§ MR. CALLANasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, considering the peaceable condition of the county of Louth and the county of the town of Drogheda, as evidenced by the calendar of prisoners and the charges of the going Judges of Assize and Chairmen of Quarter Sessions, both as regards offences against person and against property, and the statements of—1. Mr. Justice Andrews, at the Summer Assizes for the county of the town of Drogheda, that—
He was happy to find, from the information given him by the resident magistrate and the constabulary returns, that the condition of the town was that of an orderly and peaceable community;2. The Chairman of Quarter Sessions, in June last, at Dundalk, addressing the Grand Jury, said—As far as I can hear, the county has been in a very quiet state since my last visit;and 3. At the Summer Assizes for the county of Louth, Mr. Justice Andrews, in charging the Grand Jury, said—I find that there are no Bills to go before you at the present Assizes, while only yesterday the County Court Judge concluded his sittings, and I understood he had only one case to go before him. Under these circumstances, I am very happy to tender you my sincere congratulations on the peaceable and orderly state of your county,on which occasion Sir John Robinson, foreman of the Grand Jury, in presenting white gloves to the going Judge, said—It was a happy state of affairs that nothing had occurred to mar the peace and quietness that prevailed in the county of Louth,whereon Mr. Justice Andrews, in accepting the white gloves, said—It was very gratifying to him to accept those white gloves, as an emblem of the peaceable state of the county, upon which he had taken the opportunity of congratulating them, and, through them, the community at large;and, whether, in view of these circumstances, he is prepared to remove the Proclamation of the county of Louth 1766 and the county of the town of Drogheda?
§ MR. TREVELYANSir, the Government are gratified at the peaceful state of the county of Louth; and the question of removing the Proclamation has for some time past been under their consideration. I hope that a decision will be come to in the course of a few days. I do not think the county of the town of Drogheda stands quite on the same footing, as the Government consider it necessary to maintain safeguards against any undue importation of arms into the country. The matter is, however, also under consideration.