HC Deb 16 March 1868 vol 190 cc1681-3
MR. COGAN

said, he rose to ask Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, If his attention has been called to the report of a speech said to have been delivered at a meeting of the Protestant Defence Association in Rathmines, near Dublin, on Fri- day evening last, by a Rev. Mr. Ferrars, who is represented to be a clergyman of the Established Church in Ireland and a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, in which he is reported to have spoken as follows:— If the Church Establishment were destroyed in Ireland, there cannot, there shall not, there must not be peace in Ireland. (Peals of Kentish fire.) If they think the Protestants of Ireland will succumb without a struggle they know not with whom they have to deal. (Renewed rounds of Kentish fire.) That I say solemnly before God. (Cheers.) If they want us to die as martyrs we will die as soldiers first. (Continued Kentish fire.) The next passage to which he would call attention was uttered, not in the same speech, but in a second speech, in which the speaker acknowledged a Vote of thanks unanimously passed for the first speech. The passage he referred to was the following:— Speaking for Trinity College, he could assure them it was sound to the core. (Kentish fire.) If ever it should be required, he hoped it would not, to turn out the students of old Trinity, they would show they could do their work. (Rounds of Kentish fire.) He knew them, and was glad to see many of them present. He wished to know whether Mr. Attorney General for Ireland has taken any steps to ascertain whether such report be accurate; and, if so, whether he considers the use of such language at a public meeting was a violation of the Law; and, should such be his opinion, whether, taking into consideration the present condition of Ireland, he considers it should be allowed to pass with impunity, or is it the intention of the Irish Government to take any action in the matter?

MR. BENTINCK

said, before the right hon. and learned Gentleman answered the Question, he hoped he might be allowed to put that which stood in his name on the Paper, which was, Whether his attention has been called to the report of the proceedings at a dinner given at Dublin during the Recess to a Rev. Mr. Lavelle, who is represented to be a clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, when the room was placarded with the suggestive names of M'Manus, Meagher, Wolfe Tone, Fitzgerald, and O'Brien (persons convicted of treason); and the Rev. Mr. Lavelle is reported to have spoken as follows:— In the face of a system of legislation which he could only designate as a reign of terror, the fact that so many should be bold enough to meet was a sign Ireland was not dead but sleepeth. He was not going to preach revolt against English authority just now, but he laid it down on the word of a priest, that resistance to authority simply so taken was never condemned by the Catholic Church (tremendous cheering) and, so far from condemning people honestly standing up against unjust authority, the Church of God, in her mercy and wisdom, bestowed upon them her divinest blessing. (Deafening cheers.) The dim prospect was near the dawn. He would never furl his flag, and it would one day, and shortly too, wave over a free and emancipated people. And, whether he has taken any steps to ascertain whether such report be accurate; and, if so, whether he considers the use of such language at a public meeting is a violation of the Law; and, should such be his opinion, whether, taking into consideration the present condition of Ireland, he considers it should be allowed to pass with impunity, or is it the intention of the Irish Government to take any action in the matter?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. WARREN)

Sir, in answer to the Question, proposed by the right hon. Member for Kildare, I have to state that my attention was, for the first time, called to the speech by the Notice of Motion given by the right hon. Gentleman. I have since communicated with the Gentleman who made that speech, and I have been informed by him that the report is incorrect, and that matter has been omitted from the report which affects considerably the observations he made. I have further to state that, in my opinion, the law has not been violated, and the Attorney General neither could nor ought to interfere. With respect to the speech alleged to have been made by the Rev. Mr. Lavelle, some two or three months have elapsed. However, I may state to the House that, by my directions, shorthand writers attended the meeting and the speeches were fully reported to me. I arrived at the conclusion that that was a most mischievous speech, and that the law was thereby violated; but having regard to all the circumstances, I advised the Government to the effect, that it was not expedient to prosecute Mr. Lavelle for that speech.