§ MR. W. JOHNSTONI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if his attention has been called to a case reported in the Dublin Daily Express, of the 21st November, concerning a Protestant pauper woman, aged 104 years, whose faculties have been decaying during the past six weeks, and who, lying at the point of death, was received into the Roman Catholic Church by Dr. Langan, Administrator of St. Mary's, Athlone; whether lie is aware that it was stated in a letter read before the Board of Guardians on Saturday, from the Rev. Dr. Campbell, that the old woman had often bitterly complained of what she had to endure in the workhouse, and was anxious to be removed from it; and what protection to their religious convictions will be afforded to poor people whose circumstances compel them to seek the shelter of the workhouses in Ireland? In putting the question, I wish to point out that no doubt, on the principle of "the better the day the better the deed," this transaction took place on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.
MR. J. MORLEYThe attention of the Local Government Board has been drawn to this matter, and they have instructed their Inspector to make inquiry into the circumstances. The Board of Guardians at their last meeting appointed a committee to consider the question of providing separate accommodation for sick Protestant inmates, and the Inspector will confer with this committee and see what can be done in the matter.
§ MR. W. JOHNSTONHas the Rev. Dr. Campbell's letter been sent to the Local Government Board?