not in their nature to give. You say there were documents which would have substantiated the facts. It would be monstrous indeed, that a printer should take upon him to determine, what were sufficient documents to justify his censure of the government. The publication is a most atrocious libel on the administration of justice in all its branches. If the verdict had been as you have stated, and that the learned judge had reason to suppose that it was the result of perjury and intoxication, he would, from his nature, have delighted in recommending the unfortunate man as an object of mercy; and surely such recommendation would have been attended to. Your libel says, these facts were true, and that the Lord Lieutenant was acquainted with them. It is impossible if they were true, and that they had come to the knowledge of the chief-governor, and that the person was a proper object of mercy, pardon would not have followed, for there is no man whose heart is so steeled against mercy and humanity, as to have refused it.

was his crime? It was If it was an oath of What? Say that it was when from such oaths

It also says, "if Mr. Orr was guilty, what administering an oath of love and charity. extermination he would have found mercy." no crime the administering an unlawful oath, the present unfortunate state of the country springs? It was an oath binding the taker to be a member of a society formed for seditious purposes, whose end has on many occasions appeared in evidence subversive of order, and promoting an attachment to the enemies of the country. Your sentence is "That you be imprisoned for two years from the day of your arrest; that you stand in the pillory for one hour; pay a fine of twenty pounds, and at the expiration of your confinement give security, yourself in five hundred pounds, and two sureties in two hundred and fifty pounds each, for your good behaviour for seven years.

SATURDAY, December 30.

This day Mr. Peter Finerty, pursuant to his sentence, stood one hour in the pillory opposite to the sessions-house in Green-street. An immense concourse of people attended this exhibition. Mr. Finerty was accompanied by some most respectable citizens. He appeared contented and resigned; and upon being released from the restraint of this governmental engine for securing the liberty of the press, he addressed the spectators in a few words "My friends, you see how cheerfully I can suffer; I can suffer anything provided it promotes the liberty of my country." Upon this the spectators applauded by clapping of hands, the most marked silence having prevailed until then. Some of the guard who attended being, it is supposed, the pickedmen of the Armagh militia, attacked the unarmed people. Some of the officers also were guilty of similar conduct; others, both officers and privates, acted like gentlemen and soldiers. Sheriff Pasley on this occasion conducted himself with perfect propriety. The conduct of the people was peaceable and exemplary.

REPORT

OF THE

TRIAL OF PATRICK FINNEY,

UPON AN INDICTMENT FOR

HIGH TREASON,

BEFORE THE

HON. JUDGE CHAMBERLAIN AND THE HON. BARON SMITH.

AT a Commission of Oyer and Terminer, held in the city of Dublin, in the month of July, 1797, an indictment was found against the prisoner, Patrick Finney, for high treason, when counsel and agent were assigned. After several adjournments, he was brought to trial on Tuesday, January 16, 1798. The indictment contained one count for compassing the King's death, and another for adhering to the King's enemies; and the overt acts, which were thirteen, laid in support of each count were the same. They are stated fully in the AttorneyGeneral's opening speech. The prisoner pleaded not guilty.

Mr. RIDGEWAY opened the indictment.

Mr. ATTORNEY-GENERAL.-My lords and gentlemen of the jury, the prisoner at the bar stands indicted before you for high treason, Of treason, gentlemen, there are several species. He stands charged with two species: one is compassing and imagining the death of the King; the other is, adhering to the King's enemies-adhering to the persons exercising the powers of government in France, being at war with the King.

Gentlemen, the first species, that of compassing and imagining the death of the King, ought to be explained to you; that duty the court will, no doubt, fully discharge; I shall, therefore, content myself with briefly stating, that in order to bring the charge home to the prisoner, it is not necessary to produce evidence to show that he had it in his immediate design and contemplation to take away the life of the King. In our law, any act done that leads naturally, ultimately, or in its consequences, to destroying the royal life, is considered as an overt act to compass the death of the King. The preservation of the life of the King is necessary to the tranquillity of the state: any attack upon that life, however indirectly, has a tendency to destroy that tranquillity, and the peace and prosperity of the subject whom he governs. As, for instance, if war be levied, though not for the purpose of destroying the life of the King, it has a tendency to destroy it; because he must resist that war, and thereby his life will be

endangered. Again, if conspirators invite the foreign enemy to invade the kingdom, it is settled law, that it is a compassing the death of the King, because his life must be exposed in resisting the enemy, if they invade the kingdom.

The other charge is for adhering to the King's enemies. The term itself sufficiently explains the nature of that crime. By enemies are understood those who are at war with the King; and any adherence to such persons, thus at war, constitutes that species of high treason.

Gentlemen, the law of this country makes it necessary that persons charged with treason, the highest offence that a subject can commit, shall be informed by the indictment of some act or acts upon which the charge is founded, in order that they may know how to prepare for their defence. The acts so to be disclosed by the indictment are called overt acts-acts which are to be plainly proved to you by legal evidence.

The charge here is, that the prisoner compassed and imagined the death of the King, and adhered to the King's enemies; but that is not enough, such is the care taken of the lives of the subjects. It is not enough to charge the offence generally, but the particular overt act must be set out, and it must be proved to enable the jury to find a verdict against the prisoner, and that he may come prepared with evidence to meet that fact, which is the ground of the principal charge.

Thus, gentlemen, you perceive that to support the charge against the prisoner, we must prove by sufficient evidence some one overt act laid in the indictment. If any one of those overt acts be established, you must find a verdict against the prisoner, though we fail in supporting all the others.

Gentlemen, in support of this charge, there are thirteen overt acts laid in the indictment. I shall briefly state them. The overt acts laid are the same in both counts of the indictment.

The first overt act is, that the prisoner became a member of a society formed for the purpose of assisting the French in case they should invade this kingdom, and that he did meet with other false traitors to deliberate upon the means of effecting that purpose. I will not consume time by minutely observing upon each overt act; there is no man so dull as not to understand this overt act: to encourage the King's enemies to invade the kingdom is a proof of adhering to the King's enemies.

The

The second overt act is the same in substance with the first. third is, that he consulted and agreed with others to send one or more persons into France as agents, to invite the persons exercising the powers of government there to invade this kingdom. The fourth is for collecting sums of money to pay the agents who were or should be sent into France-to pay and maintain persons who should be seduced from his Majesty's forces, and persons charged with crimes and confined in prison.

The fifth is, sending four persons to France to invite the French to invade Ireland, and to aid them when they should arrive. The sixth is nearly the same with the other, to raise money. The seventh is, that the prisoner consulted with others to raise and levy war and rebellion within the kingdom. The eighth is, that he met forty-eight persons, and consulted with them upon the means of attacking the

King's ordnance stores in the Castle of Dublin, and to seize upon the arms there deposited; and appointing certain persons to view three particular places, mentioned in the indictment, adjoining to the ordnance, in order to consider and report where they were proper places for making such attack. Gentlemen, to state this overt act is sufficient to explain, that it is evidence of treason in both counts--no words can make it stronger. Men assemble together, and do consult, and send some of their members to view the stores, and to consider where an attack should be made upon the stores, to enable the society to seize upon them, to make war upon the King, and to aid the French.

The ninth overt act is, that the prisoner did join with others for the purpose of aiding the French. The tenth is, that he did with others meet and agree to procure the French to invade this kingdom with ships and armed men. The eleventh is, that he did agree to raise insurrection, rebellion, and war within the kingdom. The twelfth is much of the same import; and the thirteenth is, that he did agree to support the French in case they should invade the kingdom. You are now apprized of the charges against the prisoner, and the particular overt acts laid in support of those charges, some one of which must be clearly and satisfactorily proved to induce you to give a verdict against him.

It is now my duty to state the facts and the evidence that will be adduced to support the charge, and in doing so it is my intention to lay before you purely the evidence stated to me, and that without exciting your feelings in any respect whatsoever-careful not to excite yours, and anxious, I solemnly assure you, to suppress mine.

Gentlemen, it will appear that there did, last summer-I go no further back-exist in this city and kingdom a society styling itself a society of United Irishmen. This society was sub-divided into an indefinite number of societies. The members took an oath, upon their being admitted into any society, to keep secret, and not to give evidence against any of their brethren.

These societies, as they happened to grow numerous by the admission of members, divided themselves into what is called "splits," consisting of twelve; and each society elected a treasurer and secretary. There were in every barony and certain other districts baronial committees, formed of the treasurers and secretaries elected by each particular sub-division, and of each barony and district, and to the baronial society or committee the sub-societies did make reports of their several transactions by their respective treasurers and secretaries, and receive through their secretaries and treasurers the orders of the baronial; from the baronial committees were formed county committees, to whom the baronial committees made their reports, and from whom the baronial committees received orders, and from the county committees provincial committees were formed, and so by gradation to a national committee.

If I am rightly instructed, it will still appear that the object of these societies was, and is, to subvert the constitution; and that the means intended to be used to effect this purpose were, to invite the French nation to invade this, their native country, to organize the people whom they should seduce to join them, and to seize the arms of his Majesty in the stores, provided for the defence of the kingdom.