mine-clad
dignitaries who were about to consign, him to the gibbet. He spoke
with emphasis, and in tones which seemed to borrow a something of the
fire and spirit of his words. He said:--

"I shall commence by saying that every witness who has sworn
anything against me has sworn falsely. I have not had a stone
in my possession since I was a boy. I had no pistol in my
possession on the day when it is alleged this outrage was
committed. You call it an outrage, I don't. I say further,
my name is Michael O'Brien. I was born in the county of Cork,
and have the honour to be a fellow-parishioner of Peter
O'Neal Crowley, who was fighting against the British troops at
Mitchelstown last March, and who fell fighting against British
tyranny in Ireland. I am a citizen of the United States
of America, and if Charles Francis Adams had done his duty
towards me, as he ought to do in this country, I would not be
in this dock answering your questions now. Mr. Adams did not
come though I wrote to him. He did not come to see if I could
not find evidence to disprove the charge, which I positively
could, if he had taken the trouble of sending or coming to see
what I could do. I hope the American people will notice that
part of the business. [The prisoner here commenced reading
from a paper he held in his hand.] The right of man is
freedom. The great God has endowed him with affections that
he may use, not smother them, and a world that may be enjoyed.
Once a man is satisfied he is doing right, and attempts to do
anything with that conviction, he must be willing to face all
the consequences. Ireland, with its beautiful scenery, its
delightful climate, its rich and productive lands, is capable
of supporting more than treble its population in ease and
comfort. Yet no man, except a paid official of the British
government, can say there is a shadow of liberty, that there
is a spark of glad life amongst its plundered and persecuted
inhabitants. It is to be hoped that its imbecile and
tyrannical rulers will be for ever driven from her soil,
amidst the execration of the world. How beautifully the
aristocrats of England moralise on the despotism of the
rulers of Italy and Dahomey--in the case of Naples with what
indignation did they speak of the ruin of families by the
detention of its head or some loved me