AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY THE EUREKA SERIES NO. 29 ONE MORE TIME Carboni¹s acquittal twenty minutes after the jury retired, should have culminated in the end of the treason trials. Governor Hotham and his Attorney-General William Foster Stawell, rightly believed their credibility with the Home Office in London rested on a conviction, so they insisted that the farce go on, hoping they could record one conviction. Jan Vannick a "foreign" from Holland, one of the "mongrel crew" took his turn on the stand. After a trial that lasted less than a day he was acquitted in record time. James Beattie was the next miner to face the court. Evidence was given that trooper Rivell from the 40th Regiment, confronted Beattie as he clambered back into the stockade with a pistol in his hand. Beattie dropped his pistol, dropped to his knees and screamed "Mercy! Save Me! Don¹t Shoot! I am beaten! I will give in!" as trooper William Rivell aimed his carbine at him. Fortunately for Beattie, Sergeant Patrick Riley of the same regiment saw Beattie beg for mercy and told trooper Rivell to take him prisoner. Beattie was acquitted once again in record time. Michael Touhey took the stand the following day. Evidence was given that Touhey was caught escaping from the stockade. Once again another one of the magnificent thirteen was acquitted of the charge High Treason. Michael Touhey was born in Scariff, Ireland in 1830. He survived the Irish famine, burying many family members and friends. He never forgot that food was being exported from Ireland to line the pockets of English absentee landlords, while a million Irish men, women and children died and a further million were forced to immigrate. On the morning of December 3rd 1854, Touhey was prepared to fight and die if necessary. Although he had traveled 12,000 miles to escape the tyranny of the British government, once again he faced the same tyrants. Luck seemed to be with Touhey, after side swiping a bayonet that ripped through his clothes, he was arrested and marched to the police camp. On the way to the camp, a soldier tried to cut off his head with a sabre. Touhey¹s nimble feet saved him once again. After his acquittal he returned to the alluvial diggings at Ballarat. Once the gold ran out, he took up a farm in the Ballarat district between Melbourne and Ballarat. He took part in the 50th anniversary celebrations at Ballarat in 1904 and continued farming till he died at the age of 85 from pneumonia at the Ballarat Hospital in September 1915. He was the last survivor of the thirteen who stood trial for High Treason in Melbourne in 1855. NEXT WEEK: THE FINAL SIX.