For this crime two men, named Brennan and Rodihan (the latter had been a student of Maynooth College, and was educated for the Roman Catholic priesthood) were arrested and brought to trial. Most positive evidence was borne against them by the unfortunate widow, who, hearing the screams and moans of her illfated husband, rushed to the spot in time to obtain a full view of his murderers. As a further confirmation of the guilt of Rodihan, the following facts were given in evidence on his trial, which I find reported as foilows in the Longford Messenger :Rodihan fled the country immediately after the murder ; the houses of his relatives and associates were searched time after time-rewards amounting to £1,500 were offered by the county gentlemen for his apprehension; and it was not till the month of March, 1836, that he was discovered in a cabin in the mountains of Leitrim, almost built into a small apartment,* and going under a false name.

not

The prisoners were acquitted by a jury composed of Roman Catholicsone of them being a relative of the prisoner Rodihan. It is for us to say what were the motives which influenced the jury-we say not whether their verdict was correct-but certainly it was one not expected by any one who heard the evidence.

To an Englishman this acquittal may appear extraordinary, but such acquittals are now unfortunately too common in this misgoverned country. Hundreds of murderers at this present time stalk with impunity through the land, and how, under the following circumstances, could it be otherwise, as the government, in its wisdom, has long since withdrawn the privilege held by the crown of challenging a certain number of the jury empannelled to try a case of murder.

The consequence has been, that, as in the case of Brock's murder, the accused person can select his own friends, and an acquittal is inevitably the result.

From this period until the death of Lord Forbes in Nov. 1836, the same system of intimidation and violence was pursued, and numberless outrages were committed with impunity. In

fact, the sword of justice was allowed to sleep peacefully in its scabbard, at a time, when murder for political purposes was an almost every day occurrence, and a conviction for such a crime unheard of.

In December 1836, an election again took place in consequence of Lord Forbes' death. Mr. Fox started on the Conservative interest, and Mr. Luke White, the oft defeated candidate, again on the Radical.

As the reader is well aware of the efforts which were successfully made by the Irish government, the Rebel Association, paid agitators, and the Romish priests, to return their nominee by fraud and violence, on the poll, I shall not enter into further details of that contest, but merely record, that the sister of a Protestant farmer, named Gee, was stabbed to death shortly after the election, in resisting the attack of came to her brother's house to rob him an armed body of ribbonmen who of his arms-and the murderer is as yet (as a matter of course) undiscovered.

From that time till the late general election, the same frightful system continued with unabated hostility, but with this aggravation, that hitherto, the deconfined their atrocities to the humbler luded and priest-ridden peasantry had class of Protestants; but after Mr.

Fox's election, they turned their hatred and fury against some of the leading resident gentlemen of the countyoutraging, and insulting their feelings wherever they met them; and in some their mansions by night, as in the case instances, breaking the windows of of Frederick Jessop, Esq. of Doory, a gentleman of large fortune, and a humane and excellent landlord, who gave constant employment to hundreds of and whom, for the present, they have the infatuated population around him, famous conduct. driven out of the country by their in

In short, the county Longford this day presents a picture of the most frightful state of disorganization, and suppressed rebellion, and is but a fac simile of every other county in Ireland, where the benign system of Mulgravisation has been introduced.

Mr. Luke White and his brother, were returned at the late general election by the same unconstitutional ex

ertions, but there is little doubt will be unseated on petition.

I shall select two more outrages of the many that have been perpetrate f since then, both attended with loss life.

Mr. Andrew Johnston, a respectable Protestant farmer, residing near Ballymahon, voted for the Conservative candidates at the election. The consequence was, an unrelenting persecution by his Roman Catholic neighbours, at the head of whom figured the priest of the parish, named Dawson, a notorious agitator in the country; who in order to punish Mr. Johnston for not voting with the people, determined to deprive him of the tolls and customs payable to him every market-day in Ballymahon, and which he rented from Mr. Shouldham, the landlord of the town.

Accordingly, supported by a riotous mob of his slavish flock, he set up a crane or weighing machine of his own, commanding every one to avoid Johnston's. The consequence was, that a riot ensued, in which Mr. Johnston and his son were ferociously assailed by the priest's followers, and in the scuffle one of the rioters was killed.

An inquest was held. The jury perhaps was composed of some of the persons engaged in the affray, and, as might be expected, a verdict was returned against Mr. Johnston, who was thrown into jail, where he remained many days, but was at length bailed out by two magistrates on their own responsibility.

The unfortunate victim of Popish persecution was but a few days liberated, before another attempt to assassinate him was made. The following extract, which I copy from the Dublin Evening Packet of Saturday last, will speak for itself—" As Andrew Johnston, Esq. of Ballymahon, was return ing from his farm on the 13th instant, accompanied by a man named Armstrong, in Mr. Johnston's employment, several shots were fired at him from behind a ditch. Mr. Johnston had a providential escape, several of the bullets having struck his gig. He has been a marked object of persecution since the late election, and shall be obliged to seek that protection in a

foreign land, which is denied him in his own."

I now come to the last outrage, which I shall adduce in order to demonstrate the extraordinary, and infatuated system of government pursued by Lord Mulgrave.

A few weeks ago, two policemen were patrolling the roads by night,suddenly they came in contact with a numerous body of men, some of them armed, who immediately fired on the police (happily without effect) and then fled. The policemen, notwithstanding the fearful odds opposed to them, gallantly returned the fire, and pursued the insurgents. Two men fell, one killed, the other (I believe) mortally wounded.

The following day it so happened, that Col. Shaw Kennedy, the Inspector General of Police in Ireland, was passing through Longford on his way to Sligo, to investigate the charges preferred against Major Browne after the election there, and hearing what had occurred, sent for the two policemen, one of them a sergeant, and complimented them in the highest terms for their bravery and good conduct. But what did this avail the poor policemen? A coroner's inquest was held on the body of the slaughtered ribbonman, and a verdict returned against them, the men who at the risk of their lives, had so nobly done their duty, were cast into prison, and allowed to languish there for some days before they were bailed.

Under such an appalling state of society is it to be wondered at, that the loyal and peaceable inhabitants of this unhappy country should call loudly and indignantly for the dismissal of the wicked and infatuated government, that for the sake of holding office, have handed it over to the tender mercies of O'Connell and the Romish priesthood? Is it not enough to drive the betrayed and persecuted Protestants mad, to hear (in the teeth of the most appalling facts to the contrary,) the monstrous falsehoods day by day uttered, by the ministerial press, and its leaders, of the tranquillity of Ireland? I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,

A RESIDENT OF LONGFord.

the reverend gentleman preparing to give them a warm reception, they immediately retreated."-Tipperary Constitution.

DESECRATION OF WATERFORD CHURCH.

We take the following from a letter of the Rev. A. Sargent, curate of Waterford, addressed to the editor of the Waterford Mail. It relates to an occurrence which took place on Tuesday, November 28th :

"SIR-As the clergyman who officiated in the cathedral church on Tuesday evening last, I beg leave, through the columns of your journal, to lay before the public a detail of the disgraceful and riot ous conduct which took place upon that occasion. On Monday morning, notices were posted through the city, announcing that on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, sermons would be preached in the cathedral church, on the Novelty of the Church of Rome,' and affectionately inviting the Roman Catholic inhabitants to attend. Supposing that the invitation would be as kindly received as it was intended, and never anticipating that violence and sacrilege would be committed in any place of worship, by persons calling themselves Chris tians, no precautionary measures were taken. Accordingly, on Tuesday, I, accompanied by the Rev. Denis Browne, who was to preach on the occasion, proceeded to the church, and having entered the reading desk, commenced the evening prayers. No sooner had I begun the service, than shouts, groans, and observations of the most indecent and blasphemous description, proceeded from a number of persons who surrounded the desk and the pulpit; indeed, from the commencement to the close, an uninterrupted scene of annoyance was kept up, as well in that locality as in several other parts of the church. Prayers being concluded, Mr. B. ascended the pulpit: for about five minutes he was permitted to address the assembled multitude, and which he did in the most affectionate and faithful manner, carefully avoiding the use of a single expression which could hurt the feelings of any individual; but upon his naming the Church of Rome, a scene of the most furious and outrageous description ensued. Epithets the most vile, observations the most obscene, and threats and gestures the most terrific, were, by hundreds of persons poured forth against that truly good man, that sincerely devoted servant of God; whose sole and only object in addressing them was to benefit their souls, and fulfil his blessed Redeemer's command of 'preaching the gospel to every creature.' After several ineffectual attempts to obtain a hearing, Mr. Browne retired, first

offering up a fervent prayer that at the last great day of judgment their acts of that night might not be laid to their charge, for they knew not what they did.

And now, Sir, I beg to state a most important fact: during the disgraceful scene above-mentioned, the chief constable of police, Mr. Wright, and the high constable of the city, Mr. Abernethy, were actually within the walls of the church; the office of the chief magistrate, Dr. Poole, within one hundred yards of the church, and his private residence not two hundred yards distant; yet no attempt whatever was made by any of the constituted authorities to repress the illegal tumult."

December 18-The following memorial, forwarded to the Lords Justices, will place the transaction on record in a clearer and more authentic form:

To the Lords Justices of Ireland. "The humble memorial of the undersigned Protestants of the City of Waterford,

"Sheweth, That on Tuesday, the 28th of November, the evening service of the church of England was intended to be performed in the cathedral church of the said city, and that it was announced by public advertisement that a clergyman of the Church of England would, after the termination of the evening service, preach a sermon on the novelty of the church of Rome.

"That immediately upon the opening of the church doors at half-past six o'clock, half an hour before the commencement of the service, the church was for the most part crowded with an organised mob of the most abandoned inhabitants of the city.

"That this collection of people seemed to be under the control, and obedient to the commands of persons of more respectable appearance, and that such directors were persons professing the Roman Catholic religion.

"That during the reading of the evening service, the interruptions of the mob were continued in the most turbulent and disgraceful manner, viz.—shouting, whistling, and using the most menacing, indecent, and blasphemous expressions, both to the officiating clergyman and to the Protestant congregation there assembled.

"That immediately upon the Rev. Denis Browne commencing his sermon, the uproar and confusion became so great and alarming, (and some of the lights having been extinguished,) that the great portion of the more respectable females, and many other persons, dismayed by such a frightful scene, fled from the church.