami du Peuple, that the minds of the people at the time of the French Revo- lution were poisoned against the Government there; and that in this coun- try, in 1798, the same effect was produced by the publication known as the Press. He alluded to the Pilot's report of the Repeal declarations by Mr. Robert Tyler, son of President Tyler, as tantamount to an irresistible demand for Repeal by "the United States," "with her President at her head." He now came to the monster-meetings ; beginning with that at Trim, on the 16th March 1843, where Mr. O'Connell descanted on Ire- land's capabilities to fling a Russiau or any other "foreign invader" into the sea, and disenthral the land of its oppressors,—the " foreign invader" evidently meaning the "Saxon foreigner." Mr. Smith described the multitudinous assemblages at the Repeal meetings ; the drilling and military array of the multitudes attending ; which had their precedent in the Manchester meetings in 1819, and in the Irish proceedings of 1797, the year before the rebellion. At Trim, Mr. Barrett called on the people "to be tranquil, resolved, and well-organized ; because, when England wanted their services, Ireland had but to stamp her foot and be free." Mr. O'Connell, looking at the multitude around him, asked, "Would they consent to be everlasting slaves ? They would answer, No ; and he would join in the response and say, 'I shall either be in ray grave or be a freeman." Did they recollect the observation of Lord Tenterden, in which he adverted to the inscription on banners in speaking of the illegality of associations ?—" Better to die like a free- man than to be sold like a slave." Mr. Smith quoted more such say- ings; and remarked, that during the whole of the last session of Parlia- ment not a petition was sent up from these meetings,—though he be- lieved that recently there had been a great activity in purchasing parch- ment in order to get rid of that notorious fact. Re next quoted a poem from the Nation newspaper, beginning " Who fears to speak of Ninety-eight? "—a single specimen of a whole volume of inflammatory matter ; then a prose paper from the Nation, headed " Something is coming," in which the writer said, that if England had not made con- cessions in 1783, a " Rochambaud or a Lafayette would have landed on the coasts, and a half campaign would have seen an independent Irish flag waving over the Castle "; and another paper, called "Our Nationality." He regretted to observe the part that Temperance bands took at the great meetings : the leaders in 1798 msde sobriety a part of their system. He quoted Mr. O'Connell's celebrated speech at Mallow, in which he said, "they may trample on my body, but it will be my dead body " ; and the assertion that the Queen might issue writs to summon an Irish Parliament. He cited the Act of Union, to show that that could not be done unless the Act were void ; and asked if any counsel on the other side would say that it was void ? [Mr. O'Connell—" Yes."] At Donny- brook the people were particularly exhorted to peace. Physical force was only to be made use of in the first instance, for the purposes of organ- ization, which was afterwards to be made available to "make Ireland a nation again, and strike off the dominion of the foe and the fo- reigner " ; which meant a repeal of the Union between Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain being the foe and the foreigner. At the same meeting, Mr O'Connell adverted to certain monies sent from America on the 4th July, the anniversary of American independence.

At five o'clock, the Attorney-General stopped, and proposed an ad- journment.

Some discussion arose as to the disposal of the Jury. Eventually, they were allowed to go to their homes ; it being understood that they should avoid all communication on the subject of the trial—Mr. Rigby volunteering the promise, that if any attempt were made to commu- nicate with him he should disclose it to the Court.

On Wednesday morning, the Court assembled, without hindrance or default, at ten o'clock ; and the Attorney-General resumed his chrono- logical account of the Repeal agitation. As he proceeded, the main in- cidents which he detailed became more familiar to the recollection of every newspaper-reader, and the most striking quotations from speeches have appeared at the time in our columns. Instead, therefore, of even tracing the thread of the discourse, we shall merely mention the newest matters and the heads, to indicate the points relied upon in sup- port of the prosecution. He took up the narrative at the meeting of Baltinglass, on the 6th August ; where Mr. O'Connell called on every man determined to meet him there again, when he should require him to hold up a hand ; boasting of the irresistible because peaceable multi- tude that he should soon have. It was not unimportant to inquire what was the effect upon those who heard these inflammatory addresses— He was in a position to prove the observations of some of those assembled thousands. One man was heard to declare, " We are determined to get Re- peal, as we are all sober, and shall not be put down as we were in 1798. An- other observed, " Let us wait with patience for a few months; the time is nigher than you think: Ireland was trampled on, but it shall be no longer so." Others exclaimed, they would turn out to a man and fight for Repeal. Others, that they would and should have Repeal, and that this part of the country would die to a man, but that they were afraid of the sea-side fellows not stand- ing to them ; and that Father Lawler told them in the chapel it was too far gone now; and that they should get it, but not without blood being shed. Some persons among the lower orders were heard to say, that if they were not sure of getting it, there would not be a blow of work done in Ireland, and that the people would rise to a man. Others contradicted this, saying the people did not intend to raise disturbance, but that the only way they wanted to get their rights was by peace; but that on being refused that, foreign powers were to strike the blow.

At the Baltinglass dinner, Mr. O'Connell remarked, that the blood- less revolution which hurled the tyrant Espartero from power was effected by the army and the nation ; and he contrasted the position of sergeants in the Spanish army, to whom promotion was open, with that of sergeants in the British service. Six days after appeared a long paper in the Nation, headed "March of Nationality," boasting of the growing strength of the Repeaters in money, numbers, and organi- zation and mentioning the future appointment of "Arbitrators." At

the organi- zation, meeting, on the 15th August, the number.; were variously

estimated at 100,000 to 1,000,000. The spot was selected as the scene of the defeat of those engaged in the rebellion of 1798— Actually hundreds—he might, he believed, say thousands—of persons were seen upon their knees, plucking a wild plant growing over the graves of those who fell in the rebellion, and who were buried there, (a wild geranium, with a red leaf,) under an impression which these poor people had that the colour of the leaf arose from the slaughter of those who fell there. At this meeting Mr. O'Connell quizzed the Duke of Wellington's military preparations ; complimented the Army—" the bravest army in the world"; recited the legend of the Limerick women ; propounded his plan by which the Queen was at once to summon an Irish Parlia ment ; and exhorted the people to keep out of the Petit Sessions Courtt and attend the " Arbitrators" Courts. This project, said Mr. Smith, was decidedly illegal ; and perhaps the more so because it was adopted in consequence of the exercise of the Crown's prerogative in dismiss- ing Magistrates who had attended Repeal meetings. Mr. Smith subse- quently recurred to this subject more than once ; tracing the formation of the Arbitration Courts according to the plan introduced by Dr. Gray at the Repeal Association ; but he mentioned no new facts. At the Tara dinner, Dr. Gray boasted that the Irish press was a political press —" its politics were those of Ireland." Mr. O'Connell alluded to "the might that slumbers in a peasant's right arm," multiplied by 600,000 or 750,000 (taken as the numbers at the meeting): he said, " while I live, that outbreak will not take place ; but sooner or later "— " the day will come when they will rue their want of policy, and will weep, perhaps in tears of blood, for their want of considera- tion " ; and he boasted that "no general ever had an army more submissive to his commands than the people of Ireland are to the wishes of a single individual." At Roscommon, he said, "the man who drinks may elevate his courage for a time," but he commended "the steady slow step and the regular march of the Teetotalers "— " there is not an army in the world that would fight with my Irish Tee- totalers: Teetotalism therefore is the foundation-stone of the edifice of Irish liberty." On the 22d August, Mr. O'Connell produced, at a meet- ing of the Repeal Association, his plan "for the renewed action of the Irish Parliament "; and on the 26th, the Nation contained a paper in which it was declared that "resistance to the Union has become a duty." On the 4th September, divers monies were received from several places in the United States ; and then, Mr. O'Connell attacked the recent Queen's Speech on proroguing Parliament, to which he afterwards produced a counter-manifesto. In his remarks introducing this docu- ment, he spurned the charges in the Speech against the Repealers, as being "false as hell"; treating the Speech, however, as emanating from the Ministers only. On the same day, Mr. O'Connell suggested a plan, reserved for an emergency, by which the people of Ireland might leave the harvest uncut and abstain from the use of exciseable commodi- ties; a plan, said Mr. Smith, projected in 1797, to embarrass the Government. Mr. O'Connell then propounded his scheme for the assembling of a Preservative Society—three hundred gentlemen, from places to be represented in the Irish Parliament ; but shielded from the character of delegates by each paying 100/., and meeting " accidentally " to dine with Mr. O'Connell ; as if it were possible by any such contrivance to conceal the true character of the assemblage ! Mr. Smith quoted from the Pilot a letter by "Richard Power, P.P.," on " the duty of a soldier," declaring that the soldier ought to fight against the enemies of his country, but that he was not bound to obey if ordered to go beyond that rule, or "enter upon a war of plunder or oppression against an unoffending people "; with other papers speaking in terms of compassion, if not approval, of Jubee, a soldier who shot Adjutant Roberts on Mackay, and of M`Manus, who dropped dead at drill. He mentioned the Loughrea meeting, where Mr. O'Connell dilated on his physical power. The Clifden meeting, where Dr. Gray boasted of the "troops of peasant cavalry," and Mr. O'Connell asked the people if they did not "hate Saxon tyranny as much as the natives of other parts of Ireland ? " Lismore, where he said, "If you were wanted by me tomorrow would you come ? " The Rath of Mullaghmast, where a handbill was handed about, giving " A full and true account of the dreadful slaughter and murder at Mul- laghmast, on the bodies of 400 Roman Catholics " ; which docu- ment concluded by saying that "England was doing in India what was formerly perpetrated in that country, aud she should also deserve to be subdued, if Irishmen were cowardly enough to give her the oppor- tunity." Here a crown, corresponding with an Irish gold crown pre- served in the College Museum, was placed on Mr. O'Connell's head ; and the resolutions called the " Leinster Declaration of Repeal," were passed, pledging those present "individually and collectively, to follow his guidance under any and every circumstance that may arise ; and, come weal or wo, never to desert the constitutional standard of Repeal which he has raised." At the subsequent dinner, Mr. John O'Connell, in toasting the Queen, said—" Her Ministers may fix her throne amidst bloody fields, and blazing cities, and slaughtered corpses. Let them take care that the ruddiest stream flowing might not be their own blood, and the brightest and fiercest flame might not be from the stronghold from which they now insult the Irish people." Mr. Barrett and Dr. Gray were also speakers at the dinner. At a meeting of the Re- peal Association, on the 3d October, a letter was read from the Chair- man of the Town Commissioners of Loughrea, (a municipal body,) in which the writer said that it had been determined to expel from the number of Commissioners two or three "recusants "—persons who refused to join the Repeal Association ! Mr. Steele here delivered the speech, Mr. Bond Hughes's report of which had been the subject of controversy : Mr. Smith challenged the traversers to produce their own reporters in evidence. Mr. Smith had now come down to the Clontarf meeting—the order for the " Repeal cavalry," advertised in the Na- tion—the suppression of the meeting by proclamation ; and the meet- ing held instead at Calvert's Theatre, on the 9th October. Here most of the traversers were present,' and a resolution was passed, "That no power on earth, but the Queen, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, had power or authority to make our laws" ; a reso- lution similar to one proposed in 1782, when, however, Ireland had a separate Parliament. The order for Repeal cavalry was treated by Mr. O'Connell as a quiz, not worth attention ; but the advertisement was not withdrawn, only the word "troops" was alteredto "groups," and the words "officer," "muster," "parade," and others, were omitted. In conclusion, Mr. Smith maintained that his statement made out the charge which he had quoted from the indictment. He admitted that, although an ultimate outbreak was at times alluded to, the meetings were not intended to end in out- rage ; but he contended, from a review of the entire case, that it was intended more to carry out the principle of intimidation, and to compel Government to take measures under the control and pressure of the multitude.

The Court adjourned at five o'clock ; to begin hearing the evidence at ten o'clock next day.

The Dublin World states the name of the two " traitors " who are understood to have disclosed to Government the secrets of the Repeal Association : one is a Mr. Arkins, son of "Tom Arkins," the Mace- bearer of the Corporation, and, we believe, Mr. O'Connell's tailor ; the other is Mr. Green, a Liverpool Repeal Warden.

On Sunday, mass was offered up at Eanis and in the adjoining pa- rishes, for the safety of Mr. O'Connell during the State trials.

One Drum has been committed to Omagh Gaol for sedition. He had said that" The Queen ought to be shot, and O'Connell put in her place."

A "great aggregate" meeting of the Roman Catholics of Ireland took place in Dublin on Saturday, in the Music. hall. The requisition for the meeting, which issued on the previous Tuesday, is said to have been signed by all the leading Roman Catholics throughout the country. Long before the appointed hour, the spacious building was crowded ; several ladies being in the galleries. The platform was chiefly filled by coun- try gentlemen ; but among the crowd may be mentioned—Mr. Sheil, Sir Thomas Esmonde, M.P., Sir Valentine Blake, Sir James Murray, Mr. Thomas Wyse, M.P., Mr. James Power, M.P., Mr. T. N. Redington, MY.; Mr. John Hyacinth Talbot, one of the dismissed Magistrates, and several Justices of the Peace; Mr. Charles Bianconi; Mr. Wilson Grey, of the American bar ; Archdeacon Laffan, the Reverend Thad- deus O'Malley, and several Roman Catholic clergymen ; many members of the Town-Council ; and deputations from Belfast and Sligo.

The chair was taken at a quarter to two o'clock, by the Lord Mayor ;

who began the speechmaking of the day with great energy and bitter- ness. He remarked that he had been elected by his fellow-citizens to the distinguished office which he filled ; but the conduct of the Crown lawyers had shown that they considered him unworthy to act even as a common juror— A learned functionary had declared in his place in the House of Commons, that the Irish Catholics were aliens—he had branded them as "aliens in language, in religion, and in blood "; but they were not treated even as aliens, for the law gave to the alien the right to have one half his jury composed of aliens like himself; but the Irish Catholic, unlike the alien, was not permitted to have a single Catholic on his Jury. (Long.continued cheering.)

Mr. M'Carthy stated, that within the last twenty-four hours the re- quisition had received the signature of the first Catholic nobleman in the country—the Earl of Kenmare; who had not taken part in any former movement.

The first resolution, expressing loyalty to the Queen and a solemn sense of the strict obligation to observe an oath, was moved by Sir Thomas Esmonde.

It was seconded by Mr. Wyse ; who (to express his strictures in brief) spoke of the recent proceeding as tantamount to revoking Catholic Emancipation. That measure, he said, was granted under fear of civil war ; and those who passed it had shown within these few days that they had at least retained the power to render it unavailing and nuga- tory— Where, he would ask, were the measures passed by them, not indeed for the exclusive benefit of the Catholics of Ireland, but for the benefit of the country of which the Catholics formed so large a portion of the population ? And when another Ministry, more inclined to remedy the evils and relieve the wants of Ireland, succeeded them, did they not adopt every means in their power to render abortive the good intentions of their successors, and prevent every pos- sibility of effecting any measure of justice for Ireland? When the bill for the reform of the corporate bodies of Ireland was introduced, WAS not the opposi- tion to that measure based upon the declaration that the Catholics could not be admitted to the restoration of their rights, as the so doing would endanger the interests of another portion of their fellow-subjects—would risk the in- terests of the Protestant establishment in this country ? Such were the cares which had stood in the way of municipal reform in Ireland ; and it was the same feeling which actuated the present Government in their treatment of the Catholics, as evinced by their conduct a few days back.

Catholicism was the sole and only crime which had been relied on to exclude men from the Jury-list-

It was not until after the matter had taken place, and the Catholic jurors struck off the list, that any idea was entertained of inquiry into their political principles : so that it has been clearly ascertained that It was not the connexion with any political association, or the profession of any principles which might be considered as forming any particular political creed, which had incapacitated those gentlemen for the enjoyment of their privileges as citizens. Their sole' crime, he would repeat, was their Catholicity. The conduct of the Crown had established the principle that the being Catholics implied a suspicion which in itself was sufficient to deprive men of the rights which belonged to the great mass of the people of Ireland. The best way to test such conduct was, to place oneself in the position of others ; and then, he would ask, what would be the feelings of the people of England, if at the time of the Chartist trials in that country, the fact of a man having at any time entertained Chartist opinions should be deemed a sufficient reason to render him incompetent Wait on the Jury before whom was conducted the trials of his fellow-countrymen ? Mr. Wyse said that he had been the first who, after Catholic Eman- cipation, wished to cancel all differences and disunion ; and if disunion were now to be renewed, it was not the fault of him or the Catholics of Ireland.

Mr. Forde (one of the attornies, we believe, for the traversers) made a long speech incriminating the Crown lawyers ; referring to the past for the purpose of strengthening his case. Four years after the passing of the Emancipation Act, Mr. Kemmis struck off four Catholics drawn on the Special Jury-panel in a trial of Mr. Barrett for libel : what was his apology for so doing Mr. Forde could not state, as the Repeal Association was not then in existence. When Mr. O'Connell was prosecuted, the same system of excluding Roman Catholics from the Jury was persevered in. At the great Protestant meeting in the Mansionhouse, on the 24th January 1837, Mr. T. B. C. Smith said- " I am sorry that circumstances have arisen to induce us to believe that Roman Catholics have but little regard for an oath " ; alluding to the oath taken by Roman Catholic Members on entering the House of Commons. When Mr. Forde was examined before the Lords Com- mittee on the state of Ireland, in 1838, and gave evidence as to the Jury- system, he was interrupted by Lord Roden, who asked him what was his religion ?—as much as to say to the noble Lords around him, " This witness cannot be believed on his oath, and you need pay no attention to statements coming from him." Mr. Forde referred to the conduct of the Roman Catholics since Emancipation, to show that they had not sought ascendency, but only equality and justice. The Roman Catholic constituencies of Ireland returned 76 Protestant Members ; Catholic Dublin had elected Mr. Baker, a Protestant, and Mr. Nelson, a Pres- byterian, to settle the franchise of the Catholic constituency ; and they had elected Alderman Roe to the Mayoralty. What would be said of the Roman Catholics if even the poor man Sam Gray had been con- victed by the verdict of a Jury from which all the Protestants had been carefully excluded ? If any Roman Catholic could endeavour to procure a conviction by such means, and execution were to follow, he would call him a murderer. Mr. Forde proceeded to describe the process by which Catholics had been excluded from the Jury; and he mentioned by name some Catholics of high wealth and character who had been omitted. The traversers' lawyers had been accused of disingenuousness for not mentioning that some of the 63 names were those of Protestants : now they saw, by the difference between the first panel and the Sheriff's list, that 63 names had been omitted, but they did not know who they were ; they had, however, ascertained that among the names were 35 Catholics.

Mr. Sheil moved the following resolution-

" That the suppression of sixty-three names of Special Jurors, including a large proportion of Roman Catholics as well as liberal Protestants, in making up the Special Jury-list, affords general grounds for more than suspicion that fait dealing has not been practised, and calls for a full Parliamentary investigation." He energetically advised the meeting to put the salient facts of the case in a memoir to the Queen ; and he closed with a strong party appli. cation of the "difficulty "— " I do not think that the Minister of the day WAS ever more embarrassed than he will be ere long. (Cheers.) That Minister once declared that Ireland was his great difficulty : he will find that Ireland is his insuperable impossi- bility. He is embarrassed by many things : he is embarrassed by seven mil- lions of people—he is embarrassed by the eloquence, the energy, the fearless- ness, the indomitable spirit, of Daniel O'Connell. (Immense cheering and waving of hats.) He is embarrassed—(Here he was interrupted by a voice from a person in the gallery, saying, " Bravo ! Richard's himself again," at which Mr. Sheil laughed immoderately.) I hope that that gentleman will not say 'Conscience avaunt ! ' (Renewed laughter.) As I was saying, the Minis- ter is embarrassed by the circumstance, the mere mention of which has made a chord in your feelings vibrate—he is embarrassed by the devotion, the enthu- siasm, the devoted love of Ireland to the liberties of her country. (Cheers.) He is embarrassed by the array of Irish Members who will appear against him, sustained, I trust, by the great Liberal English party, early in the approaching session of Parliament. (Cheers.) But more than all—more than even the seven millions of Irish people—more than even by the great exertions of Daniel O'Connell—he will be more embarrassed by that spirit of mean and petty trickery which has disgraced these prosecutions."

Mr. Redington moved, that a petition be presented to the Queen, praying for inquiry into the conduct of Government with reference to the State prosecutions.

Mr. O'Connell was the last speaker ; and with great length and much warmth he denounced the conduct of Government. He declared him- self to be, above every thing else and before every thing else, a Catho- lic. He stood there once again the advocate of the Catholics of Ireland; and as counsel for the Catholics, he stood there to arraign the present Tory Administration of foul perfidy ; expressly charging Sir Robert Peel and Lord Eliot—who was rather a worthy gentleman—with having forfeited their pledges to give the Catholics the full benefit of the Eman- cipation Act. In his instance they had repealed the Emancipation Act. Theoretic writers described it as the paramount business of the British constitution to give the people a fair jury-box: what was the protection of life and property but trial by jury ? and of what use was the privilege to them, when Roman Catholics were excluded from the jury-box ? The excuse for setting aside the Catholics from the panel was that they were Repealers : but that was tantamount to a ban of exclusion against the whole of the 6,400,000 Roman Catholics whom the "mon- ster indictment" alleged to have attended the Repeal meetings—against the entire Catholic body. Mr. Recorder Shaw, as a partisan and as a Judge, had put his name to the Clontarf proclamation : the names of thirty-five Roman Catholics were omitted from the panel in his office — Oh! but then it is said that he was in London—that he went off to spend the Christmas at Sir Robert Peel's, at Drayton Manor : the revision-lists were forwarded to England. that he might see them. Mr. O'Connell would not say they were sent to Drayton Manor, nor would he assert they were not ; he would remain neutral; but the accidental result was to deprive him of sixty persons who ought to be on the panel from which his jury was struck, thirty- five of whom were Roman Catholics. His being deprived of the assistance of these thirty-five was to him a matter of great and paramount importance ; for had they been left on, he would have beaten the Attorney-General with his own weapon. There might, perhaps, have been two or three set aside, but then it could not be said there was a Jury composed exclusively of men who thought alike, at least in religious belief. Ireland was aroased at the insult ; an additional fact to their cata- logue of grievances ; an additional reason why they should preserve the peace— The time was, he believed, not far off when England might require the as- sistance of the Irish people. She should have gallant hearts and strong arms to assist her ; but upon the condition only and at the price of doing their country equal and complete justice. He should reserve his health for the fatigues of the next week. They might be sure—the country which he had the honour to represent—the people whose affections he had obtained, although he regretted he was so little able to earn those affections—( Cries of" You have earned them ")—they might be sure that, whatever was the result, he would not be found to shrink from the responsibility which he had assumed. There might be defeat, imprisonment, nay, even martyrdom, but there should be no shrinking. (Enthusiastic cheers for some time.)

The draft of a petition to the Queen was read and adopted ; and, after thanks voted to the Chairman, the meeting was dissolved.

The Dublin Monitor publishes a letter from Mr. More O'Ferrall to Mr. Sheil, regretting that the shortness of the notice prevented the writer from being present at the aggregate Roman Catholic meeting, to express his "indignation and disgust at the conduct of the Law-offi- cers of the Crown "— " I do not doubt that a Protestant Jury will do justice, but I protest against the insulting insinuation that a Jury of Catholics would not. We owe it to her Majesty and ourselves to oppose a system of which this is only the first step, tending to infuse the worst spirit of the penal code into the administra- tion of the law, and to throw distrust and discredit on institutions which are the best guarantee for the security of the Crown and the liberty of the sub- ect."

Roman Catholic meetings to petition the Queen on the subject of the Special Jury have been held at Drogheda—where Dr. Crony, the Ca- tholic Primate of all Ireland presided ; in Kilkenny, Tralee, Clare, and Cork.

At the meeting of the Repeal Association, on Monday, a letter was read from Mr. O'Connell. He began by offering the subscription of 1/. in the name of his twenty-sixth grandchild, Miss Eliza O'Connell, "who has hardly the right to use the name yet." He then passed on to the trials, and to the exclusion of the Roman Catholics ; strongly enforcing these points of exhortation—that Roman Catholics, whether Repealers or not, should send petitions to Parliament and to the Queen, praying for relief and protection ; that the Repeal agitation should not be mixed up with the new "Catholic agitation for the better security of trial by jury" ; that the Repealers should continue their special agitation ; and that they should observe perfect peace and tranquillity all over Ireland. Later in the day, Mr. O'Connell himself was present. The Repeal rent amounted to about 9001.

At the meeting, a letter was read from Mr. Smith O'Brien, apropos to Lord John Russell's promised motion on Ireland, evidently dis- trusting the Whig tactics. Mr. O'Brien suggests that, instead of at- tending in Parliament, playing into the hands of English parties, the Irish Members should, with others, be formed into Committees in Ire- land, to arrange the heads of a bill for the redress of Irish grievances, to be submitted to the Repeal Association, and embodied in a memorial to the Queen. He thinks such a plan would stimulate Ministers to vie 'with them in attempting useful measures. Circumstances, such as the introduction of a Coercion-bill, might make it expedient for the whole body of Irish Members to repair to London to offer their opposition ; the interests of constituents in private bills might also summon indi- vidual Members ; and he deprecates any formal secession of Irish Members from Parliament until a majority of them are pledged to the cause of Repeal. He wants the opinion of O'Connell and the press on these points.

Lord Chancellor Sugden has dismissed Mr. Alexander O'Driscoll, the Magistrate of Skibbereen and Macroom notoriety. In a minute on the subject, the Lord Chancellor mentions circumstances extenuating the charges against Mr. O'Driscoll : his flogging of the boy Dempsey, for instance, was not so violent as it was described ; and the error of his accusation that his brother Magistrates had not done justice in his ease was redeemed by an apology. But, says Sir Edward Sugdeu-

" all these charges taken together satisfy my mind that Mr. O'Driscoll has not at present that command over his temper and actions, even when act- ing in his Magisterial capacity, or appearing as a defendant before the Bench, which is so essential to the due administration of justice. He is, I am told, far advanced in life, and has suffered lately from occasional ill health; and I therefore beg to suggest to him, that it would be advisable that he should retire from the Bench. If a supersedeas issue, it will be solely on these grounds."

The Honourable White Hedges, one of the Macroom Magistrates, has written a letter to the Cork Constitution, denying that the Magistrates were swayed by political motives in refusing certain licences to register arms, at the late Quarter-sessions- "Upwards of 700 persons were admitted as fit and proper to be intrusted with. fire-arms, no question as to religion or politics being thought of. Three persons were objected to, as being the notorious and acknowledged officials of a body in- corporated for the avowed purpose of the dismemberment of this kingdom as by law established, thereby endangering the public peace, which all Magistrates are sworn to preserve, defend, and uphold to the utmost of their power. • • * With regard to Lord Eliot's circular, with the highest possible respect for and confidence in the Executive, I cannot but regret that the views and construction of the Government on the Arms Act had not been communicated to the Magistracy previous to its coming, for the first time, into operation at the Macroom Quarter-sessions."

Iu the Court of Queen's Bench, on Saturday, after years of delay and protracted law, the notorious Sam Gray was sentenced to transportation for life, on a charge of shooting at a man with intent to kill.

In consequence of a dispute about land, one Michael WIslamee, a young man, has been waylaid at Ballinamuck, and shot, so that he died.

A curious reversal of legal proceedings occurred at Carlow Quarter- Sessions. Sub-constable Blundell, of the White Mountain station, ac- cused one Farrell of assaulting and stabbing him with his own bayonet. It came out that Blundell himself it was who had been guilty of the assault and stabbing : the two were made to change places; and the constable was sentenced to four months' imprisonment.