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been given to tnese questions, because none could be | need a very vivid imagination to sce that it Germany) ‘can still dig up from the dungeons and _ torture-
given consistent with the integrity ef the accused could introduce arms or ammunition into Ireland) chambers of the Dark Ages a law that takes a man’s
CASEMENT FOUND Even if hi cls had been those dese why || #9F the purpose of helping to create rebellion ot, life and limb for an exercise of conscience.
did he not stayin Ireland in order to promote thew | strike of a serious characler #0 aa to occu If true religion rests on love, it is equally true
TY. Counsel . proceeded to deal with the evidence, |! attention of the British Executive and to necessitate that loyalty rests on love. The la cl
. . His comment, was that the prisoner had never said | | the maintenance of a considerable number of soldiers under has’ no parentage in love ond claims. tbe
a single word to the Irish soldiers at Limburg to ‘in Ireland, f would assis ist Germany. It would’ allegiance of to-day on the ignorance and blindness
the effect, that their intervention was to be at the | uy Wwenken the power of the English, Crown, to of the st. J am being tried in truth not by my
- end of the war. It was to be if Germany won a sea hte extent, at any rate, that it might be necess: peers of e@ live present, but by the fears of the
SENTENCE OF DEATII. | battle. “Wny'? Because until Germany. did win « soldiers in Ireland instead of sending ‘them into 4 dead past; not by the civilization of the 20th century,
sea battle it would have been impossible to take the fighting line. but by the brutality of the 14th ; not even by a statute
any considerabl: ol to Ire’ a The ere was one part of the evidence which had been | framed in the language of the land that tries me,
prisoner's pro liest 1
ment to Ie rously contest ested by Mr. Sullivan. pnts was the | but. emitted in the langu! guage of an enemy lan nde
. make an invasion of Ireland to fight against Tengland estimony of the witness | Neil, who had said that, antiquated is the law that must be sought, to-day)
STATEMENT BY THE PRISONER. in Ireland and not against. the Ul ister Volunteers. | Casement Galled on the Irish soldiers at Limburg to| to, slay an Irishman, whose offence is that he puts
sophistries about politics in Ircland were igh or ‘Turks peat e Russians and with land firs’ i
(Before the Lorp Caer Justics, Mr. Justice nee in the prisoner's mind. Ie referred to the} the Germans on the Western front.’ Without any) | Loyalty is a sentiment, not a law. It rests on
defeat of England in the war with exultation. The reflection | on veracity the Crown did not insist love, not on restraint. The government of Ireland
Avory, and Mr. Justice HorripGe.) Whole of the evidence was inoonsistent with the | on tha: ce, and the jury must dismiss it f rom | by England rests on restraint and not on law; and
. . . iew that he was concerned in obtaining the services | their minds altoge ther. since it demands no love it can evoke no loyalty.
The trial of Sir Roger Casement on a charge of Trishmen for some remote date inthe future for Tue Reat Porvr oF THE Cas But this statute is more absurd even than it is:
of “high treason by adhering to tho King’s the protection of the rights of the Irish community. | Tis Lordship said that he now came “to the real antiquated ; and if it be potent to hang one Irishman,
enemies elsewhere than in the King’s reali, tO the jury that any man who di Tat time te wenn | point in the case. It did not arise so much on the| Edward III. w: xing no ° ope of the healan of
wit, in the Empire of Germany,” ended to-day this country in ifs struggle with Gennany was guilty || Particular words of the evidence as on the inferences! England, but also of the “eatin of France, and he
in a verdict of Guilty, and sentence of eae th of aiding and comforting the enem | to be drawn from it. The defence had said that Sir| was not King of Ireland. Yet his dead hand to-day
was passed. tna ‘taxttonne ¥-Gencral asked the jury to apply ' Roger Casement only asked the soldiers -to join an 7 may pull the noose around the "can eiain' no strand
. 7 out st and /as! hemselves whether what th sovereign ie Was not ut it can strain no stram
The Attorney-General (Sie F. B. Smith, KC), the prisoner had done might. not have tended to w weaken | | 1h Brigade to essist to resist the Ulster volunteers | around "the Frenchman's throat whose Sov
Solicitor-General (Sir George Cav
C.), Mr. Balin, England. ‘Yo ask that question
| alter the war had ended. Was that the true effect of | he was, For centuries the successors of award Tit,
r. ‘Travers Humphreys, and Dr. Dratson appeared jt. Germany "would. have been enormously | the evidence ? | ‘The Crown said that it was not, waa] claimed to be Kings of France, ‘and quartered the
o
for the Crown ; Mr. Serjeant A. M. Sullivans KC of gtrengthened and ‘England enormously weakened | that it vas, intended that at the first German, sca
the Irish Bar (also a inember of the Snglish Tage if a considerable force with arms and ammunition’ | Victory the Irish B rigade 8 should be landed in Ireland | Union with Ireland on January 1, 1801. ‘Throughout:
Mr. Artemus Jones, and Mr. J. H. Morgan for the vould have boom loaded Ja Tretend, to fit “against England. ese hundreds of years these “ Kings of France ”
defence. It was true that only 52 of the Irish soldiers at |" ‘The prisoner inust be held to have intended the| were constantly at war with their Tealm of France
Mr. W. F. Doyle, a member of the Bar in the yimburg had been seduced from their loyalty by | Ratural consegu nee of his acts. ‘That was one of the) and their French, subjects, who, should have gone
United States, who has come to this country to assist. {he prisoner. But Iet them suppose that thousands | fundamental of English law, and was o: from birth to death with an obvious fear of treason
bread
counsel for Casement by his advice, was again present, of these men had consented ‘to cat { of | Plain Comino sense, especially where the person who | before their eyes. But did they? Did the Kings
d occupied a seat at the solicitors’ table. Germany, to wear the uniform of Germany, and to bia 30 acts in question was an educated and intelli-| of France,” resident here at Windsor, or in the Tower
hen the proceedings began this morning it was hold themselves in readiness to invade ireland at | 82! nt 1 ndon, hang, draw, an uarter as a traitor
noticed that Mr. Sullivan, who broke down while the first. opportunity? What would, have been |. Serjeant Sullivan had told them that he accepted | ‘ever Frenchman for 400 years who fell into their
addressing the jury yesterday afternoon, was absent. {he moral effect on this country? What would jin the main the evidence for Crown, and the hands with arms in his hands? On the contrary,
> a . . ve been the moral effect if thousands of the Irish only point on which he them to disregard it| they received Embassies of these traitors, pres
After their Lordships had entered, Mr. ARTEMUS goldicrs who had formed the flower of that small | Was in that part in which it was said that Casement. from these traitors, even knighthood itself at “the
Joxes said that Mr, Sullivan was’ in a condition | Expeditionary Force of which every Friton was so | 1011 the soldiers that they were to be landed in hands of these, traitors, feasted with them, tilted
which did not allow him to appear in Court. Tle! proud had taken such a course ? Ircland after a Gen sea victory. That, Mr. with them, fought with them —but did not assassinate
had been in consultation with his medical adviser Sit F. B. ‘Smith then turned to’ the evidence dealin Sullivan said, meant. after the conchision of the. them b: by law.
who had forbidden him to continue his conduct of With the capture of ‘the Aud. What. w Aud war. ‘That was clearly not the meaning that the . Judicial assassination to-day is reserved only. for
, M doing? He did not care whether che as. th end soldiers themselves put on the st ment. ‘The: one race of the King’s subjects, for Irishmen; for
the case. In these circumstances he (Mr. Tones) three or 300 miles from Tralee. Ile submitted that (the jury) must read the pamphlet which had been| those who cannot forget their allegiance tothe Realm.
craved the indulgence of their Lordships to allow her presence was part of a concerted enterpris distributed among the men and consider whether it) of Ireland. Kings of England, as such,
him to continue the address to the jury on behalf prisoner had not come to Ireland in the Aud, but meant that the brigade was to free Ireland from - no rights in Treant up to the time of Henry VII
or to free those persons of their way of. |save such as rested on compact and mutual obliga-
inking in Ireland from the domination of the | tion entered into between them an princes,
_Voluntests. They must consider whether | chiefs, and lords of Ireland. This g
. 0 fight for Ireland alone in this way | right, such as it was, gave no King of England lawiul
of the defen : he jury must conclude that he had come either
Lorp Teapixe said that the Court were sorry that another German vessel or in a neutral vessel arranged |
Mr. Sullivan was unable to be present. It had been for by Germany.
i previous af learnes srs
obvious hod the veabourit aftemoon {hat the | med Tue Fixprxa or A Cope. Ta oiling the Germans. power to impeach an Trishman for high treason under
counsel eon labouring under a severe De He now came to the most damning circumstance, ‘The Lor Crime JUSTICE, resuming his summing | this statute of King Edward III. of England until
Mr. Jones then addressed the jury. Ie submitted §y the case—namely, the code. If the case for thé) UP after the midday aaljournment, proceeded to deal | an Irish Act, known as Poyning’s Law, the 10th of
that the evidence called of the alleged traitorous acts defence was truc, Casement’ had come to Ireland’ With the evidence of the Irish witnesses, and pointed | Henry VII., was Passed i in 1494, at Drogheda, by the,
P,
not contemplating that anything would be done | out that the acts relating to April 21 and two days Parliament of the Pale in Ireland and enacted as
et
with another vie he case. It was entirely con-, 2°’, j {titer were only material to. the charge if the law in that part of Ireland. But if by Poyning’s
eet ith Une view that a loyal and. patriotic (UntIL the close of the war; therefore he must have jury thought the acts were committed in. consonance law an Irishman of the Pale could be indicted for
Irishman, touched to the depths by the events come to deal only with the domestic affairs ef the with Germany and in pursuance of a plan of opera- high freason under this Act, he could be indicted
in Ireland in 1914, had gone to Germany not 9 \country, and he could not have any arrangement tions in one way and before one tribunal—by the
help Germany to fight against England, but to me | with the Germans whereby they were to support him , | rring to the finding of the code, his Lordship | laws of the Seam of Ireland and in Ireland. The
an Trish Brigade to strive for something which they {then and there. Yet what did he have, and what drew speck attention to the fact that on tbe back) very law Poyning which. I believe, applies
did he try to ge Hd of ? | An arranged code with the | of it there was a statement, rather difficult to decipher, | this statute of Rdgatd TI, to ireland, enacted also
Germans. What did “Farther ammunition is, | to the following effect for the Irishman’s de fences “all those laws by which
|needed ” mean?“ F rthe 3 anumaunition * Rai “This holds good from the 22nd April, till 2th England claims her libe
e |way co! i 7? rest-| |May. If by then no ne ion will be clos “ ”
al View on the evidenc stood. wo ling to the Germans. Could they reconcile these facts | pani ‘ter that only ‘by cable too. es ana what i Rontion Coun :
The e Attorney-General had asked it wa with the defence set up? They had a serious and | Switzerland.” what is the fundamental charter of an English-
had happened since 1911 to convert a loyal and |painful duty to perform, as serious and painful as| What, he asked, was the meaning of that ? Why man’s liberty ?. That he shall be tried by his jpeers.
dutiful son of the Empire into the ti walter hich he | that being performed by others in these bloody and | was the prisoner carrying it? There was also; With all respect I assert this Court is to me, an
Em)
said the prisoner was. Ie would find bis answer eit tical days in the service of the Empire. But they! evidence of the finding of a piece of paper at the Irishman, charged with this offence, a foreign Court
in the newspaper extracts which had been read, and duty to 0 perform, and they would perform it place where he had been, which was not relevant» ¢his jury is for me, an Irishman, not a jury of my
in the undisputed fact that Sir Roger Ci sseiment | without shrinl to the ‘nal ter into which they were inquiring except’ >... t¢ try me in this vital issue, for it tent
inaugurated the Irish Volunteer movement. that if was writing in German characters and in the te y in. vital issue, for it is patent
community of Ireland had bitter memer ies of w hat ADING'S CHARGE. German. language. to every man of conscience that I have a right, an
they considered was wrong. ‘They had by their | LORD READI aid Tie CARGO of ARMS. indefeasible wight, if tried at all under this statute of
constitutional movement secured their political rights, | The Lorp Carer JusricH, addressing the jury, high treason, to be tried in Ireland, before an Irish
were qoenaced by armed forces marching | that Serjeant Sullivan had addressed theminaspeech His Lordship next dealt with the evidence con- | Court and by an Irish jury. This Court, this jury
rough the land prepared to resist lawful authority. | of the most striking powet and eloquence. They) cerning the Aud, and said that on that evidence | the publi fon of this country, England ;
Wiint'ettect that, could have on the peasantry of the | f argument and| the jury were asked to conclude that she was not public opinion of this country, England, cannot
| must have felt its effect in its force of arg nl jury but be prejudiced, in varying degrecs against me,
jour nd, with whom 00) y lay ¥
Bot ge ea ceala of thangs: whieh the I Hility lay iarness of legal exposition. If would be impossible a vessel bound from Bergen to Genoa, but that she | post of all in time of war. I did not land in England.
of 1m failed to, dea ithe when, they to find anything that could be urged that had nob) was in fact a German vessel or a vessel used for) T Janded in Ireland. I was to Ireland T cane
ought to have dealt with it, he cared not. ‘The fact heen said with the greatest skill, and, Jet him add, German, purposes ; that che was painted with the Ireland I wanted to come, and the last place I des 2
remained Wats here fa been produced in the minds with commendable cour: Norwegian - colours to deceive | the ever-vigilant | to land in was England.
of the Tris ntry a fear of what the future san card auch ae out the politics of Ireland. itish Nay; and) that she was 8 engaged in an. But for the Attorney-General of England there is
might brine orth and @ Taker that they must be _ They ear . n Court of gpcration of lan ing arms and ammunitic. in Ireland. | only “ England ”—there is no Ireland, there is only
prepa: to protect themselves. For himself, he always felt anxiety in in The Sil to are for the jury syas whet er they ey y thought the law of England—no right of Ireland ; the li vty
The responsibility of counsel pleading for the life justice when there wes any possibility ot the intro-| it the’ inference that the was of Ireland and of Irishmen is to be judged by. the
of a fellow-creature was small compared with that of duction of political passions. Justice was ever in engaged in that operation for the Germans, of power of England, Yet for me, the Irish outlaw,
the jury, for it was a matter of life and death. ‘The jeopardy when passion was croused. “yet them pay landing ‘arms and ammunition in Ireland. If’ she there is a land of Ireland, a right ¢ ot ; Ireland, and a
accused had a right to demand from them the same | no more attention to what had been said with regard” was going, to Genoa, what was she doing with these charter for all Irishmen to. in the last
care and scrutiny in weighing the evidence as any one of | to the condition of Ireland before the war or aiter rifles and ‘ammunition, and why was she painted in fesort, a chatter that oven ppeal von statutes of
them wo Ve the right to expect if placed in thet | the war than was necessary in order to, under- that way England itself cannot deprive us of, nay more. a charter
dock. Tle made no appeal for mercy ; the ancicnt and | stand the vrcumstances of the case, and more The Lorn Cmerr Justice'in ending his charge that Englishmen themselves assert as the funda-
valiant race from which \ the accused sprang did not particularly to do justice to the defence which said :—"* I will conclude only by impressing on you mental bond fine that connects the two kingdoms. |,
roduce the t; of man who shrank from death for | been set r ‘is charge of high treason involves a moral respon-
the sake. of ‘ts ‘country. hero were many sad | "It was common knowledge that during the passing (hati 50m havea reasonable doubt in Wie matter, alter, pitity, as the Very terias of the indictment against
chapters in the history of Ircland,.and not the least | of the Ifome Teule Bill there were hea speeches considering evidence, y uty it ee recite, Innere ee T dornimitted the ete t
centers those which fold of men who had gone to the | made. ‘That. the condition of tt ‘airs Se neta just. the prisoner. But if, after viewing all the facts and aim charged with to the “evil example of others in
scaffold for the sake of their native land. The law | before the war hey might take common knowledge} {he Lireumstances, the conviction is borne in on you. | the like case.” What. was this “evil example” 1
required the Crown to prove the case, and to prove! but on August 4 1914, although there was evidence that the prisoner hes committed the offence with set to others in “ the like case,” and who were tees
it up to the hilt, and each one of them must be satisfied that some persons ‘continued to age and that there Which he is charged, then, gentlemen, it is your duty | ethers ? The “evil example” charge is I
that the Crown had doneso. If they remembered that was marching and countermarchi to return a verdict to that effect and to take no | asserted the rights of my own country, and’ the
there would be a way for them tor return a verdict none stated, yet it might be said that all partis no not | guy regard of the consequences which must follow. |‘ others” I appealed to. to ai endeavour, were
the less just because it was humane. in Great Britain but also in Irelany | my own countrymen. - The exampie was given not to
make a truce. THE VERDICT. Englishmen; but to Irishmnen, and the “like caso”
THE ATTORNEY-
SENERAL'S SPEECH. It was unnecess y to. go further into | the history + { never arise in’ England, but only in Ireland.
"The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that the defence by of Irish. politics. ee had peor told in the The jury then-retired to consider their verdict. | To. Englishmen I set no evil example, for I made no
Serjeant Sullivan had been conducted with an ability, Course of the ridence that steps been taken 0. sttor an absence of 53 minutes they returned. In| appeal to them. I asked no Englishman to help me.
rve the position in Ireland, at any rate, answer, to tho question put to them by Master||I asked Irishmen to fight for their rights, The
a propriety, and an cloquence which his distinguished |The war. Every attempt was’ made to allay any a “evil example” was only t Trish
position at the Irish Bar entitled them to expect, and | bitterness and to prevent any disunion during the KERSHAW, How say you? Do you find the Prisones | might come Otter ne eatin ge er Tris bmen who
he was glad to think that he bad had the timo to continuance of the Ww Sir Roger David’ Casement guilty or not guilty of] as I did. How, then, since neither my example nor
hi nb to th He accepted: | His Lordship said “that, with these facts in mind {ho high treason whereof he stands indicted ? ” my appeal was addressed to Englishmen, can I
recent aon ot, the daty of the Crown \ehich Shad’ he would tell the jury what at thee charge ering to aE ‘The jury replied, amid dead silence, Guilly. hahttully tried by them ?
‘ a Roger Casemen . 1
been Jaid down by Mr: Jones, and he would en: | king's enemies in the Bante pat oe aoye contrary | MASTER KEnsuAw then, addressing the prisoner, to 1 Cid Prong in making, that anpeal te Teh ie
leavour to discharge it. As he understood it Ue Lordshi *oltosen asked: him if he had anything to say for himself |} ht for Ireland
defence, shortly, was that Casement had been so struck | t? the Treason Act, 1351, ‘Their be ig is by Irishmen and by them alone I can be ‘uly
nh in of the volunt he ae er Mown for centuries that! why the Court should not) pass judgment upon him |i judged. From this Court and its aration Eee
Fe tne er ine oO te eae toe 8 Eo ao an act that amounted to saber totho King's to die according to law. to those I am alleged to have ‘dy and to those
Be et a ean ormtnte geval | encima emt teu aia BS wa Pa tiga he aged ete a
ho im Conrad nea ecitat these northern {committed without the realm. Neither hw (Lord | THE PRISONER'S STATEMENT. and’ claite that they alone ard competent ton deeide
a ee eed been done and the prisoner's | Jveading) nor his brother Judges were judges of beets ! my guilt or my i nee. If they find me guilty
vechos, hi : a Ho dealt, with the facts of the ease only to assist the | sir Roger Casement then read a long statement. the statute ma
speeches had bec ie before the war, that might | 1 on oe that he B tatute may affix the penalty, but the statute
or might not have afforded a good defence." It was | jury. | If they did not agreo wi th any ing that We | At first he appeared to be extremely nervous, but docs not override or annul my right to seek judg-
1) necessary to go into old and unpleasant con- | % ‘acts, jury w fe grew more confident as he proceeded. He said thei is. ‘This fundamental a right,
troversies, for an event had happened whieh fad | 2Nas a matter of lave, said his Lordship, I direct | | My Lond Chief Justice, as T wish my Words to reach *0 Hatural a right, so obvious a right, that it is clear
altered the whole fac po atest | 4 ,
military Bower that the world had over Enown had j you that if a British subject does an act which | much wider audience than I seo before me here, I
made an t to destroy this Empire, and from . thi t was
The moment when. Germany. made that tigerspt ing | ee King in the conduct of a war against tHe Ming, | shall read now is something I wrote more than 20 | England, but the Crown who dragged me here, awa:
at the ‘throat of Europe the Irish controversy was || that in Jaw is the giving, of aid and subject does an| days ago. There is an objection, possibly not good from my own country to which 1 had returned with
rea
ended for every one who did not intend to injure ths wee ich weskens or en the power ot| in law, but surely good on moral grounds, against |% Price Upon my head. away, fron, any own country-
conn ing and of the country to resist or to attack the’ ¢he application to me here of this old English statute, oubt, he
Serjeant Sullivan himself had _silmitted that the | the King e ‘that ja law PE judgment of my peers whose judgment I do not
truce retween. the parties had been saithfully kept. enemies of the King and of the country, that in. law’ 565 years old, that seeks to deprive an Irishman to-day Shrink from. mit no other judgment but, theirs.
Yet the very moment of the glorious retreat during | 8 the giying of aid and comfort to De Sines of i honour not for “adhering to the King’s |T accept no verdict ave al theia hinds
Sone nt chos sont sir Roy had Case iS ment to show the | | Sour attention Te you consider whether the acts enemics,” but for adhering to his own peopl assert from this dock that I am being tried here
moment chosen by $ semen
; ~ the bar amount adhering, When this statute was passed in: 1351, What was | not because it is just, but because it is unjust. Place |
jdea of keeping the truce by endeavouring to seduce gone, ey, the een al ‘i rf ute Ww ° : b 5
these men from their allegiance and to raise again e Kin: jes in the sense 01 giving em the state of men’s minds on- the aivegtion ae far. me before a jury of my own countrymen, be it Pro-
thi ‘ wa ea comfort. is whether those acts were such a8 higher allegiance—that, of man to G iis testant or Catholic, Unionist Nationalist, Si
the hideous spectre of disunion and strife in Ireland. | 26 ont then the Germen Empire or such as to Kingdom 7 ‘rhe law of that day did not permit @ rcincach or Orangeran, ot ae eae the cect
He would ask again a question which had never | Weaken his Majesty. the King- to forsake “his Church or deny his God sav pt the verdic
a Sir Borer C. k . The ° h | and bow to the statute and all its penalties. But I
yet been answered—Why had Sir Roger Casement? yyi5 ‘Lordship told the jury’ that they must con: with his life. ‘The “heretic” then had the same and bow to the statute and al oreinat altos. | But T
Zone to Germany at all? How did he get to Germany, | sider, in coming to their conclusion on the evidence, doom as the “traitor.” To-day a man may or'inose whose loyalty I endangered by
< * : ‘ i : heavenly — real th- y ered by my example
and what was the nature of the assurances and | \nether the fomenting of an armed insurrection in forswear oe penalty, nie oer Statutes having and to whom alone T “made “appeal. If they adjudge
e guilty, then guilty I am. It is not I who
il afrald of “their verdict—it is the Crown. If this
Treland which would result in disturbance and trouble OU" {GF 08 TORS dicts against the Christians 3
of a serious character would have been of tala not but that Gonstitutional phantom, “the King,
s
Germany, that they found hint a free man moving | °F Gorman in the conduct of the wa
about Germany, without restraint 2 No answer had }