§ MR. BIGGARasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Is he aware that among the appointments of Catholics to the magistracy made recently in the county of Meath, there is a rated occupier holding eighty acres of laud in the petty sessions district of Julianstown, Duleek; is lie aware of the brother of this gentleman who lives in the petty sessions district of Balbriggan having been appointed a magistrate for the county of Dublin, and is he in possession of the facts that he is a registered dairyman holding less than twelve acres of land; do these gentlemen possess ability and other necessary qualifications suited for the magistracy, so as to out-weigh all considerations of want of property; and, is he aware that such appointments have given rise to extreme dissatisfaction?
§ MR. TREVELYANA Question in this form is liable to mislead. The rated occupier of 80 acres of land, or the registered proprietor of a dairy, may be 1084 a man of large fortune and possessing the very best qualifications for the magistracy. The gentlemen apparently referred to in the Question are Mr. Nicholas Markly and Mr. John Markly. The former has been put in the Commission of the Peace for the county of Meath, and the latter for the county of Dublin. Both appointments were made on the recommendation of the respective Lord Lieutenants of the counties without any communication being made to them by the Lord Chancellor. Mr. Nicholas Markly's landed property in the county of Meath is close on £200 a-year. Mr. John Markly's landed property in the county of Dublin is £300 a-year. They are both Roman Catholics, and well calculated to make efficient magistrates. I am not aware that their appointments have given rise to extreme dissatisfaction. On the contrary, I believe them to be popular.