HC Deb 03 March 1884 vol 285 cc336-8
MR. SEXTON

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he has any information that, on Sunday the 9th of December last, the Rev. Mr. Burroughs, Incumbent of the Mariners' Church, Kingstown, Dublin, delivered in that church a discourse, in which he advised the congregation not to deal with Catholic traders, and recommended by name one Protestant trader to their patronage; and, whether his attention has been drawn to the comments in the local press on the discourse in question; whether advice of a like character has been lately given in sermons preached by the Rev. Dr. Neligan in the Molyneux Church, Leeson Park, Dublin, and by the Rector of Nenagh, county Tipperary, in the parish church of Nenagh; whether an Orange circular, printed in The Freeman's Journal of the 23rd January last, and emanating from the "Members of the Loyal Orange Lodge, No. 795, Ballymote (county Sligo), in Lodge assembled," had attached to it the names of Rev. G. T. Walker, Emlafad Glebe, Ballymote; Rev. Thomas Cosgrove, Lissadell Parsonage; Rev. Thomas Henry, Calry Glebe; Rev. J. Allen French, Rectory, Drumcliffe; and Rev. James Todd, Moneygold Grange; and whether this circular called on Protestant landlords of the county— To take into consideration the just claims of Protestant young men, with a view to giving them farms and such other privileges as circumstances of the future may permit and suggest; and desiring that the chaplains of the several Orange lodges might Be communicated with respecting any vacant farms or situations to be filled up; whether the clergymen named admit their responsibility for the document in question; and, whether such incitements and suggestions, in sermons or otherwise, are exempt from the operation of sec 7 of "The Prevention of Crime (Ireland) Act, 1882;" and, if so, whether a like exemption applies to similar proceedings on the part of the Catholic clergy?

MR. GIBSON

Before this Question is answered, I would ask whether the right hon. Gentleman has received communications from the Rev. Mr. Burroughs and the Rev. Dr. Neligan; and whether he is aware that they both repudiate distinctly the use of such language with regard to Roman Catholic tradesmen?

MR. TREVELYAN

Yes, Sir; two rev. gentlemen, Dr. Neligan and the Rector of Nenagh, have, unsolicited, communicated with me in the sense stated by the right hon. and learned Gentleman (Mr. Gibson), and they emphatically denounce the statements with regard to them as having no foundation. The Government has no means of veri- fying these statements, even if they were inclined to do so, and do not feel called upon to express an opinion on the abstract point raised with regard to them. As regards the Circular, I am advised at some length that the clergymen who signed it could not be prosecuted under the Prevention of Crime Act.

MR. SEXTON

Does the right hon. Gentleman say that he received such a letter from the Rev. Mr. Burroughs?

MR. GIBSON

I received such a letter. I have it here.

MR. TREVELYAN

My strong impression is, that I got a letter from the Rev. Mr. Burroughs, repudiating the assertion, and the other two gentlemen communicated with me and the Irish Office.

MR. SEXTON

Do the gentlemen named in the fourth paragraph admit the Circular?

MR. TREVELYAN

With regard to the fourth paragraph, I do not know that they admit their responsibility; but I got a legal opinion, which is conclusive, of the impossibility of bringing such a case within the scope of the Intimidation Clauses of the Prevention of Crime Act.