The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-07-27 00:00:00

Morean. Carew.
1078 .. 1033

Morgan.
1408 ,

Carew.
1543

ELECTION OUTRAGES AND INTIMIDATION

IN IRELAND.

Trn Liberal party in this town professed to deplore that
a religious question had been introduced at the late Bo-
rough Election. Putting out of consideration the fact
that Mr. EWART was substituted for Sir THOMAS Buten
as a candidate on religious grounds, we ask these gentle-
men now whether, in Ireland at all events, the majority
of the contests have been decided by any other than
priestly influence, and on religious grounds ? Never has
ruffianism more gross prevailed even in that country than
during the past fortnight; and in every case the instiga-
tors have been those saintly admirers of " civil and reli-
gious liberty," the reverend eleven of the College of
Maynooth. We cull the evidence of a few specimens
from the Irish papers of the past week ; and shall first
commence with the county of Dublin :

" In the chapel of Lusk, last Sunday (week), the priest
of that parish, at the usual period of addressing the peo-
ple during mass, called every voter he knew to be in the
chapel, by name, to the rails of the altar. He then
warned them, in the first place, of the strictly religious
character of the political struggle now going on, and pro-
ceeded individually, and in the face of the congregation,
to caution them against voting, under any influence or
any circumstances, for any other than Messrs. Craven
and Lentaigne. He then intimated that it was well known
that his clerical character would prevent his doing them
any mischief, but that he would be by no means surprised
if those who despised his advice and the interests of the
Church had their houses burnt over their heads."

The same paper from which we quote (the Dublin
Evening Herald) adds :

" A tenant who was under large obligations to Mr.
Hamilton, and who had cheerfully promised him his vote,
came to him on Tuesday, and told him that he bad been
given to understand that if he redeemed his pledge, his
house would be burned over his head, and all his cattle
houghed. Another who had, under similar circumstances,
made the same promise, told him that his priest had
pointedly informed him, that if he dared to fulfil his
engagement, he should be placed under all the penalties
of excommunication."

In the county of Cork the same system of intimidation
and outrage has been practised, and has in fact caused the
retirement of the two Conservative candidates. A cor-
respondent of the Cork Constitution thus describes the
state of the county :

" You can have no idea of the species of intimidation,
and the extent it is carried to in this county. The denun-
ciations from the altar, and the religious warfare that the
priests have raised amongst their flocks, nobody can have
any conception of. The Stockport affair is commented
upon, exaggerated, and added to—even the occurrences
at Macroom are connected with the Stockport affair, and
all are brought before the poor unfortunate credulous
people in all the heat of language, &c., that the Irish
priesthood are such adepts at ; and I do verily believe
that the result is that in no time, however disturbed, was
our county in a more disorganized and disaffected state
than it is at present. Numbers of men are night-walking
and calling at the several houses of those unfortunate
persons who happen to be in the voters' role, warning
them, intimidating—and I may well add, threatening—
them against disobedience of the priests' direction."
The result has been the adoption of the following reso-
lution by a large number of the influential landowners
and gentry of Cork :

" Resolved,—That, considering the inflammatory and
unconstitutional course of excitement adopted by the
Roman Catholic clergy—the threats held out to their
flocks—the alarms produced in the minds of many of the
electors, by the disgraceful scenes of violence and terror-
ism which marked the late election for the city of Cork,
and the organised preparation for similar scenes which
exists in the county, we are of opinion that it would be
impossible at present to obtain a fair or free expression of
the sentiments of the electors, and that it would be unfair
to the farmers who have promised their support to the
Conservative candidates, to expose them to the intimida-
tion and influences which would be brought to bear upon
them ; and that we approve of the course pursued by the
committee, who have requested Messrs. Hudson and
Shuldham to retire from the present contest."

And it is announced in addition—
" That a petition of the freeholders, electors, and gen-
try of the connty of Cork be presented to both houses of
parliament, upon their assembling, praying for the adop-
tion of legislative measures to secure the freedom of elec-
tion in Ireland."

At the election for the county of Meath, Mr. Henry
Grattan, a gentleman to whose father, as well as to him-
self, Ireland is under deep obligations, was opposed by a
fanatic named Lucas, once a quaker, but now a Papist of
the Ultra-montane school, and editor of the Tablet. Our
Irish contemporary thus describes a scene which occurred
at the nomination :

" A scene of the greatest uproar ensued, in which the
priests joined in the most prominent manner. One of
them, the Rev. Peter O'Reilly, who was seated in front of
Mr. Grattan, and not a yard from him, turned upon that
gentleman, and putting his hands into the form of claws,
as if preparing to tear his eyes out, and with the most
horrible grimaces, hooted and _groaned him for some time.
Mr. Grattan bore all with thegreatest good temper, but
he did not refrain from erpresoing by his couatenanco the

contempt he must have felt for the rev. gentleman, who
made so unseemly a display of political rancour and reli-
gious animosity."
At the polling a priest in the interest of Mr. Lucas
stood inside each booth to watch the voters, whilst ano-
ther stood as sentinel at the door.
In Roscommon we find it stated that—

" Parties of armed men assemble themselves at night,
and march from house to house of voters, and force pro.
mises from them that they will vote for Mr. Swift. In
one instance we have been assured, where a resident ma-
gistrate and sub-inspector were engaged in taking deposi-
tions respecting the malicious burning of a rick of turf, an
honest farmer observed, ' I dread the consequence of the
coming election ; I live under a good landlord ; I am much
indebted to him for his kindness and indulgence, and would
be desirous to show my gratitude by voting for his friend ;
but, sir, our lives are threatened, unless we give our votes
for the priest.' The poor man in conclusion observed,
I value my life and the lives of my family, and in order
to preserve them must make an enemy of my benefactor
by voting contrary to my intention. I must vote for the
priest.' "

In Kerry we are told that—
" The residence of every Roman Catholic
every man and woman was canvassed on the exclusive
ground of religion. It was represented as a contest
between " God and the devil." Money was lavishly
spent on hired mobs, to keep up excitement through-
out the town during the past fortnight. Gold was forth-
coming to tempt the wavering—writs, subpoenas, and
decrees were put in requisition, and even a false arrest
made to prevent one gentleman from coming to the poll
—while in one instance, an elector was entrapped and
sent to Mitchelstown Castle, county Cork, there to be
detained until the election was over."
In fact throughout Ireland the proceedings have been a
disgrace to the name of civilisation, and have called from
no less an authority than the London Times the follow-
ing comment :

was beset

" is it possible that such scenes can be repeated at the
present day, and with the tacit approval of the inhabitants
of such a town as Belfast ? As for Cork and Limerick,
we are less surprised. There is no use in disguising the
fact from ourselves. A very considerable proportion of
the Irish representatives in the approaching Parliament
will be the mere nominees of the priests in Ireland, sent
to Parliament exclusively to represent their interests and
reflect their passions. Just in the same way as Daniel
O'Connell was wont to thrust his Repeal pledge down the
throats of the Irish representative body in his time, so do
the Roman priests compel their nominees to repeat the
Persecution Shibboleth under pain of exclusion from their
seats. Whatever the loathing of the wretched candidate
may be—however great his disgust at his taskmasters—
they will not spare him one phrase of the bead-roll. He
must gesticulate as they pull the strings—he must roar
as they give the cue."

Here, however, the matter cannot be permitted to rest;
and we venture to prophecy that the result of these out-
rageous proceedings will convince many thousands of
people in this country, who hare heretofore hesitated to
denounce the system which produces such fruits, that the
priesthood of Ireland must be repressed if necessary by
the strong hand of power. Constitutional liberty in that
country is obviously a farce.

At Kilkenny, a priest named Shea is reported to have
acted in the following manner :—" He got upon the table,
he sprang into the air, and roared like a maniac ; he
foamed at the mouth, his eyes were bloodshot and staring,
and his voice was raised, hoarse and shrill as a screech
owl, whilst he shook his clenched fist in Lord James
Butler's face, and seemed every moment about to strike
that nobleman off the bench. The words and actions of
this worthy specimen of Maynooth were sufficient to lash
the mob to fury, and the scene of tumult became terrific.
Father Tom Shea continued bellowing, ' Give us back
our cathedral,' meaning thereby the Protestant church of
Kilkenny." In Clare, Father M`Quaid says :—" If ten
thousand Frenchmen landed to-morrow at Killala or
Bantry Bay, and that it was said to the people of this
country, ' The English power is endangered,' what answer
could I give ?" To this significant question the mob
replied by consigning England and its power to the d-1.
In Meath, Father Kelly states that
" The persecuting government of Lord Derby, at the
time when a Christian ',relate blessed the eagles of France,
would not permit a Christian priest to administer the
sacraments to one who had fallen dying in the highway."
In Mayo, a priest told his flock to
" Thrust the M'Alpinites into bog-holes, and beat their
brains until they cudgelled M'Alpine out of them."

The candidate was ultimately compelled to retire.
In Longford county, a priest is reported by a corres-
pondent of the Dublin Evening Mail to have proclaimed
in his chapel that

"Every Catholic voter in the parish ?cas his property—
that any landlord who dared to canvass him for Mr.
Harman should receive, as an answer from his tenant, a
' kick and a box.' " Another holy father informed his
superstitious flock that " any of them who voted for
Harman, he would instantly turn hlm into a puck. haune
(Anglice, he-goat)."

These are but a few specimens of the awful influence
exercised by these wicked men over their degraded serfs.
The same writer says :

" Sir George Fetherstone's freeholders, consisting of
some eighty-five, went over to the priest in a body (in
presence of their landlord the day before yesterday), de-
claring that they dared not vote against " their clergy,"
notwithstanding three weeks previously they all unani-
mously promised their landlord to vote for Mr. Harman.
Every one of these tenants, I am informed, are indebted
to Sir G. Fetherstone from two to three years' arrears of
rent. During the famine years he cherished and brought
them safely through all the calamities of that melancholy
period ; but now all past favours are forgotten at the com-
mand of some low-bred, rabid priest, So much for Celtic
gratitude now-a-days. Under these circumstances, con-
sidering the prospect of serious disturbance, the Conser-
vative candidate retired."

The Morning Herald, in commenting upon these pro-
ceedings, remarks :

" Parliament will have scarcely met before its table will
groan under the weight of the multitude of petitions from
the Trish counties and boroughs, demanding some redress
for the evils we have endeavoured to depict. In fact, in a
full third of that kingdom the priests have returned the
members by terror alone. The gentry and freeholders,
alarmed at the scenes of bloodshed and massacre they had
every reason to apprehend if they persevered in demanding
a free election, declined involving the kingdom in a species
of civil war. The persons returned, not elected, for the
counties of Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick. Galway. Roscom-
mon, Longford, East and West Meath, in fact, for up.
wards of one-half the kingdom, are the mere nominees of
a faction that act by intimidation, terror, threats, and ruf-
fianism of every description."

THE DERBY ELECTION.

ALLEGED DISCOVERY OF BRIBERY.
The further hearing of this case, postponed from Thurs-
day week, when the examinations were in private, took
place on Thursday last, before the mayor and a numerous
bench of magistrates—numerous gentlemen of the town
and neighbourhood being present. Morgan, the prisoner,
being brought into court,

111 r.
Moss rose and said—lt will be in your recollection
that at the last examination of witnesses in this case re-
ference was made to a letter which was found upon the
person of the prisoner, and perhaps before proceeding
with the case, it may be desirable to have the depositions
then taken read over, that the case may be fully before
the bench.

Mr. Smallwood, solicitor, of Shrewsbury, who attended
for the prisoner, said, that as on the former occasion he
was present, and as the magistrates were themselves con-
versant with thefacts, he deemed it unnecessary to occupy
the time of the bench in reading the former facts deposed
to, when

The Magistrates suggested that as they would have to
be read over to the several witnesses at the close of the
case, that could be dispensed with.
Mr. Moss then said he should proceed to prove the
handwriting of the letter in question, when he called Mr.
J. Keogh, who stated he was a relative of the present
member for Athlone, and that he had at present resided
at 85, King William-street, London-bridge, and was for-
merly secretary to the board of directors of the Reading
and Reigate Railway Cempany, of which Major Beresford
was chairman, and that in that capacity he possessed
many opportunities of becoming acquainted with the
handwriting of Major Beresford, who he knew was a mem-
ber of the Carlton Club, and was recently returned for
one of the divisions of the county of Essex.
Mr. Moss then handed the witness the letter, and asked
if, from the means he possessed, he could say in whose
handwriting the letter in question was, when
Mr. Keogh stated it was, as well as the envelope in
which it was contained, in the handwriting of Major Wil-
liam Beresford.

The letter was addressed to "Mr. John Frail, Clerk of
the Course, Shrewsbury," and was as follows :
"A good and safe man, with judgment and quickness, is
wanted immediately at Derby. I suppose that you cannot
leave your own place; if not send some one whom you can
trust in your place. Let him go to Derby on recPiving this,
and find the County Tax ern, in the centre of the town, and
send his card to Cox, Brothers, and Company, lead works, as
coming from Chester; that will be enough.
"Monday. B.!,

Mr. Moss, addressing the bench, called attention to the
Beal, which he stated clearly bore the impress of the
Carlton Club, with the Prince's feathers, &c., but, al-
though the seal was subjected to the scrutiny of a magni-
fying-glass, the impression did not appear to warrant the
conclusion.

The letter was then handed to the prisoner's solicitor,
who said the letter " N" was the only one he could detect.
Mr. Gisbourne asked witness how long it was since he
was connected with the Reading and Reigate Railway
Company, when he stated that it was four or five years
ago when the company broke up, but he had not the least
doubt of the writing being the handwriting of Major
Beresford.
Police-constable Fearn said, from information he had
received he proceeded to the County Tavern, situate in
St. Mary's Gate, where, on passing through the yard and
proceeding up a back staircase, he was stopped by a man
who said he could not let him pass, when, on a signal
which he had been made acquainted with being used,
he was (being in plain clothes) allowed to pass, and in the
room he found the prisoner standing near the fireplace,
and his pocketbook on the table (which Look he produced),
arid on conveying him to the lock-up, where he was
searched, the gold conveyed in the bag and purse were
found on his person. One other bag was taken possession
of by Hardy, another officer. 'Witness further stated
that the prisoner (Morgan) said he thought Derby was
poor place, as it took as much to pay two votes in his
Place as twenty cost here, and that the money he had
would not have lasted him in Shrewsbury two hours, or
perhaps not one. There were in notes one £lO and six
£5 notes. The gold in the bag witness counted amounted
to £1304 the amount in the other he did not count.
Morgan said that he had had the money given to him, and
that they (meaning the officers) might have bid some it 9

well as he, but that now he should claim it. Witness
also said he (Morgan) had said that he was victimized, and
that he came to Derby as a poll-clerk, and if he had
known what he was to have been employed in he would
never have come; that the money was brought to him by
a tallish man dressed in drab clothing, wham he did not
know, nor could he tell again unless he had some conver-
sation with him, as when he came it was dark, and the
gas was not lit.

Police-sergeants Hardy and Mellor confirmed the par-
ticulars of Fearne's statement, proving, in a ldition, that
135 sovereigns in gold were found in the prisoner's trou-
sers' pocket, and a leathern purse containing six half-
sovereigns ; that when they asked prisoner how much
money he had he said he could not tell to £lO ; that lie
had paid it according to the checks, which, with the num-
bers, he had entered in his pocket-book.
Henry Sharrock was called, and stated that he was a
butcher by trade ; that he was a voter by household suf-
frage, and being employed at his field be was fetched
home by a man that he knew, who told him there was a pig
for him ; that he was taken to a public-house, where he
had something to drink, for which he did not pay, and
was told that if he would vote for Horsfall there were
two pounds for him ; that his number on the list was
1,053; and that he went to the committee-room, where
he received a card to vote for Horsfall, which he did, and
was then taken to the County Taverr, up stairs, where,
on turning his back to the door, two sovereigns were put
into his hand by some person within the room, whom he
did not see; nor did he know that he had that morning
shown to the officers the room door at which he received
the money, which was the same room in which the officers
apprehended the prisoner.

In the prisoner's pocket-book was found, among other
entries, the No. 1,053, with £2 set over against it.

This closed the case for the prosecution, when Mr.
Smallwood, the prisoner's attorney, addressed the bench
at some length on the part of the prisoner, and the magis-
trates retired to consider their decision, and were absent
about half an hour. When they returned,
The Mayor said they found sufficient evidence to com-
mit the prisoner, but would receive bail.

Mr. Moss then rose, and said, from the extreme impor-
tance of the case, involving, as it did, many personages of
the most elevated station, he hoped such bail would be
demanded as would satisfy the ends of justice, and defend
the morality of the country. He had no wish to press the
matter against the unfortunate prisoner, who was no doubt
a victim, but he trusted the Court would secure to itself
and the country the means of preventing such highly im-
moral proceedings.
Mr. Smallwood was heard in reply. when,
The Mayor and magistrates fixed the bail at—prisoner,
£300; and two surelics, £l5O each

The sureties were—John Lloyd 17ardcll, Trumpet Tnn,
Shrewsbury ; John Lloyd, Sir William Hill's Arms Inn,
Shrewsbury.