The Sun.
London, England, 1827-03-30 00:00:00

he thought that the person who had so prostituted justice
ought not to be allowed to remain any longer in the com-
mission.

The House then divided, when the numbers appeared
to be— For the motion 69
Against it, 124
Ahajority against the motion, —55
On our return to the Gallery we found

Mr. HENRY GRATTAN moving, pursuant to the
notice he had given, for the producteon of a copy of a Re-
port made by Commissioners appointed to inquire into the
state of the Richmond Penitentiary in Dublin.• He had
to complain to the House that the punishment inflicted in.
the Penitentiary had been most unjustifiably perverted from
the object which the justice of the country had contem-
plated, and had been applied for the purpose of making
proselytes. It was with great pain and horror that he
stated this had been carried so far, as to cause the introduc-
tion of a species of punishment repugnant to the law of
the land, and -revolting to humanity. The House would
be shocked to hear, that a cruel species of torture had been
applied to the prisoners in the Richmond Penitentiary. The
Hon. Gentleman thee► made some allusions to evidence
which, as he had been informed, had been given before the
Commission which his motion related to. By that evi-
dence it appeared, that an instrument of torture had
been used on the prisoners. He bad that instrument
in his possession, and he now produced it.—[The Hon.
Gentleman here placed on the table an instrument of iron,
capable of passing over the head of a human being, and con•-
fining the jaws.]--This instrument, he said, had been used
for the purpose of gagging the prisoners. The Secretary ef
State for Ireland would net like the production of this
machine. In earlier times a species of torture had been de-
vised by the Bishop of Exeter, which was from that cir-
cumstance called "the Bishop of Exeter's daughter." He
hoped that this machine would not turn out to be the in-
vention of the Marquis Wellesley, or the offspring of the Se-
cretary of State for Ireland. A great deal, had been heard
about the reformation in Ireland, and the denunciations of
" woe" to whoever should seek to stop the flood of light,
which, like the falls of Niagara, was about-to pour upon
that benighted land. He (Mr. Grattan) cried woe ! to
any one who should presume to use such a species of toi`-
ture towards any of his Majesty's subjects, whether for the
purpose of proselytism or punishment. Of 200 indivi-
duals who had been confined in this Penitentiary, 141
were said to have changed their religiose. The names of
some of them would be recognized by an Honourable Gen-
tleman on the floor as those of excellent Catholic families.

It appeared that some of them had alternately changed
from being Catholic to Protestant, and from Protestant
to Catholic hack again ; so that, by the evidence of the
Governor of the gaol, it seemed that in the result six
only of the proselytes remained in the, religion they had
adopted. The Honourable Gentleman concluded by moy..
ing, " that an address be presented to his Majesty for a
copy of a report made to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
by the commissioners appointed to inquire into the Rich-
mond Penitentiary, at Dublin, together with copies of the
rules and regulations of that institution ; the orders entered
from time to time in the order book ; when and by whom

they had been made; and netting forth the number of male
and female prisoners who had been confined therein; the
names and numbers of officers, with their salaries; the
titles of all books and tracts used in the institution, or which
had been used therein, and by whom brought in."
Mr. GOULBURN found it difficult to express the sur-
prise he felt at the Hon. Gentleman's motion, because he
had stated to the Hon. Gentleman that he was quite ready
to lay the report on the table of the House. He (Mr.
Goulburn) was ready, if the 'House thought it necessary,
to go into a defence of the whole transaction, hat he
thought it would be felt that he acted more discreetly in
abstaining from that course at present. Ile would, how—
ever, say, that the result of the enquiry was not only that
the charge of cruelty, for the purpose of making proeelytea
had been disproved, but that it had been abandoned even
by the person who brought it forward. It was trite that
when a tremendous riot had taken place, in which one of
the prisoners possessed himselfof the keeper's razors, and it
was thought necessary to remove the prisoners who had
occasioned the riot from one quarter of the gaol to another
by force, such of them es made a great noise were gagged
dining their progress. If he, however, had chosen to
keep up the dramatic representation with which the Hon.
Gentleman had treated the House, he might hare produ-
ced the keeper's razors, to keep in countenance the ma-
chine of the Hon. Gentleman's, and he should then have
been more on a par with the Hon. Gent. than he at pre-
sent felt himself in this respect.

Mr. MOORE said a few'words, and Mr. Gnarl. Art re-
quested permission to add to the motion—" And all docu-
ments connected therewith," which W 8.9 acceded to.

Mr. HUME thought that there should be a return of the
number'of the instruments produced which were kept in the
Penitentiary.—lA laugh.)
The Sergeant at Arms reported that Sir ROBERT FAR-
QUHAR and Mr. ARCHDALL were in custody by order of
the House. They were ordered to be discharged on pay-
ment of their fees.
Mr. HUME postponed his motion for a Select Commit-
tee of Inquiry into the state of the Fleet and other prisons,
for 'the confinement of debtors, till Tuesday next.
Mr. SPRING RICE brought in a Bill for the Regula-
tion of Market-Tolls in Ireland, and a Bill for the Regula-
tion of Petty Sessions in Ireland.
Mr. ROBINSON moved for some returns connected
with the trade of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Dr. LUSHINGTON presented a petition (as we under-
stood) from persons in custody on charges of forgery and
coining, praying for an alteration in the laws respecting coin.
The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and
the House adjourned at Eleven o'clock.

LIST OF TH.
WRO VOTED FOR RR.
OF THE CORRESPONI

E MINORITY OF
BROWNLOW.B NOTION
)13/4-Cli BETWEEN TUN
[aim ocrraßsimarir,
fHeneage, G. F.
!Heron, Sir

;IXTY-NINE,

FOi TIM rzolivenc4
MAOtWTRATE or me-
IN MA RESpECTING

O'Brien, Lucius
Poneonby, Hon. F-
Ponsenby, Hon. G.
Parnell, Sir H.
Russell, Lord Wm.
Russell, Lord John
Robinson, George
Robarts, A. W.
Rumbold, C.
Smith, W.
Sykes, D.
Stanley, Hon. E.
Stuart, Villiers
Tomes, J.
Tierney, Right Hon
G.
Western, J. C.
Warburton, 11.
Wood, Ald.
Wood. C.

Harvej, D. W.
Howick, Lord

Honyw,;o,4*. P.
Howard, Hon. H.
Heatheote, G.
Hutchinson, H.
Jephson, C. 0.
Kennedy, T. F.
Kemp, T. R.
King, Hon. W.
Labouchere, H.
Lushington, Dr.
Lombe, E.
Martin, R.
Marshall, W.
Moberly, Colonel
Morpeth, Viscount
Monck, J. B.
Mettle, Hon. W.
Macdonald, Sir Jas.
Marjoribanks, S.
Nugent, Lord

MUIR 1.1
Brownlow, C.
Rice, T. &