sion of the trial, I have reason to believe that Lord Thanet, and the other persons upon this record, very studiously and anxiously placed themselves in that part of the Court in which they could act with effect with respect to the rescue of Mr. O'Connor.

Gentlemen, with respect to one of the Defendants, whom, as a gentleman in the profession to which I belong, I certainly prosecute with all the regret that can belong to that circumstance, but which, at the same time, must not supersede the obligations I owe to the public-that gentleman had been in Court during the whole of the trial: he had been Counsel for some or one of the Prisoners; and he was placed, in consequence of the duty he had to discharge, in a situation in which, if he chose so to exert himself, he certainly could be useful in this attempt to rescue Mr. O'Connor. With respect to the Noble Lord, I need not, I am sure, in this place, state to you, that he holds in this country the character of an hereditary member of the constitution; and with respect to the last gentleman whom I mentioned, Mr. Fergusson, I take leave to say, besides the general duty he owed to the public in a matter of this nature, there was another very high duty imposed upon him, which I hope and trust Gentlemen who sit behind me will never forget-that that gentleman, as a barrister, owed a duty to the Court-that it is their bounden duty, that it is a very sacred duty of theirs, instead of

interrupting the course of justice, to assist it in every fair, honourable, and effectual way.

Gentlemen, a verdict of Not Guilty was given in the case of Mr. O'Connor; and here I am very ready to admit this, that if I could have persuaded myself that the circumstances which then took place, namely, that Mr. O'Connor, in consequence of that verdict, misconceiving that he was 'discharged, and acting under that impulse, had intended merely to mix himself with the rest of the Court, and that those who had been charged with the care of his interests, or those who thought well of him, had acted upon the impulse of the feelings of that moment, which might certainly have been such as to have misled men who, upon better consideration, would not have so acted, it would have become me to have hesitated before I determined, consistently with an attention to the public safety and to the public interests, to have instituted this prosecution.

Now, Gentlemen, before I proceed to state to you the circumstances to which I beg your serious attention, I will state to you the motives with which I do it. When I state the circumstance of a warrant having been issued to apprehend Mr. O'Connor, conceiving, as I do, that some persons either knew, or believed, or conjectured, that there might be some other demand of justice upon O'Connor, and that therefore they were determined he should not remain in Court till he was regularly discharged,

for the purpose of preventing that other demand of justice being made upon him-I say the offence, even in that way, is of so aggravated a nature, that I have no wish to charge it higher upon the record.

Then, Gentlemen, I have to state this to youWhen the verdict of Not Guilty was pronounced, Mr. O'Connor endeavoured (it will be for you to decide whether or not with the co-operation of the Defendants whose names occur upon this record) to get out from the place in which he stood as a Prisoner, with a view to get out of Court, and for the purpose of not being answerable to some demands of justice which he, and those who were acting with him, had reason to believe would be made upon him, if he stayed till he was regularly discharged.

Gentlemen, one of the Defendants in this case, I mean Mr. Thompson, a member of Parliament, was bound, certainly, from his situation as a subject of this country, and bound from the high situation in which he stands in the country, not to be acting in the execution of such a purpose as this Information imports: but you will find that he, together with Mr. O'Brien, had taken great pains, in the course of the afternoon, to sift from certain persons who will be called to you as witnesses, one of whom, indeed, I cannot call, because the hand of God has removed him by death, but who would have spoken of important circumstances—I mean Fugion the officer; but I think you will find very

satisfactory evidence independent of that; and I should not have mentioned his name, but his name will be introduced in a very striking manner by the witnesses: you will find that Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Thompson were, in the course of the afternoon, extremely anxious to inquire, and to know with certainty, whether there was any demand of justice upon Mr. O'Connor, supposing him to be acquitted of the present charge.

Gentlemen, you will hear and you will attend to the evidence that will be given upon that part of the case; and when the conduct of Mr. Thompson is stated to you by the persons who will relate how he acted at the moment when Mr. O'Connor first attempted to escape out of this Court, you will then consider with yourselves, whether the case is not, by that evidence, most completely made out against Mr. Thompson.-I distinguish him in this part of the case, because, according to the evidence which I have now to offer to you, I have no testimony, to give with respect to Mr. Thompson, as to his conduct in what I call the second riot which happened; and I think it right to say so, that the case may be disembarrassed in the first instance, and, in the second, that I may do him justice.

Gentlemen, you will hear what part Mr. Fergusson took in this: and here I cannot but observe, that it is quite impossible that I can do Mr. Fergusson the discredit to suppose, that he could believe, after the evidence he had heard, that it was so

1

unfit that justice should make any other demand upon Mr. O'Connor, that it was fit that he should forcibly resist the execution of that demand if it was made. I must give him credit for his professional knowledge; I must give him credit for the accurate knowledge which he must have had upon the occa

sion.

But, Gentlemen, it does not rest there; for the officer being charged to arrest Mr. O'Connor, the fact was made known to the Court; and the learned Judge who presided there, I mean Mr. Justice Buller, whose absence I cannot but lament, when I recollect that that absence is occasioned by extreme illness-Mr. Justice Buller expressly stated, that the Prisoners were not to be discharged; and expressly directed, that all the Prisoners, except that one upon whom sentence of death was to be passed, should be kept back for the present. This was, therefore, a distinct notice, that there was an act to be done upon the part of the Court.

Now, Gentlemen, be so good, without my entering into a detail of that evidence, to attend to the circumstances as to the conduct of the different Defendants, during the time the learned Judge was executing the painful duty of passing the sentence of death-giving your attention also to what was the conduct of the several Defendants, when this notice had been publicly given in Court, the moment that that sentence was finished; and unless I am deceived, indeed, with respect to the effect of that