itten, a batch of inquests were held there, one
of which bids fair to be, for a long time, famous, on account of the
verdict returned. There were forty deaths, but from some cause, perhaps
for want of time, there were only fifteen inquests. A respectable jury
having been sworn, the first of these was upon a man named John
Sullivan. One of the witnesses in the case said a messenger came and
announced to him that a man was lying on the old road in a bad state.
Witness proceeded to the place, but, in the first instance, alone;
finding the man still alive, he returned for help to remove him. He got
a servant boy and a cart; but on going again to where Sullivan was
lying, he found life was extinct. The jury having consulted, the foreman
announced their verdict in these terms: "From the multitude of deaths
which have taken place in the locality, and the number of inquests which
have already been held, without any good resulting, he thought, with his
fellow-jurors, that they ought to bring in a general verdict,
inculpating Lord John Russell, as the head of the Government. That
Minister had the power of keeping the people alive, and he would not do
so. Notwithstanding the fatal consequences which had attended his
policy, he had expressed his determination to persevere in the same
course, and therefore he (the foreman) thought that he was guilty of
this death and of the rest. He would bring in no other verdict but one
of _wilful murder_ against Lord John Russell." The Rev. Mr. Barry
suggested that the verdict should simply record the immediate cause of
death--starvation; and the jury might append their opinion as to how far
it was attributable to the neglect of Lord John Russell in yielding to
the interests of a class of greedy monopolists. The foreman said he
wished it should be remembered that the opinion which he had expressed
with reference to the conduct of the Government was that of men upon
their oaths. A verdict was ultimately given of death from starvation,
with the addition mentioned.

The inquest was held in the Court-house, in presence of three
magistrates, assisted by the Catholic clergy of the town, and the
officers of the Constabulary.

Other verdicts of the same tendency, although not so decided in tone as
this one, were recorded in different parts of the country. At Lismore an
inquest was held on a man, also named Sullivan, and the jury found that
his death was caused by the neglect of the Government in not sen