The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-03 00:00:00

thrown his mantle of protection over the Attorney-General for I
Ireland. If my Right Hon. Friend had interfered in any de-
gree to shelter an absent officer from attacks couched in no !
very measured terms, and founded upon facts which, undoubt-
edly, are notorious, but which are put forth by newspaper re-
ports, I do not thir.k my Right H.•n. Friend is a lair object if
the censure which is sought now to be cast upon him by the
Hon. Gentleman who has just sat down. Sir, I think that a
much more worthy course is pursued by those who do not
press forward exaggerated accusations against an absent
man, bat who seek to impress on the House that.
white they do not vindicate specific acts, they do, at
least, impress on the House to consider those infirmities
to which not the Attorney-General alone is subject.
I listened with great pain to the able, but I must say needlessly
embittered, speech of the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath.
I listened with pleasure—if pleasure can be derived from a
discussion such as the present —to the snore temperate language
in which the Right Hon. Member for Waterford has addressed
the House. I will venture to say, that my Right Hon. Friend
does not, as the Hon. Member for Wycombe has just stated,
concur in the abstract with the language or the sentiments of
the lion. and Learned Member for Bath ; but I do think that
abstractedly and practically there was little or no difference
between the feelings of my Bight Hon. Friend and the views
and feelings expressed by the Right Hon. Memhtsr for Water-
ford. We none of us can vindicate the unfortunate circum-
stance which has led to this debate; but is the Hon. Gentleman
who has brought forward this discussion himself free from all
infirmities of temper ?—(Cheers and laughter.) The taunts—
the goads—l do not say one, but a succession of purposed,
intentional, continued, bitter personal taunts—might be in-
capable of moving the Hon. and Learned Gentleman ; but I
am not ashamed to say, that long as my experience
has been in this House, I have learnt—l speak ho-
nestly -1 hacr. ,e irnt, day by day, how difficult
it 1. to sit patiently and hear attacks of a much
more mitigated character than those to which the At-
torney-General for Ireland has been subjected. I am not
ashamed to confess that I have used hasty and irritating words
in reply, which afterwards I have regretted. Feeling that
infirmity myself, I, at least, can make allowances for the posi-
tion of the Attorney-General for Ireland. And what was that
position? It was not that which has been incorrectly attri-
buted to him by the Hon. Gentleman who has just sat down.
It was not that the Government was conscious of the infirmity
and incompetence of the officer that they thought it necessary
to caution him against being led into irritation. On the con-
trary, it wasronly the day before this unfortunate occurrence
took place that the Government had expressed to the Attorney-
General, in-terms strong indeed, but not more strong than
merited, the fhb satisfaction which they felt at the coolness, the
temper, the xinoderation and judgment, displayed by him in the
conducting lif these important trials. There was no caution
given to the' Attorney-General; but the Attorney-General
• wrote a few tours before the intelligence was received of the
occurrence that circumstance which has led to the present
i discussion. The Attorney-General said, There has evidently
been an attempt made to drive me into sone act of indiscre-
i tion, which may be injurious to me, I say, speaker after
speaker has attempted to fix on me a personal imputation."
lam stating that which the Hon. and Learned Member for
, Bath has said led to what he calls a caution from my Right

Hon. Friend near me, and I am stating the substance of a
letter received from the Attorney-General himself a fvw hours
before this unfortunate occurrence took place, in which he
stated that he was determined to keep the strictest watch over
his feelings, that he might not compromise his own character
or that of the Government. Ido not conceal my regret at
what has occurred, hut I bring this forward to show that
there was no premeditated intention on the part of the Attor-
ney-General to commit any outrage in the ordinary course of
the legal proceedings, or to commit any act of violence or in-
discretion. There is a very remarkable corroboration of this
view of the case in the speech of the Right Hon. Member for
Waterford. What does he tell you? He says,. in vindication
of M. Fitzgibbon, " I know nothing of Mr. •Fitzgibbon—l
know nothing of his speeches, .except. from the newspapers."
But the Right Hon, Member "for Waterford tells you that
those expressions which had appeared to have given so much
offence. to the Attorney-General; were not. expressions, of 'the
counsel, nor gonveyed the feelings of Mr. Fikzgibbon. He tells
you that they were not the expressions of the counsel himself,
,burhe.tells you they were th`e expressions of the client. That
vas the statement of the Right Hon. Member, for Waterford..
'1 he Right Hon. Member fcit WaterfOrd said, 'that two or `three
days previous he heard the powerful speech of Mr. Shell, and
the Hon. Gentleman justly and fairly stated that he felt him-
self how difficult it must be for the Attorney-General to keep
his temper, when made the subject of attacks so personal, so
eloquent, so bitter, and so severe, as those which fell from Mr.
Sheil. (Mr. Wyse intimated dissent.) I certainly so under•
stood the Right Hon. Gentleman.

s Mr.th e W
firstYB-E attack.—T b at
Thewas
Right
precedingigh t H on. di;
Gentleman
tleman
Lord STANLEY—I said it was on a preceding day—that
ryas
spoke justly
and fairly. He says that on the first day, when the Attorney-
General was exposed to the bitterness of the attack of Mr.
Sheil, he felt how difficult it would be, if it were his case,
for himself to keep his temper. Two speeches of counsel fol-
lowed that of Mr. Sheil before Mr. Fitzgibbon commenced the
attack upon the Attorney-General. I do not state that is
vindication of the error into which the Attorney- General
afterwards fell ; but I do state it in order to express an earnest
hope that upon such information as that which we new possess
—derived from newspaper intelligence—not being judges of,the
manner or the gesture of the party—for there are many words
which read very harmlessly, but when spoken possess a heavier
meaning—l do,. hope that the House will not condemn in so
sweeping a manner, and in such unmitigated terms as those
proposed by the Hen. and Learned Member for Bath, an ab-
sent officer of the Crown, who, during the performance of
most arolto,us a.,,d laborious duties, in a moment of weakness
wa, led to e-omit a momentary offence, for which he has
already expressed his regret. And I trust that that allowance,
which in my heart and conscience I feel is due to him, and
which I should expect for myself, the House of Commons will
show to tie Attorney-General.
Mr. Sergeant MURPHY did not think the protection
which had been cast over the Attorney-General by the speech
of the Right Hon. Gentleman at the head of the Government
had been at all improved by what had fallen from the Noble
Lord. He thought the Noble Lord had merely confirmed the
charge brought against the Attorney-General. He (Mr.
Sergeant Murphy) would venture to say that the conduct of
the Attorney-General would be met throughout the country,
both by Whig and Tory, with but one feeling. When the
people of this country saw that the solemn administration of
the law, the best safeguard of our rights, was violated by-those
whose place it was to uphold it, he questioned whether any
man could be found in England, no matter what his shade of
politics might be, who would not look upon the splenetic and
Intemperate outbi eak of the Attorney-General but as a dese-
eration of the temple of justice—a desecration of that temple,
not at a time when one man was being tried within it, but
when an entire country, by a multitudinous indictreent, had
been dragged before the tribunal of justice. Had the Attor-
ney-General for Ireland throughout these trials acted with that
spirit of concession which erninuitly distinguished State
prosecutions in this country ?—( Hear, hear.) He (Mr.
Sergeant Murphy) would appeal to his Hon. and Learned
Friend the Attorney-General for England, and he would
appeal to the manner in which the Chartist trials were con-
ducted in Lancashire. He would appeal to what fifty-nine of
the persons who were arraigned, declared at the termination of
the trials, who said, " Whether we consider the Judges—
whether we consider the Attorney-General—whether we look
to the whole fairness of these trials—to the Judge, Counsel,
Jury, or the Attorney-General, we must feel that the law has
been administered with temper, with moderation, and with
fairness." He (Mr. Murphy) was one of the counsel on this
occasion, sad he could bear testimony to the truth of this.
These trials were conducted with the calmness and temper
which distinguishes the Attorney-General for England. As
an Irishman, he felt in his secret s.,ul the degradation the
Irish bar had suffered by the conduct of the Attorney-
General. But he was happy that it had been redeemed by
the speech of the Right Honourable Member for Dungarvon.
The Attorney-General for Ireland had gone into court, and
had, as it were, proclaimed that he came there as the Crown
prosecutor ; but he cautioned those against whom he appeared
that he should demand satisfaction for anything said in the
heat of the defence. This he (Mr. Murphy) said, was a most
cogent argument in favour of the Attorney-General being
ignominously dismissed. The prosecution in Ireland had been
instituted to uphold the majesty of the law. They had had
the whole people looking on. They had had, as it were, as
witnesses, Europe and America. Would not, then, such con-
duct as that which had been displayed by the Attorney-General
be, in effect, a reproach to the majesty of the law—a reproach
to the impartiality of the tribunal and the Judges of the Court ?
It became, therefore, the duty of the Government of the coun-
try to vindicate the majesty of the law, which alone could be
done by the immediate dismissal of the first law officer of the
Crown.

Sir JAMES GRAHAM was unwilling, after what had
fallen from his Right Hon. Friend and the Noble Secretary
far the Colonies, to prolong this discussion ; yet he thought,
on the present occasion, it would not be unworthy or incon-
sistent with his duty if he addressed a few words to the House.
He hoped the House would remember what was the position of
this case. A great trial was pending. Her Majesty from the
Throne had announced that her love of justice being adminis-
tered according to law had induced her to refrain from all
comment upon the trials now taking place. Notwithstanding
the various topics which had been commented upon, in the
course of the discussion last night, it was agreed he thought
on all hands, for the sake of justice, that the topics connected
with the pending trials should be avoided until a verdict should
be pree-uncee lie the jury now empanelled to try the case.
Disregai bow: ver, the example of last night, in the
name of justice the House was called upon to discuss a matter
bearing directly up..n the question being tried, ne lion.
Gentieman who had just sat down had alluded in terms of ad-
miration to the speech of the counsel for the defence. This
charge had been brought against a Member of that House ;
that Member was absent, and consequently could have no op-
portunity then of explaining more fully the merits of the case.
His Right Hon. Friend and the Noble Lord the Secretary for
the Coloni' s had both declared that they were not prepared to
vindicate the conduct of the Attorney-General in the particular
instance which had led to this discussion. Her Majesty's Go-
vernment could not defend and would not defend, an act such
as that which had hi en brought under the notice of the House.
—( Hear, hear.) But he was quite sure that the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman who had brought forward this subject
must see that there were mitigating circumstances. It was
evident from the speech of the Right Honourable
Member for Waterford that the Attorney-General had
been subjected to very eloquent and personal attacks.
He thought the more appropriate course to have adopted would
have been to have suspended their judgment until that officer
was present to defend himself; but, to say the least of
it, he thought it ungenerous, as well as unjust, to pronounce a
censure when the Attorney-General had withdrawn the terms
which were found fault with, and also, after the matter had
been brought be:ore the Court, in which it occurred, and when
1 that Court had expressed its hope that no further notice would
be taken of the matter. Another circumstance, he thought,
also fully bore him out in the opinion which he had expressed
with respect to the course now pursued, which was that the
Learned Counsel with whom this unfortunate quarrel occurred,
in a manner the most generous and becoming to him, a mem-
ber of the same profession as the Attorney-General, came
down to the Court, and said that, upon reflection, he felt bound
to express his sorrow that any thing had occurred to wcnnd
the feelings of the Attorney-General, and acknowledged at
the same time that he had given many provocations to the Hon.
and Learned Gentleman, which led to this unfortunate transac-
tion, and that to the last moment of his life, he should regret
everything which fell from him tending lead to this occurrence.
sluice h( aSni r eventj. G Graham)
r)i t
ng dbuori
irengd ttoh
ee xpadrme sign his
tra
tdi
oene p
of regret at
justice,
for all legal proceedings should be held sacred for the sake of
the interests of society. He hoped what had occurred this
night would satisfy the House that he was quite willing to take
his share of the responsibility ef the course now so generally
recommen4d by those who knew the Attorney-General fur
Ireland.
Mr. WARD said he thought that so far as the high legal
qualities, the good intention, and the good heart of the Attor-
ney-General were concerned, they had nothing whatever to do
with the fact, as to whether a high legal officer of the Crown
had discharged a great tint important duty in a manner likely
to reflect dignity upon the administration of justice. The
Noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies, had stated that the
Attorney-General was drawn out under circumstances calculated
to excite the most ceol and dispassionate individual. He
(Mr. Ward) denied that there had been any such occasions
fur exciting irascibility, and he thought this assertion was
borne out by the last expressions used by the Right Hon.
Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department, who said
that the Learned Counsel had acted in a gentlemanly and
generous manner. Where was there one expression in the

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