After the verdict had been returned against Colonel Warren, Augustine
E. Costello was put on his trial, charged with the same offence--that
of having formed cne of the invading party who landed from the "Erin's
Hope," in the neighbourhood of Dungarvan. He, too, was an adopted
citizen of the United States, and he declared that he was anxious to
follow the course that had been taken by his friend, Colonel Warren,
in reference to his trial; but, deferring to the strongly-expressed
wish of his counsel, he would leave his case in their hands. An able
defence was made for him by Messrs. Heron and Molloy, Q.C., instructed
by Mr. Scallan, Solicitor; but it was all in vain. When he was called
on to say why sentence should not be pronounced on him, he delivered
the following address in a loud tone of voice, his fresh young
face glowing with emotion as he spoke, and his manner showing deep
excitement, but withal a fearless and noble spirit:--
In answer to the question put to me by the Clerk of the Court,
I will speak a few words. I don't intend to say much, and I
will trespass on foibidden ground but as little as possible.
I am perfectly satisfied that there has not been one fact
established or proved that would justify a conscientious and
impartial jury in finding me guilty of treason-felony. There
is an extreme paucity of evidence against me;--that everyone
who has been here while this case has been proceeded with
will admit frankly and candidly. We need no stronger proof of
this fact than that the first jury that was empanelled to try
me had, after a long and patient hearing of the case, to be
discharged without having found me guilty of treason-felony.
Ah! there were a few honest men on that jury. They knew that
Augustine E. Costello was not guilty of the crime trumped up
against him. They knew I was not guilty. Mr. Anderson, sitting
there, knows that I am not a felon, but that I am an honest
man; that as such I stand here in this dock, where Robert
Emmett stood, where Robert Emmett spoke from; and the actions
and the words of that Emmett have immortalized him, and he now
lies embalmed in the hearts of the world.
The LORD CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to proceed in that
strain.
COSTELLO--I can say to those assembled here, and who are now
listening to me, that I stand here, branded, as I am, a felon,
but with a clear conscience. No one can point the finger of
scorn against me, and say I have sold my brother and committed
perjury. Can every man in this court house lay his hand on his
heart and say the same? Answer me, Mr. Anderson. Answer me,
Governor Price.
The LORD CHIEF BARON--You are again transgressing. You had
better stop for a moment or two; you seem to be excited.
COSTELLO--My lord, as you truly remark. I have allowed my
feelings to run away with my discretion; but it is hard for
a man to stand here, satisfied as I am of innocence, knowing
full well that I have committed no wrong; it is hard for a
man in the bloom of youth, when the world looks fair and
prosperous to him--when all he loves is in that world--it is
hard that a man should be torn from it, and incarcerated in a
living tomb. My lords, I am an humble individual; I claim no
rights but the rights that emanated from a Godhead--the rights
that were given to me at the hour of my birth. That right is
my inalienable liberty, and that no government, no people,
has a right to take from me. I am perfectly satisfied to stand
before a British tribunal to answer for acts or words of mine,
if I break any of the laws of the country; but, my lords,
you must admit that I have transgressed no law. His lordship,
Judge Keogh--I must now candidly admit that I have heard
a great deal about that gentle nan that was not at all
complimentary to him--but I say for myself that his lordship,
Judge Keogh has dealt with me in the fairest manner he could
have done. I have nothing to say against the administration of
the law, as laid down by you; but I say a people who boast of
their freedom--hold up their magnanimous doings to the world
for approval and praise--I say those people are the veriest
slaves in existence to allow laws to exist for a moment which
deprive a man of liberty.
The LORD CHIEF BARON--It is impossible for a Court
administering the law, to allow you to speak in such terms
against such law.
[Illustration: Augustine E. Costello.]
COSTELLO--I speak under correction, my lord. You must, if you
please, be assured that I do not attribute any wrong to
your lordships--far be it from me; I acknowledge and again
reiterate that. So far as the law is concerned, I have had a
dose that has almost killed me; but if there was a little--a
very little--justice mixed in that law, I would not be now
addressing your lordships. Of the law I have had sufficient,
but I have come to the conclusion that justice is not to be
found inside a British courthouse. My lords, I complain, and
grievously, of what my friend Colonel Warren and my friend
General Halpin complained of--of being tried in this Court
as a British subject; and I think your lordships will not
reprimand me much for that expression. I left the shores of my
native land--Ireland is the land of my birth, and I am proud
to own it. I am proud to say that I am an Irishman, but I am
also proud and happy to state that I am an adopted citizen of
the United States; and while true to the land of my birth, I
can never be false to the land of my adoption. That is not
an original phrase, but it expresses the idea which I mean to
convey. Now, my lords, my learned and very able counsel, who
have conducted my case with the greatest ability and zeal, and
of whom I cannot speak in terms of sufficient praise, demanded
for me a jury half alien. I was refased it. I was born in
this country, and I was, while breath remained in my body, a
British subject. In God's name--if I may mention His holy name
without sufficient reasons--what affection should I have for
England? You cannot stamp out the instincts that are in the
breast of man--man will be man to the end of time--the very
worm you tread upon will turn upon your feet. If I remained in
this country till I descended to the grave, I would remain in
obscurity and poverty. I left Ireland, not because I disliked
the country--I love Ireland as I lovs myself--I left Ireland
for the very good and cogent reason that I could not live in
Ireland. But why could I not live here? I must not say; that
would be trespassing. I must not mention why I was forced to
leave Ireland--why I am now placed in this dock. Think you,
my lords, that I would injure a living being--that I would,
of my own free accord, willingly touch a hair upon the head
of any man? No, my lords; far would it be from me; but that
government which has left our people in misery--
The LORD CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to trespass on
political grievances.
COSTELLO--I am afraid I am occupying the time of the court
too much, but really a man placed in such a position as I now
occupy, finds it necessary to make a few observations. I know
it savours of a great deal that is bad and foul to be mixed
up with Fenian rebels, assassins, and cut-throats. It is
very bad; it is not a very good recommendation for a young
man. Even were that fact proved home to me--that I were a
Fenian--no act of mine has ever thrown dishonour on the name.
I know not what Fenian means. I am an Irishman, and that is
all-sufficient.
The prisoner then proceeded to criticise the evidence against him
at considerable length. He declared emphatically that one of the
documents sworn to be in his handwriting was not written by him. He
thus continued:--
Your lordships are well aware that there are many
contradictions in the informers' testimony, and now here is
a matter which I am going to mention for the first time.
Corydon. in his first information at Kilmainham, swears that
he never knew me until he saw me at a Fenian pic-nic, and this
he modifies afterwards by the remark, that any man would be
allowed into these pic-nics on the payment of a certain sum.
I did not pay much attention to what the fellow was saying
about me, as I thought it did not affect me in the least; but
this I can distinctly remember, that Mr. Anderson, jun.--and
he is there to say if I am saying anything false--said that
the evidence of Corydon did not affect any one of the six
prisoners put in this dock but another and myself. It _is_
very strange if that was said by Mr. Anderson. He knew
that there was nothing more to be got out of Corydon,
the informer--that he had told everything he knew in his
information, but on pressure there was found to be a little
left in the sponge. They refreshed his memory a little, and
he comes to think that he saw Costello at a meeting in
814 Broadway I think he gives it. And here is a singular
occurrence--that Devany, who never swore an information
against me, comes on the table and swears that he also saw me
at 814 Broadway Here is one informer striving to corroborate
the other. It is a well-known fact that these informers speak
to each other, go over the evidence, and what is more likely
thin that they should make their evidence to agree--say, "I
will corroborate your story, you corroborate mine." By this
means was it that the overt acts of the 5th of March, which
took place at Stepaside, Glencullen, and Tallaght, were
brought home to Costello--a man who was 4,000 miles away,
and living--and I say it on the word of a man, a Christian
man--peaceably, not belonging to that confederation. I did
not belong to the Fenian Brotherhood for twelve months before
I left America, if I did belong to it at any other time, so
help me God! God witnesses what I say, and he records my words
above. It is a painful position to be placed in. I know I am
a little excited. Were I to speak of this matter under other
circumstances, I would be more cool and collected. Were I
conscious of guilt--did I know that I merited this punishment,
I would not speak a word, but say that I deserved and well
merited the punishment about to be inflicted upon me. But,
my lords, there never was a man convicted in this court more
innocent of the charges made against him than Costello. The
overt acts committed in the county of Dublin, admitting
that the law of England is as it was laid down by your
lordship, that a man, a member of this confederacy, if
he lived in China, was responsible for the acts of his
confederates--admitting that to be law, I am still an innocent
man. Admitting and conceding that England has a right to try
me as a British subject, I still am an innocent man. Why do I
make these assertions? I know full well they cannot have any
effect in lessening the term of my sentence. Can I speak for
the sake of having an audience here to listen to me? Do I
speak for the satisfaction of hearing my own feeble voice? I
am not actuated by such motives. I speak because I wish to
let you know that I believe myself innocent; and he would be
a hard-hearted man, indeed, who would grudge me those few
sentences. Now, my lord, I have observed I did not belong to
the Fenian confederacy in March of this present year. I did
not belong to the Fenian confederacy anterior to the period
that Corydon and Devany allege that they saw me act as centre
and secretary to Fenian meetings; that, anterior to that
period, I never took act or part in the Fenian conspiracy up
to the period of my leaving America. Does it do me any good to
make these statements? I ask favours, as Halpin said, from
no man. I ask nothing but justice--stern justice--even-handed
justice. If I am guilty--if I have striven to overthrow the
government of this country, if I have striven to revolutionize
this country, I consider myself enough of a soldier to
bare my breast to the consequences, no matter whether that
consequence may reach me on the battle-field or in the cells
of Pentonville. I am not afraid of punishment. I have moral
courage to bear all that can be heaped upon me in Pentonville,
Portland, or Kilmainham, designated by one of us as the modern
Bastile. I cannot be worse treated, no matter where you send
me to. There never was a more infernal dungeon on God's earth
than Kilmainham. It is not much to the point, my lord. I will
not say another word about it. I believe I saw in some of the
weekly papers that it would be well to appoint a commission to
inquire--
The LORD CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to proceed with that
subject.
COSTELLO--I will not say another word. I will conclude now.
There is much I could say, yet a man in my position cannot
help speaking. There are a thousand and one points affecting
me here, affecting my character as a man, affecting my life
and well-being, and he would be a hard-hearted man who could
blame me for speaking in strong terms. I feel that I have
within me the seeds of a disease that will soon put me into
an early grave, and I have within my breast the seeds of a
disease which will never allow me to see the expiration of my
imprisonment. It is, my lord, a disease, and I hope you will
allow me to speak on this subject, which has resulted from
the treatment I have been subjected to. I will pass over it as
rapidly as I can, because it is a nasty subject--Kilmainham.
But the treatment that I have received at Kilmainham--I will
not particularize any man, or the conduct of any man--has
been most severe, most harsh, not fit for a beast, much less
a human being. I was brought to Kilmainham, so far as I know,
without any warrant from the Lord Lieutenant. I was brought on
a charge the most visionary and airy. No man knew what I was.
No one could tell me or specify to me the charge on which I
was detained. I asked the magistrates at Dungarvan to advise
me of these charges. They would not tell me. At last I drove
them into such a corner as I might call it, that one of them
rose up and said, with much force, "You are a Fenian." Now, my
lords, that is a very accommodating word. If a man only breaks
a window now he is a Fenian. If I could bring, or if I had
only the means of bringing, witnesses from America, I would
have established my innocence here without a probability of
doubt. I would have brought a host of witnesses to prove that
Costello was not the centre of a circle in 1866. I would
have brought a host of witnesses to prove that he was not
the secretary of a circle--never in all his life. My lords, I
speak calmly, and weigh well, and understand every word that
I say. If I speak wrong, time will bring the truth to the
surface, and I would sooner have fifteen years added to my
sentence than that any man might say I spoke from this dock,
which I regard as a holy place, where stood those whom I
revere as much as I do any of our saints--
The LORD CHIEF BARON--I cannot suffer you to proceed thus.
COSTELLO--I would not speak one word from this dock which I
knew to be other than truth. I admit there is a great deal of
suspicion, but beyond that there are no facts proved to bring
home the charge against me. What I have stated are facts,
every one of them. Now, my lords, is it any wonder that I
should speak at random and appear a little bit excited. I am
not excited in the least. I would be excited in a degree were
I expressing myself on any ordinary topic to any ordinary
audience. It is my manner, your lordships will admit, and
you have instructed the jury not to find me guilty, but to
discharge me from the dock, if they were not positive that
I was a Fenian on the 5th March. I believe these are the
instructions that his lordship, Justice Keogh, gave to the
jury--if I were not a Fenian on the 5th March, I was entitled
to an acquittal. Well I was not a Fenian at that time. I say
so as I have to answer to God. Now, to conclude. I have not
said much about being an American citizen. For why? I am not
permitted to speak on that subject. Now, as Colonel Warren
remarked, if I am not an American citizen, I am not to be held
responsible, but to the American Government. I did not press
myself on that government. They extended to me those rights
and those privileges; they said to me, "Come forward, young
man; enrol yourself under our banner, under our flag; we
extend to you our rights and privileges--we admit you to the
franchise." I came not before I was asked. The invitation
was extended to me. I had no love then, and never will have,
towards England, and I accepted the invitation. I did forswear
allegiance to all foreign potentates, and more particularly
I forswore all allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain. Your
lordships say that the law of the land rules that I had no
right to do anything of the kind. That is a question for the
governments to settle. America is guilty of a great fraud if I
am in the wrong.
The LORD CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to proceed in that
line of argument.
COSTELLO--I will take up no more of your time. If I am still a
British subject, America is guilty.
The LORD CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to refer either to
the American people or to the American government.
COSTELLO--Would you allow me to state they enticed me from my
allegiance to England; therefore she (America) is guilty of
high treason?
The LORD CHIEF BARON--We cannot allow you to speak on that
subject.
COSTELLO--I will conclude, then. I have nothing to say further
than to thank your lordships for the latitude you have given
me in these few remarks, and also to thank your lordships for
your kindness during my trial. I know you have done me every
justice; you did not strain the law against me; you did
everything that was consistent with your duty to do, and
I have nothing to complain of there. I must again thank my
learned and able counsel for the able, zealous, and eloquent
manner in which they defended me. I am at a loss for words
to express the gratitude I owe to each and every one of those
gentlemen who have so ably conducted my case. Now, my lords,
I will receive that sentence which is impending. I am prepared
for the worst. I am prepared to be torn from my friends, from
my relations, from my home. I am prepared to spend the bloom
of my youth in a tomb more dark and horrible than the tomb
wherein the dead rest. But there is one consolation that
I will bring into exile, if I may so call that house of
misery--a clear conscience, a heart whose still small voice
tells me that I have done no wrong to upbraid myself with.
This is the consolation that I have,--that my conscience
is clear. I know it appears somewhat egotistical for me to
speak thus, but it is a source of consolation for me that I
have nothing to upbraid myself with, and I will now say in
conclusion, that if my sufferings can ameliorate the wrongs or
the sufferings of Ireland. I am willing to be offered up as a
sacrifice for the good of old Erin.
* * * * *