IRELAND.
It is said that the Countess De Grey meditates a short tour of visits to the North of Ireland ; and that her Ladyship purposes passing some time at Florence Court, with her nephew, the Earl of Enniskillen.— Dublin Evening Mail.
A strange cause was tried at the Derry Assizes, on Thursday, brought by Mr. W. Henry Forteseue, as executor of the late Thomas Knox Magee, against the Bishop of Derry: Mr. Magee had a son, for whom he was anxious to obtain a living. Through the agency of a person named Pearson, a promise was obtained from the Bishop of Kil- laloe, that Mr. Magee should be preferred to the living of Kilrush, then in the occupation of an incumbent ninety years of age, on the under- standing that 1,000/. should be immediately paid down to relieve some pressing difficulties of the Bishop, and that 1,000/. more should be forth- coming on induction. On the payment of the first sum, a bond was exe- cuted to Thomas Knox Magee for the sum of 4,000/, as a penalty for non- fulfilment of the bargain. When the vacancy occurred, instead of present- ing Mr. Magee to the living, it was given soon afterwards to another per- son. In consequence of Mr. Magee's having made what he considered to be a handsome provision for his son in the agreement with the Bishop, he cut him off in the codicil of his will with 50/. instead of 8,000/ The Bishop then' through his agent, Mr. Studdart, offered to pay off the bond ; which was refused, on the ground that it was given not to secure the sum specified, but a living. Mr. Studdart, however, insisted on the money being taken ; and Mr. Fortescue at length consented to receive it, with an understanding that such a proceeding was not to prejudice the future claims of Mr. Magee on the patronage of the Bishop of Derry. Other vacancies afterwards occurred, but the Bishop still de- clined appointing Mr. Magee; and the present action was brought, damages being laid at 3,0001 For the defence it was contended, that the Bishop was not cognizant of the contract ; and that the money ad- vanced had been paid back, with interest. The Jury returned a verdict for the Bishop.
John Walsh was convicted at Mayo Assizes of having in his posses- sion the signs and passwords of an illegal society ; and sentenced to be transported for seven years. His defence was, that the illegal docu- ments were given him by another person ; but several witnesses proved that he had taken an active part in enrolling Riband recruits. He was arrested in May, at Crossmolina, in the act of writing out a number of passwords, which began thus-
" What is your opinion of Peel's Bill or Tariff?
What news from the West ?
Row are our friends in America ?"
And the conclusion was-
" Three cheers for O'Connell and Steele,
And a speedy downfal to Stanley and Peel"
At Monaghan Assizes, last week, four young gentlemen, named Blake, sons of a gentleman of consideration in the neighbourhood of Tuam, were arraigned for having cut off the ears of John Meally, a man who had been a servant in their father's family. The prosecutor had seduced a young woman, an illegitimate sister of the young men, for whom they entertained a great affection; and Meally having abandoned her to marry another, they took the law into their own hands, and "lynched" him in the manner described. The prisoners' counsel, by the advice of the Judge, abstained from defence ; and three of them were sentenced to be transported for fifteen years.
The Nenagh Guardian, full of trials for murder and other violences in Tipperary, breaks off an article on the advantages to be derived from a stringent arms act, with this remark— "Just as we had so far written, news reached us that on yesterday morning, as two witnesses were being escorted into Nenagt: to give evidence at these As- sizes they were fired at; one was shot in the shin, the other woundcd in the head. This alone, if no other proof could be given of the wicked use to which fire-arms are directed in Tipperary, ought to be sufficient grounds for such an enactment."
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