THE STATE TRIALS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 412, 4 March 1881, Page 7

THE STATE TRIALS.

(Abridged from the J^reeman.')

The hearing of the case of " The Queen v. Parnell and Others " commenced on Tuesday, Dec. 28, in the Court of Queen's Bench, before Mr, Justice Fitzgerald and Mr. Justice Barry. The Lord Chief Justice haviDg been induced to retire fruni the case with all the honours of war, and Mr. Justice O'Brien being disabled by infirmity from entering upon a labour of Hercules srch as the hearing promises to be, the majesty of a trial at bar before the full Court of Queen's Bench was diminished by half. A -jury was sworn, and at one moment it depended on the will of the traversers whether that all - important preliminary of business should be got through in safety. In the next place there was no demurrer to the indictment, no challenge of the array, none of the cannonade of legal noise and smoke with which it is the custom to open a great battle in the courts. Whether the credit lies with the lawyers or their clients, the fact stands perhaps unique that in a case which engages the wits of pome twenty of the keenest gladiators of the bar every temptation to a legal spar or shindy was set aside by the trarersers to go straight to the issue. The only argumentation which caused a single law-book to be unsheathed was provoked by the Crown disputing the traversers' right to challenge. Once that was decided, and decided against the crown, and once the court was fortified for the reading of the indictment by an ad journmeni for luncheon, the Attorney-General was free to plunge at once ia mediaa res, and was already far into his opening statement before the day closed. The opening event of the trials was a remarkable one. The traversers walked down to court accompanied by a large number of members of Parliament, who had assembled for the purpose at the house of Mr. V. B. Dillon, the solicitor for the traversers, at Rutland-square. The procession of members was received with intense enthusiam when they reached the quays, and their progress to the gates of the Four Courts became an ovation. At the entrance to the Queen's Bench Mr. Parnell was met by Major Nolan, M.P., who accompanied him into court. The authorities did whatever lay in their power to create commotion in the neighbourhood of the Four Courts by barring all the gates, garrisoning them with police, and sweeping the adjoining quay with patrols on horse and foot. In spite of the murky rain and of the caragoling horsemen, scattered groups did stand contentedly, saturated, upon the open quay throughout the day. The bar benches were also crammed. The public gallery was jealously guarded from the intrusion of mortals unarmed with tickets, and a crowd of ladies, Catholic clergymen, and members of Parliament were proud to have found refuge in a region where ordinarily the audience is composed of a stray loafer or two, snoring the snore of the just. The High Sheriff (Sir James Mackej), who in his official chair sat underneath the judges, bad a seat or two to dispose of to ladies, and later on in the day was able to offer a harbonr of refuge to Mr. Brooks, M.P., after the honourable member for Dublin had been for some time tossing uneasily about the passages. Tbe most thoroughly comfortable and self-satisfied young gentleman in court appeared to be Lord Randolph Churchill, who had got seated in a cosy corner immediately outside of the faded crimson curtaiu which canopies the judges. His lordship was the only prominent enemy of the Land League who put in an appearance. A few members of the landlords' committee, with their lady friends, were also pointed out in the neighbourhood of the representatives of the Crown, but no leading member of that organisation was visible. The Lord Mayor, M.P., took up a position at the corner of the Queen's Counsels' seats, on the traversers' side of the court, and remained for several houis. Tbe traversers themselves sat, most of them, along the bench immediately under the Clerk of the Crown, which i« usually occupied by the reporters. Mr. Parnell, with Mr. Sexton, M.P., and Mr. Brennan, occupied a position on this seat directly facing the Attorney-General, who sat at the other side of a narrow crimson table, but who had a small mountain of brief bags, law books, and newspaper files between him and the president of the Land League. Mr. Dillon, M.P., and Mr. Boyton sat on the solicitors' cross-bench, and Mr. Nally's fierce red moustache could be distinguished in the obscurity behind. Beyond formally intimating their presence when their names were called, the traversers went through no ceremony that would remind them they were in technical custody, and they, of course, entered or left the court without hindrance as they pleased. Mr. Parnell, it is unnecessary to add, was the same calm, earnest, and thoughtful-looking leader he is at the head of his party in Parliament or in the midst of one of the mighty popular demonstrations of which he has been the idol and the hero. His face had the same austere composure, and his eye, when he leoked up, the same penetrating fire. He was glancing through a newspaper when the Attorney- General commenced his speech, but evidently gave to Mr. Law's line of argument a grave and appreciative attention. Mr. Macdonogb, the travelers' senior counsel, sailed into court majestically, and as punctually as is his wont, long before the judges were announced, preceded by his inevitable luncheon basket and by a ponderous brief bag. The veteran buckled on his armour as cheerily as if a generation of men had not gone down to the grave since he last stood in that spot among the brilliant group of men who surrounded O'Connell upon an occasion similar to the present. Alone among the giants of these day he has survived to take more than a Nestor's pait against a new generation of foenien. Me extended a most cordial greeting to Mr, A. Bf. Sullivan, M.P., who, as one of the counsel for the traversers, sat modestly at the outer bar in the order of his seniority at the Irish bar. Mr. Sullivan brought into court a formidable-looking printed volume, bound in green and gold, apparently containing matter for the defence. Several other green-bound volumes of instructions were scattered about among the traversers' counsel, and the array of news* paper files and printed briefs upon the Crown side was more ponderous still. At a quarter past eleven o'clock, the traversers being then all assembled, and the whole audience being in a tremble of expectancy, silence was called, and the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Fitzgerald, and Mr. Justice Barry came on the

bencli. Their scarlet robes were the only indication, as far as appearances went, that they had any more serious business on hand than disposing of garnishes and certiorarix. They did not even wear the full-bottomed wigs nor any other of the Persicos apparatus in which the majesty of the law Arrays itself on atate occasions. • The judges were no sooner seated than a sensational little episode was enacted. The Lord Chief Justice (who looked as mild a mannered man as ever — well, delivered a charge) had a few words to say before the case commenced.

The L.ord Chief Jnsticc ; Before this trial is entered upon I wish to say v few words. A curious misconstruction appears to have arisen with respect to the judgment I deliver' <l some time ago upon a motion t& postpone the trial of the caso. That application was one to the discretion of the court. It appeared to me that the state of this country afforded a conclusive reason against the granting of the postponement. Iso stated in that judgment, and I gave a description of the disorder which prevailed based upon matters of which I had had judicial knowledge. lam not aware that I stated anything but the simple truth. In my opinipn, as chief magistrate, entrusted by the Crown with the preservation ot peace in this country, it was my duty to speak the truth and the whole truth upon the subject, and I adhere to everything that I then stated. Bub it has been objected that I used language which imported that 1 considered the tra■versers guilty of the charges contained in the information laid against them in this case. It occurred to myself that I might have used terms capable of such a construction, and I immediately corrected what I had said, adding — < I mean that these are the charges and accusations which the traversera will have to answer, and if they can satisfy the jury of their innocence let them be acquitted." When a apeader delivering an unpremeditated address corrects himself, if by inadvertence he has used expressions which did not convey what he intended, and in the same breath explains his real meaning, it is only just, it is certainly usual, to accept bis explanation. However, this language of mine has occasioned very considerable excitement, and has been bitterly complained of. It is all-important m a case like the present that those engaged in the administration of justice should be free from the slightest shadow or expression of bias or prejudice. I trust it is scarcely necessary for me to state that I am not conscious of favour in this case as between the Crown and the traversers. I feel that I should deal with the entire case with that impartiality which is the first duty of a judge. Still it has suggested itself to me that in the present trial, considering the critical state of the country, it is most important to remove every element that might tend to disturb the calm and dispassionate consideration of the case. Nor is it desirable that it Bhould. be open to those upon, their trial on serious charges even to suggest that the judge whose duty it would be to bring the facts and evidence in the case before the Jury had already exhibited any bias against them. Upon the whole, after anxious consideration, and with the concurrence of some* whose opinions I highly value, I have come to the conclusion that the due administration of justice will be promoted by my not taking part in the case. My presence is not by any means necessary. The interest of the public will not suffer, for I have the satisfaction of feeling that the case will be in the hands of judges who in every judicial characteristic have no superiors. I may also observe that this trial appears not unlikely to extend over part of, if not the whole of the next sitting. Released from taking part in this trial I shall be free to adjudicate on the cases which will come before the court on the civil side during the next session. The general suitors would have just ground to complain if the hearing of causes and matters in which they are interested should be suspended during the proceedings of this trial. This evil will be avoided by the course which I intend taking. T trust that my sincerity will not be doubted when I say that I have been induced to take this course by a sincere wish to promote the due administration of justice uninfluenced either by public invective or secret menace. These everyone concerned with the administration of the law in these unhappy times must be prepared to encounter. I have experienced an ample share of both. I only hope that the issue of the pie&eut trial will be consistent with truth aul justice. Therefore I shall not make any further observations, but retire. The jury were then sworn, and this caused considerable excitement, for had the traversers exercised their right of challenging to the full it would have been necessary to postpone the trial or complete the jury by tallyßmjn. The twelfth juror was supposed to be a Conservative, aud when liis name was called on all eyes turned on the solicitor for the traversers. No challenge was uttered, and the jury was completed. It. is composed of eight Catholics three Protebtauts, and one Quaker. There was an adjournment as soon as the jury was sworn. Returning* refreshed at two Vclock, Mr Ross droned through the nineteen counts of the indictment to the seeming edification and enlightenment of the jury. Then the Attorney-General began bis address with that solemn air of dogmatism which disdains all common arls — even the commonest of all, that of making himself heard. He knocked 011 the heud all anticipations of some dreadful plot, in Abbey-street, of which the world knew nothing, by announcing that what the Crown would adduce would be chiefly the evidence ot the ti averse rs themselves, wlio boasted that tneir course was a pcrfecilv legal and constitutional one. He laid down the somewhat startling proposition that all the jury had to do was to say whether the travei&ers did acts which were hardly denied. If these acts were not illegal, he urged, they could have demurred to the indictment as d sclosiug no offence. Ihe means, or object of conspiracy need not be in themselves criminal. It was quite enough that the object or means should be hurtful or mischievous to somebody. It was hard to gather from the speeches of the traversers what the object or outlet of the agitation was to be ; it was enough to show that the immediate object was one that was in jurious to a large number of peisons, and meant to be so. Conspiracy need not mean sooie dark combination. Tlieie arc conspiracies (he announced) which rely upon their publicity for their chief force. He then quoted Mr Boyton, Mr lirennan, and Mr O'Sullivan to show that immediately tbc object of the agitatiou was to impoverish the landlords, and

starve them out until they were forced themselves to look for land reform. He drew a piteous description of the hard names used towards the landlords, and repeated, with an unction which brought down h laugh, one o£ Mr tally's complimentery references to them as " blasted scoundrels," adding, with bated breath, " Can we wonder ut the results of such language ?" These he deaeribed as the minor lights of the agitation. Mr Parnell, Mr Biggar, and Mr Dillon did not descend to this sort of vulgar abuse, but were more dangerous persons in other respects. He referred slightingly to Mr Brennan's doctrine that no man who does not labour is entitled to the fruits of the earth as one borrowed from the books of the Socialists ; and as for the crazy talk of the " land for the people," pointed out that if the 500,000 farmers could get possession of the land, there would be 500,000 labourers left out in the cold, and there would simply be 500,000 " land thieves " instead of the present ten thousand landlords. He then entered into a consideratioa of the means proposed by the Land League, drawing a picture of " social excommunication," and holding that, though the people were not told to shoot the landlords, hatred against them was excited to the highest point, and the rest w-is left t» the excited people. He relied on a speech of Mr Brennan's to show that the ultimate end *of the agitation was to make Ireland a nation with a national government acknowledging no higher authority than the sovereign will of the people. His first quotation from Mr Parnell was from a speech of his in Cork and Galway, where it was stated that he would not have engaged in this agitation except with the object of making Ireland mistress of her own destinies. He then commenced a history of the agitation, commencing with the famous Irishtown meeting, and going ou to the second meeting at Westport, where Parnell first formulated the famous advice to the tenants to '* keep a firm grip of their homesteads." He toiled along for hours through quotations from speeches and from leading articles in the Nation, and at the rising ©f the court was still deep in the dreary contents of his brief-bag. Mr Parnell, on leaving the court, was received with tremendous enthusiasm in the hall. He escaped as quietly as he could through one of the passages, but was once more recognised at the gate in Chancery-place, where his car was surrounded by a cheering crowd, whose enthusiasm made the horse restive and carried Mr Parnell off at a gallop through the quiet neighbourhood at the back of the river towards Sackville-street. Mr Davitt, who was also recognised, was cheered along the quays, as ■were the rest of the traversers wherever they were discovered. It is stated that over a hundred policemen were held in reserve in the police courts behind the Four Courts during the day in preparation for some unimaginable contingency.

A despatch from Dublin to the Nero York Herald says : " Mr. Law, the Attorney- General, is an uninteresting speaker, without a spark of brilliancy. He is about 60 yearß old, tall, very thin, and with a Jewish cast of face. He wears great steel-rimmed spectacles. His side whiskers are carefully combed and his appearance is exceedingly spruce. He speaks in a dry, harsh tone, and loses the thread of his argument every ten minutes when the six or eight wigged heads of the Crown lawyers come together to look for some missing paper or to hunt up a speech which the attorney wishes to quote. His task is a trying one for his arguments are aged and well worn, and he knows that no amount of repetition will convince some of the members of the jury. Mr. Macdonogh's speech for the defence will need more ingenuity, for he will have to advocate the methods of the league in legal language, and this will be somewhat difficult. As the Attoruey-General proceeded the audience looked as though they were bored by this everlasting quotation of old speeches long since forgotten. Every speech ever delivered by Mr. Nally was quoted, while Mr. Parnell and the other leaders were ignored. Bat iv order that the jury might connect the latter with tin ruiiu ohject of th-s attack the Crown officer began by expluiiiu/ tiiu l:nv bearing upow the c mstitution of any association political or otherwise. In all that Mr. Law had to say Mr. X-illy seemed to be singled out as the mo 4 important of the traverseis. All his wild speeches about lead pills, dynamite, gunpowder, and landlord killing were quoted to satiety. He was also characterised as a paid agent. Io will be proven by the defence that not only was he not a paid ageut. but that he was not a member of the league at all. He is a gre.xt good-natured fellow, quite a character in Mayo. He loves the bottle, and under its influeuce will utter any sentiment or commit any act. He made his way past the sentiaels into Boycott's camp during the siege of Lough Mask, and was summarily ejected. Ke shook hanilß with Boycott on his departure, though he had done much to instigate the people against him. He would go up on the bench and occupy the chief justice*: vacant place if anybody gave him a hint to do so. He is, in fact the butt of the league, and has been simply tolerated at the meetings he attended. It is a mistake tc saddle his speeches on the more earnest members of the organization. The attorney general characterised Mr. Dillon as a medical man, Mr. Bggar as a provision merchant, Mr. Egan as a shop-keeper, Mr. Sheridan as a car driver, Mr. Sullivan as ' Mr. Sullivan of the Nation' Mr. Boyton as the son of a stiop-keeper, Mr. Brennan as a cl»rk ' before* he found his present more profitable job,' Mr. O'Sullivun as a schoolmaster, Mr. Gordon as a shoemaker, Mr. Walsh as a commercial traveller, and Mr. Nally as ' nothing.' The latter characterisation caused much laughter among Mr. Nally's fellow-traversers It is more than probable, however, that the sneers directed against tradesmen will have quite a contrary effect with a jury which is composed mainly of tradesmen. Nor are the other points made hy the attorneygeneral likely to prove very efficacious iv this quarter. Tue extracts from so many speeches could only be found confusing. One extract used by the speaker three times, on the T hird day, under different headings certainly did not produce much impression on the traversers, who smiled at the constructions, that were put on their utterances, and exchauged contemptuous glances." On December 31 tue attendance at the court wa3 much fuller than ou the previous days of the trials of the traversers. The AttorneyGeneral, Mr. I aw, resumed his address to the jury, speaking for one hour. He said he hoped the jury would be true to theix conscience?

and return a verdict satisfactory to the country. Disorder, be said, must be put down, no matter at what cost. In conclusion, he said that the principles taught by the members of the Land League bad been called American principles, but they might be more properly described as Bed Republicanism or Nihilism. He expressed the hope that when this mischivious new gospel was abandoned those whom it was now his duty to prosecute would turn their talents to better account for the Island of Saints. As he resumed his seat there was no manifestation of any kind.

A large number of constables and Government reporters, who took notes at the meetings of the Land League, are in attendance at the trial, and the rest of the afternoon was devoted to the reading of their short-hand notes of speeches of Mr. Parnell and other leading traverßers. The Court granted the request of Mr. Macdonough, counsel for the defence, that copies of the extracts be supplied to him. The Court further requested Mr. Law to supply whatever the defence required, and said the crown should render the defence every possible facility. Mr Macdonough contended that the speeches delivered by two of the traversers since the information ■was laid should not be read. The Court decided against him, taking a note of objection. The Court then adjourned until Monday, January 3.