§ MR. WHALLEYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the outrage on Mr. William Murphy at Whitehaven, Whether he is prepared on the part of the Government to agree to the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the circumstances of the case, and especially as to whether the said William Murphy, on this or any other occasion, in the exercise of his profession of a public lecturer, has said or done anything to disentitle him to the recognition and protection of local authorities?
MR. BRUCESir, I may as well take this opportunity of informing the hon. Member for North East Lancashire (Mr. Holt) that I have received the information he desired with reference to the outrage on Mr. Murphy. It appears that Mr. Murphy was announced to lecture at Whitehaven on the 19th of this month, that he appeared there, but was prevented from lecturing that evening. Whitehaven has no police force of its own; the county police act for the town. A considerable force of county police, about 30, were brought in to prevent a breach of the peace. They were kept at the station, out of the way, and a few men only were sent out to see that no danger menaced the public peace. It appears that a body of 200 or 300 Irishmen, miners from the neighbourhood, came into the town and went at once to the hall an hour before the lecture was 1851 announced to be delivered. Mr. Murphy was unfortunately there. They entered the room, dragged him violently down, kicked him in the most brutal manner, and inflicted on him serious injuries. Four or five policemen rushed in, extricated him from the hands of the mob, and in all probability were the means of saving his life. The number of rioters was so great that the police did not think it prudent to attempt to seize them. Some, however, were taken into custody, and it is expected that more will be apprehended and put on their trial. That is the state of the case with regard to this outrage. I am asked by the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Whalley) to agree to a Select Committee to inquire into the circumstances of the case. The case is no doubt a very bad one in many respects; but there is nothing in the circumstances to warrant the unusual course of appointing a Committee of Inquiry. Mr. Murphy was grossly ill-treated, and no doubt proper justice will be done in the case. But when I am asked whether Mr. Murphy on this or any other occasion had done or said anything to disentitle him to the recognition and protection of local authorities, I can only say I should be afraid to trust my memory to state how often I have been applied to by the local authorities to protect them from the presence of Mr. Murphy, and by Mr. Murphy himself to protect him from his enemies. It is no small misfortune that a person like Mr. Murphy should go about the country irritating and insulting the feelings of large portions of the inhabitants. At this moment I have received an application from the town of Whitehaven to authorize the despatch of troops to preserve order when the men who committed the outrage on Mr. Murphy are brought up for trial, and the hon. Member for Peterborough will be glad to learn that Mr. Murphy has so far recovered that he has announced his intention of delivering another lecture at Whitehaven, while the authorities there have applied to know what means can be taken to prevent a breach of the peace.