MR. BODKIN (Roscommon, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been drawn to the language used by Mr. Justice Williams at the Derbyshire Assizes, and reported in The Westminster Gazette in regard to a person who had in his Lordship's judgment acted in a mean and heartless way, though in strict conformity with his legal rights, to the following effect:—
I do not know where he lives, but wherever he lives and with whomsoever he may associate you can have no doubt, gentlemen, that if these people are men, if these people have any knowledge of the facts which are brought before you to-day, to whatever station in life they belong, whether they are people in his own rank or the very beggars in the street, they will know how to shun the side of the street where he walks.1189 And whether, under similar circumstances, the course suggested by the learned Judge would be legal in Ireland?
§ MR. J. MORLEYI have not happened to see the report of the language alleged to have been used by the learned Judge. I am ignorant of the circumstances under which the language was spoken, and, of course, every case would have to be considered on its merits. As to the last paragraph of the question, I may remark that the Lord Chief Baron observed in a well-known case that came before him in January, 1889, the question whether action of this kind be legal or illegal must depend upon a vast variety of considerations.