Star.
London, England, 1824-06-18 00:00:00

IMPRISONMENT IN IRELAND.

Sir J. MACKINTOSH presented a Petition from Mr.
Coyle, an Irishman, complaining of a series of hardships
and persecutions which he had sustained during the last
thirty years in Ireland. The Petition stated that his
linen manufactory had been destroyed by the prosecu-
tions to which he was subjected. In 1796 he was ap-
prehended and put in prison upon a warrant charging
him with being a reputed Papist, and with having dis-
tributed ammunition to Papists. In 1803 he was once
more committed to prison: he was confined in Kilmain-
ham Jail, where he underwent, at the instance of a Mr.
Tfevor, the most cruel and severe course of treatment;
from this imprisonment he was afterwards released, by
the intervention of Lord Hastings. The Commissioners
of Inquiry were atterwards instructed to. investigate
these transactions; but, strange to say, tiity confined
their examination to the turnkeys and attend nts of the
prison, the parties charged with the offencti. He had
now been requested to present this Petition, and, late
as it was in the Session, he had presented it, that the pe-
titioner might be punished if he had slandered the indi-
viduals against whom he brought this charge; and that
on the contrary, if he had suffered to the extent he al-
leged, justice might be done him on his oppressors.
Mr. GOULBUIIN said, the transactions to which
this I'etitiou alluded took place long before he came
into office. This, he trusted, would plead his excuse
for not being prepared to give an answer to its allega-
tions in the interval. _ _

Mr. J. SMITH said, the charges in this Petition were
twist atrocious and disgusting; still it was the duty of
the House to inquire into them, and do justice to the
injured patty.
Mr. Secretary PEEL said, these transactions had
taken place before he became connected with Ireland,
therefore he was not prepared either to affirm or deny
the allegations contained in the Petition. He had, how-
ever; had some communication on business with Mr.
Trevor, and from what he knew of him from that COM.
munication, he could not believe that Dlr. Trevor could
have been guilty of the acts with which he was charged
in this Petition. He trusted the Honourw.ble Gentleman
would not now move to have the Petition printed, and
by so doing send these calumnies unanswered into the
world, and leave them so unanswered for months.
• Mr. HUTCIIINSON spoke to the scenes of carnage,
oppression, and cruelty, with which the putting down
the rebellion of 1798 was accompanied.
6ir JAMES MACKINTOSH expressed his readiness
tr: give Government a Lull opportunity to institute in-
quiry into this case, and to afford them that oppnrtu-
Lity, he would now withdraw his Petition till next SCS-
SiMi.—The Petition was then withdrawn.

C A 11101.1 C assoctArzox.
• Si:. F. 131.711DET1 said, he held in his hand a Peri. '
lion front the Catholic Association of Dublin, complain.
jug of having been most grossly calumniated in the
11,use, when their acts and their motives had also been
mist cptesented, and that too, principally by members of.
that Association which can on all their proceedings
iti secret, and communicated by signs and tokens, un
derstood only by its own members, one of whom had
overtutner.l and trampled upon, or evaded, if not de-
staned the privileges of the House of Commons.—
bureiy tracts 411 AsLociation was