Camden gazette. (Camden, S.C.) 1816-1818, November 15, 1817, Image 1
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ROGER O'CONNOR.
Commencement of the trial of Ro
ger .O'Connor, l>q and distin
. guished reception of Sir Francis
^Burdett.
We copy uie following accounts
from the Dublin Journal.
7 '*/Af, 3 d Au?u?t, 18 17.
1 arrived -here at j 2 o'clock?
the town is quite * full ? on getting
out of the carriage, the first person
I sa\* was Sir F. Burdeit ? he has
beer? here since Friday, 'and sleeps
at *an inn ? he breakfasts and dines
with O'Connor ? you will therefore
observe, that the newspapers re
port oFnis being at any nobleman
or gentleman's scat, is quite errone
ous ? he is here alone, no person
came with him ? he has been walk
ing about the town, from the time
I arrived, until now (3 o'clock)
nrm and arm with O'Connor's son.
^TCoihkh's trial will be fixed,? by
* j
consent of both panic., (as 1 un
derstand) for Tuesday morning; I
was in jail and saw him ? he ap
peared in high spirits, and 'several
gentlemen were wifhjiim. ? I have
_ jt*SI learned, tl: -tr a man of the
name at M'Keon, will be tried to
morrow, (Monday;) he rs "sup
posed to be a principal in the con
spiracy* N. 3 Any moneyv for a
bed. 4 V.
\ . t ? % % t '
Vestcrday, the Assises o^ Meat It,
* in 1 the Gfand Jury was sworn ; af
ter wjiich, his Lordship charged
1 _ ftng v. 1 ''
the Jury*
Thrive o'clock. ? Michael Owens,
Daniel VV aring, Dorothea Reynolds,
were sworn in court, in order to be
examined before the Grand Jury,
as witnesses agaiimMr. O'Cpnnor.
Owens, was under sentence of
death jn Kilmainham. Waring is
an iniprover, and 'Dorothea Key
mMs ^was a scrvanr wirh Mr.
O'Connor.'
VHalf past four o'clock. ? n'Con
nor was conducted fr?m the jail to
the court,, by the High Sheriff,
^nd.Sir Francis Burdett ahtt Kir.
t eldest son, walking
^frnyancl arifiyiih him, Mr. O'Con
. ftor wa; put into the dock, and
iinn^diatery went Dp to the bar.
Sir Francis Burdfct and Mr.'0'Con -
tioi *s son sat at Inc traverse's bar,
in front of Jkc dock) it being
Cleared for thmk% by the High She
liflFV The coWt wafc crowded to
xtiesft, and from the moment Mr.?
TCoiinor made his appearance, imtil
he withdrew* the most respectful
silence prevailed. He was dressed
in blue, antf looked extremely well;,
I. is deportment was dignified, he
jjVl a smile on his countcnahct* dur
? v-F* ? , ? ' 1 9 # ' 1
, ing the entire time i *na from the
l>iir, saluted gome gentlemen in
f i ouru The indictments were not
ready, and after Mr. O'Connoi' had
sa>od for upwards of half ah hour
at the bar, the sub-sheriff handed a
chair into the dock, when Mr. (
j1 . ? * k
0%Connor sat down. ? 1
At ten minutes past five o'clock,
O'Connor and Martin Keon
were called to the bar j when Mr.
Ricky, clerk of the crdwn, read
thr nirec indicitneiuk cha?gh*g them
with inciting W.iriny and otners,
ro rob the umi! u?ach, ill* the coun
ty of Mcath
Mr. K.cky tlun * ked, Guilty
or Not Ciuiitv ?
Mr. O'Connor emphatically re- |
plied ? rrI am not Guilty, Sir." j
Mr. Bennett, who came down |
especially for Mr. O'Connor, made
application to the court, that he
might be allowed to sit in the tra
verse'^ hnr ? this Heing^roundt d on
two circumstances. First, that a
most distinguished stranger, ? Sir
Francis Burdett, attended this ex
traordinary trial who wished to sit
next to Mr. O Connor during its
continuance.
His Lordship, and Mr. Sergeant
Jcbb, immediately consented.
Thursday Noon.
Aciuitul of 0' C'smror, Ave'.
? %
In one of cur preceediti? pages,
we have noticed >ome particulars
of the rrial of this gentlernm,
who^c acquiial wr announced in a
second edition of cur last publica
tion.
We have ju^t seen a copy of the
purlin Weekly Gazette, in which
eleven long columns are devoted to
the same subject. Some of the wit
nesses were of the most attrocious
and hardened character, and con
tradicted tMtestimony of each other,
and violated all decency and proba- !
bility in so palpable a manner, that
?to retire for a moment to consider
of their verdict. One of them
swore, that, without any ptevious
introduction, Mr. O'Connor thus
accosted him, f< How do y?u do,
Owens ? come, let us go rob the 4
Mai! Coach ! T !
One of the IV underbade v "A'hich
it was pretended was. used in the
attack, upon the nw?l, Vas^ . foue?i i
placed without riny attempts of
concealment, in the apa:tmer.t of
ope of Mr. O-Connor'b sons.
? TjlC Jury , _vv i 1 hour re? iri nLT> a J
we, have before stated, ^ave inri
jnation of ihcir anticipated verdict
of acrquipl and it was *ith dijikul
ty Mr. O'Cor.ngr and his Iriends
would extricate them^elves-from the
efforts or the spectators to chiir 1
' them. ? * 1
j MR. O'CONNOR'S NARRATIVE. 1
From a desire to make the pco
i pie t f lingUnd acquainted with Ire
land, ol which rhev k:Tow wore
riian nodiingr^teiving, a > they do,
all their accounts through rhc me
dium of a desciption of persons
in the constant fi?t?it of calumniat
ing that people? and from a wish
to give the people of England the
means of forming a judgment be
tween the government of Ireland
(dtiring the residence there of Lords
Camden and Cormvallis) and me ;
?it cannot, especially at this moment,
be thought obtrusive in me to by
before just but prejudiced public,
a faithful narrative of those facts
which took place in my particular
r* sf% commencing on the 27 th of
December, 1^9*6, and ending on
th* 8ch o* May, S03 ; a space of
nearly revert year? ; during the
whofe of whidi time Z Continued
fire of persecution was kept up r.t
me.,
, Cotl or-ville, the forrr. *? place
of nry residence, is situated about
14 miles frbm Bantry-bay, where
a French fleet made its appearance
on the 23d of December, 179^.
To oppose 1 landing of the troops
on board this fleer, about 5000 6f
the Irish Militia h^d advanced, and
occupied the villages about me. ?
For the manner in which my tenants,
my friends, and my>.elf, .treated
these men, I refer to the panegv
f tie* in the j~lou*6ft of Parliament in
Fnglar*d and Ireland, ai the rime.
We cheered the fin in their distress j
we administered to thtir wants, of
which they had' no ordinary share.
On the 27 ch of December, about j
nine o'clock ac night, sucb a hide- 1
ous niqlu as my remembrance can- '
w *
not parallel, I was informed, chat
my porteiV lodges vscre full of
soldiers, in quest of quarters. I
went to thcin- They were in a
sad plight. I found them to be
two companies of the Wexford
Militia, with seven or eight officers.
Day or night, rough or smooth,
my country men wt-re welcome to
me, I had then a large house, well
stored. I was in the midst of plen
ty J full of happiness ; I brought I
all the men to iny hou e. My
mind has no register of the time
I they remained with me, nor what I
! did for them. My tenant* were
| very good to those with them. My
Friends (that wa> the whole coun
try, far and wide) opened their
doors to this native Jrmy ; let them
want for nothing; and even when
the terror of invasion had subsided,
my tenants and myself presented
the poor fellow* with the billet- mo
ney to which we were entitled, to
buy them shoes and stockings. I
did my utmost to make the situa
tion of tl;e officers as comfortable
as possible ; and this I wil; ; ay, ihat
-I received from all more thanks
thai were due, and experienced
their gratitude far exceeding the
obligation I learned afterwards,
v ' * '
that chrse officers (stringers hereto
fore to me) had been d:rect*l by^
some agitators to my house, in the
?Expectation -of my r hh admitting
(hem, which was the opinion "also
of all the officers in that army. I
dare say, such of them as live at
this day,will acknowledge, that they
rcceivtd/a more Leartv welcome ar
Connor-villr, than ac the house t>f
the most ft loyal" man in Ireland ?
ftiati^, the man that lias the largest !
p< ision, or most lucrative sinecure,'
or post, in the kingdom. V/hjL:
tiiis division of the army was in
their caiuonmen!** in mv ntnt^h*
1 ' ^ ? l
boihood, when the mm 1 >st thii;
muskets, bayonets, and ammuni
tion, %vhfeii {requeiulv happened,
they came to m - : 1 had things re
1
stored to them. The soldiers be
came attached to me. Long,
d'Jed /dways before these cvearu, 1
had bre:i an object of great jeal
j ousy and hatred ; I had ever been
in the habit of committing a crying
1 sin in Irehnd. 1 had borne myrelt
I so to all the people, that they were
I greatly attached to me, I had ap
pointed arbitrators in cve.y parish,
throughout an immense district,
who decided all controversies the
occuption of the petty fogging law
yer was nearly gone ; 1 curbed the
vice of drunkenness ; I prevented
riots ; I did all the gQod I could.
It will not, therefore, surprise ^ny
person, in the lease converKant \\ith
the character or complexion of the
ruling factions i^ Ireland, that I
v. as an abomination to them ; and
when ro these vices, in their e)es,
the thanks of the poor soldier* were
superadded, my cimes uere not to
be endured, and 1 became an ob
ject of suspiciftn and distrust.
in this state <% things (the French
force having long left the coast,) a |
young man from my neighborhood
had gone, in the beginning of March,
to See some friends of his at Kan*
try, where he Was arretted fat ad- ,
ministering the oar h of Un; on. On j
I being questioned, he acknowledged j
that he had received ir. from my
steward, a lad not' more than i$:j
years of age, who was also arrested ;
and both conveyed to the prison of
Cork, where every mea??i were
ti ed to extort confessions from
them, to implicate me. 1 hry de
clared, however, thai I \\a. the las:
prison to whom thev_wQUid?dis- '
close any thing of t he kind. Their
honesty and persistance in truth
were called treason to their country,
and attachment to me ; and a Coun
I cil was called together in Dublin,
at-wh-ich it determined, that 1 was
very dangerous and a warrant was,
| issued to arrest me on suspicion?
| rhe Act of Habeas Corpus being
at the time suspended. The se
cret, however, was not well kept.
1 discovered the plot. I lay down in
my house the night on which! knew
! that an attempt was to be made to
seize on me by a large detachment
of horse (attended by Lords, Fs^
quires, and Generals, and the Staff*)
and before thev had reached half a.,
mile from their quarters, I was (ac
the distance of 12 miles) apprised
of their having set out. They
made their search for me, and a con
siderable depot of arms, which they
were informed were secreted in the
lofts and cellars ol my house;
neither were there, and they march
ed back. The next day I wrote to
the Judge, who was then holding
the Assises at Cork, saying, that
44 if he would give me assurance of
a trial then, for any thing that could
be alleged against me, T would go
to him; otherwise, that - I would
not surrender."'
w As lie was no: authorised to givo
me the assurance I demanded, and
as I preferred rhe liberty of the
common air, and the use of my
own lunh*T to unlimited imprisons
ment, I stood out till the latter end
of April, when, finding my health*
somewhat hurt from- the manner of
my living, particularly from damp,
1 left home, and came to England
on the 27 tii of April, where I re
mained till the middle of JuQT>
wlrcn T received advice from home,
tii at several of my tenants, and
others of the poor people, to the
amount of 51, had been flung into
priion ; anil that two unhappy men
had been induced to swear againat
them. The same packet also con-,
taint d a proclamation that had bren
issued by Lord Camden, on the
17th of May before, inviting every
person to come in and surrender,
and give security for the peace, on
an assurance of being no further
questioned. Very happy at the
opportunity this proclamation af
forded me, to develope the con
spiracy against the people in prison*?
apd to aid them in their defence, I>
returned to % Ireland, surrendered
myself, at Mallow, to Lord Kin
sale and James Cotton, on the faith
of the proclamation ; and perform
ed the terms required of me, which
was, to give bail to be of the peace
for seven years ; of all which I ap~
prised Lord Camden and his fiecre
tary, Mr. Pelham, n6w Lord Chi-;
Chester, the i tfth of June. / From
Mallow I went borne, on thc.jth
of July; and on the 14th 'was ar
retted by brigadier general Eyre
Coote, at his camp, whither
had invited rue." Before fee dtr
taincd me, he looked, for greater
ccrcainty, into his orderly-book,
and there found, an he *aid, an Or- '
dor, dated the isc of ^July, to ar-,
rest me. On hft havuljg done so,
he was at a loss what to do with
me, and attended me to Bandon,;
where I was to remain till he should,
h?ar from Dublin. On the third
day .of my stay in Bandoft^L re
ceived a letter from Mr. Pclftam,
dated in .Dublin, the same day I
was arrested at the camp near Ban-,
don, 1 80 miles. from town, raying,
thac Lord Camden wished much to.
?x:c me at Dubttn/ and that, iC I
would comply, I might depend up-?
' on my person oirn^ perfectly sal'*