434
THE GREEN BAG
speech, exposing the unfairness and irregularity which had marked the former trial. In 1843 O'Hagan became a member of the Loyal National Repeal Association. Not that he believed in repeal himself; his inclination was rather towards some form of federation; but he wished to identify himself with the cause of the country, and this seemed to him the best way of doing so. In 1844 he formed one of the band of barristers to whom the defense of O'Connell and his fellow traversers was intrusted : the crime alleged was conspiracy. O'Connell and the others were found guilty and sent to prison accordingly, but they appealed to the House of Lords; and it was O'Hagan who brought down the news (there were no telegraphs then) that the Lords had reversed the decision of the Irish Queen's Bench, thus setting O'Connell and his party at liberty. In 1847, while still a junior, he was appointed assistant barrister for County Longford. While engaged in this office, he did his best to bring under the notice of the authorities the question of the better treat ment of criminals. Even at this time he was the confidential adviser of the bishops in all matters relating to Catholic interests. In 1849, O'Hagan took silk, and in 1855 he defended Father Petcherine, a Roman Catholic priest of Russian birth, who had been conducting a mission in the Roman Catholic church at Kingstown. There was no evidence that Father Petcherine was guilty of the misdemeanour (of burning the Bible) for which he was tried. To this he probably owed his discharge. Mr. O'Hagan's eloquent defense of the Catholic Church was, however, published in France, Germany, and Spain, in faithful translations. In 1856 O'Hagan was removed from the chairmanship of County Longford to that of County Dublin. On the i$th of October, 1857, it fell to him to present the statue of Tom Moore to the Lord Mayor and Corporation on behalf of the citizens of Dublin. The chair was taken by the Earl
of Charlemont. There were also present Lord Carlisle (the Lord Lieutenant), the Lord Mayor and Corporation, and a distin guished assembly besides. O'Hagan, in the course of an eloquent speech, made the remark that statues, equestrian and others, of foreigners were to be found in plenty, but not one erected to the memory of an Irishman. In 1858 he was chosen to defend O'Donovan Rossa and the other members of the Phcenix conspiracy. It will be remembered that this conspiracy was started at Skibbereen by a few young ' men, of whom the chief was Jeremiah Donovan, who afterwards styled himself O'Donovan Rossa. Their headquarters at Skibbereen was the Phoenix National and Literary Society. Among their most dangerous members was a man named Stephens, one of the rebels of 1848, who had been plotting mischief ever since. Stephens, by holding out assurances of American support, persuaded these men to prepare for a rising which was to deal a fatal blow to the supremacy of England. On the 3rd of December, 1858, a vice-regal proclamation was issued warning the country of a dangerous conspiracy. The conspirators were captured, and, after a brilliant defense by O'Hagan, one of the culprits was sentenced to ten years' penal servitude; the others, including O'Donovan Rossa, were released on their own recogni zances. We have only to add that Stephens fled to America and died in obscurity. In 1859 O'Hagan was made third sergeant and a bencher of the King's Inns. In 1860 he was appointed Solicitor General for Ireland by Lord Palmerston, who was then in power, and for the present politics formed a part of his concerns. In 1861 he was appointed Attorney-General for Ireland, and naturally this made him anxious for a seat in the House of Commons. At first he tried for County Cork, but he found the . feeling so strong against him in consequence of his being in office that he gave up the attempt, and went in for Tralee, where he
