The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-19 00:00:00

THE ST. ALBANWITNESSES.

The SERGEANT-AT-ARMS appeared at the bar, and
informed the House that on the 9th instant, attending in
the House as Sergeant, he had been served with a notice
of action in the Court of Exchequer, at the suit of
William Lines, one of the witnesses in the
St. Albans election petition; and on th© 17th
with a notice of action, to which he was required to
plead in four days. Before taking any steps in the mat-
ter, he had thought it his duty to inform the House of
the circumstances.

On the motion of Lord J. RUSSELL the declaration
was ordered to be printed, and the matter to be taken
into consideration to-morrow.
Mr. ROEBUCK said, that a 3 the Sergeant-at-Arms
was required to plead so soon, he thought they:had
better take some immediate step. The first thing to be
done would be to take up the attorney who had issued
the writ --(Laughter.)
THE LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND AND
THE WORLD NEWSPAPER—VOTE OF
WANT OF CONFIDENCE.

Lord NAAS then rose to move the following resolu- i
tion:—" That, in the opinion of this House, the transac-
tions which appear recently to have taken place be-
tween the Irish Government and the editor of
a Dublin newspaper, are of a nature to weaken
the authority of
the Executive, and to reflect
discredit on the administration of public affairs."
In rising to propose this resolution he felt that he might
claim the indulgence of the House for the very peculiar
circumstances under which he was placed. It was a most
invidious task to be obliged to impute and arraign the
actions of public men, and particularly of those who held
high office under the Crown. The House would, there-
fore, see the very disegreable position in which he Wa3
placed. His reluctance on the present occasion was
greater because he must say that, together with all
who mixed in public affairs, he entertained great re-
spect fur the character of the individuals to whom he should
be obliged to allude. He had the deepest regard for the
great personal qualities, the talents, and private worth of
the Noble Lord who filled the office of Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland, and he must say that he would be obliged
to arraign certain acts which the Noble Lord and his
Government had committed, he did not attempt to deny
that that individual and that Government had performed
great services to the State. He could however think
that their services would in the least degree in-
fluence the opinion of the House upon the question
which he had to submit to it. He could
not think that in bringing forward this motien he was
taking any step unworthy of himself or of that House.
He considered it to be an inherent right in every Mem-
ber of that House to take exceptions to it, and to con-
sider the public acts of a public man.—(Hear, hear.)
He felt, however, that a deep responsibility rested upon
any Member who took such a course, but he was
convinced that before he sat down he should show
to the House that the acts which he arraigned were far
from being trifling, and that his motion was not entirely
without foundation. This was not a personal attack—
that he wished perfectly to be understood—he impugned
the acts of a public man on public grounds. They were acts
unjustifiable in themselves, and involving, moreover, an
unwarantable expenpiture of the public money. He
ntwould,e however, detail the history of the transaction as
they were first brought to light by a trial which oc-
...reel at Dublin on the 15th of December last. The
action was
by
an . brought. against the Secretary for Ireland
individual of the name of Birch for
money said
was for a balaZto be due from him for
services done by Birch to the Secretary. The demand
due for work and labour done, and
amounted in all ettol'he ,71(4)r/.1, of which 6,0501. veto for arti-
cles inserted in
relative to those ad;* 3501. for attending the Se-
cretaryrit;,colels, at 51. per week, and 300/.
'hint was
se
the
facts of the case were not derndied
for 12,000 copies of
newspaper. The main
that the work had not been done; edoetfenocbejewctaesd
that the original understanding was with the ,
Lord-
Lieutenant and not with the Secretary, ens: , that
discharged all claims due fromHe him.
6•he had
would now
prcceed to show the character of the gentleman
nen It had
and of the Par , been established in
Dublin some years prebviotus6, and
in the year
1846 its circulation was a. 011
theoo per week, the total
her of stamps issued in year
being 30 916
num risen to 39. •
In 1847 its circulation had ,893, in 1848
it had doubled, being then 6
always contained
, 970. It
articles watt a paper
of
peculiar character, it had of COn.
siderable talent on public
affairs, but e were also to he
diseTacefui chaNc`6
found in it articles of the most r, to
e'
in the . ' except... paper which he could find no parallel
Satirist.—(Cries of
for-
merly published called the London
" Oh, oh!") These personal attacks were of the
grossest and most horrible description—they were at-
tacks upon private individuals, gave names, and entered
into the topics of private life. No person was safe—
female chastity and manly honour alike were assailed
and accusations made which were a disgrace
to any journal to insert at all.—(Hear, hear.)
It appeared that it had been the practice of this man to
endeavour to rxtcrt money from various individuals
under the threat of publishing articles of this description.
mr, throb, in fact, was inclictvd for one of the gravest
libels that could possibly be committed upon any Mae,
and the prosecution was conducted by her Majesty '8
Attorney-General for Ireland. He was found guilty
i and sentenced to six calendar months' imprisonment,

and yet this was the man and this was the paper
that was employed by Government to write in
the interest of law and order. This was the paper
selected by the Lord-Lieutenant to waist him and his
Government in repressing the very outrageous proceed•
ings that were then occurring in the sister kingdom.
He could not help thinking that this was both an error in
principle and an error of judgment. It was an error in
principle, because it was quite impossible to say
that any public officer would be justified in engaging
for one moment the services of a man already convicted
of a serious crime, and whose paper was known to be
disreputable. It was impossibe to defend that action,
and no one he was sure would be found hardy enough
to do it.—(Hear, hear.) He thought also it was an
error of judgment, because no assistance which
could be rendered by such a paper could be
of any use to a government if it was known,
and e there was nothing to prevent its being
knows that the paper had been paid to write in support
of law and order. No paper could carry with it any
moral influence when it was open to the imputation of
having been corrupted with a bribe.—(Hear, hear.)
He would now proceed to state to the House as
shortly as he could the negociations which passed be-
tween Mr. Birch and the Irish Government. It ap-
peared that he became associated with the Government
in 1848, and he received, in the early part of that year,
through the hands of Mr. Connelly (one of the secre-
taries at the Castle), 3501. for writing in favour
of the Government. After he was instructed from the
what to write about and how to time his articles; and
it would seem from the paper that he faithfully carried
out the intention; for, on the sth of April, he was told
to work up the French affairs, and ne did so in the
next number of his paper. In the month of July Mr.
Birch came to London, and had an interview with
Sir William Somerville, but Sir William Somerville
knew nothing at this time of the compact that subsisted
between him and the Castle, and he was requested to
call again . When he did call again Sir William had re-
ceived a letter from Lord Clarendon, in Dublin, and Mr.
Birch was promised 5001., which the party who was
the agent, through whom the promises was made, was
not enough, for he thought Mr.. Birch would have been
ill-paid if he bad demanded eight times as much.—(A
laugh.) Mr. Birch, however, never received
more than 2501. in London, and in October ho
returned to Dublin, where he had an inter-
view with Mr. Melville, another secretary, and was
paid the other 2501. Up to this time he had received
8001., but the communications between this gentleman
and the Government appeared to have been carried on
in 1849, and it would seem from a letter which was
written to him that his was not the only
paper that had been subsidised.—(Hear, hear )
There was another paper the; had been paid
in the way, and he really did think the House had a
right to know what this other newspaper was, and the
amount of public money that was paid for the purpose
of baying its support..—(Hear, hear.) Shortly after
this disclosure was made to Mr. Birch, be
printed in his cover language that was considered
disrespectful to scene one in the Castle, and he was
therefore culled upon to retract it for 1001., which cer-
tsiniy was a very pleasant way of settling an affair
of honour like that.—(Hear, hear, and a laugb.)
Sir W. Somerville in a letter to Mr. Birch, dated 11th
April, 1850, said he believed no journalist was
ever treated ,eith greater generosity and attention
than Mr. Birch.—(A laugh.) Other correspondence
passed between the partieo, but at last Mr. Birch sent
in his " little bill" to the Lord Lieutenant, which was
cat-wiled in the following terms:—" Supporting law and
order in the World for two years."—(Loud laughter.)
" To rendering service to thu Government, 50/. a-week-
-6,500/.—(Laughter.) The Lord Lieutenant very naturally
refused to pay, and Mr. Birch commenced proceedings
against him in the Queen's Bench in Ireland, which he
might observe was one of the most extraordinary courts
in the kingdom. The Noble Lord then proceeded to
detail the proceedings in that court, the nature of the
compromise made by the Government, by which
2,0001. was handed to Mr. Birch on condition of his
destroying certain documents and letters in his pos-
session, and the ultimate trial which took place, and
lasted for two days. The Lord-Lieutenant was
sworn on his oath, and in the course of his
evidence admitted that the letters then produced
and made public were written by his authority. He
also said be bad requested Sir W. Somerville to 'pay
Mr. Birch some money, but denied that the
newspaper was the paid organ of the Govern-
ment, or that he had ever read it. It was
however right to mention that during the two years the
World was in the employ of the Government, leading
articles appeared in its columns from time praising the
policy or the Lord-Lieutenant and of the Foreign-office.
It was absurd to say that the arrangement made with
Mr. Birch was of a temporary character—simply
to advocate order while rebellion existed in Ire-
land, for the rebellion ceased on the arrest
of William Smith O'Brien, in October, 1848, and
yet during the whole of 1849 Mr. Birch was in constant
communication with the Government. As late as Dec.
in that year he received 1001. from the Lord-Lieutenant.
There could be no doubt, therefore, that the arrangement
with that gentleman was to support the general policy
of the Government on condition of his receiving a cer-
tain reward. This money came out of the public
purse, and, as a member of the Opposition, he felt
to bring the subject under the attention of the House.—
(Hear.) The decision which the House would come
to would affect the scale of public morality.—(Cheers.)
The Noble Lord then concluded .by reading the terms
of his motion.
Lord J. RUSSELL rose and was
(LEFT SPEAKING.)