The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-25 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, THURSDAY MORNING.
011;WAY ELECTION INQUIRY.
The commissioners appointed by her Majesty's
t, arrant to inquire into the alleged existence ofcor-
ript praw
ices at the elections for the town of
Gal-
way will proceed tty execute their functions on the
29th of the present month. The object and powers
of the commission are thus defined :--
"The inquiry is itestiteeted under the act 15th and 18th
of Victoria, c. 57, and is the first instance in which that
enactment Las been applied in Ireland. For the purpose
of enabling the comMilBif,n,rs* effectually to carry on the
investigation, they have been iereested by the Legislature
with v ry ample powers to compel the attendance of wit-
s:lessee and to enforce the decoys. Ty cf truth. They are
(empowered to require the atteiedance of every person
whose evidence they may deem material, and by adopt-
ing. the en ceedings pointed out in the statute the penalty
ut imprisonment under attachment can. be inflicted on the
party absent. It is also to be obsery ed that, as these
comit.issions are the result of a previous' inquiry before a
rarl!an.eutary committee, the names of all persons im-
i Ucated iu any objectionable tran actions' are known, to
that nothing is really gained by a person absenting him-
self. On the contrary, it is the interest of .eiy person im-
plicated to come forward as a witness, as fix e act enables
She commissioners to protect and indemnify the witness
from all legal consequences of his acts by giveog the wit-
mess a certificate that he has made a true disclosure
touching all things on which he has been examined. The
eth section of the act (omitting formal terms') provides
that every person who has been engaged in any corrupt
practices at or connected with any election, ansi who is
examined as a witness and gives evidence toughing such
(Irrupt practices before the commissioners, and who
upon such examination makes a true discovery to
the best of his knowledge touching all things on
which he is so examined, shall be freed from all penal
notions, forfeitures, punishments, disabilities, and Inca-
pacitie., and all criminal prosecutions, to which he may
Lave been or may become liable at the suit of her Ma-
jesty or any other person ; and no person shall be ex•
caused from answering any question put by such com-
suiseioners on the ground th.t the answer will tend to
criminate such person. It will thus be seen that a wit-
ness, however implicated, can by giving his evidence
candidly protect himself from all evil consequences ;
whereas if he is not examined, or, being examined,
shall not deserve and obtain from the commis-
sioners a certificate, he is left open to a prose-
cution for his acts, which will inevitably be directed
by the House of Commons onitbe coming in of the
report of the commissioners. The commissioners
eau also adjourn as often and as long as they choose, and
can make special reports from time to time, and report
matters especially to the Qeeen and House of Commons ;
so that the result is, no witness by going away can evade
the commissioners, as if he is not there at one time they
can resume the inquiry at another. The witnesses will
be allowed for their time according to the Treasury scale.
The consequence of all these provisions has been that a
number of commissions issued in England have worked
most satisfactorily, and those who told the truth have
obtained their certificates of indemnity, while those who
either di i not attend, or, having attended, gave their
evidence encendidly, and so lost the protection of the
Commissioners' certificate, hays' been reported to the
iiume of Commons, and dealt with according as their
cases deserved."
Ti.e commissioners are Mr. J. T. Ball, Q.C.,
and'L L.D., moderate Conservative (and not Mr.
John Ball, the late Under-Secretary, as erroneously
states) ; Mr. John Leahy, and Mr. P. F. White,
barristers and Liberals.
THE IRISH SEPOYS.
One or two of the provincial organs of the Sepoys
having been again this week championing the cause
of their Indian allies, the Belfast I'lercerry, a
Liberal Protestant journal, and, by no means
hostile to the Roman Catholic body at large, comes
is the unwelcome conclusion that the vile senti-
ruenes of thee writers are shared by a considerable
number of the Roman Catholic population. This,
however, is an overstrained charge. Sepoy demon-
ries may, and probably do, find favour in the eyes
of a few dozen of scamps in Dublin and Tipperaiy,
but beyond those narrow limits there is no sympa-
thy or affection. The days of Irish treason have
long died out, and another generation at least must
arise before the wicked follies of 1848 will be tole-
rated by any " considerable number of the Roman
Catholic population." The Mercury thus puts the
question :
"On what other supposition can we account for the
fact that they are put forward, week after week, by a
large portion of the exclusively Roman Catholic journals.
The proprietors of those prints have too keen a sense of
their own pecuniary interests to adopt a course otherwise
than pleasing to the great bulk of their subscribers.
While, therefore, such meetings as that held in Carrick-on-
Suin and such a repudiation of Sepoyism as the Freeman
so crt ditably manifests, prove that there exists among
the respectable Roman Catholics a true, loyal, and manly
feeling on the subject, it is utterly impossible to shut
our eyes to the fact that among the Roman Catholics of
Ireland as a body such a feeling is not shared. When
we find journals in various counties giving expression to
the most atrocious sentiments, and professing to do so
as the representatives of true Roman Catholic feeling,
how can we help believing them as long as they are per-
mitted to exist by those support they can alone rely I
Of late years many things have occurred to bring Roman
Catholics into disodonr. Affecting to be the warm ad-
Tocetcs of civil and religious liberty, they have proved
themselves on several memorable occasions to be the
-veriest slaves of the worst description of tyranny. They
hoWl after an unrighteous ascendancy in this coon
try ; they desire to destroy all liberty that is incon-
sistent with their own aggressive policy, and they
make no secret of their ardent hope that Ireland
may revolt like India—that every man, woman, and
chill not of their own creed and policy may be subjected
to the turtle treatment that the sepoy barbarians inflicted
on our brethren in India. There can be no mistake now
upon this subject The evidence is too clear, too nnequ!-
vocil, to permit a doubt. Is it not, then, full time for
such of the Roman Cathelics as do not participate in the
vile policy expressed by such miscreants, to adopt some
efficient means to disassociate themselves from those who
profess to represent their opinions truly—to reflect their
feelings faithfully