IRELAND. THE IRISH STATE PRISONERS.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 278, 27 January 1849, Page 7

IRELAND. THE IRISH STATE PRISONERS.

At the present moment the following notice of tie e.uly life and career of the faction who have bi ought about the p-esent state of things in li eland may n>t parlrtp* be umritere-ticig. A brief biography of Mi. Smith O'B-ien's life has already boen mnde public. Mr. C. Giv.in Duffy is the son of a farmer in the county of Monaghan. In h s early caieer he occupied a very suboidinnte position indeed. Tiie first prominent po^i' en he o'cnpied was that of a wrier on thtf Dublin Morning Righter^ a Repeal or Radical pub1 cation no v (X'inct. He subsequently proceedfd to Belfist where he was employed by the | riests of the di tnct 10 ed t and otl erwise man ge a journal knowa a, the Befui Vindicator. Mr. Duffy, while in this position, snpported the Whigi. On the lattpr paity being driven fiom office in 1841, the Vindicator grew more violent, but its circulation giadually decreased, ami it was aim >st defunct when Mr. Duffy, ry publishing a violent articl' aja'mt the government, in reference to the execution of a man named Woods, for murder, whom he de'Cribed as having been illegally convicted by a Protestant jury, brought down on him. the vengeance of Mr. BlacKburne,the Attorney-Gene^ ral. Duffy wai du'y tiied and convic ed, and would have bicn brought up for judgment h >d he ntn t ccj-mcs-sed contrition ; and Mr. T B. Smuh, who had succeed* d to the office of A'torncy-General, forgave him. In 1842 i Mr. Duffy, whose name had obtained some drgiee of notority, established ibe Nation newspaper. Mr. Dufty ia a Roman Catholic. He is not more tliau tbhty-two years of a^e. Mr. Medgrlu-r is the son of Mr. Thitnas Meagher, M P. for Waterford city— a merchant an I alderman of that place, who amassed considerable wealth by trading with America. The young gentleman, now ba-iut 26 years of age, possesses some proper y hidependant of his ftib^r, with whom, as well as with h, brother, he has always been at v ii'iance, so f.>r as politics are concerned. He also is a Roman Cnthol'c. According to his own statement, he was induced to embaik in the cause of repeil by O'Conuell'a m ny warlike appeals to the youth of Ireland, Mr. Doheny, who, in point of >e,»rs, is som?thinp; more than a Young Inlander, is, acto ding to 1 it ov a account, of humble origin. He cnumt be le t than 45 years of age. He is a barrister, and bus bren many things. For many years lie foil >we'J the occupa'imi of sch'iolnr aster. He subsequently oempied himself as whipptr- n to Whig attorney general <tnd eolkilorsgeneial in the boroughs of Clonniel, Cashel and Dungravan. For nine ye*rs he w.is u-ulerstwl to be eT. ployed in the Tithe Million Office, Dublin Castle. He is a Roman Catho'ic. Mr. Dillon is a barrister,and took n i>ohl medal anil other honours in Trinity Collie, Dublin. He was formerly a writer in the Dui/m Mommy Register. Mr. Dillon, who is al-,0 a very yi ung man, is son to an extensive coin merchant in the county of Mayo. Hj is a Roman CVholic. Mr. O'Gorman, jun., is eon to an extensive woolltndraptr in Dublin, and is a Roman Catholic. Mr. Martin is understood to be a gentl man of independence, but whether small or Urge is not generally known. He wns the first northern Protestant, who joined th? Confid Tatis, and bus lately undered himseltcorispiciousby being editoi to the Felon 2i&»8f aper. Mr. O'D)hrrty, of the 7'iibnne, lately tiied, is a medical sluden'.. He is a native of the boutb of Ireland, and a Roman Catholic. In Tipperary a roid through a bog nenr Newport hai jven w«y, the lecent h°Hvy r.vni having raised itie I-»nd at cither side mmc thin usual. Sir C Napier has unexptctedly rjftirnel wth the fl^et undei his command to Cove. He h<tft been a forrniglit cruising towards Cape Clare. Sevtral additional tteamer* weie t» company.

{From the Times Correspondent.) Dublin, Monday. August 28. PAYMENT OF THE UOMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY. Among the multifariom objrets of Lord J. Rus ell's visit to I.ela'jcl, with whi'h rumour has been so marvellous'y industrious sinre S turduy Inst, there is one laid <lo\rn to the effect that the Premier is anxious to ascertain the Mute of feeling with respect to llie project of pensioning the Roman Catholic clergy. If such be anything like the truth, his lordohip might have remained in Dowtii g-street, and there learned the information which he seeks at the hands of Lord Clarendon, or it may be, of the Irish bishops themselves. There i-i a vast change in public opinion since this knotty question was first ny ottd in the Impeiial Parliament, and the events of the two Inst months have wrought a wondrous revolution in the minds of the Roman Catholic laity, which it is quite imposs'hle can have escaped tie observation of so keen-iigh'ed a body as the clergy of that persuasion h..ve imariably proved themselves. In plain words, those reverend gentlemen arc just now in the shade, bo far as their popuhrity is concerned— whether deservedly or not is beside the quest.on; certain it is that their conduct during and subsequent to the late insurrection bas excited the choler,not merely of the lower classes, but of intelligent and educated Roman Catholics— more than one of them have been heard to declare, that as the •ystem of voluntary payments must necessarily be drawing to an end, the sooner government interposes the better for all parties. That the project will encounter some sharp opposition there can be uo doubt ; but every thing conspires to render such opposition perfectly futile. The dissatisfaction of the peasantry with the apparent want of sympathy shown by their pastors towards the objects of the late mad outbreak, would of itself be sufficient to render the positiou of the cleigy in a pecuniary tense one of extreme embarlassmentj but, coupled with the prospect of a third year of scarcity, and the consequent inability, even if the-e were the will, to pay the ordinary dues of the church, it would be folly to suppose that the priesthood could long successfully contend against such overbearin? influences. But, payment or no payment by the State, it may be rehed upon that the controlling power hitherto exercised by the Roman Catholic clerpy over the action! of theii Hocks i* irretrievably weakened, if not destroyed.

ARRESTS IN THE SOUTH. Clonmel, Sunday, half past 5 p in.— l hasten to forward you the following communication, by which your readers may perceive we are not at all done with arrests in this quarter. Yesterday the following troops of General OBrien, who had distinguished themselves in the late Btllingarry camp-ugn, were marched in prisoners of war to thi» town, and safely lodged in our county gaol, charged \vi h heing actively engaged with William S. OBrien and otheri in the late insurrectionary and rebellious proceedings in this county. Their namei are as follows :— Edmond Maher, John Preston, Jeremiah Kealey, John Linane, Patiick Ormond, John Brennan, Stephen Morrisy, James Butler, James Day, Edmond Kennedy, Michael Brien, and James Bnttain. It is also expected, that owing to the prompt and energetic conduct of the authorities here, more of the followers of the lebtl leaders will be made amenable to justice.

THE POOR-RATE. A Galway correspondent of the Evening Mail writes — " The rate hat been struck in the Galway Union for the next six months; in the four electoral divisions with which lam connected the rate is as follows :—: — Galway, 9s. 6d.; Moycullen, 15i 6J. ; Kilianin, £1 Oe. Gd. ; and Kilcummin, £l 65., all In the pound. "Now, I venture to say that there are not four poorer divisions in Ire'and, and the obvious absurdity of the Poor L'iw system is, thac poverty, and not property is rated ; that it proceeds on a principle opposed to every other scheme of taxation yet hit upon, namely, in laying the gretUest- burdens on the feeblest backs. But I will not trench on your province in reasoning on the matter ; you can do it far better than I can. The value of Killatiim, Kilcummin, and Moycullen, in the Poor Law valuat on, ii ■omething about £22,000 per annum and thry have laid on a rate of over j£23,00d for «x months. So much for that. " Now, you will be astonished at what I »m going to tell you. The collector of the county ceis has been distraining for the amount of it for the last three months ; and, to my own knowledge, he has distrained, in nine cases out of every ten, on persons receiving oul-door relief; but what is more surprising still, attempts were made by distress to collect the poorrate; and whom do you think from? Par.ies on the out-door relief list also ; and all were noticed to pay by a certain day, the whole of the no iced parties being in the receipt of rations daily — all the solvent parties having been compelled to pay long since a rate of 4s. in the pound for the half year. In the parish (Kilnain), in which I live, my taxation is as fellow* tor the next six momhs :—

all in the pound; and by doubling it, you will see, about, say, £2 10s. in the pound per annum."

Tuesday Morning. I am happy to say that, beyond a slight shower of rain, there hat been no interruption to the fine weather which let in on Saturday last ; and the few iccounti from the piovincrs which reached this morning are decidedly of a favourable nature. Several reports bod out hopes thtt, after all, the potato blight will not be much more extensive than that of the last year. Much, however, will depend upon the continuance of dry weather. Arrests ror.fmue to be made in the provinces. Amongst oiheis a Mr. Francis Gabbptt was taken at Bdllytanew, in the county of Wexford, on suspicion of being concerned ia treasonable practices. He was escorted l'rotn the Gorey police barracks, where he had been detained for several day-., and lodged in the county gaol on Fiirtay ; 6evrral treasonable letters and & quantity of gold were found on his person. It it alleged that he is a relative of Mr. Smith OBrien, and left this country for America about three years ago, whence, it is thought, he returned within the last thrte months.

Tbe Freeman's Journal of this morning sayi : — '« We understand that tl»c prisoners who were taken «fter tne affair at B illingarry, nnd who were subsequently transmitted to Newgate, were yestrrday visited at the p.ison by Sub-Inspector Trant, Mdjor Browarigg, and some other officials. The object of the visit whs undei stood to be the identification of the parli>s, or some of ihem, as having been concerned in the affray at Ballmgarry. We have hlio beard that n police-constable wai brought from the coun rv to Kilmaiuham, iv older to identify Mr. Smith OBrien bs the gentleman who shook hands with him (the constable) at the house of Mrs. M'Cormaek on the cession alluded to."

The agcms of Mr. Smith O'liricn are buiily employed in pirpa'ing that gentleman's defence, in anti" ci| ation of his speedy trial. Mr. Meaner, on the contrary, li,.s taken no step! whatever in his caie, having, up (o 3esterday, had no consultation either with counsel or attorney. The Evening Herald conta'ns the following statement: — «' [nformntion, we understand, has been received by the Government 'hat mo»t of the officers and noncommissioned officers, with a considerable number of the private soldiers of a disbanded American regiment, r< cently employed in the Mexican war, sailed from a Ttxican port on the 18th or 19th of last month, to joio the Irish in«urgents, whom they expected to find in arm* on their arrival. Both officers and men ate nearly all Irish. Tney are provided, it is Bnid, with twelve pieces of cannon, and their object was to direct the militaty organization of the Irish revolutionary army. Arrangement! lmve been tna'ie calculated to iniure the capture of this bund of pirates, and Sir C. Napier, we believe, has received instructions to deal with them in the most summaiy manner should they fall into his hands."

Poor-rate County-rate Tithe rent charge , Quit and Crown rent 5 ............ £10 6 0 4 0 0 10 0 0 6 £\ 6 0