PRISONER—­I say he violated the law of the land in so doing, and I claim that he had no right to use those letters written by me in my private capacity to friends in America, asking for advice and assistance, and the very first letter that he read was a letter written to a man named Byrne.  That, you may recollect, was put into the hands of the Attorney-General—­kept by him for four months.  That was the first intimation I had of its suppression or of its production here by the Crown.  Now, the letter was addressed to a friend in New York, asking him to look after my trunk, which had been taken away without my consent by the captain of the vessel in which I was arrested.  Mr. Price never told me he suppressed that letter, and I was three months waiting for a reply, which, of course, I did not receive, as the letter never went.  Mr. Price suppressed another letter yesterday.  It was written to a friend of mine in Washington, in relation to my trial and conviction, and asking him to present my case to the President of the United States, detailing the case as it proceeded in this court.  Mr. Price thought proper to suppress that letter, and I ask that he be compelled to produce it, so that, if your lordships think fit, it may be read in court.

    THE CHIEF BARON—­I cannot do that.  I cannot have a letter of
    that character read in open court.

    HALPIN—­Am I entitled to get the letter to have it destroyed,
    or is Price to have it, to do with it as he pleases?

    THE CHIEF BARON—­I can make no order in the matter.

    HALPIN—­Then Price is something like Robinson Crusoe—­“Monarch
    of all he surveys;” monarch of Kilmainham; and when I ask if
    he is to be controlled, I find there is no law to govern him.

    THE CHIEF BABON—­you have now no property in these letters,
    being a convict.

THE PRISONER—­I will very soon be told I have no property in myself.  I claim to have been arrested on the high seas, and there was then no case against me, and the Crown had to wait four months to pick up papers and get men from Stepaside, and arrange plans between Mr. Price and his warders to fill up any gap that might be wanted.  I was arrested out of the habeas corpus jurisdiction, without authority, and detained four months in gaol until the Crown could trump up a case against me.  Have I not a right to complain that I should be consigned to a dungeon for life in consequence of a trumped-up case?  I am satisfied that your lordships have stated the case as it stands, but I am not satisfied that I have been convicted under any law.  I have been four months in durance vile, and vile durance it has been.  The preachers tell us that hell is a very bad place, and the devil a very bad boy, but he could not hold a candle to old Price.

    THE CHIEF BARON—­You are trespassing very much upon a very
    large indulgence.  I must adopt a more decisive course if you
    persevere.