tion, and to maintain their own dignity and privileges, and yet to be as lenient as their public duty would allow. He also felt strongly that whatever their Lordships' judgment might be, the punishment suffered afterwards by these men would be severely felt. An attorney who had been censured or punished by their Lordships' House must, throughout the whole course of his professional life, suffer a stigma of a very serious description; and the other person, who was an engineer, and who was liable to be brought in the discharge of his professional duties before Committees of either House of Parliament, must also suffer from these circumstances being brought forward to his discredit. They had thus brought themselves within the scope of a punishment heavy and severe, and that relieved their Lordships, to a certain extent, from dealing with them in such a way as otherwise they might have dealt with them; because their Lordships' object was to protect the public, and the public would be protected, inasmuch as the parties would suffer as much from the consequences of their own conduct as by any punishment their Lordships could inflict. He should, therefore, move, that the persons who had appeared at the bar, and whose statement their Lordships had heard, but from which statement he had failed to extract anything advantageous to their case, should be eommitted to prison for a fortnight for the offence which they had committed.

back to the circumstances of that portion of the empire and reflected upon the awful scenes of blood that had taken place, and were still taking place from month to month in that country, he could have no reason to suppose that any change for the better had taken place in either the moral or social condition of the people. And their Lordships would allow him to say that he did not think any beneficial change could be effected so long as the present system of national education was the only system supported by the Government. He could not but think that the denial of the Holy Scriptures to the people, which formed part of that system, and the refusal of the Legislature year after year to give any portion of the national grant from the public funds to separate scriptural education, must leave the people in that part of the empire in the state of ignorance and misery in which they now were. It was with the view of some measures being taken to prevent the recurrence of such unhappy scenes as had recently taken place, that he claimed the attention of Her Majesty's Government to the facts he was Some years ago, in about to mention. many parts of the south and west of Ireland, large numbers of the Roman Catholic community left the Church of Rome and joined the Church of England. He alluded in the present instance particularly to Dingle in the county of Kerry, and Limerick. About a year ago very serious feelings arose between those two parties, and a tyrannical course was adopted towards, not only the poor people who from conscientious conviction had entered the communion of the Church of England, but towards the Protestant ministers themselves. He would first allude to Kerry. A man of excellent character who had left RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN IRELAND. the Church of Rome had died about a year The EARL of RODEN, in rising to put and a half ago. A gentleman was sent to the question of which he had given notice him-the Rev. Mr. Lewis-who had had on the subject of the alleged religious per- nothing whatever to do with the bringing secution of certain Protestant ministers of those persons from the communion of and others in Ireland, wished to say that Rome to the communion of the Church of he had lived a long life in the sister king- England. This rev. gentleman had in dom, had communicated with all classes of consequence been during the last year subsociety, and was, he believed, well ac-jected to the most tyrannical proceedings, quainted with the interests and opinions of his countrymen, and he felt most interested and anxious upon any subject in which he thought they were particularly concerned. He wished sincerely he could state as his opinion that any amelioration in their condition had taken place during the last few years. But when he looked

Motions were then made and agreed to—

"That the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod

do attach the bodies of Charles Gream and Michael Alexander Gage, and afterwards convey them to the Prison of Newgate, there to be kept in safe custody for the space of one fortnight."

and he would read to their Lordships what those proceedings were, as sworn before the justices. The noble Lord then read extracts from the evidence of Mr. Lewis, in a trial before Chief Justice Blackburne, to the effect that the witness, on his return in the October preceding, had found that the parish priest had died, and that

rev. gentleman had

the Roman Catholic bishop had sent over | outside, and he sent out a policeman to three priests, who had distinguished them- arrest any person who was found to be acselves by their persecutions. Before his tive in the disturbance; and two persons arrival they had avowed their intention of were actually arrested, and were tried giving him a warm reception, and he had on the 16th of July, at Tralec, before been denounced by them. It was sworn Chief Justice Blackburne. They were inin open court a few days ago, by a Roman dicted for a conspiracy, were found guilty, Catholic policeman, that he had seen a and were sentenced to be imprisoned for mob of 300 persons pursuing this gentle- six calendar months, the Chief Justice man like a mad dog, the mob being headed observing, in passing sentence, that the and directed by the friends and relatives of crime of which they had been convicted the Roman Catholic priest. On another was a very serious one, and that the punoccasion, they surrounded a house in which ishment to which they had made themhe was, yelling all the time, and blowing selves liable would have been more severe horns; and so great was the noise which if they had not been indicted for the minor they made, that they drove a man who was offence of conspiracy. The Chief Justice in the house, and ill at the time, into a added, that if the state of lunacy. These parties were bound chosen to indict them for a disturbance of over to keep the peace, but the very next day public worship, they might have been the same offence was repeated. For three transported. There was another case to nights in succession mobs assembled round which he would refer. At Croom there the church for the avowed purpose of dis- was not a church in the parish where divine turbing the performance of divine worship. service could be celebrated, and therefore On the third evening this gentleman was it was obliged to be performed in a private obliged to discontinue his sermon, and to house. A riotous mob made a continual call upon the police to take into custody disturbance by yelling and hooting, and those persons who interrupted the per- the incumbent's curate was assailed with formance of divine worship. The sub- stones. A letter was addressed on the stance of these statements had been sworn subject to the Lord Lieutenant on the 24th to by this gentleman, who could not walk of June, and the reply stated that instrucfrom one house to another without being tions had been given to the police to arrest followed by crowds of people hooting. all parties offending against the law; and When he heard of this in Dublin, he that if the magistrates saw any difficulty thought that it might be an overstatement, in dealing with the case, they would be and he, therefore, took the opportunity of fully advised how to act upon sending a sending down a friend of his to Dingle, to statement of facts. Since that time, howascertain whether the facts were as this ever, no petty sessions had been held, and gentleman had represented them to be. no steps had been taken to put a stop to This friend of his wrote to say, that on this disgraceful persecution. This was a going into the street with Mr. Lewis, the state of things which deserved and called mob commenced hooting and groaning and for serious investigation and consideration. assailing him with the most currilous epi- One of the greatest privileges of this counthets, making all the time such a noise try was that a man might profess what that they could hardly hear one another religion he pleased; and it was shameful speak. During the whole scene the police that there should be any portion of the walked behind, outside of the mob, without realm in which a man was not allowed to the slightest attempt at interference. He worship God according to his conscience. added, that to this state of things Mr. He had, therefore, felt it his duty to call Lewis was daily subjected. The only of the attention of Her Majesty's Government fence which this gentleman had committed to this state of things; and if the Governwas that he was a minister of the Protes- ment were to send down some stipendiary tant Church, for he could refer to the opin- magistrate to the neighbourhood of Dingle, ion of two eminent lawyers in Ireland to he thought it would have a good effect. show that Mr. Lewis was as remarkable The question which he had to put was, for his Christian moderation as for his pru- whether the Government was aware of the dence and meekness. But he would con- persecution which had been carried on tinue his narrative. During the month of against the Rev. Mr. Lewis-whether any April or March last, while this gentleman information had been received from the was performing divine service at his church local authorities themselves-and whether one Sunday, a great disturbance was made any measures were to be taken to preserve

the public peace, and to ensure for Mr. | people. He had said, however, that he Lewis's congregation the enjoyment of that did not rise to justify in any degree the religious liberty to which they were en- proceedings which had taken place. He titled? He also wished to ask, whether could assure the noble Lord that every the Government would lay on the table effort had been made by the Government such communications as they had received to put a stop to them that circumstances on the subject? He begged pardon of would permit; and if there had been the their Lordships for taking up so much of slightest reluctance on the part of the potheir time; but the matter was of so much lice to arrest individuals, that reluctance importance in his estimation, that he could had arisen from their fear of the excitenot forbear from adverting to it. ment which the apprehension of a great number of persons would occasion. Her Majesty's Government and the Lord Lieutenant had uniformly discountenanced any annoyance or persecution being offered to any person of any religious persuasion in the performance of his religious duties. The extract which the noble Earl had read from the letter of the Lord Lieutenant, showed that instructions had been given to the police to arrest all persons found offending against the law, and that if the magistrates found any difficulty in dealing with the case, they would be fully advised upon sending up a statement of the facts. As far as the sentence of the court went, two persons had been already punished for making a disturbance at a place of divine worship; but it was not to be expected that it would have the effect of quelling the animosities which prevailed, and which could only be allayed in the end by great forbearance. In the meantime the magistrates of the county would, of course, be bound to administer justice in every case that came before them. He had no doubt the gentleman to whom the noble Earl had alluded was of an irreproachable character; but he had been informed that the employment of persons who were of immoral character to make proselytes, had greatly tended to increase the irritation which prevailed. He would only say that if the noble Earl was disposed to move for extracts from the reports which had been received from the police, and from the instructions given by the Government, he should have no objection to produce them.

66

The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNE perfectly appreciated the motives which had induced the noble Earl to put the questions which he had proposed, and to make the statement which he had thought it necessary to lay before their Lordships. It was a very serious thing that religious dissension should subsist between any portion of Her Majesty's subjects, especially when it led to a state of irritation pervading society from the highest to the lowest. There was nothing that either Her Majesty's Government or the Lord Lieutenant could do which they were not prepared to do to prevent proceedings such as those which the noble Earl had described. But the origin of these unfortunate disputes was owing to some persons who, actuated no doubt by very great zeal, and by purely conscientious motives, gave a tone to their addresses which was called in Scotland an aggressive" character, and had stimulated discussion on religious subjects among a population the majority of whom were hostile to the communion of the Church of England. The conduct of the persons thus employed had been, in some instances, most indiscreet, though he did not mean to say that it was such as to justify the acts of violence which had been committed, or the annoyance to which they had been exposed. When, however, these annoyances, unjustifiable as they might be, did not extend to positive acts of violence, it became almost impossible to put a stop to the expression of feeling, pervading as it did the whole body of the population. He much regretted that such annoyances had been experienced, and he regretted also to add that they had been experienced not only in those places to which the noble Earl had adverted, but also in many other parts of Ireland. It had been alleged, he knew not with what proof, that in some places a system of proselytism had been carried on, in some instances, by what the inhabitants of the district regarded in the light of bribery, which was certainly highly calculated to excite irritation among the

The EARL of RODEN acquiesced in the suggestion, and moved—

That there be laid before this House, any Extracts from the Reports of the Proceedings of the Police respecting the Annoyances against the Reverend Mr. Lewis at Dingle"

After a short debate on Question, agreed to, and ordered accordingly.

LORD REDESDALE observed, that both the police and the magistrates in Ireland acted in a very different manner to what was done by the same individuals in