ARTICLE LXXI. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. BY HIS EXCELLENCY, GEORGE N. BRIGGS, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A PROCLAMATION. WHEREAS, by the third section of an Act passed by the Legislature of this Commonwealth on the ninth day of April, A. D. 1847, entitled "An Act to establish the State Reform School," it is provided that, "as soon as the Governor shall have been notified by the Commissioners to be appointed under a resolve" for erecting the State Reform School Buildings, "that said buildings are prepared for occupancy, he shall forthwith issue his proclamation giving public notice of the fact": And by the fourth section of the Act aforesaid it is enacted that "after proclamation shall have been made as provided in the third section of this Act, when any boy under the age of sixteen years shall be convicted of any offence known to the laws of this Commonwealth, and punishable by imprisonment other than such as may be punished by imprisonment for life, the court or justice, as the case may be, before whom such conviction shall be had, may at their discretion sentence such boy to the State Reform School, or to such punishment as is now provided by law for the same offence. And if the sentence shall be to the Reform School, then it shall be in the alternative, to the State Reform School, or to such punishment as would have been awarded, if this Act had not been passed": And whereas the Commissioners appointed under the resolve above referred to, have given me notice that the buildings erected for said State Reform School "will be prepared for occupancy on the first day of November next": Now therefore I, GEORGE N. BRIGGS, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do issue this proclamation, giving public notice to the courts, magistrates and people of the Commonwealth of the fact that said "buildings will be prepared for occupancy on the first day of November next." Given under my hand and the seal of the Commonwealth, this thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States the seventy-third. By his Excellency the Governor. GEORGE N. BRIGGS. WILLIAM B. CALHOUN, Secretary. God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts! By referring to our September number, the reader will find a description of the above institution, which has now gone into operation. Westborough is about thirty miles from Boston. It is a pleasant village. To aid this object, one individual gave $10,000, and then offered $10,000 more, provided the state would give as much, which has of course been granted. Last year, 95 lads were committed to prison, who would probably have been sent here. The farm cost $9000.-ED. N. S. VOL. I. NO. IV. — 0. S. VOL. III. NO. XXXIX. 15 THEN from a rusted iron hook, A bunch of ponderous keys he took, Through grated arch and passage dread. For wrenching joint and crushing limb, They halted at a low brow'd porch, While bolt and chain he backward rolled Yet not a dungeon; for the day Through lofty gratings found its way, Deck'd the sad walls and oaken floor, Such as the rugged days of old Deemed fit for captive noble's hold. "Here." said De Brent, "thon mayst remain Till the leech visit him again Strict is his charge, the warders tell, To tend the noble prisoner well." Retiring then the bolt he drew, And the lock's murmurs growl'd anew. I A captive feebly raised his head; The wondering minstrel looked, and knew- For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought, [Dec. SONNET ON CHILLON. BY BYRON. ETERNAL spirit of the chainless Mind! To fetters, and the damp vault's dayless gloom, And thy sad floor an altar-for 'twas trod, For they appeal from tyranny to God. ARTICLE LXXIII. William Smith O'Brien. IRELAND. "Whether on the gallows high, Or in the battle's van, The fitest place for man to die WILLIAM SMITH O'BRIEN." ALL eyes are now turned to the State trials going on in Great Britain. A deep feeling pervades not only the fellow countrymen of O'Brien, but nearly all classes. A sentence has been pronounced of the most barbarous kind; one that would disgrace the darkest age: "That you, Smith O'Brien, be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and there hanged by the neck until you be dead, and that afterwards your head shall be severed from your body, and your body severed into four quarters, to be disposed of as Her Majesty may think fit." This distinguished Irish insurgent remained firm and undaunted. In reply to the usual question why sentence should not be pronounced, he said in a calm tone: My Lord, it is not my intention to enter into any vindication of my conduct, however much I might have desired to avail myself of this opportunity of doing so. I am perfectly satisfied with the consciousness that I have performed my duty to my country-that I have done only that which in my opinion it was the duty of every Irishman to have done, and I am prepared now to abide the consequence of having performed my duty to my native land. Proceed with your sentence." The three judges assumed their black caps and delivered judgment. It is said that on the day the verdict was given, Mr. O'Brien was met by Meagher in the underground passage that leads to the cells, in a fever of anxiety to know the verdict. Mr. O'Brien's equanimity deceived even him, and he hoped, but it was of short duration. "Guilty, Meagher; this is what we get for not selling the country," soon undeceived him. While on trial, he penned the noble lines which head our article. There is a mitigating circumstance connected with this whole affair. The jury reccommended him to mercy:— "We earnestly reccommend the prisoner to the merciful consideration of gov ernment, the jury being unanimously, for many reasons, of opinion that his life should be spared." A large meeting was held in Dublin, at the residence of our friend, Richard Webb, 176 Great Brunswick St. The matter was fully discussed, and a deputation sent out. We give the account of the interview with His Excellency, the Lord Lieutenant:— Mr. CRAWFORD announced that the deputation was detained a considerable time in consequence of his excellency being out, but on his return they received a message from him that he would receive them. The memorial adopted there that day had previously been sent in to his excellency. When he received the deputation, he (Mr. Crawford) explained that the reason of their having come so promptly was, that a report had been mentioned at the meeting that a warrant had been issued for the execution of Mr. O'Brien, for which reason the meeting requested that the deputation should immediately wait on his excellency for the purpose of inquiring, first, whether there was any truth in that report with regard to the warrant; and, secondly, whether his excellency would be pleased to receive a deputation on a future day to present the memorial, after it had received more exten 164 William Smith O'Brien. [Dec. sive signature. His excellency in reply, said, first, he had no hesitation in stating that the report of any warrant having been sent down, was entirely false and unfounded; and secondly, that he should be happy to receive the deputation to present the memorial as soon as it was signed to the extent that was desired; and when he should be informed of its being ready for presentation, he would himself name the time. The LORD MAYOR-It is necessary to add one word-his excellency said he was happy to say that the report alluded to was false. Mr. HAUGHTON-There also appeared in his manner an anxiety to convey to us, that reports of various kinds were circulated for improper purposes, without there being any truth in them. ALDERMAN O'BRIEN-His excellency also mentioned that he had had no official communication with the judges, beyond the mere statement as to the verdict, without the usual intimation in such cases. Mr. CRAWFORD-I do not know that he said that; but I understood him to say that the point was under consideration, and that he would rule it according as he believed that the national interest and public policy required. A question then arose as to the expediency of the deputation waiting on his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, for the purpose of soliciting his signature, with that of other members of the Protestant Church, to the memorial. A gentleman present suggested that the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College should also be waited upon for the same object, and mentioned that there had been some disposition manifested within college on the previous day, to get up an expression of feeling similar to that of the meeting of that day. It was ultimately arranged that the dignitary mentioned above, and also the most Rev. Dr. Murray, R. C. C. Archbishop of Dublin, should be immediately waited on in reference to the memorial. Since then, by the English papers we learn that 25,300 names were obtained in Dublin and its suburbs in three days! We give the speech of Mr. Whiteside, which certainly must rank high among the most splendid specimens of forensic eloquence:- Your countryman, your fellow mortal, is in your power. Seek not, with severe anxiety, for proofs on which to send him to a bloody death; rather regard the evidence which enables merciful men to save what may yet prove a useful life to his family and country. Would to God, Mr. Smith O'Brien, were my only client. The future happiness of an honorable, ancient, loyal family is here at stake-the Church, the Bar, the Senate can furnish relatives near and dear to this unhappy gentleman, who, although they differ in political opinion, have hastened to give him brotherly consolation this melancholy day. Ireland has been the scene of their benevolent exertions the source of their joys, their pride; her misery has been their affliction, her gleams of prosperity their delight. With bolder hearts, should you consign the prisoner to the scaffold, they must henceforward struggle on through a cheerless existence, laboring in sorrow for the country they love. A venerable lady, who has dwelt amid an affectionate tenantry, spending her income where it was raised, diffusing her charities and her blessings around, awaits now, with trembling heart, your verdict. If a verdict consigning her beloved son to death-that heart will quickly beat no more. Alas! more dreadful still-six innocent children will hear from your lips whether they are to be stripped of an independence which has descended in his family for ages-whether they are to be driven, fatherless and beggared, upon the world, by the rigor of a barbarous and cruel law-whether they are to be restored to peace and joy or plunged into the uttermost depths of black despair. There is another who clings to hope-hope may it be blessed in you! Her life's blood would be gladly shed to save the object of her youthful affections—you will not consign her to an untimely grave! Various opinions prevail respecting the execution of this barbarous sentence. Some have said that the condemnation was under a statute of Edward III., and therefore the law would not apply, for Ireland was not then a part of the kingdom. Again it is said that this is not a substantive treason, but a felony only; that O'Brien was indicted for having levied war against the Queen; not with having compassed to levy war against the Queen. One can hardly see much difference. We are often reminded of the construction of certain laws of the sarcastic remark of O'Connell," that he never saw a statute through which he could not drive a coach and six." So long as the penalty of death exists, there will always be these evasions. It would be better to take away the penalty itself. In our "Essays on the Punishment of Death," we have devoted a whole chapter to this subject, showing the evasions of juries, and the manner in which the death statute is variously explained in order to screen the criminal from the terrible penalty of the law. And now which is best? to be forever evading the law or to remove it from the statute-book. Is it not far more dangerous and demoralizing to get up these various constructions of the law, and then to commit perjury besides, than it would be to repeal the law at once? Nothing so tends to demoralize a people as laws which do violence to the public sentiment. Here in the case of O'Brien is a remarkable instance of the fact. All Christendom is horrified at the bloody sentence of this patriot. Thousands are now ready for vengeance upon the English government. The trial has excited a horror scarcely ever known before. "Already," says an exchange, "we hear whisperings of public meetings to express indignation at the baseness of the manner by which he was convicted, and the barbarity of the sentence; and we would not be surprised, if before one month elapsed, a shout of holy indignation will ascend to heaven, the reverberations of which will carry terror into the hearts of the monsters who rule the destinies of England. We hear, too, that measures will be taken by the Irish in America to stop, as far as in their power, the consumption of British manufactures, and to register a vow, that till Smith O'Brien's blood be atoned for, they will not consume anything coming from that country. This would be revenge, indeed. In consequence of the unsettled state of the European continent, the United States is the principal market for all England's productions. Let them not be consumed, and her thousands and hundreds of thousands of operatives will be loosed from the only bond that keeps them from overthrowing the government, and revelling over the prostrate bodies of their oppressors. If such a movement as this is really contemplated, as we have heard, it will be the severest blow that England has ever received, and before one year has run, she would be on her knees, repentant, and begging forgiveness for her manifold acts of wrong, oppression, corruption, and barbarity." We have not room to go into this matter of High Treason. It would make an interesting article, or rather it would make volumes to show the various acts in different ages that have been construed into Treason. In the time of Henry VII., clipping an English shilling, or believing that the king was lawfully married to one of his wives, was no less than high treason. The heart of the offender was torn out from his living body, dashed in his face, and then burnt! It was inflicted upon prince David, a Welsh patriot, in the reign of Edward First, in 1283. It was the law for about five hundred years afterward! What is treason? The pages of history will show us, "that treason and patriotism are convertible terms, and that it is success or failure that crowns the adventurer with laurels or brands him with infamy." Treason in Emmet was patriotism in Washington. Defeat makes the traitor, success the hero. Had O'Brien lived in another age, he might have been the hero of his country. Monuments and statues would have been reared to his name. The musician, the poet, the sculptor, the painter, would all have strove to outvie each other in giving immor |