On the 12th of April, 1867, a party of forty or fifty men, almost all of whom had been officers or privates in the service of the American government, went down from New York to Sandyhook, in a steamer, a distance of about eighteen miles.  There they found a brigantine of about 200 tons burden, which had been purchased for the expedition, and in that brigantine these men embarked, and sailed for Ireland.  She was called the “Jacknell,” and she sailed without papers or colours.  For the purpose of keeping their movements as free from observation as possible, these men embarked without luggage—­a rather extraordinary thing in men the great majority of whom had been officers in the American service.  The commander of the expedition was named John F. Kavanagh, and he had filled the office of brigadier-general in the American army, and was at one time a member of the American Congress.  These men had on board a very large quantity of arms, packed in piano-cases, cases for sewing machines, and wine barrels, in order to conceal them effectually; and the parcels were consigned to a merchant firm in Cuba.  The ship steered for one day towards the West Indies, in order to avoid suspicion, and then shaped her course towards Ireland.  Vessels occasionally came in sight, and when they did English colours were hoisted.  Nothing remarkable occurred until Easter Sunday, April 29th, nearly nine days after they had sailed from New York.  The parties determined to celebrate that day as a festival, and they hoisted the green flag with a sunburst, fired a salute, and changed the name of the vessel, calling her “Erin’s Hope.”  Kavanagh then produced Fenian commissions, and distributed them, and also produced sealed orders, from which it appeared that he was to sail to Sligo Bay, and there land his men and arms; and if he found it impracticable to land them there, he was to proceed to some other place in Ireland.  Some days after this, they came in sight of the coast of the county of Limerick, and then they sailed towards Sligo; but they overshot the mark, and arrived off the coast of Donegal.  They then turned back, and arrived at Sligo Bay on the 20th of May.

The learned gentleman then went on to describe certain occurrences alleged to have taken place on board the vessel, while she remained in and about Sligo Bay.  He said that on one evening a hooker came alongside, from which a man, who appeared to be a gentleman, got on board the brigantine.  This person went down into the cabin, conversed with the officers, and told them the landing could not be effected at Sligo, after which he returned on board the hooker, and sailed for the shore.  The Attorney-General said:—­