§ MR. DARBY GRIFFITHsaid, he rose to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland Whether twelve out of the twenty-three Grand Jurors of the county of Fermanagh have lately signed and presented an address to Chief Justice Monaghan, repudiating some advice which he had given in his Charge against party emblems and banners by the use in such address of the following terms,—that "they firmly believe that unless owing to the remarks of his Lordship, no possible collision could occur between parties of different creeds of this county," and that his "Lordship's strictures would only lead to a more determined stand upon their legal rights on the part of the Protestants, and to an aggravated idea of moral injury on that of their Catholic fellow-countrymen;" whether at Londonderry and Enniskillen Orange flags had not been hoisted and party tunes played by the bells of the churches during the presence of Chief Justice Monaghan and Baron Hughes at the duties of the assize; and, if so, whether, in the opinion of Government, gentlemen who could offer such an address to a judge of assize, and thereby encourage such party proceedings on a judicial occasion, have shown them- 954 selves to be fit to be intrusted with the commission of peace in Ireland?
§ CAPTAIN ARCHDALLmoved the adjournment of the House, with a view of making a statement in relation to the Question of the hon. Member for Devizes. He had hoped, he said, that the rebuke administered to the hon. Member by the Foreign Secretary the other night would have satisfied him for one Session; but there were some men whose sole claim to notoriety depended upon the pertinacity with which they forced their remarks, sometimes laughable and sometimes tedious, upon the notice of the House. He rose on the present occasion because he happened to have been the foreman of the grand jury whose very grave offence, in the opinion of the hon. Member for Devizes, entitled them to be stripped of their magisterial offices, and he, therefore, wished to state what had really taken place. It was notorious that Fermanagh was one of the most peaceable counties in Ireland, and it was also one of the most tolerant. The High Sheriff, the Clerk of the Crown, the Chairman of Quarter Sessions, the Inspector of Prisons, and the Deputy Inspector-General of Constabulary were Roman Catholics, and upon the occasion referred to in the Question of the hon. Member for Devizes, the Judge of Assize and the whole of his staff belonged to the same religious persuasion. The gentlemen of Fermanagh had never cavilled at those appointments, though they could not fail to remark them; on the contrary, instead of considering the religious creed of the men, they had looked simply to their efficiency, and had given them their warmest co-operation upon all occasions, The state of Fermanagh could best be described in the words of Chief Justice Monaghan himself. He stated in his address to the grand jury that,—
The crimes are few in number and of a light character. It is satisfactory to find such a state of things here at this season of the year, when elsewhere crimes of a serious character are undergoing investigation. Were I to judge of the state of your county by the calendar before me, I should think it indicative of a very favourable condition; but I have deemed it my duty to inquire into the state of the county for myselfChief Justice Monaghan thought it his duty to inquire into the state of the county, and he found that there were only four trivial cases to be tried, that the 12th of July had passed off with perfect peace and quietness, that there had been no party feeling exhibited, and no insult offered to the Roman Catholics. Such was the oc- 955 casionl which Chief Justice Monaghan selected to tell the loyal Protestants of Fermanagh that, although they had kept within the letter of the law, they had broken it in spirit; that they had intentionally offered insult to their Roman Catholic fellow-subjects; and that they had been guilty of desecrating the churches by permitting flags to be hoisted thereon—things with which they had nothing whatever to do. Upon that occasion he felt it his duty, as foreman of the grand jury, to make a few observations to the Judge in court, assuring him that insult was never intended by the Protestants of Fermanagh nor considered by the Roman Catholics to have been intended. His Lordship replied that, although an insult might not have been intended, it was nevertheless calculated to produce that impression; that he himself would not have considered such a thing as the hoisting of Orange flags an insult, but it had been so deemed by others. The grand jury felt that the remarks of the Judge might lead to mischief; they consequently drew up an address, which was signed by twelve of their number, some of the others stating that they would not sign it because they were satisfied with the observations made in court by the foreman. The facts were that the Judges went into Enniskillen on the 16th of July, and that where an Orange flag, which had been hoisted on the 12th of July, was hauled down at the commencement off the assizes, and was not again hoisted during the presence of the Judges in Enniskillen. It had been stated that the bells were rung, but he did not know whether or not that was the fact. He did not think that the grand jury would have done their duty if they had not remonstrated with Chief Justice Monaghan on account of his remarks, and pointed out the mischievous effects they were likely to produce, and which, indeed, followed in the hoisting of a flag at Londonderry.
§ MR. WHITESIDEseconded the Motion.
§ MR. CARDWELLhoped he should be excused from entering at length into the discussion just raised, and the more so as there was a Bill before the House which dealt with this subject, and which would afford an opportunity for further observations. He would now proceed to answer the Question put to him. With respect to what passed on the occasion he had no official information, but only such information as every hon. Member had access to. 956 Whatever might be the opinion of the Government on the subject, it was not the intention, as far as he knew, of the Government, or of the Chancellor of Ireland to take any such steps as those suggested in the Question. He had official information that party tunes were played at Enniskillen. At Londonderry an Orange flag was hoisted at Walker's monument, which flag was most properly taken down by the mayor.