Lords Sitting of 6 April 1841

MINUTES.
Bills. Head a first time:—Metropolis Improvements.
Petitions presented. By the Bishop of London, from; the Clergy of Northampton, and Lewes, for Settling the Rateability of Tithes.—By the Bishop of London, and the Marquess of Normanby, from Clapham, and Westminster, for the Abolition of the Toll on the threeBridges.—By the Bishop of London, from Llangollen, against supporting Idolatry in India.—By the Duke of Wellington, from the Corporation of Dover, in favour of the Jews Declaration Bill.—By the Duke of Buckingham, from Leominster, for the Repeal of the Catholic Emancipation Act, and against any further Grant to Maynooth.

CRIMES (IRELAND).
The Marquess of Normanby The Marquess of Normanby moved for papers connected with the result of certain trials in Ireland. He had felt it his duty last night to oppose the motion of the noble Earl (Charleville) on grounds which had appeared reasonable to their Lordships, but still he was anxious to give every information in his power. He should therefore move for a return of all the trials for ribbonism in Ireland during tin last two years, distinguishing the par ties who had been convicted and those
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who had been acquitted, and also the cases in which the jury had been discharged without coming to any decision. He had reason to believe, that the result would prove, that the acquittals, which in ordinary cases were to the convictions as seven, six, and five to four, would turn out to be in the ribbon cases in the ratio of three-and-a-half convictions to one acquittal, and that there was only one case in which the jury had been discharged without coming to any verdict. He wished to take that opportunity of correcting an error in the report that had gone forth to the public of his speech last evening, by which it would appear that the examination of the panel of the jury by Mr. Biddulph had taken place in private, which was not the case. What he stated was, that Mr. Biddulph was by when the panel was called over, and the words of the magistrate were, that he had directed Mr. Biddulph to look at the panel attentively. There was every desire on the part of the officers of the Grown to receive information from Mr. Biddulph, reserving to themselves the right of acting upon that information on their own responsibility.
Papers ordered.
Adjourned to April 22.