The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-02-15 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Emptrial Varlfament.
HOUSE Or LORDS.

. •
MONDAY, FEB. 11.
The LORD CHANCELLOR having taken his seat on the wool-
sack at five o'oclock,
Lord TEYNnam rose to present a petition from the inhabi-
tants of the barony of Gallen, in the county of Mayo, in
'lreland, against the tithe system. The petitioners complained
of the great and unjustoppression they laboured under in being
compelled to
:pay tithes, and prayed their lordships to relieve
them as speedily as possible from the infliction of so ruinous a
grievance.
The petition was ordered to lio on the table.
Lord TKYNHAAI next. rose to call their lordships' attention to
the order of the day, with a view to bring before their lordships
the conduct of anoble marquess (Sligo), in accordance with the
notice he had given. He nad received a variety of communi-
cations from the county of Mayo, of which the noble marquess
was Lord Lieutenant, compiaming in the strongest manner of
.toe very harsh and uuwarrantaule course which the noble mar-
quess had recently adopted towards certain parts of that county,
particularly the barony of Gallen. It appeared that at the last
election of members of Parliament for the county there was a
warm contest, in which some of the candidates, who were re-
lated to the noble marquis, were opposed by Sir Wiliam Bra-
baron; and, arising out of that contest there were some riots,
each as frequently. occur at elections every where, but there was
nothing in those riots to call for any extraordinary application
of unconstitutional measures towaids any part of the county.
The riots were of the kind that happen every day at elections
in England, and might have been suppressed, as he understood,
by the ordinary powers of the magistrates. He would now
proceed to give their lordships a statement of facts. It seemed
that in consequence of a communication from the noble mar-
quis to the magistrates of the county, a large assemblage of the,
latter took place at the town of Castlebar, where they delibe-
rated with closed doors, without any person being made ac-
quainted with the nature of their proceedings until it was known
by the result. That was, that they had agreed to memorialize
the Lords Justices to place the barony of Gallen, and another
Places, under the operation of the Peace Preservation Bill ;
and upon this memorial, and supported as it was by. the noble
marquess, the Lords Justices acted, and by proclamation placed
those districts of the county under the ban of the empire. The
consequence was, that a police and a military force were sta-
tioned in the proclaimed districts, and repeated conflicts took
place between the troops and the people, in which several
ayes were lost ; and such was the mode in which justice
was administered in that unhappy country, that at the in-
quests held on the bodies of the slaughtered people, the
juries returned verdicts of justifiable homicide, whereas, if
such atrocities had been prepetrated in this country, ver-
dicts of murder would undoubtedly have been given. The
barony of Gallen, it should be observed, was chiefly the pro-
perty of the noble marquess, and his harshness towards his
tenantry upon this occasion was attributed to the fact of a great
majority of them having voted for Sir William Brabazon at the
election, against the Browns, who were the noble marquess's
relatives. S.r William Brabazon was the friend of his country,
and the people knew that and supported him. The noble mar-
Ouess was desirous of converting the county of Mayo into an
ld Sarum, and have the whole patronage in his own hands,
but the people would not submit to be thus dealt with, and he
( Lord Teynham) would say that the whole of the noble mar-
quess's conduct on this occasion did not seem to do him much
credit. If proper justice were done to Ireland, there would be
no occasion for the introduction of either the police or the mi-
litary; for the hearts of the people would then be with the go-
'verninent. Having said thus much, he would conclude by mov-
ing for copies of the proclamation of the Lords Justices of Ire-
land, declaring Gallen in a state of disturbance; of the memo-
rial of the magistrates and clergy of Mayo to the Lords Justices
tiereou ; of Sir William BrabaLon's memorial to the same; of
a list of the chief constables in the county of Mayo, in 1832 • of
the committal for offences in the barony of Gallen in 1830,18,31,
and 1832; of the number of persons in confinement at the pre-
sent time, for offences comnntted in the barony; and lastly,
far a copy of the appointment of Joseph Rourke, Esq., as colo-
ner of the county of Mayo.
The question having been put,
The Marquess of SLAG() rose, and said that he hoped as the
noble lord who had just sat down had referred to him in so
personal a manner the house would favour him with their atten-
tion for a few minutes, particularly as he was not much in the
habit of troubling their lordships. (Hear, hear.) If the Lord
Chancellor for Ireland or the noble Secretary for State were in
the house, they could have informed their iordships that the
barony of Gallen had given much trouble and uneasiness to the
government. Until very lately certainly that barony had been
an exception to the general disturbance that existed in Ireland,
but latterly such a bad spirit had risen there as to make it neces-
sary to have recourse to the extraordinary means of which their
lordships had heard so much. He had not brought with him
from Ireland a singie document connected with the proceedings
in question, for he had not at all anticipated the motion now
before the house, but he had put down on paper a statement
of facts within his own knowledge, which he would put their
lordships in possession of, and fur the truth of which he would
pledge himself. The first outrage that occurred was in the
month of September, which arose out of the disputed ownership
of a house between two brothers, and the parties on both sides
proceeded to such sanguinary conflicts, that it was necessary
to make application to government to place a military force in
possession of the house. Shortly after, the house of a gentle-
man named Moore was burned to the ground, that gentleman's
son being the solicitor for one of the brothers. The noble mar-
quess then went on to recount a variety of sanguinary outrages
'committed in the district of Gallen, before the application for
the Peace Preservation Bill. On one occasion, a man was
knocked off his horse and murdered, and not content with
this act of slaughter, the perpetrators impaled the horse alive,
and the stake came through its body out at the breast. It
was quite a mistake, lie said, of the noble baron who brought
forward this motion, to say that the barony was proclaimed
through his (Lord Sligo's) interference. He had done nothing
more in the matter than what became his ditty as Lord Lieu-
teuant of the county, namely, to forward the memorial of the
'magistrates to the Lords Justices. As to the meeting of the
magistrates at Castlebar, that took place owing to the repeated
complaints made to him (Lord Sligo) of the disturbed
state of that part of the county alluded to, and the utter
impossibility as was found of executing the laws there,
for not a shilling of tithes could be collected, and the clergy
were making constant representations to him on this head. lie
found, too, that the local magistrates of the district would not
Ka, and, in fact, four of them signed a round robin declaring
that they would lend no assistance towards the collecting of
tithes. At the meeting of the magistrates at Castlebar there
were present four lieutenants, eight or nine deputy lieutenants,
and seventeen magistrates, and the state of that part of the
county to which their attention was directed received-from them
every consideration, and it was not until the necessity for ex-
traordinary measures appeared most urgent that they agreed to
the memorial. When he (the Marquess of Sligo) found-that he
could get no assistance from the local magistrates, he appointed
a Mr. Jones, an English gentleman, a magistrate in the dis-
trict,-and forty policemen were placed at his disposal; but this
force was found to be quite inadequate to the purpose of keep-
ing the peace and collecting the tithes, and it became necessary
to have the aid of 150 men of the 10th light dragoons. With
reference to what the noble baron had said respecting the elec-
tion, he (the Marquess of Sligo) denied that the riots and out-
rages spoken of had at all arisen out of the immediate election,
and he could not help saying that he thought Sir William Bra-
baron had not at ail acted judiciously iu keeping up, as he did,
a spirit of excitement and animosity after all the election pro-
ceedings had been long at an end. Notices had been sent
through the county denouncing every man as an enemy to his
country who voted against that candidate, and the scandalous
system of exclusive dealing was carried ou to a ruinous extent.
Even the fair sex became partisans in the matter, and indeed
the whole frame of society was disjointed. The nobleniarquess
said it was quite absurd to supopse that he could influence the
sixty county magistrates, to induce them to call upon the go-
vernment to place the county of Sligo under the provisions of
the insurrection act. (Hear.) It was a fact, that since he had
become Lord Lieutenant of the county, he had only appointed
one magistrate, and that gentleman was a Roman Catholic.
(hear, hear.) The noble marquess then justified his having
called in the troops to secure the quiet of Castlebar, upon the
occasion alluded to by the noble lord (Tevnhain,) because, in
the town in question there was a bank of stones, and it was im-
possible to say what would be the consequence of an outrage
on the part of the populace. (Hear, hear.) With respect to
trio allusion made respecting the petty sessions, he would ob-
serve, that the non-attendance of inavitrates at those sessions
snowed the state of insubordination in which the county was.
Having said so much on the general question, he would trouble
their lordships with a word or two respecting himself. Upon
what grounds, he would ask the noble lord, did he appear in
that house as the champion of the rights of the people of Mayo ?
On what authority did he make the grave charges which he
that night preferred ? When, he asked, did the noble lord or
any of his connections act in such a way as to command the
flattering testimonial with which his (the Marquesii of Sligo's)
eonduct had been rewarded ? He had been matigued in every
pussithe way lately, but he had not retorted upon his calumnia-
tory as he might have done. (Ilear.) He had now concluded

what he had to say on this subject, and he begged to assure
their lordships that he made this statement rather with a view
to call upon their lordships td turn their attention to the state
of Ireland with a view to its improvement, and not with a wish
to see it unnecessarily coerced. (Hear, hear.)
The Earl of TEMPLEMORE bore testimony to the fact, that
the state of the county of Sligo demanded that the noble mar-
quess should have used prompt and decisive measures, and that
it became necessary that a portion of the 10th hussars should
march from Longford to Castlebar, in order that the peace
might be preserved. (Ilear.) Nothing could be more kind and
attentive than the conduct of the noble marquess both to the
soldiers and to the populace. Knowing these facts, he thought
it his duty to state them to the house. (Hear.)
Lord MELBOURNE did not think that the grounds stated by the
noble lord (Teynham) were such, as justified him iu calling for
papers and documents, but he (Lord Melbourne) should not
object to their production. In doing so, however, he wished to
guard himself from giving the slightest countenance to the
charges made by the noble lord. After the statement made by
the noble marquess, who had laid before their lordships the facts
of the case in a clear and forcible manner, he did not think
would be.advisable in their lordships to go into an investigation
of the circumssances connected with this individual county,
particularly when, as their lordships were aware, they would be
called on almost immediately to go into an inquily into the
state of Ireland generally. (hear, hear.) He might, however,
be allowed to bear his testimony to the admirable conduct of the
noble marquis, and also to state that, from all he (Lord Mel-
bourne) had known, and from the correspondence which had
ensued, .he felt certain that the noble marquess had discharged
his Important duties not only with zeal, with diligence, and
with activity, but with a feeimg.of tenderness and regard to the
interests of the people, and without having recourse to any
measure of harsuness or severity. (Hear, hear.)
The Marquess of CLANRICARDE defended the conduct of the
police on the occasion alluded to, who had, considering the try-
ing situation in which they were placed, acted upon the whole
with great propriety. (Hear.) It the noble lord had looked
into tile evidence given respecting the cause of the death of the
man adverted to by the noble lord, he would have found that
the police were not to blame. Ile would have found that the
unfortunate man who had been shot had thrown two stones, and
that he was shot while in the very act of throwing one of those
stones. (Hear.) Connected as he was with the noble marquess
he did not think he need tender his testimony in favour of him,
but he might be allowed just to say that it would be better if the
noble lord, before he made grave charges, would consider the
authority upon which he made those charges. (Hear.) It was
not astonishing to find the lower orders making charges against
the magistrates of the county, when there could be fQund noble
lords who, without the slightest pretence or reason, ad the very
same thing. (Hear.)
Lord LORTON said he had no doubt that the noble marquess
had discharged his duty. in a most efficient and exemplary man-
ner; and he also conceived that the noble baron opposite (Lord
Teynham) had been erroneous in his statement with regard to
the police force of Ireland, whose conduct, he could say, had
been, generally, most exemplary and correct.
Lord TEYNHAM replied, and after a few words in disapproval
of the general conduct of the police, the motion that the papers
in
_question be laid upon the table, was agreed to.
The house then adjourned at seven o'clock.

TUESDAY.
LORD ELLENBOROIiaIt moved for returns relative to the financial
condition of India. Similar returns had been procured last year from
the Board of Control. What he wished to obtain now was an esti-
mate on the same plan for the Court of Directors of the East India
Company. The noble lord also moved for returns of the tonnage of
vessels trading to China.—Ordered.
The Lunatic Commissioners' Bill went through the Committee, was
reported, and ordered to be read a third time ou Monday night.

HOUSE OF COIYIBIONS.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11.
THE QUAKER CASE.

Mr. C. W. WYNN brought up the report of the committee, to
whom the claim of Mr. Joseph Pease, (one of the society of
Friends,) to sit us a member of the House of Uomuions, ou
making his affirmation, had been referred. He said that the
conunutee had given their best attention to the subject, but
that they had found only three cases—one iu the llouse of Com-
mons, and two in the courts of law—that bore upon it. The
committee did not offer any opinion on the question, neither
would he state what his own opinion was; he should merely
move that the report be laid on the table and be printed ;
iu the event of its being printed and placed in the hands of
members by Wednesday next, he should, on Thursday,=ove
that the affirmation of Mr. Pease be received in lieu of an oath.
--( Hear, hear.)
Petitions for a law to enforce a better observance of the Sab-
bath were presented,—by Sir M. S. STEWART, from two places
in Scotland;—by Lord MoopETH from a parish in Yorkshire.
Petitions were presented by Mr. O'CONNELL from Kilworth,
and three other parishes in Ireland, for the abolition of tithes
and church rates; and from the operative shoemakers of Dub-
lin for a repeal of the union.
Petitions for the abolition of Colonial Slavery, by Lord
Mon PETH, from a parish in Yorkshire ;—by Mr. OwEN, from
Milford.

Notices were given, by Mr. TENNYSON, to move, on the 2nd
of April, for a committee to inquire into and review the right
assumed by the House of Lords to vote by proxy ;—by Mr. W.
WHITMORE to submit a motion on the 25th of April respecting
the corn laws ;—by ➢lajor BEAUCLERK, to move, on the 'lst of
May, for the repeal of the duty on malt;—by the LOUD Aft Y-
o- to move, for leave to bring in a bill to amend the laws
relating to corporations of royal burghs in Scotland.

REPORT ON THE ADDRESS.

Lord ORNIELIE appeared at the bar with the report on the
address to his Majesty.
On the question "'that the report be brought up,"
Mr. LANGDALE rose and said, that although it was extremely
unpleasant, he could not, in justice to himself; and to, the large
constituency who had sent him to that house, refrain from ex-
pressing his opposition to the opinion recently delivered by an
hon. and learned civilian, (Dr. Lushingtou,) with reference to
the oath taken by the Roman Catholics on taking their seats
as members of Parliament. He was the representative of a
large body of Protestant constituents, and if, by the interpre-
tation of the oath as given by the hon. and learned gentleman,
lie was incapacitated from stating his opinion on any given
subject, to that extent his constituents were, virtually, unrepre-
sented. If there was one question more interesting than ano-
ther to himself and his constituents, it was that which related to
the state of the church establishment, which was likely very
soon to come before Parliament; and yet, it was now asserted,
that by the oath which he had taken, he was debarred from
taking any part in the discussion of that question. This was a
proposition which, if correct, placed the Roman Catholic mem-
bers of that house in a very awkward situation. It did not
merely involve the question of church property, but extended
to various other questions : if the interpretation he alluded to
were correct, then he (Mr. Langdale) could no more interfere
with respect to corporation property than he could in questions
concerning church property. If any gentleman felt that Ro-
man Catholic members stood in a situation different from that
of Protestant members, in the House of Commons, he was
bound to state that opinion openly and fairly. He denied,
however, that any such difference existed. He would go fur-
ther than that, and assert, that he had as much right as any
member in that house to give his opinion on the subject of
Church property. Ministers had advised his Majesty to call on
Parliament to take into consideration the temporalities of the
church. Now, he would assert that, as a Roman Catholic, look-
ing at the oath which he had taken, he (lid not stand in a situa-
tion different from that of his Majesty's ministers. The oath
of the Roman Catholic member went to this :—that he would
never exert any privilege he had obtained under the Catholic
relief bill to the injury of the Protestant church. And what
was the oath of a cabinet minister? Ile said :—" I do solemnly
and sincerely swear, on the faith of a Christian, that I will
never countenance any act against the Protestant religion, as
by law established." Where, then, was the difference between
a*Roman Catholic member and his Majesty's ministers ? The
latter brought forward certain measures with respect to the
church, not for its subversion, for they were sworn to support
it; and why could not Roman Catholics speak and vote on ques-
tions which ministers, thus bound to protect the church, deemed
it necessary to bring forward ? Yet, the hon. and learned mem-
ber for the Tower Hamlets had told them the other evening, that
a Catholic member, by the oath which he had taken, was pre-
cluded from interfering with the temporalities of the church.—
(Ilear, hear, and cries of "No, no.")
Mr. O'CONNELL:—I certainly understood that to be the
meanie
_g of the hon. and learned member's remarks.
Mr. LANGDALE continued :—The hon. and learned member
for the Tower Hamlets certainly declared, that touching the
temporalities of the church, and destroying the church, was the
same thing. Now what was the destruction of the church ?
Ministers and their friends would be loath to say that a reform
of the church went to its destruction; and the right hon.. mem-
ber for Tamworth, and his friends would, perhaps, be inclined
to pronounce a very slight interference with the property of the
church, as tending to its destiuction. ( Ilear.) If he were to
be told that he was not to go into the discussion of such ques-
tions, which were speedily to be brought on by the noLle lord
—the Chancellor of the Lxchequer,--and to treat them a, •.ord-
ing to his awn opinions, then his constituents would be plated

in a very unpleasant situation. It would give great satisfaction
to the catholic members and to the country, torisave this ques-
tion set at rest.
An hon. member said that, so long as the oath in question
was taken, he thought Roman Catholic members were placed
in a situation different from that of other members of that
house. The oath meant nothing at all, if it did not mean that
Roman Catholic members were plowd the church, placed in a
situation different from other members.
Sir FRANCIS VINCENT declared that if he, as a Catholic mem-
ber, were not allowed to speak and vote like other members of
that house, he would resign his seat at once. Why was it, he
should be glad to know, that he was allowed to animadvert on
the civil list of the King,. if he were deemed incompetent to
enter into discussions upon the temporalities of the church.
Mr. Hume said, it was of greatimportance that the house and
the country should be satisfied whether the doctrine laid down
by the honourable and learned member for the Tower Hamlets,
was that which government meant to support or not. The
doctrine was so entirely destructive of the legislatorial func-
tions of Catholic members, that, though he had no difficulty in
expressing his opinion on the point, au opinion in which he
believed he was joined by most sensible men who gave it any
consideration, yet it was very desirable that the law officers of
the crown, should state their opinion ou the subject, and that
his Majesty's ministers should state their sentiments upon it.
Lord ALTHORP said, the house itself was the sole judge of the
question, and the honourable member for Middlesex had no
right to call upon ministers for their interpretation of the oath
in question.
Mr. HOME said he was principally desirous to know what was
the opinion of the law officers of the Crown upon the point.
Colonel DAVIES said the interpretation of such oaths should
be left to hon. members themselves. (Hear.) For his part,
he had no doubt at all upon the subject, notwithstanding the
subtle mystification iu which it had been attempted to involve
it.
Mr. O'CONNELL said, that he would not allow any individual
to dictate to him as regarded his belief. (Hear.) If he had
taken the oath in question in the sense in which it was
explained by the hon. member for the Tower Hamlets, he
should not continue to be a member of that house. If the
construction which that hon. and learned gentleman had put
upon the oath was the construction according to which it was
administered by the house, he (Mr. O'Conneit) must say that it
was not upon such a construction that he had taken it; and if
that were the case he should not have taken the oath, for he
was well aware that an oath should be taken in the sense in
which it was understood by the authority that administered it,
provided the words were plain and obvious. Excluded as he
(Mr. O'Connell) had been for upwards of twenty years, from
his rights as a Catholic, solely by his respect for oaths, (hear,
hear,) he would not allow any man to taunt him with having
taken an oath in an equivocal sense. (Hear. hear.) The
sense in which he had taken the oath in question was, that he
was bound to protect the established church—that is to say, that
he was bound to support the laws respecting it so long as they
existed as laws, but as a legislator, he understood that oath to
leave him at perfect liberty to alter and amend those laws.
(Hear.) Such was the construction he had always put upon
that oath : if it was an erroneous one, no Catholics should be
allowed to take a part in the discussions relative to the pro-
jected alterations in the laws regarding the church—thatis to
say, no Catholics should be allowed any longer to sit there as
the members of a free deliberative assembly. (Hear, hear.)
He had stated to the house, plainly and openly, what was the
understanding in which he had taken that oath. If he was
wrong in his interpretation of it, he would say, in God's name,
let him be expelled forthwith from its walls, for he would not re-
main there liable to be charged with the equivocation of an oath.
He begged to say that he meant now to oppose the bringing up
of the report. He was sorry he felt it necessary, from au im-
perious sense of his duty to his country, to do so, but he could
assure the house that none of those who thought with him on
this subject would again address the house upon it, unless they
should be driven to do so, by personal atacks and vituperation.
He and his friends felt they were bound to contend against
such an address, foot by foot, and to do all they could in opposi-
tion to the attemipt which his Majesty's ministers were making
against the constitutional liberties of their country. He would
not retract the epithets which he had applied to that address.
Upon cool deliberation he felt justified iu characterising it as a
brutal—as a sanguinary address, and he would seize every op-
portunity that the forms of that house afforded him to oppose
its adoption. Mr. O'Connell then, at considerable length and
with much warmth, defended himself from the charge of ingra-
titude to the present ministers. Ireland had ever sustained
in them in their struggles, and their return now was a a propo-
sal to introduce a sytein of coercion there, and to deprive that
unfortunate country of the benefits of the constitution. The
right hon. Secretary for \lreland had told them, that a govern-
ment must be feared before it could be loved. Surely the
English members of the first reformed parliament—'the first
rem representatives of the people of England—would not adopt,
would not countenance such a Robespierrian maxim. What
was the plain, the obvious duty of his Majesty's minis-
ters ? Should they not have endeavoured to conciliate—
should they not have endeavoured to do justice, before they
talked of coercion, and before they came to parliament to
ask for
.powers beyond the law ? (Lear, hear, hear.) When
his Majesty's ministers told him that they intended to
make themselves feared in Ireland, he would beg to tell them,
in return, that such a sentiment was not applicable to that gal-
lant and fearless nation. (Hear, hear, trout the Irish mem-
bers.) It was a piece of paltry hypocrisy on the part of English
members to speak of their sympathy for the liberties and rights
of Ireland, and yet to vote for the extinction of those liberties.
Let the English members deal with that candour which was
characteristic of Englishmen—let them speak out, and if they
thought that the Irish were an inferior race, and that they did
not deserve better treatment than was about being afforded to
them, let them say so, and then he should understand them.
There existed in Ireland an agricultural war and an agricultural
agitation as well as a political agitation, and no two things
could be more different or distinct, though they. had been so
commonly and mischievously confounded. In snarly of the re-
mote counties of Ireland, the wretched agricultural labourers
were reduced so low, that they thought 2s. a week good wages.
(Hear.) The agricultural agitation which such wretchedness
had long produced in Ireland was totally free from political or
religious differences. It was solely the offspring of poverty,
and party spirit had nothing to do with it. That predial agita-
tion arose from the want of employment, and it was impossible
for a parliament like this to legislate property with regard to
Ireland, ignorant as the majority of its members were of the
rear state of that country, and depending, as they did, altoge-
ther for their information on the subject upon souse one of his
Majesty's ministers. Ile did not say that the predial agitation
in Ireland had dated its increase from the commencement of
the present administration ; but it had greatly increased since
the King's speech at the prorogation of the .last parliament,
since the strong measures then adopted, and the increased ri-
gour to which recourse had been had to enforce the collection
of tithes. There was less of political disturbances now in many
parts of Ireland than had been known there for many years.
In the county of Cork, where the inhabitants were upwards of
700,000, at the last assizes, but for some tithe meetings and some
subsequent tithe prosecutions, there would have been scarcely
a single prisoner for trial. (hear, hear, hear.) In the
county of Kerry, with a population of 200,600, though eight
months had elapsed since the previous assizes, there were
only eleven prisoners confined in the county gaol. In the city
of Limerick, the third city in Ireland, with a large agricultural
population in its suburbs, there were only eleven prisoners
confined in gaol. The county of Clare was now perfectly quiet;
he believed that Galway was quiet too, and so were Sligo and
Roscommon. The county of Mayo was said to be disturbed,
and additional powers were, it is said, to be asked for with
respect to that county. If he should hear them asked for his
blood would boil with indignation. Ile knew that there bad
been some recent slaughters by the police in that county. One
of them was occasioned by the Marquis of Sligo's endeavouring
to prevent the people from collecting the sea-rack on the coast.
It had been their custom from time immemorial so to collect it,
and, at all events, their right to do so should not be tried in the
manner in which it had in this instance. It was by the agent
of the property, who sat on the bench as magistrate, that it was
decided that the people, in so doing, had come under the Wil-
ful 'trespass Act, and it was he who sent out the police with
summonses against the people, the result of which was, that the
unfortunate man was shot. It had been said that trial by jury
had failed in Ireland. He would defy them to point out a single
instance in which it had so tailed where the pt.or man or the
peasant was the object of prosecution. if there were no other
reason for his opposing the granting of extraordinary powers
with regard to the county of Mayo, it would be the conduct of
the magistracy and gentry iu that part of the country.—He pro-
ceeded to contend, at great length, that Ireland was not in such
a state as to justify the granting of the powers demanded by his
Majesty's ministers, to repress outrage and disturbance in that
country; all that was required for the purpose was the due and
vigorous exercise of the powers afforded by the existing laws.
But, the truth was, ministers did not want their mea-
nt' es of coercion for the good of Ireland; they wanted them
for another purpose. When he saw theui attempting to con-
found the political with the agricultural agitation of Ire-
land, he was convinced what was the real purpose for which
those powers were required. He and his colleagues had
been taunted for not having brought forward the question of
the repeal of the Union ; it bad been looked upon as a sign