MR. SMITH O'BRIEN. [From the " Times," Oct, 8.]

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 513, 15 March 1851, Page 3

MR. SMITH O'BRIEN. [From the " Times," Oct, B.]

Afiiend of Mr. Smith OBrien has forwarded v! a letter just received from that pelulant puppy, in which he qiaumlers au<l moans in hta usual strain about the disagreeableness oi the position he has chosen lor himself m Van Diemen's Land. Mr. Smith OBrien is one of those people who niake their own bed, and refuse to lie in it. When in Parliament he made his bed in the coal hole, und was very uneasy. He then got up a rebellion, and quarrelled with the consequences. Having earned a hdlter by every law, hum.m and divine, he spurned the mercy of his Sovereign, and ius.sted on being hung, fot mere obstinancy ana spite. Arriving at Van Diemen's Ltnd with his conirdeiates,

he refused a ticket-of-leave, nnd doggedly determined to be a prisoner. Now, a prisoner is a prisoner, and there ifl no way whatever in which a perGOn who refuses his parole, and defies h'iß keepers, can be kept in custody without a rather irksome deirree of restriction aim! surveillance. In Mr. O'Brien's casu all the authorities of the island have been at work to make his position as com foi table as his folly and the rules of aafc-keepinsr would allow. Mr. O'Briou hiinseh admits—" Considered as a prison, Maria Island is as little objectionable as any other spot that cou'tl be cho«en. The scetierv is t .icture*q>ie, and the loral officers have been as kind as they could venture to be under the inhuman regulations laid down for their guidance by the Comptroller-General. I am, therefore, rather sorry to learn that this station will soon be broken up." Our little Napoleon does not tell us what these inhuman regulations are, hut we have no doubt they amount to the occasional si^'it of a policeman, .and now and then, a bayonet, a rather promenade, limi ed a prohibition of mass meetings, and some check upon Mr. O'Brien's constitutional appetite for conspiracy and pike«heads. Considering that everybody has his share of annoyances, Mr. OBrien docs not seem particularly ill off. Indeed, he says, "Every other source of suffering appears to me to be so insignificant compared with that of separation from my family, that I icconcile myself to the minor vexations incident to my^ portion as to matteis of comparative indifference." Thii, then, ia the greatest- of Mr. O'Brien's troubles. Nay, it is the only trouble he cares about, for he is indifferent to al! his minor vexations when he thinks of his family with the whole world between them. But this only and all-absorbing trouble, as he goes on to say. he could put an end to at once, by writing to Mrs. OBrien and her children to join him. Why doesn't he ? Because, he says, the present condition of Van Diemen's Land is too bad to describe, and it would be the greatest injustice to his ci ildren to bring; them into it. "When an exile tallis of his wile and family, of course it requires some courage to refuse him our sympathy. But how stand the plain, facts of the case ? There is now in Van Diemen's Land a Bishop, a singularly accomplished and amiable man. There is a large body of clergymen who might have filled any position with credit in this country. There is a numerous class of respectable settlers, who hate left this country for much more honourable reasons, and whose socieiy it much 1-ss deleterious than Mr. S. O'Brien's. Why, then, should not the family of the mi-guided convict take its chance wi'h the other gentlemen's families in the islnnd ? Mr. S. OBrien has only to take out a tickit of leave, and he can live with them. juntas comfortably and lecurelv as in Ire* land. Bqt, no. He won't do this. He does not care for wife or children, or any other consideration, so long as he can have the idioi'a »mus°ment of hurling his impotent defiance &t Queen Victoria and her repiesenratives. When a man refuses to keep the Queen's peace theie is no alternative whatever but to keep him in durance. It has often been observed that half the miseries and miifortuues of lite arno from people trying io be two things at once. Providence clearly meant every man to be one thing;, but almost every man wants to be two. Mr. S. OBrien wants to be an tinpacified, unpardoned, implacable rebel, and also a gentleman at large. Declining- to be under engaj»ei menf, and flattering himself that the rebellion, though pin down in Ireland, still lives in him, he nevertheless imagines that he is to have the run of Her Majesty's dominions. Of course we have every right to suspect a man who refuses to give his parole. But grant that Mr. OBrien merely wants liberty for recreation, for health, and for intercourse with his family and friends, and will agree to just b<> much surveillance us will pre-vent-him from doing harm or running away. To confine him without the sense of confinement, to extend the cordon so far that it sha 1 never be felt or seen, would require an army of policemen and soldiers; and we cannoi afford that cost. There are too many loyal and innocent people at home with claims on our interest and our exchequer to leave us much to spare for the imaginative and sell-inflicted hardhhips of a contumac ous rebel. If Mr. S. OBrien prefers self-torture, it is his own lookout. The people of this country will class him with the poor creatures in Indin, who suspend themselves by hooks through their ribs, or clinch their h'sti till their naili come out at the backs of their hands, or stand always on one leg", or keep one arm always raised, or practice some other stupid foolery, of that ion. Mr. S. O'Brien'* is simply a case of political fetish, the ruling motive of which is the hope, wot of pleasing some abominable idol, but of annoying a Kind and sensible lady, with her loyal advisers. The British public can have nothing at all to do with such nonsense, and we veiy much question whether there are six persons in this island who look on Mr. S. OBrien in any other li^h r than as a mischievous simpleton, who has got considerably less than his de«erts. We are only concerned wilh the penalty which Government desired to inflict, and, considering the malignant nnd sanguinary character of the crime, it would be difficult to conceive a milder punishment. With a ticket-of-leave this gentleman might be at large in a beautiful island, with a fine climate, and with almost his choice of society. Possibly there are few people in Van Dismen's Land, or anywhere else, who would not give a hoipilable reception to suchr a man as Mr. S. OBrien, a man of good family, oi education, and some little ability, if he only chose to behave like other gentlemen, instead of throwing! things everywhere into disorder. His confederates Milchel, O'Donohoe, Dowling, and the rest, appear to have made themselves very comfortable there. They find a great improvement n> their health and spirits, write amusing letters to their friends at home, and evidently feel colonial employment almost hs exciting as an Irish rebellion. What is more, they begin to suspect that they have had a very narrow escape, and it just dnwns upon them that they deserved to be hung. Mitchel, as described in a letter from Dowling, is quite content with having protested against the state of things in Ireland, and so washed his bands of the blame. When a man. makes a fool of himself he always has lome consolation, and we can afford to let Mitchel have his, if he pleases ; though we do not see how a man who ge's up a rebe'hon which is instantly suppressed, and which leaves the countiy in a worse state than it was in before, can be said to have washed his hand* of his country's misfortunes. These people, however, contrast very favourably with Mr. S. OBrien, who would be hung and nobody should pardon him, and who now will be a prisoner, and nobody shall give him his liberty. Such perver3eness as this is so much what we meet with in the youngest and most fractious mm «tes of a nursery, or in the worst subjects in the refiactory ward of a union workhouse, and is so little what we meet with among fullgrown gfiiiliman and ladies, that Mr. S. OBrien does not even succeed in making any-body uncomfortable on his account. The public neither admires nor pities him, nor is it in the least distressed ordisturbet < n ltis account. It piesumes that Mr. S. OBrien lakes the course most agreeable to his feelings ; and concludes, that if be were not allowed to play at the g.nne of political martyr, be would be after some other equally fjolish, and perhaps mose hjuiious occupation.