The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-17 00:00:00

NOTICE OF MOTION.

Sir J. WALSH gave notice that he would to-morrow
ask for an explanation of the reason why the British
fleet was stationed off Naples.

IRELAND.

Mr. N. V. MAHER wished to ask the Right Hon.
Baronet at the head of the Home Department whether
he bad received any communication relative to the con-
duct of General M'Donald and the military under his
command, or in reference to outrages which it was
alleged had been perpetrated on the inhabitants of Tip-
perary under his direction?
Sir G. GREY said, in answer to the question of the
Hon. Gentleman, he could assure him and the House
that her Majesty's Government had received no infor-
mation of aay outrage committed by General M'Donald
or any of the troops or officers under his com-
mand.—(Hear, hear.) He held in his hand a
letter,'which had been received from General M•Donald,
on the subject of the arrest of Mr. Smith O'Brien, and
in that letter it was stated that the only foundation
which could exist for the statement that any of the
officers under his command had been guilty of an out-
rage on the inhabitants of Tipperary, was to be found in
the fact that Captain Mackenzie, after the arrest of Mr.
Smith O'Brien, called upon the driver of a locomotive
at the Thurles railway station to hold himself in
readiness to convey a train to Dublin, and
to see that no train departed in the mean-
time. The engine-driver, however, refused to
obey any other orders but hose of the superintendent,
who not being in the way, Captain Mackenzie felt it to
be his duty to present a pistol at him to compel obe-
dience to his instructions. General M'Donald added,
that he perfectly approved of this proceeding, for had
not Mr. Smith O'Brien been got off to Dublin by the
train there might have been a good deal of bloodshed,
and he bad therefore no hesitation in adopting the
responsibility which attached to the conduct of
Captain Mackensie.—(Cheers.) Such was the pur-
port of the letter which had been received from
General M'Donald, and he was happy to say that
the eonduct of both the General and the officers
and troops under his command.had met with the entire
approbation of the Commander-in-Chief.—(Cheers.)
Mr. MAHER expressed himself dissatisfied with the
explanation of the Right Hon. Baronet, and intimated
that he should institute an inquiry into the matter when
ho returned home.

Mr. FOX MAULE said, as his name had been men-
tioned, he felt it necessary to say a few words, the more
especially as some correspondence had passed between
him and the Honourable Gentleman. The Honour-
able Gentleman wrote him a letter from Brussels,
dated the sth of August, complaining of the
conduct of Colonel Taylor, commanding the sth
regiment, for erecting a camp within 30 (yards
of his House, within a mile of Thurles, which he stated
was " one of the most peaceable places in the county of
Tipperary."—(Laughter.) The letter of the Hon.
Gentleman was referred to General Macdonald, who
requested an explanation from Colonel Taylor. His
explanation stated that the estate of Mr. Maher
was pointed out to him by the police-inspector as an
eligible place for an encampment, as being within a
mile of Thurles, and as affording an excellent sortie for
the troops. They encamped in a field separated from
the lawn, to which the agent made no objection; in fact,
instead of doing so, he offered the Colonel accommodation
in the House, it raining heavily at the time. The troops
entered the field through a space opened in a wall, not
wishing to go through the park gate, which could
be rebuilt in an hour. He (Mr. Fox Mamba) did not
believe General M‘Donald would stoop to carry
a pistol about him for his personal protection and if he
did carry one, he did not believe that he would have used
it in the way mentioned.
Mr. MAHER said, with respect to the statement that
tqe encampment was not upon his lawn he begged to say
that it was totally false. The fact was that Colonel
Taylor came to his house, in the absence of his agent,
snd formed an encampment which was distant only
twenty or thirty yard from the house, and in view
of his dinin-room and drawing-reom window. On
the arrival of his agent, he asked Colonel Taylor
whether he had his (Mr. Maher's) leave, and he replied
that he had not. He thought he had good reason
to complain of an encampment being formed at
his very hall door, it being known that it
was sure to be accompanied by scenes of obscenity.
They took possession of his stables, and when ho wrote
over to have them cleared, the officers said they should
not do so, except at the point of the bayonet. He had
no right to have military billited upon him, and he there-
fore considered ho was perfectly justified in oompiaining
of the grievance to which he had been subjected.