§ COLONEL FORDEsaid, he wished to ask, Whether the Government will authorize; the Governor of Downpatrick Gaol to allow I the friends of Mr. Johnston to see him ill private, and on his parole to take exercise through the gaol grounds?
THE EARL OF MAYOsaid, in reply, that he would remind the hon. and gallant Gentleman that Mr. Johnston might, if he had pleased, have left the gaol on the 10th of March last, for his sentence was commuted by the Lord Lieutenant on condition that he should cuter into his own recognizances. This he refused to do, and he therefore still remained in gaol. He had every reason to believe that the ordinary regulations of the gaol had been considerably relaxed in Mr. Johnston's favour; but, although it was not his province to interfere with these matters, he had written to the Governor to intimate that no objection would be offered on the part of the Government to the relaxation of the rules of the gaol, provided that relaxation were made in accordance with the wishes and views expressed by the Board of Superintendence.