The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-20 00:00:00

Mr. Blake was a magistrate of the county for 12 years
preceding his dismissal. He once more entreated the
Government to consider that which he had brought
under their notice, with a hope that they would direct
the necessary inquiries to be made, and if the facts were
such as he represented, that they would no longer conti-
nue to; retain these gentlemen in the Commission of the
peaee.—(Hear, hear.)
Lord ELIOT did not complain of the tone or manner
of the Hon. Gentleman, who had just sat down. in
bringing forward this motion. The Hon. Gentleman
was not, however, quite correct in his statement of the
facts. There were only seven stipendiary magistrates
struck off by the present Government; and there were
yet as many stipendiary magistrates in Ireland as
there were during the last three years of the
late Government. The House should recollect that the
stipendiary magistracy were paid out of the Consoli-
dated Fund, and appointments should not be made un-
less necessity required them. With regard to Mr.
Brereton, that gentleman had been long a magistrate,
and on his appointment had received addresses from the
magistrates of petty sessions with whom he sat, of dif-
ferent religious and political opinions, and from 106 in-
habitants of the town of Nenagh, which were couched
in terms the most complimentary. One of the ad-
dresses was signed by two Peers—Lord Dunally, and
Lord Lismore. In fact, up to the time of the occur-
rence at the Nenagh assizes, mentioned by the Hon.
Gentleman, the manner in which Mr. Brereton
charged his duty was most satisfactory, as he (Lord
Eliot) was informed by men of all parties. The Irish
Government was in possession of all the facts regarding
the affair at the Nenagh assizes, and the Judge's re-
marks, and all the papers had been handed over to the
Lord Chancellor for his advice.—(Hear, hear.) Re-
garding Mr. O'Brien, it ought to be remembered that
at the time that foolish letter of his, quoted by the Hon.
Member, was written, be was only 24 years of age.
He was a gentleman of property and education.
He certainly had been at one time a most ardent
Repealer, being a member of the National Repeal As-
sociation, but seeing the manner in which that body was
soliciting foreign assistance and obtaining money from
America and other places,-he began to suspect their
design, and finally resigned and denounced Mr. O'Con-
nell. He wrote a letter to Mr. Sharman Crawford,
stating to him that his (Mr. O'Brien's) firm conviction
was, that a repeal of the union was impracticable. It
was not until November, in the year 1843, that Mr.
O'Brien was recommended to the Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland as a fit person to be appointed as a stipendiary
magistrate. That recommendation was made by persons
who were well acquainted with Mr. O'Brien's integrity
and high honour, and upon that recommendation he
was appointed a stipendiary magistrate. His con-
tinuance in that office would, of course, depend en-
tirely upon his own conduct. If a precedent were
wanting of a person being appointed to office who had
severed himself from the ranks of repeal, he (Lord
Eliot) need only point to the case of Mr. Fitzsimmond
which was a perfectly similar case to that of Mr.
O'Brien. He believed that Mr. O'Brien was a person of
high honour and character, and every way calculated for
the situation to which he had been appointed.
Captain BERNAL was willing to admit that the ex-
planation of the Noble Lord, as far as it went, was
satisfactory. He knew, however, that Mr. Breretoa
was looked upon in Ireland as a partisan, and therefore
his appointment had been looked at with suspicion. Mr.
O'Brien's appointment, however, was still more unsatis-
factory to the people of Ireland than even that of Mr.
Brereton. The Noble Lord said that it was four years
ago since Mr. O'Brien wrote such violent letters re-
specting repeal, but the Noble Lord seemed to forget
that although Mr. O'Brien had arrived at the mature age
of twenty-eight, he still wrote violent letters. But these
letters were different to those of four years ago—they
were now on the other side of the question.—(Hear
hear, and laughter.) When Mr. O'Connell was Lord
Mayor of Dublin, Mr. O'Brien was summoned before
that Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman because ho had
not the wherewithal to pay his servant. Mr. O'Brien
disputed the jurisdiction of the Court, as he lived in
Kerry, but notwithstanding this the Lord Mayor de-
cided against him. From that time the eyes of Mr.
O'Brien became more open with respect to the question
of repeal, and he then all at once found out that he ought
to write as much against repeal as he had before written
in its favour.—(Laughter.) Now he (Capt. Bernal) was
ready to admit that he believed that the Right Hon.
Baronet at the head of the Government wished to do
justice to Ireland. It was, however, impossible for him
to do so while, as was truly remarked by the Hon. Mem-
ber for Bath some time ago, the present subordinates
remained in power to hamper him.—(Hear, hear.) The
Right Hon. Baronet might rest assured that those subor-
dinates would ultimately sink his Government in Ire-
land.—(Hear, hear.) He (Capt. Bernal) well recollected
being at the dinner in Ballinasloe, at which Mr. O'Brien
was present, and he recollected that at dinner Mr.
O'Brien struck out the name of Lord Ebrington from
the list of toasts because that Noble Lord was not fa-
vourable to repeal. He would ask the Noble Lord
(Lord Eliot) whether he believed that Mr. O'Brien was
a person calculated to administer justice with impar-
tiality, with coolness, and with temper ?—(Hear, hear.)
If such appointments as these were made by the
Irish Government he (Captain Bernal) thought
that Government ought to be subjected to supervision
with respect to all appointments they might hereafter
make. It was generally believed in Ireland that the ap-
pointments which were made by Lord de Grey were
very much influenced by marriage connections. ie
(Captain Bernal) stated this fearlessly in that House,
for he knew it to be the fact. In consequence of this,
great disappointment and dissatisfaction was felt in
Ireland. He (Captain Bernal), in conclusion, must say
that the appointment of Mr. O'Brien appeared to him,
to use the mildest term, a most unwise proceeding.
Lord ELIOT said, he had had the statement dis-
tinctly from Mr. O'Brien himself that the name of Lord
Ebrington was not in the list of toasts at the Ballinasloe
dinner.
After a few words from Mr. F. FRENCH, the subject
dropped.