Star. — London, England, 1816-07-04 00:00:00

- • • : . . ! PlRORlllNg===2oolllll""Tra!=teloetr . PARLIAMENTARY PAPER. . • tor, or A 1/1111TATell sateass EXCILLIIKCII TRW LOD • Arekcirt COMMAND, TO LORD VISCOUNT 4111/11,TIN gs D or prim ism. viz. t. A SIATILAIRWVOEMEDINA I . Ralb 'STINT 011 TIE 111TIERIANCES Witkll 'NAVE? • iIaLVAILIII 1$ ts,lttime. aim _Tits tom as, wines NAVE SUN ADOPTS, IT TYE COEMINANT Or toot tounrat rN CONSE,IIIIROR tircasor.--oairatrin 111rT11111 DONIS 11/ cosiness to ea Marta, mu jumaoina. to tat Eclat nen. Loan viscoont minoring. • Dubko.Castle, sth JUNE, & 1114 - LOab—l have Nid the honour of receiving your Loreship's letter of die 27th day of April, enclosing au Adatess froth the House of Commons to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, praying that his Royal Highness will be gratioudy pleased to direct that there be laid before die House a Statement of the na ture and extent of the Disturbances which have re cently retailed in Ireland, and of the measures which • ,have been odopted by the Government of that country in consequence thereof; and I proceed to obey the commands which your Lordship has signified to me in that letter, that I should enable his Royal Highness to comply with the Address of the House of Commons. 'Though 1 havesr as your Lordship is well aware., apprised you front time to time of such events con nected with the internal interests of Ireland as have been most worthy of notice, and of the measures which I have adopted with a view to restore and Maintain the public peace, it may* be satisfactory that I should (instead of referring your Lordship to the detail of my seprr3te letters) embody the substance of them in this general dispatc h . - • It is not, I presume, wished that I should extend the statement, which is required from me, -beyond the period at which I assumed the administration of the affairs of this country ; and I shall, , therefore, only shortly and generally refer to events which oc curred during the government of my predecessor, or to the measures to which he had recourse. The Insurrection Act was passed by the Legisla ture in the year 1807 ; it was not enforced on any OCCISibh during the three years for which it was at that time enacted, and the state of Ireland was con sidered to he such in the year 1810, as not to render necessary the continuance of this Act, and indeed to admit of its repeal a very short period bef.,re that to which its duration was limited by law. In the early part, however, of January, 1811, in consequence of the numerous outrag. s committed in die Counties of Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, and ' Limerick, by bodies of men who assembled in arms by n'ght, adminibt - red unlawful oaths, prescribed laws respecting the payment of rents and tithes, plundered severathouses of arms, in various instances attempt ed, and in some committed murder; it was consi dered expedient tc issue a warrant for a Special Com . mission, to be held in the Counties before-mentioned, and in the Cities of Waterford, Kilkenny, and Lime- j rick, for the trial of such of Vse offenders as bad been apprehended. From the evidence adduced at the Special Commission, it appeared that many of the outrages to which I have referred were committed' by two combinations, very widely extended among the losier orders of the Roman Catholic population, which asouned the name of Caravats and Shanavests, re•pectively, and between which a violent animosity subsisted, the Cause of which was not very misfiled torily accounted for. As feuds of the same kind, not growing nut of religious differences, occasionally exist (though seldom to the extent to which this ap " pears to have prevailed), I have inserted in the Ap pendix to this dispatch it portion of the evidence which was adduced on one of the trials, from which some information may be collected with respect to the origin and object of the combinations by which the peace of the country was at that time disturbed. In the County of Tipperary nine persons were tried: two for murder, and seven for attempts to murder ; five were tried for robbery of arms ; and twenty two indicted and tried under the Acts which generally bear the name of the Riot and Whiteboy Acts, for assuming the name of Caravats, and ap pearing is arms : six were sentenced to death,twenty sevetitotransportation, whipping, and imprisonment; and three acquitted. In Waterford twelve persons were tiled : seven for attempts to murder', one for stealing arms, and four fur burglary and robbery : they were all found guilty, sad sentenced to death. It was not thought' necessary to proceed to Lime tick in execution of the Commission; and there were so trials of importance in Kilkeany. Notwithstanding, however, the number of con victim's-in the Counties of Tipperary and Waterford, 'at the Special Commission, and the severe examples which were-made, they do not appear even in these Counties to have produced any lasting effect, or to have materially checked the bad spirit -Which pre- Veiled in them. • in the early part of 1813. and during the whole, of that year, many daring offences against the pub 1k peace were committed in tbese and in. other Counties, particularly Waterford, Westmeath, Ros. cimitnon, and the King's County, the nature of wisich Sufficiently Avowed that Illegal .couthi,natictus. and glib same systematic violence and disorder against which the Special Commission of 1811 bad been di ttoed, still existed. The offences against the public peace, committed in the Coontim which were the seats of disturbance, partook of the same general character ; reports were constantly received of attacks on dwelling.houses for the purpose of procuring arms, and the frequency of these attacks, and the open and daring manner in *filch they were made. were Sufficient - proofs of the desire which generally prevailed amongst those cm, orned in the disturbances to tellect large quantities arms, and that possess the means or prosatudas dieir ulterior objects with a better prospect of success. Several instances occurred, in which the hoesis of inspectable individuals were attacked, even in th e even do."by large bodies of armed men; and otheri, 1 which the military, acting under the diatction of - Vagigrates, met with considerable resistance. It is y qf remark, that in the many successful knacks were made upon bottles with the view of de privio the proprietors of their sink. it rarely oc. nurra that any other species of property was nia.l . tested by the assailants. The pr incipal objects of k o oky, or ratio Ile principal sufferers, on emir= f I le r inadelflate means of defence, were those persons who, en the expiration of leases, had taken lam& farms St a higher vent than the late. occupiers bed nffeeed t* ands those with Mete suipectesl . oi a L la .. dittOeities to givs itilikmatibit to Islagmmees the distasteum of itch peace. Or *to bear Watt:son e them In a tont of jusPee, in the event of dee mid triaL In come counties, par tici; a in Westmeath and Roscommon, the most barbarous punishments were frequently inflicted upon persOns of those who had thus rendeted them selves obnoxious, and tspori the persons of dreir rela fves.• From the general tenor which these proceed ing, occasioned; it became almost impossible to pro cure ninideCtOry evidence against the guilty. I frequently happened that the sufferers from such atrocities as I have alluded to, when visited by a Ma• gistrate, would depose only generally to the facts of their having been perpetrated, and, not denying their knowledge of the offenders, would yet steadily refine to disclose theii names, or describe their persons, from the fear of ruture asiditional injury to them selves or their relatives. Even where the parties ot ,tendipg were deposed against and apprehended, there was frequently Ate greatest difficulty in effecting *sir conviction,' from the intimidation of witnesses, and irt some cases of jurors. I fear few instances can Be found of late, in the counties whiCh I have men timed, in which it has been possible• for witnesses, having given evidence in favour of the Crown, on any connectedwith the disturbance of the peace, to remain secure in theirannal places of abode. In the latter end of*the year 1818, a meeting of the Ma gistracy of the county of Westmeath took place, at which eightem of ahar-body attended. They ad dressed a memorial to me respecting the state of that county, which beers dale the 29th November; they represented that frequent outrages were committed ; that oaths - of increased malignity had been adminis tered; that three persons had been convicted on charges of administering and taking an oath, one of the obligations of which was “ to assist the French and Bonaparte ;" and that the witness upon whose evi dence that conviction had taken place Pad been re cently murdered, under circumstances which were alone sufficient to prove the alarming state of that county. The memorial concluded with an earnest prayer, that a proposition might be made to the Le. gislature for the revival of the Insurrection Act.— From evidence addaced on the trial of six persons concerned in the murder alluded to in this memorial (five of whom were capitally convicted), it was proved that the murder Was committed by a party of eighteen men, selected from a larger body, who assembled ip divisions of twelve each from three separate parishes, for the purpose of planning and perpetrating this murder. I may also add, that nine persons were shortly afterwards convicted on the same charges with respect to the oath on which the convictions mentioned in the memorial of the Magistrates took place. Similar meetings of the Magistrates of Waterford and of tbs. Ring's County took place about the same time, and I received from both representations of the disturbed state of their respective counties, and earnest appl.cation for MI increase to the military force sta. toned in them. In the memorial wild) I received from the King's County, which bore the signature of sixteen Magistrates, it was stated, 14 that alarming disturbances existed in that county, and the adjacent parts of Westmeath; that almost every night houses were plundered of arms; that they considered stronger measures than those which could be resorted to under the existing laws absolutely necessary ; and that the re-enactment and enforcement of the Insurrection Act would alone enable them to maintain tranquillity." In the month of January, 1814, I received from the Governors and twenty-eight of the Magistrates of , the county of Westmeath a second memorial, urging the necessity of the immediate revival of the Insur rection Act. In this county three murders had been then recently'committed within the short space of a month, two upon persons 'suspected of giving infor mation against offenders. Your Lordship will recollect, that in the early part of January, 1814, I felt it incumbent upon me to call your attention to a representation made to you:. Lord ship by his Grace the Duke of Richmond, in the month of August preceding, on the subject of the disturbed state of a considerable portion of the inte rior of this country, and expressed my deep regret that, notwithstanding the measures which had been adopted by the Government, in concert with the Commander of the Forces, and the general vigilance and activity of the resident Magistrates in those parts where the disturbances principally prevailed, no ef fectual progress had been made towatds the restora tion of tranquillity ; that the same spirit of outrage and tendency to unlawful combination still existed in many parts of the counties of Westmeath, Roscom mon, and the adjoining districts; and that the :e- V:ins then recently received from the counties of Tip perary, Limerick, Kilkenny, and the King's County, had produced repeated instances of a daring and sys tematic violation of the law. I stated, that the principal abject of the misguided persons WilQ were concerned iu the outrages which bad been committed, appeared to be the collection of arms, and the intimidation of all those who were likely to ;ice information that might lead to their apprehension and ciinVictions; ..*bat to such an extent had this system of jfitimidation been carried, that the most savage excesses had been committed, without the possibility of apprehending those concerned in the perpetration of them, on account of the reluctance the sufferers, from - the fear of future injury, to etre information against them. I added, that I could not ascertain that the,varimis cdnibinations which existed in different parts of the country proposed to 'themselves any definite object of a political nature; fior was there any evidence at all conclusive that they acted under.the immediate guid ante of leaders of weight, either is point of talents or - property.; and that although there bad appeared symptoms of concert and co-operation in, some parts, Bull I bad no reaion to believe that there was any !ge neral understanding between the combinations exist ing in the difeript confides. stated, that it was impossible, hoverer, that sods eembinatioas, although they rnightnot have any plan well digested and arranged, aid were not is puree* Of any common object, could betondderedotherwbe. than as hightydangierous ; that they afforded a proof of a eery paerat thspoiition among the lower mail in those district in which they prevailed, to attempt by force and intimidation 'the redress of What they I •la b Welrknovre, s tbai ins of elre oombloatlena graham: these and ether iasebbeirina eelderived tier name el " Carden* from the /sure of Übe - Somme witb . erldeit tfos, objects of hi %grants were 'faked, and which conslsted In the begs. don if their Wilk* with a Trost card, at mom Malta hatrakipte. codit t iared to beßlett "obi ere . 'facet *he ( the etesoot alarm among the peaceable itnd well-dis posed for . the safety of their ,persons Ind peoperty, and if Wined to gain strength and ennsis3 ncy. they would become instruments which the designing and disaffected might readily employ in the fiartherance of their political views, should some better oppi.nu nity occur fur the prosedution of them. I represented to your' Lordship, that the rate of the existing laws which regarded the preservation of the pubk.peace, and die expediency of extending the powers of the G"vernmeut and of the Magistracy, were subjects to which, is all probability, it would be my duty to call the attention of your Lordship before the approiChing meeting of Parli.iment, and that in the mean time I should depend upon a vigo- rous exertion of the powers with which I was then vested, and upon the co-operation of she military force, for the means of counteracting the spirit of outrage which preleOled in many parts of the coun try. and of preventing, its extension to others. In,consequence of the continuance and increase of the disturbances referred to in the letter which I have quoted above. it was determined to submit to Parlia ment the expediency of extending the powers of the Government and of the Magistracy; and accordingly in the month of 'March, in the Session of 1814, a Bill was introduced, the object of which was to pro. vide for the better execution of the laws in Ireland, by enabling the Lord Lieutenant in Council to pro claim. any district to be in a state of disturbance, and to station in it pn establishment of constables propor tioned to the eitent of the district. acting tinder the immediate superintendence of a Magistr.ite appointed by the Lord Lieutenant. It was provided by the Bill, that the salaries of the Magistrates and Consta bles, and the general expenses attendant on the exe intion of the Act, should be defrayed by a present. went of the . Grand Jury, to be levied on the district proclaimed to be in a state of disturbance s this Bill passed into a law ; and, at a later period of the Seo sion. the Act which had been previously passed in 180, which generally bears the name of The Insur rection Act, was introduced, and, after being slightly modified, received the sanction of the Legislature. The first instance in which I had occasion to apply the powers thus committed to me by the first of the, Acts above referred to, occurred in the county of Tippet ary. Early in the month of July, 1814, I had received a memorial from a meeting of Magistrates and Gentlemen, held in pursuance of a public notice, requesting, in consequence of the recent murder of Mr. Long, a Magistrate of the county, and other alarming outrages, that the district of Ardmoyle, in the barony of Middlethird, in which the murder was committed, might be proclaimed. As the Acts above-mentioned had not then received the Royal assent, I directed that the Magistrates should be in formed, that there seas no law then in force by which that district could be proclaimed ; but that I relied upon their exertions to bring the offenders to pettish merit,- and was ready to co-opetate in their endea vours with the full assistance of the Civil and military powers. In the month of September, the Resolutions rf a general meeting' of Magistrates of the county of Tip perary, convened at-Cashel, for the purpose of taking the state of the country into consideration, were transmitted to me, praying, that in consequence of the numerous murders and other outrages committed in the barony of Middlethird, it might be proclaimed undef , the provisii.ns of the Act 54 Geo. ill. c. 131, which eiSables the Lord Lieutenant to assign an extra ofeinary Mice Establishment to a disturbed district. Al I felt subngly the necessity of establishing a regular Police in . a county in which the ordinary Civil Power was proved to be entirely inadequate to the repression of the disorders which had long pre vailed in it, the Barony of Mtddlethird was proclaim ed in Council, on the 6th of September, to be in a state of disturbance, and a Magistrate who had long bee; confidentially employed by the Government was appointed the superintending Magistrate, with an establishment of 30 constables. In two other districts of the county of Tipperary (1), similar police establishments have been subse. quently placed, on the application of the Magistrates of the county. Lordship is aware, that the Officers attached to these establishments possess no powers whatever in enforcing the execution of the laws beyond the ordinary powers of Magistrates and Constables nominated in 'the usual manner ; and I bare already observed, that the expense incurred by their appointment is borne by the district in which they act. I shall now proceed to mention the several in. :tames in which applications have been made by the Magistrates far the enforcement of the Insurrection Act, and the measures which have been in conse quence adopted. In the month of November, 1814, I received a memorial from the Governors of lie fourteen Magi strates of the county of Westrileath, stating, that the recent outrages committed in that county. proved a continuance of the same liteless conspiracy which had existed for some time past, and which rendered the lives and properties of every.petscn in the dies' tutted district insecure; and praying for the emote*. meat of the Insurrection Act in certain districts of that county. With this memorial 1 did not comply, still induls ing a hope that the continued exertions of the Magi sttacy. aided by a considerable military force which had been detached into this county, would preclude the necessity of resorting to any extraordinary exer cise of authority. On the 2841 of March, 1815, a meeting of twenty eight Magistrates of the same county took place, summoned by the Clerk of the Peace, in the model pointed out by the Insunectinn Act ; and a 'manorial' ryas addressed to the Lords Justices, who administer , ed the government during my absence for a few weeks in England. The Magistrates observed, that the ordinary powers entrusted to them were totally inadequate to ensure that security which every sub ject has a right to derive from the laws of his coon. try ; that the punishment of criminals led only to the murder or banishment of those who hid given infor mation against thenti and that protection was only to be found in the Vicinity of the military posts; they concluded by calling upon the Lords Justices tb enforce the insurrection Act in leveret baronies (2) Of the event, of Westmeath.—(To Ire Onstiaued.) (1) The tamales - ot Itilaelowsagh and . .F.liapity, and tbo barony of‘Clanwllltatn. (s) Brawny, Motown Kilkenny West, Ratlcondra, Mop easno. and parts of sin barony of Moygosh, &c. ~ r f'. FRENCH PAPERS. PARIS, JUNE 29. The king, by his Ordonnance of the Mo nt h May last, has a established, in favour of t h e D ow4ge Marchioness of Coriolis d'Espinouse, last child op General Mnntcalm, the ancient pension given to It 4 children of that General, in memory due services of their illustrious father, who fell bel l Quebt c. The Tribunal of the .First Instance yesterday p rt . anunced judgment conformably to the cnnch mons the King's Procurator, in the cause of the Count sad Countess of Norm(int. The Countess Rh obtained a pension of 10,000 francs. HANAIJ, Jun. 44. • The o ffi cers of the regiment of the Electoral prier, which is here in garrison, sent some time since we sifEcers to Cassel with a petition, demanding e n i ll ; crease of pay. These officers, upon their mit t ' st Cassel, were arrested and condemned to six mo n * imprisonment in a fortress, by order of the Elects, Thereupon all the Captains of the Staff Majo r , a n d the Subaltern Officers of the Prince's Electoral R ment, yesterday demanded their dismission, li mit resolved to share the fate of their compKnions in at, whatever it might be. CASTRIES, JUNE 14. Our cloth manufactories are in full activity; eed efs are so multiplied that the prices of manuall:4 l ,„. have greatly increased. The w•.•rkmen of all classe % are emp'oyed, and they recover by their labour whit they have lost by the calamities of the times. Spain and the Levant furnish a ready m..rket for our produce. • PRIVATE LETTERS. 44 PARIS, JUNI 29. ‘g I communicate to you what paiticulars I bare been able to procure concerning the plot to blow up, or rather set fire to the Hotel of his Grace during the fete given on Tuesday evening, at which the youngtr Princes of the Bon: bin branch were present. “ A smoke was perceived issuing ham the cellar, and remarked by . one of the servants (Mr. Aston's), in waiting in the street, and •made {moan immedi ately to the Duke's household. A valet, formerly in the service of Napoleon, was the first who descended into the cellar, and saw that it proceeded from a lighted rag besmeared with powder, ne.sr which wee a certain number of ball cartouches, several pounds of gunpowder, and two barrels of oil. The ttala was of course immediately extinguished. The ca. touches were observed to be moist, probably to pre. vent the explosion from being heard. His Grace, who was aware that no danger any longer existed, avoided alarming the party by giving publicity to this affair ; and I am informed from very good 113. thorny, that he belilves the intention of these 17);.5. creants was to renew the terrible scene which happened at the gala of the Prince of Schwartzenberg, to honour of the marriage of the Archduchess with Napoleon. It is probable advantage would have been taken of the confusion, and in the hurried retreat and press of the terrified multitude, bloody treason would have perpe t rated its designs. The lighted train is supposed to have been thrown into the cellar Iran 21 iron grate communicating with the Chaisps Elyse , s. The sentinels were examined, and from their dem,. tion there is reason to bdieve a man, disguised in ft. male attire, was the principal instrument in this affair. The police is exerting its usual vigilante, but hitherto without success." , ANOTHER LETTER—SAME DATE. 64 Some of the young Patriot: of Cambray have been insulting for some weeks since insulated Mit Officers, and encouraged by impunity, even suet detached bodies of them. Seven of these gest/yr tacked two Officers of the 95th, who, being acciden tally joined by two of their comrades, stooda pitched battle against the party. The result was, lour of the French were conducted into the city as prisoners, where, after the affair was examined by the canape ' tent authorities, they were safely lodged in gaoL— The other three escaped. You will hear with stir• prise that all these young men belong to the fist fa. ii.ilies in Cambray. The conduct 'tif these indiscreet young men, independently of their national erupt* don against the English, is to be attributed to a mes. sure the Duke of Wellington judged indispensible, that of disarming the National Guard at Cambtay. His Grace, with his usual good nature, was pleased at first to suffer them to retain their arms; but the impropriety of their behaviour towards Odiceri who were out of uniform, forced him to revoke a permit. sion almost unprecedented in a garrison town. 46 The precednuy of the National and Royal Guard, when doing duty sear his Majesty, has created soar jealousy between these distingui.hed corps. Tea manifested itself in an unpleasant manner at Versailles the other day ; but measures are said to be taken P prevent the possibility of the recurrence of sintilif scenes for the future. a it is worthy of remark, that M. Leine has abo• lished the Deputations which the General Councile were in the habit of sending to his Majesty from the respective Dv...menu; and two dem••oficial ar. tictes have appe. red in me Joatrnal General, to put as end to the fabrication of these adulatory ermratiorit, which, with very little variation, have beers the sAre from the National Convention to the present eay. The rorisian Journals announce the indispoE tion of the Minister of War. This sort of advert' ment generally leads to a country re:teat, and resig• I nation Isom the fatigues of office." DIEPPE, JULY 1. " This morning, the Eliza packet, C.i i itain Watts arrived from Brighton, With a distinioiilied party. who purpose to make a short continen al tour, con sisting t• the Lady of General Sir B Bloomfield, Master John Bloonifield, Sir Robert and Lady Wal ler, Mr. and Mrs. Poe, Mr. Frederick, and Miss Wall. They had experienced a rty,st pleasant voy tge across the channel, and were Istr.ded at Taylor's English Hotel, in perfect health and spirts, and after taking refreshments, proceeded on their journey to Rouen. This party travel through France in their own c* riage. Numerous spectators were attracted on the quay, to witness the debarkation, and re.cons•ruction of their elegant vehicle, and the Ladies enjoyed the novelle scene of witnessing the singular contrast th.t was Visible in the manners, costume, and impor.o a do; pf those varied grnupes, who were anxious to learn every particular relative to those select tourists. 44 So tenacious are the Police at Dieppe. respect:lig the introduction of English Newspapers into Franca by the different passengers entering that port, that 4 seizure is immediately made of every one w:ticli 't) es st 'am th 4•~ 1 4 i 4 1 1 ~ 1, i