Mr. Colquhounrose to put a question to the noble Lord, the Secretary for Ireland, respecting some proceedings in the city of Waterford, of which he took it for granted that that noble Lord was cognizant. He was alluding to a violent riot which recently took place within the cathedral church of that city—a riot which had suspended the performance of the Protestant service, and which had terminated in the expulsion of the Protestant clergy from their own church—a riot at which the police were present, and of which the authorities at Waterford must have been fully cognizant. The question to which he wished to obtain an answer was this—"Has the Irish Government issued any orders directing an inquiry to be instituted into the conduct of the au- 943 thiorities and of the police upon that occasion?"
§ Lord Morpeth, in reply to the question just put to him, observed, that in consequence of a memorial which had been sent to the Irish Government from Waterford, stating the circumstances which had occurred there, the following answer had been written by the Under Secretary for Ireland by the authority of the Lords justices of that county. The noble Lords then proceeded to read a letter signed by Mr. Drummond, in which it was stated that the Lords justices had received a memorial, signed by several respectable inhabitants of the city of Waterford, complaining of a violent outrage committed in the cathedral of that city, and that they had directed him to inform the memorialists that no time should be lost in commencing a full inquiry into the truth of their complaints. It further stated, that if the allegations set forth in their memorial should be substantiated, the memorialists might rely upon the assurance of Government that it would use its best endeavours to bring to justice all who were engaged in so disgraceful an outrage, and that it would direct the local authorities, whose duty it was to preserve the peace, to take every precaution for the prompt suppression of such disturbances in future. A copy of the memorial and the answer had been sent to the Mayor of Waterford, and he had been required to make a report and observations thereupon. The Inspector General of the Constabulary had also been ordered to inquire into the conduct of the police on that occasion.