A case, in no small degre...
The Times, 1824-10-06T00:00:00

A case, in no small degree characteristic of the relation between rich.and poor in -ireland, is reported by the news- papers as having becn exhib4tcd within these few weeks at Dundalk. We do not say tbai the case is curious from the rarity, so nxech as from the frequency,.of its occurrence. A similar one happened not very long before at or near Enni.skillen; the suffering parties on' both occasions were little boys, and the parties perpetrating were Magistrates! These Magistrates, moreover, were Peers of the realm- Iri'sh Peers! How the flagellation at Enniskillen was dis. posed of, we are not now to inquire. The flogging done in the county of Louth, and settlcd-for settled it was- at Dundalk, gloried in a Nobleman with the romantic titic Of" CLLRI4s0NT" for its performer- The facts wsre briefly these:-His Lordshliip; sdriving along near his residence, saw a horse and cart upon.the road; orderedl a boy, named MAR- ,uION, whO was lierding . a "cow in his (the boy's) father's field, to take tle lhorse and cart to the pound- an ofmce whici the boy ha(d the unconscionable impudence to decline accepting. The high-minde( Viscount then went into the field, seized the boy, aild belabouredl him with his hiorsewllip in the most outrageous manner. The boy's brother, seeing his Lordship in hot pursuit of a cow which was heavy in calf, and. which he did his best to drive across. a hedge, came to try and prevQnt an act which miglht have cost the life of the animal ; but the child's courage failed on perceiving the treatment i6iflicted oin his brother, and he fled to his father's house for refuge. To the house this illustrious whipper-in bunted him, says the evidence, and, finding the vretched creature concealed in bed, attacked him unmercifully withi the but-end, as well as lash of his-horsewhip, rais6d'strips-o-n-various parts of his body, and nearly broke his arm. The parents of the children cried -- out for justice. The Lord ivas summoned to attend the petty sessions at Dundalk. On ht day appohiL- ed, the Court was adljourned to a future dav. On the day of the adjouraed ession, Lord CLERMON.r strove With all his might Ato escape, by questioning the legality of the triae, but the Court-thanks to the institution of petty sessions-thle Court insisted-thenoble flagellator addressed the magistrates and the crowd, in a speech ad -misericor- diam, that it was the hardest thing in the world, to be sure, for a great main, and a peer, and one who was so popular!-that if not unhappily a Lord, he might have been " representative for the county,"-that such a man should be called over,the coals for such a little twos penny matter as an assault upon two helpless childrein! However, the tide running strong against him, Lord CLEatMONT offered to compromise the business, by mak- ing such recompense to the injured parties as an arbi- trator should determine-the arbitrator himself to be chosen by the fall of my Lord's hat, when tossed up, upon the head of somebody in court. This nobleman, we have reason to know, is the reverse of popular in his neighbourhood. He is, nevertheless, one of' the law-administering, as well as the law-breaking, order of men in Ireland. His acts are indices of a habit by no means obsolete. And is it wonderfil that a general distrust should prevail among the people towards the laws them- selyes, when by long prescription confided to the honesty, anid perverted to the vindictive passionls and purposes, of such Magistrates as him of Dundalk-and him of Ennis- killen? IHad this outrage been made the subject of oom- plaint before a sijgle Justice, as was the case formerly, *yho will believe that any shadow of redress could have bcen obtained by the miserable peasants? Here, then, is a great remedial engine brouight into activity by the exist- ing Government. The petty sessions a,e anenable to pub- lie shame, as well as to legal responsibility. Darkness no longer inyests the affluent or titled criminal; nor does ser- vility or fellow-feeling dare to connive at his escape. Give the law its nataral range-give it unbiassed and unslhrink- ing action-and it will put down all private usurpers of' lawful prerogadive, whether rioh or poor--the gentleman who corrupts it, and the peasant who first despairs of, and next defies, it. The purification of the judgmrent-seat may not, indeed, make perfect the edifice of human so- ciety; but there is no stage of political strength or beauty of which the ground-werk must not be laid in a fair ad- ministration of the law.