23 8 m i n u t e s o f e v i d e n c e t a k e n b e f o r e t I Ie 7 March 1838. considerable eminence M, D Meagher it was Mr. Hatchell. He decided that, as the man had taken the oath, he mnst ' ' ' be admitted, and he desired us to prosecute him. , . wo Was not Mr. Hatchell then one of His Majesty s counsel, a barrister of usiderable eminence ?— Yes; and it was in obedience to his recommendation that I prosecuted Croker. . < 060 Then you cannot suppose that Mr Hatchell 111 any manner colluded with the man in escaping from justice ?— No, I believe the barrister felt himself bound to admit the man, but recommended a prosecution ; and in the subsequent proceeding, when I had to prosecute him, I thought there was an interposition between me and getting justice by the parties in authority. 5061. And that interposition results from the facts that you have stated to the Committee?— Yes. 5062. Have yon any other evidence of any interposition on the part of the authorities to frustrate it ?— Yes; because this man had been one of the com- bination of trades, and he was prosecuted to conviction, and the authorities were made the medium of giving him some money from the Government to send him off; and, in fact, it was the duty of the sheriff to send him off, and therefore the sheriff must have known all about it. 5063. Do you mean to say that the sheriff used the money given by the Government for the purpose of getting that man off, for the purpose of screen- ing an offender from justice?— No; I mean to say that this man got service- money from Government, and that the sheriffs were aware of this man having taken his passage to London; and that in the common course of things lie should have sailed with his family and furniture, instead of flying off to Water- ford ; and that the sheriff knowing so much of the man, allowing his family and furniture to go direct, and sending himself off via Waterford, seemed to me a collusion. ,5064. Do you mean to say that the sheriff sent him off via Waterford ?— I think Sheriff Foote knewr of his going off. 5065. Have you any evidence to lay before the Committee of Sheriff Foote knowing it ?— Nothing more than that I called upon Sheriff Foote that day at the bridewell, and he said he knew nothing about the man; and the man did not come back to the bridewell that particular night, and it was the only night he did not come back. 5066. Then Sheriff Foote telling you that lie knew nothing about the man, is the evidence upon which you found the aspersion that he sent the man off by way of Waterford ?— The sheriff must have known of this man going away. 5067. Is that the evidence upon which you found this charge?— There are a variety of circumstances connected with the inquiry; seeing how the thing was managed, and altogether, it satisfied my mind that they must have known what became of Croker. 5068. Can you give the Committee any further evidence to show that the sheriff was at all instrumental in sending the man off by way of Waterford?— Nothing more than my own belief. 5069. But you know that your belief is worth nothing, unless founded upon some grounds ?— The grounds are, first, that the man was sent off; that the sheriff: had Government money in his hands to pay Croker ; that Croker must have had means to go to Waterford; and that it was a waste' of money which Croker would not have made without he wanted to evade justice. 5070. Is there any evidence of his knowing anything about it?— I believe that word was sent to the man. I believe that the sheriff and the authorities knew it, and that they could have got the man for me. 5071. Have you any evidence that word w7as sent to the man r— I have not, but my own ideas. 5072. It appears that you believe a parcel of ideas without any foundation for believing them?- Not at all, because I heard that the man had'been about the city, walking 111 and out of the bridewell for days before, and that he was going off to England with his family in a London ship; and then upon the particular daj on which the informations were sworn he walked to Glanmire, and there got o^ nleo fC011VeyanCe t0 ; and 1 ara quite convinced that it was an r£'° m JUStiCe! and 1 am sure ^ got a hint in the bridewell. •> 0/ 3- Ihis is a distinct matter of fact, that word was sent to the man ; what is your