then taken away all the fire arms got in the houfe, and concealed them under a bay-rick, belonging to a man

ittee man; that the prifoner was walking up Blackhorfe lane with the witnefs, and pointed out to him the houfe of the committee-man, and the fpot in the field wherein the hay-rick flood, under which the arms had been concealed, and alfo fhewed him at a diftance the house which had been robbed of thofe arms; the blunderbufs he faid he had left with a perfon to have it mended.

The witnefs afterwards attended a meeting of defenders at the houfe of one Toole, at the upper end of Corkstreet, where he, with fome others, were taken. He knew before he went there, that there was to be a meeting of defenders, and had told Mr. Cowen (to whom he made this difcovery) and alderman James;-the prifoner was no at the meeting in Drury-lane, when Coffee was in the chair. He made this difcovery to Mr. Cowen on the 24th of Auguft; the meeting at Toole's was the Saturday following.

to meet in. The members thus affoci ated were called the philanthropic fociety, and any member who should propofe a friend had the liberty of introdu-ne neighbourhood, who was a comcing him. He then proved his own admiffion to the fociety of defenders, and the oaths adminiftered and fignals communicated to him by Weldon, of the black horfe, as ftated in the former trial, alfo the meeting in Plunket fireet of defenders, the fubfcription there entered into for the purchase of gunpowder, and the fubfequent meeting at Stony-batter, where a young man whom he did not know was introduced and fworn, and received the defender's fignals from Hart; he fays it was at this laft mentioned meeting he firft faw the prifoner Leary, who was then rather in liquor; he could not fwear pofitively that Leary was in the room with the reft of the company, either when the defender's oath was adminiftered by Hart, for the purpofe of getting arms to affift the French in cafe of invafion explained by him; nor is he pofitive that Leary was in the room at the time Hart called upon all the members prefent that they would attend on the following night, armed for the purpose of going out to feize arms; but he has feen Leary ufe the defender's figns in the street, and fome days after the meeting at Stony batter the prifoner told him, that on the night of that meeting, after he (the witnefs) went away, the party went to a houfe in Black-horfe-lane, the fervant of which was a defender; that the prifoner faid they endeavoured to break in the pannel of a ball door with a ftone, and that in confequence, a great noife was made at the houfe by the ringing of a bell. That the prifo ner told him he went to the corner of the houfe to try if he could difcover who made the noife, he having a blunder bufs in his hand, but not feeing any body, he returned to the hall-door, and broke in the pannel with the butt-end of the blunderbufs, in which endeavour he had broken the flock of it. That the door was broke open in confequence, and the prifoner faid he had gone up ftairs to feek for the perfon who rang the bell from the infide of the house, and, having found him, tript his legs from under him. That the party had

Crofs-examined by Counfellor Mac Nally. The witnefs faid he is bred a proteftant, and always profeffed tha religion, and riever did declare to any one he did not believe the existence of God. He fays, that Burke, Lebland Dry, Galland, and feveral others of thi philanthropic fociety, did endeavou ftrenuously to perfuade him there wa no faviour, and he was almost persua ded, by their arguments; but he not fees their fall acy. He never heard an

one fay there was no God; but he ha been converted from the difbelief int which he had been perfuaded, by th arguments of the perfons before ment oned, about three quarters of a yea and before his information to alderma James. He ferved the first three year of his apprenticeship to a Mr. Robinfo formerly of College-green, and Qu him in confequence of a fevere beatin he got; fome fmall frames hari be gone from Robinson's fhop, and the t king of them was falfely imputed to hi

He never was charged with ftealin a punch ladle, entrusted by his miftre

a

He recollects the trial of Mr. Jackfon, and that Mr. Cockayne was principal witnefs; and the night before that trial he recollects that Leblanc, and another perfon whofe name he forgets, but who was a coachmaker living in the Bull inn yard, Capel-ftreet, coming to his lodgings after he was in bed, and throwing fome clay againft his windows, and upon his looking out they defired him to come down immediately and bring with him any weapons he had, as they wanted him on urgent business. He accordingly came down with a fword, and went with them.

to him for conveyance to a filverfmith's lects fwearing fome little boys, who to be repaired. He ferved the rest of were to carry the books of the philan. his apprenticeship to Mr. Williamfon, thropic fociety. not to divulge the feof Grafton-street. When in London, crets of that fociety, but he cannot rehe entered as a member of the London member their names. correfponding fociety, not by his real Dame, but by that of William Wright, and his motive for changing his name was, that he had enlifted about a month before in the 29th regiment of foot, in which he was attefted upon oath, and from which he de.crted; he ufually at tended the meetings of the correfponding fociety in Bifhopfgate ftreet; fays he always led an honeft life fince he came to Dublin. He remembers fomething of a quarrel at a watch-houfe, in which his hand was wounded; it was in confequence of a man from Ringfend being taken and lodged in Mark's policehoufe, that he and fome of his companions went to the watchhoufe armed to refcue the man; fays he had fome piftols about him; that a piftol was discharged in the watch houfe; that he knows the perfon who difcharged it, but declines anfwering who the perfon was, not being bound to give any answer to criminate himfelf. He had at this time no ball cartridges at his lodgings.

He does not deny that he might have been in the chair frequently as prefident of both the philanthropic and telegraphic focieties. He fays thefe focieties profeffed to be for the purposes of reading, learning to write, and to fpeak French. By the means of Leblanc, &c. a quantity of books and paper was bought, but this was only a cloak, in cafe the fociety fhould be furprifed, it might appear they were men learning to write. He fwears he never was examined as a witnefs in a court of juftice before the trial of Weldon; that he never was charged in England for ftealing a watch, nor was examined there as evidence in any cause where a man was convicted and executed. That he never was charged with any difhonefty by his employer Mr. Gallagher in Dublin. He himself was the only perfon whom he knew to be armed at the meeting at Stony-batter; he had a fword and a piftol, and fhewed them to feveral perfons in the room: he recol

Leblanc faid they must ftop Cockayne from appearing next day against Jackfon. Leblanc brought them to an houfe in Stephen's green, on the right hand going towards Leefon-ftreet-he faid it was Mrs. Jackfon's; he went in, ftaid fome time, and then came out, faying Cockayne had been there, but was gone to his lodgings. They then went to Henry-ftreet, to the house where, he lodged, which Leblanc pointed out, and faid he would get in over the door, where there was a small glafs cafe; he was diffuaded. Leblanc t en faid he thould go for a man named Walker, who worked at Mr. Jackfon's foundery, in Church-ftreet, and bid the witnefs and the other man walk backward and forward near Cockayne's lodgings, till his return. They continued to do fo for above two hours and a half; but feeing no light in the windows upstairs, they concluded Cockayne was not at home. Leblanc faid if he could fee Cockayne, he would take him out of the way, fo as not to appear against Jackfon next day-in which cafe Jackfon must be cleared; but that if Cockayne was to be killed, what he had fworn in his examinations would be brought in evidence, and be deemed fufficient to convict Jackfon.

Alderman James proved his having received the examinations of the witnefs Lawler, in prefence of Mr. R 2 Cowes

Cowen, and the warrants iffued; and directions given by him to the police officers for the apprehenfion of the perfons fworn againft, and particularly Kennedy, in whofe fob the oath and catechifm of defenders were found. Mr. Carleton proved the finding of thofe papers in Kennedy's fob.

Mr. Atkinfon proved the apprehending of feveral perfons at an houfe near Crumlin, in company with the firft witness, agreeable to the inftructions given by alderman James.

Wm. Finnegan, whofe houfe near Black horfe-lane had been robbed of fire-arms, as ftated to have been acknowledged by the prifoner, proved the robbery, and that he had loft a blunderbufs, a fufee, and two odd piftols; but he fays the bell of his houfe was rung not by any man up ftairs, but by his niece from the ground floor.

The examination of witneffes for the crown being clofed, the clerk of the crown was proceeding to read in evidence the oath and catechifm found on Kennedy.

Mr. Mac Nally ftated to the court his humble opinion that there was no evidence whatever, to go to the jury which could fubftantiate any charge in this cafe againft the prifoner at the bar, his client, with refpect to thefe papers, because it did not appear by the teftimony of the approver, or any of the other witneffes, that the papers produced were ever in the poffeffion of the prifoner, nor did it appear that they were even read in his hearing, or that he had ever taken fuch an oath; for the only point of evidence which went at all to affect him was, that he was prefent at a meeting in Stony batter, but that he was in liquor at the time, and the approver could not even fwear that the prifoner was in the room at the time that an oath was faid to be administered by Hart, or when the explanation of the purposes of defenderifm was alleged to have been given, or at the fubfequent oath for attending a meeting on the next evening; it did not appear even what fort of oath was adminiftered by Hart, for the approver fwore he was at a diftance and could

not hear it. The rule of evidence with regard to written papers he took to be this, that if papers were found in the poffeffion or in the hand-writing of the prifoner, they might be read in evidence against him, but this was not the cafe in the prefent inftance.

Counfel for the crown difclaimed any intention of offering thefe papers as direct evidence against the prifoner, but only as proofs to fhew the nature, intent and objects of the defenders with whom he was connected, and under this confideration the court was of opinion they might be read. The papers being accordingly read by the clerk of the crown,

Counsellor Mae Nally addreffed the court and jury on the fubject of the evidence for the profecution, as relating to his client. He lamented that he ftood alone, unaided by any other counsel, on this occafion, and that confequently, exhaufted as he was by the whole weight and fatigue of this day's bufinefs, he was the lefs able to acquit himself in the manner he wifhed, or that his zeal and his duty in the defence of his unfortunate client (for unfortunate any man muft be, however innocent, who ftood accufed in the face of his country of a crime fo erroneous) called for. He felt fome confolation, however, that the evidence in this cafe refted on the cool, reflecting, and confcientious judgment of an enlightened, a difpaflionate and a reputable jury, who, he was confcious, valued too highly the blood of a fellow fubject, however humble his condition, to confign him to death, and his name to infamy, on any ground but the most firm conviction of his guilt, on teftimony which they had no reafon to doubt. He knew that he fpoke in the hearing of a wife, a difcerning and merciful court, under whofe direction the jury would be fhewn the great caution and fufpicion to which they were bound to look on the teftimony of Lawler; and that, if upon that teftimony they had any doubts (and it was impoffible to fuppofe they fhould not have doubts as to the veracity of such a witnefs coming forward under fuch circumftances) they would be bound

upon

1

that it became utterly impoffible for the prifoner to make any appeal from his affertions to the evidence of any other perfon.

and Sciences. He led the fociety in confequence of its fplitting into parties, and going into confufion. He was not in it more than two months; they met once a week; there were about fourteen members, and he fwears pofitively he knew no more than four, Lawler, Leblanc, Burke, and one Strephon.

The learned counfel felt it unneceffary to trefpafs longer upon the indul gence of the court, or the attention of the jury, confident as he was, that they could never affent to facrifice the life of Nicholas Clare fworn, fays, he is a a fellow fubject, to the uncorroborated mafter tailor, and lives in Townsendteftimony of a witnefs fo covered with ftreet, that he belonged to the philancrimes, and ftimulated on one hand by thropic and telegraphic focieties, which the fear of death, and on the other by were reading focieties, and fwears to the hope of pardon, and the expectation the fame declarations made to him by of reward. He fhould therefore only Lawler as fworn by the preceding wit proceed to call a witnefs or two, who, nets, and that on this account, and feeif he was rightly inftructed, would prove ing him take a leading part in the focithis Lawler, this modern Spinofa, was eties, he had immediately quit them. a man of fuch moral and religious fen- He does not think Lawler a man timents as that no man in his confcience to be believed on his oath, as he thinks would be warranted in accrediting to a man who would deny one perfon of the taking away the life of a fellow Tub- the trinity would deny all.. ject.

any

Crofs examined by the Solicitor GeSamuel Galland, called and fworn, neral. He fays he did not confider fays he is a grocer in Crane-lane, and. these focieties as met for any political was bred a hair dreffer: he was a difcuffion, or for feditious purpose, member of a reading fociety with it he had he would not have lent Lawler, but the inftitution was fo them Chambers's Dictionary, nor been young when he quit it, that it had a member of their affociation; he had adopted no name. He knew Lawler heard of fuch perfons as defenders, but before he went to London, and it knows nothing of their principles exwas immediately after his return the cept by hearfay. fociety was inftituted, and, at Lawler's inftance, the witnefs entered the fociety. Lawler had brought to him Paine's Age of Reafon, which the witnefs read, and declared. himself fhocked at fo terrible a doctrine, and Lawler faid he himself went fill farther than Paine, for that he not only difbe lieved the doctrine of a fa viour and of the trinity, but that of the existence of God, and of a future ftate: and believes that Lawler is not a man who ought to be believed on his oath in a court of juftice.

Cross-examined by the Attorney General, he fays he knew Lawler and had a regard for hirn, and was forry to hear he was apprehended on a charge of high treafon, and had a friendíhip for him notwithstanding his infidelity. "The fociety was not for political difcuf fion, it was for reading the papers of ahe day, and books of improvement, fuch as Chambers's Dictionary of Arts

Counfeilor Mac Nally, on afking this witness whether as a juror he would believe this man? was told by the court that queftion was an improper one.

William Ebbs fworn, fays, Lawlet lodged in his houfe in Cathedral-lan for a twelvemonth paft, excepting fince the time of his apprehenfion; he stil holds the lodgings, for his furniture i there; witnefs long wifhed to get ri of him as a tenant, because he though him of very improper conduct; he doe not think him entitled to credit upo his oath; the day after he was appre hended, he faw Lawler's wife in grea confternation carrying fomething s conceal in the dirt hole, and on search ing there he found two leathern bag one full of mufquet balls, and in th other a fledge head about nine poun weight; the wife had given him a pift to take care of, which was loaded, an from theie ci cumitances, and the charg against Lawler when apprehender!,