The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-05-26


for papers and returns, and so forth, regarding
the late horrible outrage in Donegal, and the
increase of murders and crime among the Irish
to the murdered desdS Did they observe that
| silence due to an undiscovered crime, to the
Investigations OF justice, to the nationality
that might be expected to live even in the
breasts of those degraded Irishmenf The work
of slander went on merrily in the press and in
PArlisment. What did the responsible Gov.
| eminent do-this British Government of Ire
land, to whom we are told to look for equal
Justice Before it was kpown-it is not known
yet-what were the motives that prompted
| that terrible crime, meeting of my Lords jus.
tices, and Others, was held at Dublin Castle
q meeting of the Privy Council, which has
power by the mere breath Of it's mouth to take
awey the liberties of the people of any dist riot
in !reland-that Privy Council forsooth pro-
claimed the entire district in which this terri
BILE crime occurred, and there by stamped upon
al the innocent Inhabitants of that district
the brand of o murderou5 conspiracy (hisses.)
Imagine the most horrible outrage that can be
imagined occurring in Glasgow, what would
you say to any Government in London if, with
out further knowledge of the facts, without
waiting the result of trial, without waiting
even the preliminary proceedings are not CON-
cluded-what would be said if all Glasgow was
laid under prohibition, and the police empow-
cred to search for arms in the houses Of the
inhabtants-to deprive of arms all the inhab-
ltants, forsooth, because an undiscovered crime
had been com mitted within the limits of Glas-
gow-and that therefore sll the people of
Glasgow ehould be suspected OF having some
hand in that murderf The supposition is
purely mopstrous. and ask under what pre-.
tence are the virtuous, upright, and manly
to be condemned without proof, to be DETAINED
in this Infamous mannerf Anything of the
kind would be not only impossible but incon-
[oheers) Such was the position OF affairs on
the 18th of April-the entire anti Irish press at
their work of defamation, the landlord party
at the same work, and having their defama-
tory motions on the books of the House
of Lords, the Government backing up the de.
fsmers of Irishmen to do all in their power to
convert suspicion into certainty, and to try
and condemn an innocent people (obeers.) /
confess, nevertheless, should not have
brought for ward my motion in the House of
Commons relating to the assassination cf Lord
Leitrim and the manner in which tho people
of Donegal had been treated, as not /, but
come older member of the Irish party ought
to have done 30. Not I. and not any single
member of the Irish party, but the entire Irish
party as one man should have arieen and flung
back the lie in the teeth of Ireland's defAmers,
come what might let the Government bench
es howl and the Government press shrek itself
Power and 1 consulted over the matter, and we
came to the deliberate conclusion that it was
necessary at all personal cost to lift if it was
but q corner of the veil that hspgs over the
realities of lsndlordism in Ireland. Well, l
brought on my motion-"That the conduct of
the Government with regard to this crime
was unconstitutional"-of course it was did
they rot assume already as proved what was
still An unds covered crime under iuVestigs-
tion 7-"that it was calculated to hinder rather
than promote the ends of justice"-of course it
the public opinion offs country against the law
than to see the law strained in order to de-
fame a country f-"that the action of the
Government was calculated to foster disbelief
in the impartislity of the iawn-wbo can doubt
thetf 1t cannot be imagined for q moment if
that murdered man had not been an Irish
landlord, and an Irish landlord of most evil re.
pute, may add, that any such meeting of
Privy Council would have been held in Dublin,
any such motions been put on the booke of
the House of Lords, or that the whole Govern
ment party would have assumed such an atti-
tnde of unprovoked hostility to the tenant
classes of Ireland. It was necessary to point
out the uncopstitutionality of the Governments
action, and the first ground to which had to
and to examine and challenge it,. You assume
that this crime is the result of murderous
conspiracy of a whole district agsinst an up:
right landlord. Is that true (No.) told
them it was not true ('Right." and cheers).
But, at the same time, SO lily did avoid
prejudging the case that put my preliminary
objections in the form of guarded supposi
tion, and asked the House to consider if q GER
tain state of things had existed in England,
and in an English county, would they have
come to the same conclusion as in the Donegal
case or have dared to apply to an English
county those prohibitory measures, those lnso-
lent snspicions, which they showered upon the
people of DoneSalf was IL True, asked, that
Lord Leitrim was q just aud upright land
lord, whose death could be traced to nothing
but murderous and unprovoked conspiracy 7
Was it true or not true that the life of Lord
Leitrim was saoh life that he might have
reused passionate hatred for more reasons than
one7 Or was it not true that, besides sgrariau
conspiracy, there mig bit be person al vengeance,
family vengeance, outrage of common hamsni-
ty, at the bottom of this crime7 said to the
Government-"You say, by all your acts, that
Lord Leitrim was murdered by the tenantry of
Donegal. You pretend to know all about it
without a single proof. You assume that Lord
Leitrim acted as q some what severe but as Q
righteous and lst land o ID should have Eetsd. |
Why, the infamies of that life which ended so
terribly are the common property of public
opinion in ireland. You cannot take mp any
Of the journals without finding allusioDs to the
we'll known stains upon that life of upright
daughter and cheers.) These |
journals described that upright landlord as one |
who used the terrible powers of eviction to
punish even the banking of his basest passion, |
and, forsooth, when that was public property |
and public Information in Ireland. was 1, an |
Irish representative, to be forbidden the op- |
portunity of laying those things before that