IRELAND. (From Tail's Magazine for December).

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 205, 17 May 1848, Page 3

IRELAND. (From Tail's Magazine for December ).

Trf.lanu, in the midst of calamities, still multiplies ciimes. Where famine and disease h.ive wasted, murder wastes. At no period in its history has a reckless disregard for life been more frequently or more atrociously manifested there than within a tew weeks. The victims of these outrages aie all of one class. Land owners and then* agents arc specially marked out for destruction. The mode of proceeding evinces anything rather than courage. It is characterized by the cowardice of cruelty ; for we cannot discover the slightest evidence of courage in one, two, or three rcen skulking behind a hedge or a wall, and villanously shooting down, with deliberate aim, a defenceless and unarmed passenger. Duelling is a cowardly conformity to the world, extracted from weak minds; but it is a manly descrii tion of assassination. Oi.e life is placed on a die against another. A good shot has necessarily the thance in his favour ; but the best marksman may be bhot down by any person who cm pull a trigger. Tht bullet filed at chance may have its billet. A how tliawn at a vcuture might s»cnd an arrow to a king's heart. It is almost unnecessary to mention a truth so plain; but a person, styled a venerable archdeacon—a projessed minister of religion—calling himself the follower, the servant, of Jesus Christ, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again —has been observing, at one meoting, that a hungry Englishman would shoot the first person with a decent coat whom he met, if he only had courage. We fear that Englishmen are not exempted from this —the ast degree of crime. Too much confidence cannot be placed in what Archdeacon LaiFun

calls their want of counts^, by a strange perversion »>f the meaning that we have hern nccuslomed to attach to ihe word. Minders aic perpctiatecl in England. Those arising fioin general criminality are, perhaps, more numerous there than in Ireland. In the lattei country the great proportion of these crimcb ure of agrarian origin ; they Bpring from the tenures and circumstances of landholding. On that account they have heen chained, m numerous instances, indirectly upon the landholders themselves. They h.ive be n accused of dealing haidly by the people, and provoking them to levcngc. If thu accusation be true, it may reduce our. sympathy with the victim, without taking, in any sense, from the guilt of the criminal. Men cannot innocently avenge wrong by assassination. Tluftc seom to be also grounds for exculpating many of the landowners from the broad charge cast on their order. We have observed that where processes of ejectment have been seived on tenants, there has sometimes been such a long account of arrears, as an English or Scutch proprietor could not contemplate without horror, In fact, he could not contemplate it in itny aspect. He could not afford the outlay. Having piob.ibly paid heavily for his land, or inherited it with incumbrances, he expects, and he icquues, punc tutil settlements of his rents. An ejectment at the present day for money duo in 1544 or 1845, would not he reckoned summary or shaip piactice in either England or Scotland. Mr. Ormsby Gore, we believe, u libernl landlord, has been charged with acting severely in the r jectment of some of his tenantry ; and the writer by whom the chaigc was made says that the ejected farmers only owed three half years' rent to September, IS 17. They only owed three hall years' rent at September iiis>t. The potato fji'uro may liave rendered smull farmers unable to pay one years' rent, and tint .stiange word " only," applied to arrears of three half yeais, is thus not so unintelligible ; but then Mr. Gore's agent on the estate writes that " they owed several years' rent." The term " several" is indefinite, but we suppose it covets at least *' three." Of these arrears Mr. Gore's agent demanded the rent of one year. It was refused, according to his statement, and he brought ejectments. Any English landowner— any person who had money to obtain — would probably have adopted a similar course. The ejectment was not carried out in any malicious manner. There was no unnecessary seventy exhibited to the defaulters. They were promised houses of some desenption during the wmter, and assistance to emigrate in the spring, according to the agent's card, which we cannot substantiate ; but, from the general chaiacter of Mr. Gore, the statements may be considered coirect. The murder of Major Mahon, although one of many similar evil deeds, is that which, for some weeks past, has been the most notorious. The position of the ununforiunate gentleman, and his general character, have helped to attract more than the usual attention to this dime. Major Mahou h,id large propsrty, and he appears to have exercised his right indulgently ; but lie intended to make some improvements on his estate, and, amongst other objects, to tend out of the country n number of families who were in aireor of rental. The parish priest, wo are informed, denounced him from the altar on Sabbath, and he was shot on Monday. Tr-is circumstance leads us gradually into the facts of Ireland's case. The fate of Major Muhon rendeis intelligible the condition of the country. We may find out from the details of this crime the reason of Ireland's deepest disgrace. There are red ipots on her hands that must be wiped away ere she take the rank among the nations that the physical capabilities of the countiy and the moral qualities of the people claim. No man acquainted with the southern Irish will doubt that they 'au> generous and warm- hearted ; and the cnmm.ility in those ciicumstances octiirung amongst them, and even still worse than the crime, the sympathy with the criminal, becomes apparently inexplicable. There arc several facts connected with Major Mahon's death to which we will rciVr. The first and the most remarkable is the denunciation of the priest, followed almost immedinte'y by the shot of the assassin. In the Irish papers we find one cisc even more remaikable repoited. A coroner's jury are asspmblod. They have viewed the hody of a murdered and an humble man, the servant of some landed proprietor. On Sunday afternoon he was marked by a cowaidly assassin and shot dead. There is a priest in the w : tntss box. Three questions are asked at this reverend gentleman— three, doubtless, amongst tunny others, but three that stand out fiom all others— tin ee remarkable questions, followed by terrible answers ; we quote them : — "Did you denounce the muulcrcd man from the allar I—\ did. " When did you denounce hi.ii ?— On Sunday at noon. "When wat> he muuleied?— At 5 o'clock tlie bame evening." That priest secmg quite calm and collected. The answers are those of a good man, who modestly onfesses that he has done a good action. The examinator seems to extort from a modest witness, the evidence of his own merits. There is, indeed, no faltering on the pait of the priest. He is firm, without icluctance; but, also, without any desire to reveal his part in the proceedings. This man, we are convinced, imagines that he ha« been doing good service to truth, morality, and leligion. He piays — that man — he prays to him who said " thou shalt do no murder," and forbade us in auything— by deed, or word, or will — to abridge life. He pray* — not as the conscience-stricken felon and sinner in his iron-bound cell, whcie the sounds that penetrate are the strokes of the hammer rivetting together the planks of the gibbet, on which, before man, his crime will be expiated. He prays, but not, wo fear, for that forgiveness which this denunciation needs. lie sorrows, it may be, but not, we dread, for that sad coincidence thiough which the man whom he denounced was so soon placed beyond his denunciations. And yet, he may be a sincere man. How many sincere men ha\e done badly — have persecuted —have sacked and spoiled— and gloried in licensed crimes ! We do not know that the verdict in any lespect implicated the priest. He may not have been considered by the jury an accessory to the ci iine. He may not not have been dealt by as one who had culpably incited the passions of man-Blayers. vVe believe that the priesthood had been practically taugkt not to consider the altar a refuge against the law. Some time since that question was settled by a jury, and although an appeal was threatened against their decision, yet it was not prosecuted. The question was tried in a civil action. A. tradesman and small farmer in a country parish had undertaken to circulate copies of the Bible according to the Protestant version. He had been a Roman Catholic ; but it is probable, before he made this arrangement, that he had vhtually abandoned its communion. There is no doubt that he did so afterwards. From the altar, alter mass, he waß excommunicated by the priest of his parish. The act of excommunication was within the province of the spiritual authority, and to be exercised according to the usual method pursued in his communion. It would be monstrous to suppose that any religious society should be denied the power, through its regular officials, to expel persons who had violated in any way or manner its rules of membership. In this vue, however, what is termed the major excommunication bad been applied,

winch, intcifeung with (lie lempmal uicumstam'es of thc> excommunicated, was considered an unwairanted infliction lij the juiy, who returned a veulict cairying all costs or, in legal plimseologyi sixpence of costs, and tonsider,ib!c damage^. In this instance, the pur suer had su flercd in his business- His customers had been taught to have no dealing with him. The result of the supplement to the sermon had been ruinous to his commercial prospects. That, however, w s not equal with a denunciation, even to the deuth — not probably that the priest meant death to follow on his wrath. He may have been a moderate man, contented if oven a sufficient degree of indignation should Fettle on the person whom he asßailed. The arrow may have entered deeper than he designed \ but why was the bow drawn ? We cannot say that the victim was a good man. His character— his pursuits — almost his name, are to us alike u known. He may have pressed sevciely on his poorer neighbours. He may have been a hniih collector ot vents, lie may have been a giasping farmer, who added field to field, He may have been an industrious man, wuo was willing to occupy, on a fair rent, the fields from whidi an indolent or incapable farmer wag expelled. We are not acquainted with his circumbtances ; but we know the truth, that lie who has to preach from the text, '• Blessed is the peacemaker" — be he prifst, prelate, or presbyter, is not to be allowed, by any wise and constitutional law, to denounce from his altar 01 his desk, any man by name, as an object deserving public vengeance. Preaching to tUe times is an ancient, and it was nl"' ways an inconvenient practice. The pulpit is not the place for discussing disputed points u nconnectcd with the special objects of the congregation. Theology and politics arc not to be unnecessarily mingled. The preacher or the priest may be practical, without denouncing' individuals by name. He has to war with vice rather than with the vicious. Me has no personal quarrel to wage against the wicked, but an endless struggle with wickedness. There is a peculiar advantage in this arrangement:. When a man is accused through the press, he can reply through the presi ; and if he be denounced on the platform, he can probably answer on the platform ; but an attack in the pulpit, from the solemn and very proper feelings attached to a place, and to the act, of religious worship, is unans* werabfe. We have mentioned Archdeacon Laflan's 6peech at a tenant-right meeting ; and we should say, in justice, that he subsequently denounced murder. He waigood enough to s.iy that murder was a fearful crime, aud that God would biing the murderei to punishment ; but why bhould lie associate Saxon deficiency in courage with Saxon abstinence from assassination ? Why should he inform his audience that the Saxon peasantry, if they had sufficient courage, would lie bcbuid an hedge, aud fire at an unsuspecting and helpless passongei ? Want of courage is not an English crime. It is neither an Eni^lisli nor an Irish ciime. The courage of both Celt and Saxon has been tried and vindicated where men met face to face, and steel to steel, in rheciush for life und death. But it requires something more than courage for a private individual, on account of privute, supposed, or real grievances, in defiance of God's law, to mark out his enemy, und shoot him lrom a place of concealment.

Thk Fate of Stoddart and Conolly. — The following from the Mofussilitc of the sth of Octobei , may tend to tluow some additional light on the late of these unfortunate officers. The MofussiLlc s;i)s, an officer, u hose judgment may be conlklentl) tolled upon, has kiiull) forwai(led us the following statement, assiuuigus that ho believes it to be strictly correct. We quote oui eonespondent's own words.: — " Oct 1. — A few da} s ago a man called Bclote Khan, came to me and said, that he had been a sepoy in Shah Soojdh's lth Ilegiment of Infantry j that he had been taken prisoner and sold as a slave at Bokhaia. I send you his statement, which you inav publish. Fiom various questions which 1 P'lt to him, and fiom the descupiion he gives of the route by which he leturned tolndia, through Batman, Sagur, Zoatmut, and Dehra Ismael, to Moollan, 1 have not the slightest doubt that he speaks thii tiuth. On the retreat of his regiment fiom Chaieekar, he leceived a bullet thiough his thigh, and a sword cut on his left hand, Lleie is his staifinent— ' Statement of Belote Khan, a sepoy in Shah Soojah's 4th Uegiu.eut of lufautiy, commanded by Captain Codrington, and desttoved by the Allghans atChaieekar; — When my regiment was cut up between Charee/jar and Ctibool. I was wounded and taken prisoner. My life was spaied because 1 was a Mussulman. I was sold as a slave at Bokhaia to Aga Meet Mahmood, mema terosh (fruit seller). 1 remained at Bokhaia for two yeais, and was afteiwaids taken lo Bautian, fiom v\ hence, behiended by a merchant, I escaped, and tiavelled with a Kafilah to Mooltan, whete I remainded for some time. The name of the mcichant who befriended me was Nubee Buksh. In Bokhara I saw Colonel Stoddait sahib, and Captain Conolly sahib. The bi other of Conolly sahib was once the adjutant of my iegim«nt. When I iiist went to BoMuua, Stoddart sahib and Conolly sahib weie at libeity, and they used lo attend at the different mosques, and say the daily Mussulman praveis. Some time afterwards the King ordeied that it might be discovered if they really were Mussulmans. Upon its being found that they were not they weieput into prison, and about twenty da)s afterwards they were taken outside the city ana hanged. 1 saw them hanged with my own ejes, and their bodies were buried in a place called Marroo Baugh. They were not tortuied, I think, while they were in piisou. When 1 left Bokhara, there was a private of Her Majesty s 44th regiment, who had become a Mussulman, and lived with a merchant as one of his family. He was alwa>s well-diessed in the AHghan costume. There was also a half caste boy, who had belonged to the 37th N. 1., named Isacks, and aEuiopean lad, named Stone, who was a lifer in the 27th N.I. 'Jhey were living with an Usbeg, called Tliureen Khan, who fed and clothed them well, and taught them to read and wnte Peisiau. r J heie weie also a good number of llindoostanee men, women, sepoys, and camp followeis, in Bokhara. I saw about twenty men of my own regiment there — and I also saw several in Zoarmut. The latter had nearly lost all their leet fiom the host. The IJmdoostanees who aie able to woik aie used as menial seivonts, and the othcis who aie maimed beg their biead.' We slioulcl feel mucll obliged to any of the oiliceis in the 37th and 27th if they would make inquiiy and ascertain whether the peisons named were in those regiments, and if so when they were missed or last heaid of. We do not doubt our con espondenl's judgment, when

In.' esiuessi"-, a liplief that Ilio man m ijiiLMum spoaUb llio tintli; lull we should lil.e to hive bDinc 'coiiliimalion of tliese tiillm" paitniil.il-> wlul'li ate detailed. They would in a t-i* «.i t measuie loud to satisfy us that his account ot the fate of Colonel Stoddait and Capt. Conollv was to be depended upon. We appiehend theio aicofliceis in India who aie able to sa\ whether 01 not a biothei of Captain Conolh 1 was (lie adjutant of Sliah Soo jail's. 11 h regiment ol infantM. We should .ilso like to have iljdt statement coi - loboiated. We aie in hopes that oui cuiift--pondent knows wheie the man who made the above statement is to be found, as uo h<i\« written to make other inquines connected wall the death of tliese nnfoitimatu ollifeis " Sale or hie Library or tul i.aii' Jiisiiop or Coaiv. — The sale of the valuable libwuy ol the Lite l)i. Mvnphy, Roman Catholic Biskop of CoiK, has Ikcu commenced by Messis. Sotheby. This c.\iraordm.uy collection of theological books will take upwiiids of sixty days in their disposal. Completion ok Harvey's Discovery.— lt has been just discovered that the heart is full of nerves which discovery is deemed to he the completion of the diicovcry of the circulation of the blood. Cape of Good Hope.— We have Capepapeis to the 29ih Januaiy, three weeks later than those previously received. Sir H. Smith was gradually increasing his influence over the Kafir chiefs, and cndca\ouring to persuade them to adopt the habits of civilised life. A number of military villages, formed of one hundred Boldiois and an officer, weie being established on the outskirts of the colony, from which the most beneficial results were expected. The military force was being rapidly reduced, the 7th Dragoons, 27th and 93th Regiments, being under orders for England. An agitation for the erection of the Eastern distiict into a sepaiatc colony was going on, and it was supposed would be successful.— Sydney Morning Herald.