§ CAPTAIN ARCHDALL, in moving for Returns connected with the administration of justice in Ireland, said, that in expressing his opinion that things were not in a satisfactory state in that country, he did not wish to make any charge against the right hon. Baronet the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant. He believed that no Gentleman who had ever filled that difficult post had gone to Ireland with better intentions 1270 than the right hon. Baronet. The right hon. Baronet, however, had had to fight single-handed, as he was surrounded by men of different character. The conduct of Lord Carlisle had been described by the hon. Member for Liskeard (Mr. Osborne) in language which was certainly strong, but not altogether inappropriate.
§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That there be laid before this House, Copies of the Informations and of the Indictment in the ease of the Queen against Michael Duigan, Patrick Duigan, and Patrick Egan, tried at the Slimmer Assizes 1862, at Mullingar, in the County Westmeath, and of the Sentences passed upon each of them.
Of any Memorial or Memorials to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, praying for the release of the said prisoners.
Of the Resolutions of the Grand Jury of the County Westmeath, passed at the last Assizes, remonstrating with the Lord Lieutenant upon the liberation of the said prisoners, and of his Excellency's Reply thereto.
And, of any other Correspondence which may have taken place upon the subject."—(Captain Archdall.)
§ SIR ROBERT PEELsaid, he did not feel himself justified in according more than the first and third portions of the hon. Member's Motion. The men referred to by the hon. Gentleman were sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland thought fit, in the exercise of his prerogative, to remit the last three or four months of their sentences, lie did not think that the House should call the prerogative into question. With regard to the observations which had been made by the hon. Member for Liskeard about the Castle, if he had been in the House he should not have allowed them to pass.
§ MR. BAGWELLrose to order. The hon. Member for Liskeard was not present.
§ SIR ROBERT PEELwould refer to what had been said by the hon. Member the mover of the Resolution. He had thought fit to repeat the statement that the Castle was a sink of iniquity. He held that such language was unsuitable to the House, and ought not to be used by hon. Members. Had he been in the House at the time the statement was originally made he should have entered a strong protest against it, and he felt certain that the House would not endorse the opinion held by the hon. Member for Liskeard.
LORD NAASdissented from the opinion of the right hon. Gentleman (Sir Robert Peel), that the House had no right to ask for the production of the memorials to the 1271 Lord Lieutenant. The course that had been adopted by the Government in reference to these men had created great dissatisfaction throughout Ireland.
§ CAPTAIN ARCHDALL, in explanation, said, that he did not repeat the phrase made use of on a former occasion by the hon. Member for Liskeard. He said that the terms in which the Castle had been described were strong, but not inappropriate.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.
§
Copies ordered,
Of the Informations and of the Indictment in the case of the Queen against Michael Duigan, Patrick Duigan, and Patrick Egan, tried at the Summer Assizes 1862, at Mullingar, in the County Westmeath, and of the Sentences passed upon each of them.
And, of the Resolutions of the Grand Jury of the County Westmeath, passed at the last Assizes, remonstrating with the Lord Lieutenant upon the liberation of the said prisoners, and of his Excellency's Reply thereto."—(Captain Archdall.)