§ CAPTAIN ARCHDALLsaid, he rose to ask the Chief Secretary for Ifeland, Whether the Government have received any report of the malicious burning on the night of the 21st instant, of the outhouses of John Kelly, of Ballinbeg, near Moate, in the county of Westmeath, whereby twelve head of cattle, and property to the value of nearly £200, were consumed; whether this John Kelly is the same party who successfully prosecuted at the Slimmer Assizes, 1862, in Mullingar, Patrick Eagan and the two Duigans, who were then convicted and sentenced by Chief Justice Monaghan to the heaviest punishment the law sanctioned for the crime they had committed, and who were liberated by the Lord Lieutenant before the term of their sentence had expired; and upon whose recommendation the Lord Lieutenant ordered the release, of these men, and whether any reference was made to the Judge who tried them, or to the Lieutenant of the county, before such a step was taken?
§ SIR ROBERT PEELsaid, in reply, that the Government had received some report with reference to the burning of the properly, not, however, of John Kelly, as stated by the hon. Member, but of Patrick Kelly. He was informed that that person had laid no information against any one, and that he was not examined at the Assizes, although be was summoned to attend. Two of the persons referred to by the lion. Member in his Question were out of the country at the time of the malicious burning, one of them having 23 enlisted in the army, and the other having been in England for some time. Their release before the expiration of the full period of their sentence was the result of orders issued by the Lord Lieutenant, upon his own authority, and in virtue of his prerogative. In adopting this step his Excellency did not communicate with the Lieutenant of the county, but reference had been made to the Judge some time previously.