The Prisoner--"All I have to say is, that I was not at Geary's house
for four or five months before my arrest, so that Warner's statement
is untrue. If, having served my country honestly and sincerely be
treason, I am not ashamed of it. I am now prepared to receive any
punishment British law can inflict on me."
The punishment decreed to this pure-minded and brave-spirited patriot
was ten years of penal servitude. But to him it was practically a
sentence of death. The rigours and horrors of prison life were more than
his failing constitution could long endure; and but a few months from
the date of his conviction elapsed when his countrymen were pained by
the intelligence that the faithful-hearted John Lynch filled a nameless
grave in an English prison-yard. He died in the hospital of Woking
prison on the 2nd day of June, 1866.
When Bryan Dillon and John Lynch were removed from the dock (Tuesday,
December 19th), two men named Jeremiah Donovan and John Duggan were put
forward, the former charged with having been a centre in the Fenian
organization, and the latter with having sworn some soldiers into the
society. Both were found guilty. Donovan made no remarks when called
upon for what he had to say. Duggan contradicted the evidence of the
witnesses on several points, and said:--
"I do not state those things in order to change the sentence I am
about to receive. I know your lordships' minds are made up on that. I
state this merely to show what kind of tools the British government
employ to procure those convictions. I have only to say, and I appeal
to any intelligent man for his opinion, that the manner in which the
jury list was made out for these trials clearly shows that in this
country political trials are a mere mockery."
At this point the judge cut short the prisoner's address, and the two
men were sentenced, Donovan to five years and Duggan to ten years of
penal servitude.
The trial of Underwood O'Connell was then proceeded with. It concluded
on December 21st, with a verdict of guilty. In response to the question
which was then addressed to him he spoke at considerable length,
detailing the manner of his arrest, complaining of the horrible
indignities to which he had been subjected in prison, and asserting that
he had not received a fair and impartial trial. He spoke amidst a
running fire of interruptions from the court, and when he came to refer
to his political opinions his discourse was peremptorily suppressed.
"The sentiments and hopes that animate me," he said, "are well known."
"Really we will not hear those observations," interposed Mr. Justice
Keogh. "It has been brought forward here," said the prisoner, "that I
held a commission in the 99th regiment--in Colonel O'Mahony's regiment.
Proud as I am of having held a commission in the United States service,
I am equally proud of holding command under a man--." Here his speech
was stopped by the judges, and Mr. Justice Keogh proceeded to pass
sentence. In the course of his address his lordship made the following
observations:--
"You, it appears, went to America; you entered yourself in the
American army, thus violating, to a certain extent, your allegiance
as a British subject. But that is not the offence you are charged
with here to-day. You say you swore allegiance to the American
Republic, but no man by so doing can relieve himself from his
allegiance to the British Crown. From the moment a man is born in
this country he owes allegiance, he is a subject."
Hearing these words, and remembering the great outcry that was being
made by the friends of the government against the Irish-American Fenians
on the ground that they were "foreigners," the prisoner interposed the
apt remark on his lordship's legal theory:--
"If that is so, why am I charged with bringing over foreigners--John
O'Mahony is no foreigner?"
To that remark Judge Keogh did not choose to make any reply. It
overturned him completely. Nothing could better exhibit the absurdity of
railing against those Irishmen as "foreigners" in one breath, and in the
next declaring their allegiance to the British Crown perpetual and
inalienable. His lordship may have winced as the point was so quickly
and neatly brought home to him; but at all events he went on with his
address and informed the prisoner that his punishment was to be ten
years of penal servitude. Upon which, the comment of the prisoner as he
quitted the dock, was that he hoped there would be an exchange of
prisoners before that time.
In quick succession four men named Casey, Began, Hayes, and Barry, were
tried, convicted, and sentenced. Each in turn impugned the evidence of
the informer Warner, protested against the constitution of the juries,
and attempted to say a few words declaratory of their devotion to the
cause of Ireland. But the judges were quick to suppress every attempt of
this kind, and only a few fragments of sentences are on record to
indicate the thoughts to which these soldiers of liberty would have
given expression if the opportunity had not been denied to them.
John Kennealy was the next occupant of the dock. He was a young man of
high personal character, and of great intelligence, and was a most
useful member of the organization, his calling--that of commercial
traveller--enabling him to act as agent and missionary of the Society
without attracting to himself the suspicion which would be aroused by
the movements of other men. In his case also the verdict was given in
the one fatal word. And when asked what he had to say for himself, his
reply was in these few forcible and dignified sentences:--
"My lord, it is scarcely necessary for me to say anything. I am sure
from the charge of your lordship, the jury could find no other
verdict than has been found. The verdict against me has been found by
the means by which political convictions have always been found in
this country. As to the informer, Warner, I have only to say that
directly or indirectly I never was in the same room with him, nor had
he any means of knowing my political opinions. As to my connexion
with Mr. Luby, I am proud of that connexion. I neither regret it, nor
anything else I have done, politically or otherwise."
On the conclusion of this trial, on Saturday, January 2nd, 1866, two
other cases were postponed without option of bail; some other persons
were allowed to stand out on sureties, and we read that "John McAfferty
and William Mackay, being aliens, were admitted to bail on their own
recognizance, and Judge Keogh said that if they left the country they
would not be required up for trial when called." We read also, in the
newspapers of that time, that "The prisoners McAfferty and Mackay when
leaving the courts were followed by large crowds who cheered them loudly
through the streets."
The Cork Commission was then formally closed, and next day the judges
set off to resume in Dublin the work of trying Irish conspirators
against the rule of England over their native land.
* * * * *