§ SIR GEORGE TREVELYAN (Glasgow, Bridgeton)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether it is the case that during the first month of the Reverend Father Stephens' imprisonment in Darry Gaol he was allowed no books but a Bible and a Prayer Book; whether, from the second month onward, Father Stephens is allowed by rule two books at a time, but that the Governor interprets the 1682 rule to mean that these two books must be selected from the Prison Library, and may not he changed during the whole period of the sentence; and, whether the writing materials supplied to Father Stephens in the second month of his term of imprisonment consist of a slate and slate-pencil?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe General Prisons Board report that the reply to the inquiry in the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The prisoner is only entitled during the second and third months to one book for the whole period, which he has received, and which was selected, as required, from the prison library, and which may be changed after the third month in ordinary course. A slate and pencil are only allowed by the regulations during the present stage of his imprisonment.
§ SIR G. TREVELYANCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether the regulation is a general one, or whether it has been made by the Governor?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI should imagine that it is a general regulation.