The Sun.
London, England, 1831-08-27 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS, Aua UST 26.

At Half-past Three o'c',ock the SPEAKER took his seat.

THE DUBLIN ELECTION.

Mr. CRAMPTON presented a petition, which he said
deserved the serious consideration of the House, as con-
nected with the purity of election and the privileges of
this House. It was signed by one of the candidates at
the late' Dublin election, Mr. Serjeant O'Loghlen, and
by certain freeholders, complaining of gross partiality and
misconduct on the part of the Sheriffs during the election.
If the statement in the petition was true, and from the
respectability of the petitioners he (Mr. Crampton) could
not doubt it, the conduct of the Sheriffs was highly repre-
hensible. According to the Act of Parliament, the Sheriffs
were to erect five booths, three for freeholders and two for
freemen, and the arrangement was so ordered that not
more than SOO could poll at each booth. The first corn
plaint against the Sheriffs was, that contrary to the ar-
rangements made in accordance with the Act, they, without
any previous intimation to the Reform candidates, but
appearing to be in the interest of the Corporation candi-
dates, thought proper to transfer 500 voters from one
booth to another ; this had the effect of creating consider-
able confusion, for many voters ran about without knowing
where to vote. At each booth a deputy was, as regulated
by law, stationed ; there were five deputies, of which four
were in the interest of the Cohoration, and it appeared
from the statement of the petitioners that they had acted
with gross partiality.
Mr. W. WYNN interrupted the Hon. Member by
calling him to order, as this was, properly speaking, an
election petition, and therefore it was unfair to the parties
concerned to make these statements.
Mr. GRATTAN contended that the subject matter of
the petition was fit fur the consideration of the House,
and he protested against the interruption by the Right
Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Wynn).
The SPEAKER conceived that this was more in the
nature of an election petition, and as the return had not
been made to the Crown-office, it was too early to
present any election petition. If the prayer of the House
was for a remedy, clearly the House could afford none, as
by law the charges would he subject to inquiry before a
Special Committee upon an election petition.
Mr. CRAMPTON said the petition prayed for a remedy,
and also that in the Reform Bill, now before the House, it
should be provided that the Sheriffs elected by corporations
should not be allowed to be the returning officers. He
therefore hoped that this latter prayer would justify the
House in receiving the petition.
The SPEAKER said it appeared to him that the inser-
tion of one prayer for a general legislative object could not
be received if it was accompanied by another prayer for
a remedy for individual grievances.
After a few words from Mr. HOME, who thought that
the petition ought to be received,
Mr. CRAMPTON consented to withdraw the petition,
though lie felt satisfied that the statements it contained de-
manded investigation. . .

Mr. LAMBERT presented two petitions, one from
the Roman Catholic inhabitants, and the other from the
Protestant inhabitants of New Ross, praying that the
yeomanry of the county of Wexford might be disarmed,
and remodelled. Many of the petitioners were within
his (Mr. Lambert's) knowledge highly respectable and
wealthy. He did not -wish that any unjust or harsh cen-
sures should be made on the yeomanry, but he was sorry
to state that there was too muck truth in the corn-
plaints that had been made of that body.—(Hear, hear.)
The petitioners stated that the yeomanry of Wexford were
nearly all of them Protestants of low character, and chiefly
apprentice boys, from whose indiscriminate use of arms
great mischief had arisen. They prayed that the yeo-
manry might be remodelled, and that it might consist of
persons not only of all denominations, but of persons who
had an interest in preserving peace. The Hon. Member
designated the late affair at Newtownbarry as wanton,
unprovoked, and, he hail too much reason to fear, of a
very deliberate character.—( Hear, hear.) The attention
of the public had been called to a memorial connected
with this subject, presented to the Noble Lord at the bead
of the Treasury, and it had been said in another place, as
mtlaenniswel
well as by the newspapers, that the memorial was factious,
and got up under the sanction of the Hon. Member for
Kerry (Mr. O'Connell). This be denied; it was a
remonstrance drawn up by respectable and honourable
(316.,ceoot...(EuLeaLr'slaid,
6,,
et,
ii
hvoee_ha(dlleneort)h_inpgertsoonsaskwhoof
setohreneGdotvoernnsemaentthrefoart
to the Government, as had been charged to them. He
(Mr. Lambert) first took the memorial, already signed by
several persons, to the Honourable and Learned Member for
Kerry for his signature. He had also been called a crea-
ture of the Hon. and Learned Member's, but he scorned
the assertion. He had disagreed with that Hon. Mem-
ber in more stormy places than in that House, but he was
bound to say, that much as that Hon. Member had done
for Ireland, he yet expected to see him do much more.
--(Hear, hear.) He entreated his Majesty's Ministers
manfully, and at once, to begin the regeneration of Ireland ;
he knew there were difficulties in the way, but they were
to be got over by perseverance and determination.
Mr. MAXWELL regretted that the Hon. Member had
commented in such severe terms on the yeomanry of Ireland.
He differed with that Hon. Member as much as it was
possible for one man to do with another. He held in his
hand a statement signed by forty Magistrates, and by other
gentlemen of the county of Wexford, in which they re-
ferred to the resolutions agreed to at a public meeting in
Wexford on the 30th July, and they declared their opinion
that the maintenance of the yeomanry force was essential
to prevent insurrection in that country ; he (Mr. Maxwell)
agreed with that declaration, and was confident that any at-
tempt to disband that force would be attended with great
disturbance, and would eventually lead to the separation of
the two countries. As to the Newtownbarry affair, from
what had been stated on a former evening by the Hon.
Member for Wexford (Mr. Lambert), he had written to
that place, and he would now state to the House the re-
sult of his inquiries. The Hon. Member had stated that
the yeomanry of Ireland were not to be intrusted with
innsgtabneeeend one
shot ebays e
thatof twofor
force, and
0 who ht oh e voted
yeo-
manry
aforrmh'inafinrildianvgi shots over the chapel of Newtownbarry during
wtslhioeeuill'idkiensce
that
the celebration of mass for the souls of the deceased per-
sons,and lie concluded by asking, if such things had oc-
curred in England, whether they would not have aroused
notawou
jafdswoathevhcoieturny:
ofwah toeeNul
wel
ed:aev;snt
obmwuont
acquainted,sbitta rsro
respectable
(pni
ied nee:?dor
:utrlbbsdoea
hear.)
speak
tieh)aN%ek, si et thingsouhf eet
hileeari
ilyr
the indignation of the people ? His (Mr. Maxwell's) re-
ply
did
in his hand (which he could read if the House repaired it)
the affidavits
reepeetability. They stated that they were close to the
chapel at Newtownbarry on the occasion alluded to, and
that they heard no shots fired. Besides these piFfick4as
guards at Newtownbarry, deposed to
Lieut. James S. Johnson, commandieg er detachment of
King ' s Dragoontbe
Hon. Member (Mr. Lambert) bad
He now trusted' that the House
misinformedtheirb eaesn t ohn theiai
till(ei
,s , facts.ifl i
te II
ewl luo eu,os
lipdhe cnAt?dgmo thebu ebrt
etw:voeounlpdegrsrsuonspnsrlayi
saidy iiimto
~‘,h aj
qqon he able to give as direct a contradiction upon that
ppint as lie had upon the others. The Honourable Mee??
rulaoidvibnegfere the noose a copy of the report
an address to hi; Alikieaty, pray-
of BeieWlerlk. 9 800, made at the difsire of the Lord
Lieotenant of Ireland, upon an enquiry into the alleged
firing over the chapel of Newtownbarry by the yee,manry
nded, he had heard no regret for so much
_, i noLT seventeen per-
sons lost their lives at Ziewtownbarry, and many others
pray-
ing concludedt
ha t
therieabj?)ee-c
horrid waste of life--(Hear, hear, bear.) The 4..0rd
Lieutenant bad declared to the Magistrates that the yen•
. manry of Newtownbarry had been unnecessarily called out,
pd yet there had been no eetributive justice.—( Hear.)
Was there ever so false and atrocious a docoment as.
that produced by the Hon. Member from the forty Ma•
gistrates ? Was not Newtownbarry
wei‘relr.wo,
one of the most
peaceable districts in Ireland before thiaoceurrence ? and yet
these Noblemen and Gentlemen; these Magistrates declared

the yeomanry necessary to preserve the public peace. Who
were the Grand Jury? Why the brothers and relatives of
these Magistrates.—(Hear.) They were now asserting
what they knew to ,e unfounded and false. If the Go-
vernment, however, wanted to preserve peace in Ire-
land, and to keep the people from a state of madness,
let them take the arms hum these low Protestants,
for it was not denied that they were low characters.—
It was high time for the Irish Government to act. Did
they not perceive, in every one of their movements, that
the party to which they clung were endeavouring to de-
ceive and to defeat them? They had been endeavouring to
get into the tiger's der. to sooth it, but the savage inmate bad
turned upon them. Where were the people to look for justice,
so long as the Magistrates countenanced Orange proces
sions. The truth was that party spirit was an exotic in
Ireland : it had thriven hitherto as a de tdly night-shade,
that had poisoned the country with its pestiferous influence,
because it had been fostered in the hot-bed of Govern-
ment favour. The period was come when that exotic
should have no such protection. Why should the Magis-
trates give their countenance to Orange processions ? Let
the Government only dismiss in any one Orange county
one or two of the Magistrates from the commission.
and the evil would soon be mitigated ; the remaining
ones would be quite tame and submissive. It was
time for the Government to take some determined step;
they could not serve God and Mammon ; they could no
serve the people while they kept alive the party spirit of
an Orange yeomanry, which hated the Government, it
possible, worse than it did the people of Ireland, whom
they wished to keep in subjection.
Mr. STANLEY hoped the House would not he led
away into the discussion of disagreeable topics, which the
more they were avoided the better chance there was of
subduing party animosities, by the very violent, uncalled
for, and unjustifiable speech of the Hon. and Learned
Member for Kerry. It had been well if that Hon. and
Learned Gentleman had imitated the moderation and good
temper of the Hon. Gentleman who presented this peti-
tion, who, being a Wexford mast, and immediately con-
nected with the subject of the petition, had intro-
duced a matter in which his own feelings might have
been Lidy excited, and yet bad abstained from one
single expression in all be had said that was in the slightest
degree calculated to give pain. He wished the Hon.
Member for Kerry had had the fairness and candour to
follow so good an example. He (Mr. O'Connell) had,
however, endeavoured to rake up every possible ground
of party enmity—of that enmity which he professed
himself so anxious to subdue and extinguish. He (Mr.
Stanley) must be allowed to say, that such was not the
manner in which that party spirit could be allayed or ex-
terminated; and whatever might be the professions of the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman, it was not the best calcu-
lated to assist the Government in steering a course which
they were most anxious to steer, separate from, and in-
dependent of any party spirit whatever.—(Hear, hear.)
Nothing could have so pernicious an effect on these objects
as the violence and intemperance of language with which
the Hon. and Learned Gentleman bad treated this sub-
ject. The best way (as suggested by the Hon. Member for
Wexford) was, that what had gone by should be, if possible,
obliterated from their recollection, and that they should
look to the future for a remedy. The Hon. and Learned
Member for Kerry had thrown great discredit upon the
statement made respecting the celebration of the mass
—(llear, hear)—on the occasion of the interment of
the unfortunate individuals who had fallen at New-
townbarry. Now he (Mr. Stanley) had in his band a
document which would set that point at rest, in
which from the testimony of Mr. Walsh, the priest
who had celebrated that mass, it appeared that no
disturbance had taken place, nor had the slightest inter-
ruption been offered on that day, ❑or on any day since,
by the yeomanry of the county.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
With regard to the general question, the subject matter of
the petition, the House was aware that his Majesty's
Government were particularly anxious to adopt some
measure for placing the Irish yeomanry force on a less
objectionable footing than it now occupied in some
districts of Ireland. They knew too the difficulties
with which the question was surrounded, and
he could only say, that while the Government
were not prepared, for the fault of a few individuals, to
pass a sweeping sentence of condemnation on so large and
in many instances so respectable a body; while they were not
prepared to disband the yeomanry of Ireland, yet let a sin-
gle individual, a single corps, or a single instance, be brought
forward where duty was neglected or overstepped, and the
Marquis of Anglesea would take the most prompt steps to
investigate the matter, and signify his opinion upon it.
With regard to the circumstances of the yeomanry of Wex-
ford he regretted that they were expOsed to considerable
suspicion. But that single instance was not a sufficient
reason for disbanding a whole body of men, unless
there should appear a charge against them of im-
proper conduct. As to the calling out the yeomanry,
the Lord Lieutenant had expressed his opinion very
strongly, and the consequence was that two Magistrates had
resigned their place in the commission of the peace, and it
had been accepted. But upon the conduct of the yeomanry
when called out, while proceedings were pending, his
Lordship had not expressed an opinion.

Mr. G. DAWSON had heard with satisfaction the
iaedn ttso obfet the
a'
b l
eßti go ht
acquitllon .h
sSeAcirae
Majesty's
,sfoGr
olNr.velrannmd
e. n He
fbgetaelittneggnla party in calumniating that useful body the Irish
yeomanry. But if he felt pleasure in the statements
which he had heard from the Secretary for Ireland, that
pleasure was changed into indignation at the extraordinary
speech which had been made by the Hon. Member for
Kerry--( Hear, bear)—and others, who had united them-
selves with what he could not but call a most unconsti-
tional cabal, to insult his Majesty's Ministers for the
purpose of effecting their own objects.--(Loud cries of
Hear, hear," particularly from Mr. O'Connell.) He
neither regarded the cheers nor dreaded the attacks of the
Hon. Member for Kerry—(Hear)—for he had not a
doubt that in stating what he had done, he spoke
tie sentiments of a vast portion of the population of
Ireland, who would he was confident resist to a man
any attempt of the Hon. Member to put down tha
Protestants of Ireland, or to calumniate the Irish yeomanry,
—(Hear, hear.) He hoped the Secretary for Ireland
would furnish the House with ample details of the dread-
ful affair at Newtownbarry, and he should feel much
disappointed if that account did aot acquit the yeomanry
of what the Hon. Member had designated a massacre.
With respect to the yeomanry generally in Ireland, be
begged of the House not to join in those unmerited
designations against that useful body, which had been so
lavishly indulged in:by the Member for Kerry, or those com-
posing the cabal to which he had referred.
Mr. GRATTAN rose to order. If the Hon. Member
opposite designated those who were acting with him as a
cabal, he had no hesitation of telling him he watt stating
that which was false.

The SPEAKER trusted the Hon. Member would re-
frain from using language that was highly unparliamentary.
Mr. DAWSON considered the speech of the Hon,
Member (Mr. Grattan) one of the most extraordinarx ho
had ever heard. That Hon. Member had not aaiy heirded
a Member of his Majesty's Government in plicate,
but even in that House---( lear)—and that in language
such as ought not to he countenanced by the House, or by
any Membor of Parliament.—(Hear, hear.) He limew
from the cheer of the Hon. Member behind (Mr.
O'Connell) that the object he had in view was the separation
of Ireland from England ; biAt so would tell that Hon.
Member the people of Ireland did not trust him ; they had
not joined 114) or would they join him, in %intl.% stork,
uWess the Government of the country lei tWir aid by dis.
banding the yeomanry. They would not join him in the at-
tempt to do that, wl icit. be oalled an unconstitu-
tional object, lia; the moment Government disbanded she
yeomanry, which he knew they bad too much good tense toodo,
they would throw Ireland into the arms of 3,l4e4ntiea. The
moment the yeomanry were disartoe& the Protestants of
the country would arm tbemaelves at their own expence.
Thousands of my.; ILA told him within the last few days
that the signal 'for disarming the yeomanry would the
ciiinal for arming themselves. He had no, hesitation in
saying that there was no part i 4 cna empire enjoyed
more tranquillity or showg More respect to Government
than the Notiti, pf Areland, and to prove that, he would
read ;he address of Mr. Justice Jebb to the Grud Jury of
Kerry. The Hon. Member for Kerry bad hated on a former
occasion that he (Mr. D.) had made complaints of the Ma-
gistracy of Ireland, and with his usual ingenuity endeavoured
to make it apvar that those complaints had originated en-
and exclusively with the Yeomanry, What be re-
ferred to was, the quarrel that had taken place between
the Orangemen and the Vyoteatiots, subjects totally un-
connected with
He tr-,:iiited that the imabiishment of the yeomanry crops.
more the subject of the y?..omanry of
icreland was discussed, the moreF;entlestoen from the north
of Ireland would stand up i their places and contradict the
aspersions cast c'a, them by the Hon. Member fps Kerry,
RATTAN thoUght that the Government
4ihde :Lo Honourable Member
w
nj.resdt
satth,elQ,,,a;d:itceo
the purpose for which he rose
was to repel the attack made on several Members of that
Af the Hpn. Member meant to apply the word
nhgatd
cabal to those with whom ht (Mr,Grattan) was associated,
he would tell him he was uttering a direct falsehood,
The SPEAKER had great hopes that what he had pre.
viously stated to the Hon. Member would have induced
hito to repent the expression he had sow made use of, It