o > , ■ , V ' . 4 ■■■,,’t ' :» GALWAY ELECTION. 9 52 - 1.^11 K45i # A^c RETURN to an Order of ihe TToncmrable The IJmise «f Commons, iated 13 Jum» COPY of the Shorthand Writers’ Notes of the Judgment of Mi Keogh on the Trial of the Galm^ay County Election Petition. tlilt, M«!- jibllWM = Alt** ( JUDGMEISTT Delivered by Mr. Justice Keogh at the Court House, Galway, on Monday 27th May 18/2. I Trench - Nolan - Petitioner - Respondent. y . 1 « - - - ' J\Ir. Justice Keogh.'] In the first j^lace, I have tij return my best thanks to the High Sheriff, to the Under Sheriff, to the County Insjiectors, Mr. Janns and Mr. Wise, to all the authorities, and indeed, I may say, to the people of Galway generally, for the very admirable manner in which they have conducted themselves during thS "whole progress of this very exciting trial. The magnitude of the trial is not to be exaggerated; I liad hoped-., to have been able -to deliver my judgment upon last Friday ; but I entirely miscalculated, even after an experience of 50 days, the extent of the case, and my own very inadequate powers to deal with it. I was obliged, having undertaken to do so, to read over the whole of the papers, new'spapers, documents, and books, and consequently to postpone my judg¬ ment untill this morning, and thereby, I have no doubt, to subject many persons to great incon venience and to put the parties to considerable expense. It .will be quite sufficient for me to say, as an excuse for my doing so, that I believe I had to go over at least 30,000 folios of manuscript, several hundred sheets of printed newspaper, and thousands, I may say, of documents ; I slialhnot further dwell upon that subject. I have now also to return my best thanks to the learned and eminent Bar I see before me. The great man (for such he undoubtedly is) Avho leads for the petitioner.in this case; first in rank in the absence of the Attorney and Solicitor Generals, first in power whether they are absent or present, needs no euloglum at my hands. The very eminent and distinguished gentleman who leads for the sitting Member in this case will not be offended with me if I say thitt he had acquired a reputation by great industry, by great knowledge, by great sagacity and intelligence, long before I was called to the Bar ; - a reputation which he has sustained, and never more so than In the progress of these Election Tidals, in nearly all, if not in all, of which that I have had to deal wdth I have been accompanied by him. If he has not been uniformly successful, he has always made it certaip that the vessel which he directed would not sustain shipwreck upon hidden shoals or visible rocks. As to thp other gentleman in the case, the seco nd, if I may use the expression, in command for tivc petitioner, whose burning Avords are still ringing in our ears, it is not for me to speak. Of the other gentlemen, the juniors on both sides, I myself, having been for a long time a member of this Circuit, and having passed hero the happiest days of my life, I think I can say that the conduct of both of those gentler men, the juniors in the case, and especially that of my friend, Mr. MacDermott, who Imd an opportunity of speaking which was not vouchsafed to the other junior cffanscl, proved by his great industry, by his great and conspicuous ability, by his eloquence, and by every other quality which should distinguish an advocate, that the sitting Member made rio bad selection when he declined to go tp any other Circuit than the Connaught Bar for the custody ahd protection of his. interests. I now approacli' this case ; I do not think that any adequate idea of it could be formed without taking a rapiif gkince at the historical, geographical,^and moral jiositlon of* this county. A gentleman whom I have long known, connected with a noble family, in a 241. A , . neighbouring i ■ I* ■>Vi { JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE neighbouring county, who had been for many years a most experienced and most able solicitor, who had filled the off.ce of Clerk of the Crown for the county of Mayo, Mr. John William Brown, spoke on his cross-e.xamination of his experience of elections, and- ' especially of the election for this county in the year 1826. Perhaps, with the exception of Mr. Brown, I am the only person now in court Avho can speak of that election from personal experienoe ; I was not very old at the time, but I recollect many stirring scenes. Mr. Martin, the celebrated Richard, or, as he was more popularly known, “ Dick ” Martin, accomplished gentleman, a brave nian, the friend of the Regent (afterwards the reign), was one of the candidates for the county, hlr. Lambert, of Cregg Clare, 1 is, I believe, still living in this town), was the other candidate. There was much houses were burnt in the town ; I saw one house blazing which has never since ^ rebuilt; there were several persons killed; but there was no sectarian animosity; there was not a whisper of what has been called, in the rvhole of this case, “ ^^riestly interfer¬ ence.” Mr, Martin was, as the saying used to be in those days, “ triumphantly returned.” A Petition Avas presented against his return, founded upon the very acts to Avhich I have alluded, and that Petition occupied the House of Commons for a very considerable time. The number of Members constituting a Committee then used to be, I think, 15. The election Avas set aside, and Mr. Martin never again appeared in this county. He died in exile ; aftei’Avards Mr. Daly, of Dunsandle, represented the county, and also Mr. Thomas Martin. Sir John Burke represented the county after the Emancipation Act. Mr. John Bodkin, of Kilcloony, for many years represented this county, and I am happy to hear still lives; to him succeeded other persons. On the death of his father. Sir Thomas Burke represented the county. In the year 1847 Mr. St. George Avas returned for the county, and Avith respect to him a rather comical mistake is made ; I happened to mention in the course of the ])roceedIngs that I sat in Parliament Avith Mr. St. George, who Avas a very good Conservative, and Avas returned in this county, and I am represented in some jdaces as having claimed to myself an honour in the county Avhich I regret to say Avas never conferred upon me; that of being returned myself for the county of Gahvay, I Avish to set the matter right; Mr. Sf. George Avas I’eturned Avithout opposition. Captain BelleAV succeeded Mr. St. George; to him in, I think, the year 1857, after a severe struggle, Mr. Gregory succeeded. Mr. Gregory Avas a near relative of the late Lord Clancarty. He Avas not inti'oduced into Parliament as a Liberal; Mr. Gregory, as every gentleman here well knoAvs, contested the city of Dublin Avith Lord Moi’peth, afterwards Lord Carlisle and Lord IJeutenant of Ireland; he was returned in company Avith Mr., now Sir EdAvard Grogan, and it Avas only Avhen he Avas rejected on the contest Avith Mr. John Reynolds in the city of Dublin that he ceased for a lime to be in Parliament. He after¬ wards contested the borough of Dungarvan upon Peelite principles, and ultimately, as I have said, he succeeded to this county in the year 1857, defeating Captain BelleAv, aaKo had been previously its representative. Lord Dunkellin, the pojiular, the accomplished, the beloA^ed, Avas serving his Queen in India (he Avas an officer), Avhen the people of this tOAvn, ahvays, I Avill say, in my recollection, fond of Avhat they call “ the old stock,” re¬ turned him in his absence for the county of the tOAvn of Gahvay; he returned from India-; Sir Thomas Burke retired from the representation of this county ; Lord Dun¬ kellin, his cousin, Avas returned in his place, and for a brief period his light shone In Parliament; he Avas carried off, let me say, far too earlj^ for his OAvn fame, and for the love and admiration of his friends; his brother. Lord Canning Burke, Avas immediately returned in his place. He Avas the representative of a line dating back as far as the remote Plantagenets; he Avas the grandson of the illustrious George Canning, Avit, poet, orator, statesman. Irishman, all combined; it Avas no wonder that Lord Canning Burke should be returned Avithout oj)posltion.for the county of Gahvay ; he continued for a short time in Parliament with Mr. Gregory; but at the end of the year 1870 Lord Canning Burke of his OAvn free Avill retired from the representation, and Immediately two candi¬ dates. came into the field, Mr. Mitchell Henry, and Captain John Philip Nolan. That is, as shortly as I can give it, a sketch of the political or rather the representative history of the county. Of Its geographical position I may have to say a Avord. Of its position, if I do not misapply that word, I believe I am thoroughly fortified by all the evidence in this case, in saying, that if there is one thing above another for which this county has been pre-eminently distinguished at all times, and amongst all classes, rich and ’ »obIeand commoner, it has been the thorough and ep tire absenc e of sectai’ian animosity . ^ T^milies cf the ProtestanUpersuaslon intermarried Avld^’danuTie^oT~tlie~Roman .Catholic persuasion, noble and commoner meeting upon a platform of the most perfect familiarity. Nothing at all approaching to religious strife characterised the people either in public or In private. On the contrary, the most anxious desire prevailed, whilst each maintained in rmness and fidelity his OAvn religious persuasion; that from no gentleman in the county if Gahvay should ever drop a Avord Avhich could offend the ears of the most punctilious son holding opposite opinions. I have said that Mr. Mitchell Henry and Captain Nolan came into the field early in month of January 1871. Mr. Mitchell Henry has been descinbed in the ribald voca- bm^^^vhich I do not know Avhether I shall allude to or not, as a “ Sangrado,” because, unlike some of our foolish countrymen, though possessed of enormous means, he did not think it unbecoming to obtain the qualifications which a professional degree confers. Possessed of immense wealth, not unconnected, be it remembered, Avith Roman Catholics (for I believe a brother of his is a Roman Catholic clergyman), Mr. Mitchell Henry chose to make a portion of the patrimony of the Martins his summer residence. He expended, as 3 K 'V TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. y 5i- t nr as I am told, immense sums of money in cultivating those rude, though beautiful, ^yastes; he built largely, he brought the ladies of his family to reside there. There was no earthly reason why he should not offer himself to any constituency. Captain Nolan, on the other hand, is a member of a very old and highly respectable family in this county, and I think their properties extend into the neighbouring county. I well knew his honoured father, who was a member of this Bar. It is now, I think, just about five and twenty years since I last saw him alive in this courthouse. He was beloved by the profession to which he belono-ed; but if there was one thing in this world which characterised him more than another (and I knew him well), it was the ])ossession of a eool and temperate head. He always preferred sober and temperate counsels to rash and hasty courses. Captain Nolan addressed the constituency on the 9th of February 1871. With his politics or his opinions no man has any right to interfere; they were stated clearly, and 1 have no doubt that they wouJdJiave been acted upon faithfully. The waters are not to be all smooth. The instant; he appears, one clergyman of the diocese of Galway opposes Captain Nolan in a way to which laymen are seldom accustomed. On the other hand, another gentleman, the Rev. Mr. Conway, becomes his equally impassioned advocate. These facts I derive from the papers which were given in evidence, and which I was asked (and foolishly undertook) to read. A Avar of letters, of addresses, of signatures, takes place^ There is a meeting at once. I\Ir. Henry is spending his money in Connemara, and there they all pro¬ nounce, without the slightest hesitation, in his favour. But the contest, though a very hot one is also a very short one, for after this bye-battle, having addressed the constituency on the 9th of February, on the 20th of February Captain Nolan retires from the contest. I remark that just befoi'e, oh the 17th or 18th of February, he had carried on a Avar of letters Avith the ReA\ John Dooley, of whom no one Avould now Avish to speak, as he has gone to his long account. A Avar of letters is carried on. The ReA\ John Dooley states his case, beyond, any doubt, Avith the most umnistakeable precision, and Captain Nolan controverts some of his statements. There is a counter-attack to that reply, and at the end of one letter I see that Captain Nolan himself suggests (I think it is dated the 18th of February, before he AvithdraAvs from the contest for the representation of the county) that he Avould not be disinclined to leave the matters in dispute betAveen himself and the Port a-Carion tenants to an arbitration. That, if I do not very much mistake, is the first germ of Avhat afterAvards greAv into the Port-a-Carron award. IIoAvever, on the 20th of February 1871, he issued his A'aledictory address, and it runs in these express terms, “ Fellow electors, the request of his Groce the Archbishop of Tuam, I have with- draAvn from contesting the seat vacated by the resignation of Lord Canning Burke. 1 return my sincere thanks to all those Avho had promised me their support, and assure them that, up to the eve of the nomination day, every preparation hud on my part been taken to render the contest a success ” (this Avas Avritten on the eve of the nomination), “ but as a Catholic, I have considered it my duty to retire for the present, at the request of the great prelate of the West. KnoAvlng from a pei'sonal canvass that the principles contained in my address are those held by the A’ast bulk of the electors, I Avill at the next opjAortunity confidently seek your sutfrages.” We are left in no doubt by that document, given under the hand of a gentleman and a British officer, that he had made all his preparations for the contest, Avhich Avas to commence on the morning of the 21st February 1871 ; that he entertained every prospect of success ; that he AvithdreAV at the request of his Grace the Ai'chbishop of Tuam, and that he considered himself, being a Catholic, bound to retire at the request of the same Archbishop, calling him the great “ Prelate of the West.” Now for Mr. Mitchell Henry. I say there is no doubt of the cause of Captain Nolan’s retirement. I say there is equally no shadoAV of doubt of the cause of Mr. Mitchell Henry’s election. At the conimencement of this case the able and skilful adA’oeate, who leads, for Captain Nolan, feeling his ground, thi’owing out the plumb-line, casting it far and sending it deep, tries his hand at the Kildare-street Club, and seeks, if he can, to find the origin of the selection of Mr. Mitchell Henry, he being-a Protestant, to haA'e been there settled between some of the noblemen and gentlemen Avhoare members of that club, and Avho reside princij)ally in the county of Galway ; but on every occasion that he tiled in that direction Mr. Macdonogh Avas, I Avill say, Avithout any dis¬ respectful meaning, thoroughly and entirely defeated; and he must have been so, and for this reason: that the Lord Bishop of Gahvay has SAvorn in no equlvoca:! terms that Mr. Mitchell Henry was indebted for his l etuimto a priest of his diocese, Mr. Dgoley, and that he had in giving him his support the sanction and assistance of the Lord Bishop of Gahvay : therefore that is proved to demonstration, and no one Avill venture to suggest a doubt upon the subject. Captain Nolan retired, as I said, from the contest Avithout consulting any single one of his supporters. It certainly is strange that a man Avho had made perfectly sure of rendering the contest a success, should not have at least paid to those who Avere to propose and second him, the compliment of telling them of his intended withdraAval. The exigency must haA'e been great indeed, and the poAver a controlling one, Avhich could prevent a candidate from giving to those gentlemen so courteous an intima¬ tion. AYe are left in no doubt that he did not think it necessaiy to do so by the evidence of Mr. Charles Blake, Avho Avas to have seconded him, or to have come into the toAvn to support him. Mr. Charles Blake Avas a supporter, at all events, of his; and let me say he might, Avithout at all prejudicing the dignity of any man, have seconded any gentleman in this county upon the hustings; but Mr. Charles Blake Avas coming into tOAvn, and for the first time, I think, he said he heard at the railway station of the Avithdrawal, and he was exceedingly angry with Captain Nolan for having AvithdraAvn Avitljout 241. A 2 communicating 59324 4 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE .Tv communicating in-the Grace writing ; with his friends. Tliat is the only matter that is of any Importance case. This letter tells us that Captain Nolan retired at the request of his the Archbishop of Tuam. That request might have been conveyed in it might have been verbal; it might have been communicated through a friend; but there is no doubt how it hapjiened. Captain Nolan saw the Arch- bishop'of Tuam in Tuam, at his residence. The Archbishop asked him to retire, and he consented. Captain Nolan is cross-examined as to the whole of that inter¬ view, and so is the Archbishop. The Archbishop is questioned as to the covenant to which he referred in his subsequent letter of the 26th or 27th of July to Captain Trench. Captain Nolan is cross-examined as to that covenant, and he tells us that it was not a condition made by the Archbishop that he was to have the Port-a-Carron arbitra- tioji; that it was not a covenant, or a part of a covenant, that he was to have the Fort-a- Carron arbitration ; nay, more, he distinctly tells tis that, so little matter was made of the Port-a-Carron evictions on the part, at least, of the Archbishop of Tuam, that he thinks he could have escaped all mention of it if he had chosen to leave the room more rapidly than he did, for that all that the Archbishop said at all about it was, just as he was leav¬ ing the room, “ But you must make some compensation to the tenants.” Those are the exact words in which Captain Nolan described that interview between himself and the Archbishop of Tuam. It was not after all making so very great a sacrifice to withdraw from his candidature on the part of Captain Nolan. Mr, William Henry Gregory, a most accomplished gentleman, a most finished scholar, everything that could contribute to make a finished gentleman, having been given to IMr. Gregory, who did not belie the promise of his youthful days when he was in Parliament, was offered office by every Minister who has held the reins of power in my time ; but he refused them all, until he accepted, in the year 1870, the Government of one of the greatest dependencies of the British Crown. It was perfectly well known that Mr. Gregory was about to retire, and theje was no great sacrifice in waiting for the contest which Avould take place when he was gazetted to the Government of Ceylon. The moment that his appointment is put beyond a doubt (and great as the appointment was, it was only a fitting return for his Parlia¬ mentary career), three candidates come into the field: Mr. D’Arcy, a Roman Catholic gentleman (New Forest, I think, is the name of his place) of good fortune, of unsullied reputation ; Captain Nolan, a member of the scientific branch of Her Majesty’s army ; and Captain Trench, a son of the late Earl of Clancarty ; I believe also, though in a different department, understood to belong to the same scientific branch as Captain Nolan, Captain Ti’ench being a member of the Corps of Engineers, and Captain Nolan being an officer of the Queen’s Artilleiy. Mr. D’Aroy retired in the month of January from the field (I mention that in order not to have to return to him again), and Captain Trench and Captain Nolan were therefore the only competitors. The election which is now impeached took place on the 6th of February, in the present year. The constituency, I am told, numbers 5,346. Captain Nolan had 2,823 votes; Captain Trench had only 658. I have not totted up what the majority was, but I be¬ lieve, at all events, it was about 2,165. It is right for me to state that although the constituency appears to have numbered 5,336, it was established in evidence before me (and I have no doubt it is correct) that substantially the constituency Avere not more in number than 4,680. Captain Nolan was returned, and Immediately after his return a petition was presented to the Court of Common Pleas, complaining of that return. There are altogether, some 17 or 18 grounds assigned in the petition why that election should be set aside; but, substantially, the petition amounts to this, that the majority of 2,165 Avas entirely colourable. The Constitution requires that every voter should come to the poll free and independent, as a juror is obliged to come iuto the box unprejudiced Avhen he takes the book into his hand. The laAV declares that no vote is Avorth one farthing if it is in any Avay tampered Avith by bribery, by treating, by, any corrupt influence of any kind whatsoever, intimidation, violence, or especially “ undue influence;^^-,a phrase Avhich Ave have heard so often in the course of this case that it is not AVorth Avhile fortne now to dwell much upon it. But there is a passage Avith Avhi^v^i^ea^-necLI^hop of Galway must be perfectly familiar. I quote from the 2nd chapter of Tnnothj^ “ If a man stmm for the ^.Bsastery, yet is he not croAvned except he strive laAvfully.” T quote from the aWhorised version, Avhich is the one Ave generally have upon this table; but in that version Avhich recomi^n^s itself most to Roman Catholics, the Latin Vulgate, the Avords are : m agone^ ^ronatur, nisi legitime certaverit" as referred to by Mr. Justice Willes in the Blackburn case. I shall not go further into these general questions. I reduce the petition AvhIch is noAV before me to three charges: treating, intimidation, and priestly influence ; or I’ather, they can be reduced to tAvo: treating, and undue Influence of the Roman Catholic clergy, resulting in an organised system of intimidation, for Avhich Captain Nolan is charged as being responsible. Noav, I shall deal first and rapidly Avith the cases of treating. There are several cases alleged ; but if the best cannot succeed, the second best cannot succeed either. There is the case of Tracy, as it Avas called, in Avhich the allegation Avas that there had been treating in the tOAvn of Galway, to the extent, I think, of some 33 1. or 34 Z.; 12 /., I believe, on the nomination day, and 22 1. on the subsequent day, for drink, &c. supplied or alleged to have been supplied on the order of a man named John Hanley, Avho Avas stated at one time to be a gamekeeper (though ultimately that did not appear), and ^ ' afterwards a. TEiAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 5 afterwards a tenant of Captain Nolan’s. If this were the case of a borough, I am not at all prepared to say that that case of treating might not require very careful consideratipn, and certainly it could not be dismissed with the rapidity witli which I now treat it. I scarcely think that the learned counsel for the petitioner in this case expected that I would hold that that was a case of treating within the Statute, satisfactorily made out. I thei’e- fore dismiss that charge in the 2 )etition, and I dismiss all the other charges of .^orrujit treating against tlie Sitting Member; Mrs. Howley, on the order of the Eev. Mr. Macdonough; C.odyre, on the order of the Eev. Mr. Curran, in Tuam, and another man on the order of the Eev. Mr. Connor, as deposed to by Thomas Lally. I think all those are not cases of corrupt treating, though that of Tracy’s is the most suspicious, and none of them have been brought home to the Sitting Membei*, even if they were held to be corrupt, in a manner which could invalidate his return. The case of Tracy, as I have said, is a susjiicious one ; and if we Avere investigating the case oT'a little borough it might not be so easily dispatched ; and, moreover, I think it was made more susiAicious by the swearing of John Hanley, not one word of which did I credit. But, on thcAvhole, I dismiss that case also, and I acquit the Sitting Member of the charge of treating brought against him in the petition. Now for the great constitutional question iqion Avhich all depends, namely, AA'hether this election Avasfree, or Avhether it Avas Avholly controlled, from first to last, by the hierarchy and clergy of the Eomaii Catholic Church. What is undue influence? I refer to the 5th section of the 17 & 18 Viet. c. 102. I had to consider this question very anxiously both in Dublin and in Drogheda ; in Dublin, not iq)on the question of undue influence, but upon another branch of the case. Now hear the Avords ; “ Ev'ery jjerson who shall directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, make use of, or threaten to make use of any force, violence, or restraint, or inflict or threaten the infliction by himself, or by or through any other person, of any injury, damage, harm, or loss, or m any other manner joractise intimidation upon or against any joerson, in order to induce or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of such jierson having voted at any election ; or Avho shall by abduction, duresse, or any fraudulent device or contrivance, impede, prevent, or otherwise interfere Avitli the free exercise of the franchise of any Amter, or shail thereby compel, induce, or jH’evail U2)on any voter either to give or to refrain from giving his vote at any election, shall be deemed to l)ave committed the oftence of undue influence ; ” and by a clause in another Act of Parliament, “ shall render the seat of the Member Amid on Avhose behalf that undue influence is used” (I am quoting the AVords) ; “ and if it is used and is found by the judge trying the offence to have been used ” (as it AA'as found by me in the case of the trial of the Election Petition for the Borough of Drogheda) “ by himself or his agents, the Member is incajAacitated from again seeking the suffrages of that constituency during the then existing Paidiament.” Tliat is the definition of undue influence as given by the Act of the 17 & 18 Viet. ; and it is impossible for any vocabulary of the English language to add one single Avord to the fullness of that definition. The only other section to Avhich I shall refer is the 44th section of the 31 & 32 Viet. c. 125, Avhich provides that if any candidate jAersonally emjAloy as his agent or canAmsser any person, knoAving that such jAerson has been Avithin seven years reported guilty of any corrupt practice by a Committee of the House of Commons or other competent tribunal, the election of such candidate shall be void; I shall have occasion to refer again to this clause (which Avas not mentioned u^Aon either side) before I close this inquiry. I think already my exjAerienced friend Avho leads in this case for the Sitting Member kuoAvs Avhy. I have had the misfortune to try all the heaviest cases under this Act. It Avas no seeking of ours; it is a duty Avhlch we never bargained for Avhen Ave accepted our seats iqAon the Bench, j^ut upon us against the Avishes, the declared Avishes of all the judges in England and the judges in Ireland, non^ haec in feeder a veni. But my judgment in the Dublin case has been refeiTed to. In that case I said, “ General bribery Avill invalidate an election, even although it be not directly traceable to the candidate. I say that general treating Avill invalidate an election, even though it be not directly traceable to the candidate ; and I say above all things ” (this Avas not said for Drogheda ; this Avas not said for Sligo ; this Avas not said for Galway toAvn ; it Avas said ujAon the occasion Avheu, three years ago, I tried the celebrated election petition for the city of Dublin) “ that general intimidation and undue influence, Avhether it is lay or ecclesiastical, Avhether it is the ecclesiastic of one persuasion or the ecclesiastic of another; Avhether'it is the Protestant Episcopalian minister, or the Presbyterian minister, or the Eoman Catholic priest, or the minister of any other of those innumerable sects Avhich I believe are to be found existing over the face of the Avorld, Avill upset every election at Avhich it is practised.” I see no reason to qualify in any Avay a single Avord which I stated in that judgment. I then believed, and I still believe it to be the law, as laid doAvn by the greatest authorities; I then believed, and I still believe it, having had the advantage of looking through the Avhole of those cumbrous volumes in Avhich the judgments of my learned brethren in England and in Ireland are reported verbatim. I see no reason to take any other authority than that Avhlch I then made use of, namely, the celebrated argument and the magnificent language of Sir Samuel Eomilly, in the case of Huguenin and Baseley, rejAorted in 14 or 15 Vesey. Sir Samuel Eomilly Avas a jfliilosopher, he Avas a statesman, he Avas one of the greatest of laAvycrs; he spent his time in doing good to all his felloAV creatures ; he kueAV no distinction of sect or creed, or party. Where did his family come from ? Oh, this ought to be a lesson I They came 241. A 3 from 6 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE fi'ora Switzerland, driven first from France, for conscience sake, because his ancestors dared to worship their Ci’eator according;' to the dictates of their conscience. What did he say ? “ Undue influence will be used if ecclesiastics make use of their powers to excite superstitious fears or pious hopes ; to inspire, as the object may be best promoted, despair or confidence ; to alarm the conscience ” (mark the word “ conscience,” coming from his lips), “ to alarm the conscience by the horrors of eternal misery, or support the drooping sph'its by unfolding the prospect of eternal happiness; that good or evil which is never to end.” No language can be more surpassingly beautiful; nothing can be stronger than this, as applied to the common law, as the words of the 5th section of the Statute declares what is the Statute law of England. I had to consider the case again very fully at Drogheda; and there the election was declared void, not only by reason of general intimidation, but because of undue ecclesiastical influence brought home to the sitting Member and his agents in one particular case. Mr. Macdonogh, who was counsel for Sir Leopold McCliutock, the- great traveller, will recollect it. 1 think Devine w'as the name of the man; and Mr. Whitworth, a highly honourable gentle¬ man, possessed of great wealth, a greal Manchester manufacturer, the owner of mills at Drogheda, an undoubtedly sound, good Liberal representative, was by my decision declared to be, and he is, incapacitated from sitting for the borough of Drogheda in this present Parliament, because, amongst other things, of that undue ecclesiastical influence which I found' to have been practised by the priests of Drogheda as against a single voter. In the Galway town case, I had again to consider this Act; and although I declared that the legitimate influence of the clergy was desirable; and I declare now that the legitimate influence of the clergy is desirable, that the priests have a right to exercise their legitimate privileges in the same way as other classes (and I say the same again, their legitimate privileges). I specially denied, in express words, as cogent and concise as I could use, the absurd proposition that no landlord was to use any influence with his tenants, and I declared (these are my words; they are in print, and those who choose can read them), “ that no steadier, no safer, no more legitimate influence than “ that of the landlord over his tenant could be used.” I went on to say, that the “ influence of the clergy must be legitimately exercised,” and I added these words, that if imdulg exercised by any one of them, the higher the person who used it the more “ fearlessly he ought to be dealt with,” “ I care not,” I said, “ whether he be curate, parish priest, administrator, bishop, or archbishop; I cannot go higher than that in this country; but if undue influence at an election were proved before me to have been exercised within the limits of the law and of my own reason, consulting as to the proper deductions to be di’awn from the facts, I would, without the slightest hesitation in the world, find that to have been an undue election.” I further declared (and to these words I wish especially to direct the attention of my learned friends), in the town of Galway Case, three years ago, that “If a single elector, the most miserable freeman that crawls about this town, liad been refused the rights of tlie Church in order to compel him to vote, or because he had voted, or because a member of his family had voted in a particular way, I would have voided this election v\ithout the slightest hesitation,” and I added: “ If the Legislature in its good will and pleasure, and judgment ” (the Bill was then going through Parliament for the disestablishment of the then established church), “ is minded to strike down what is called one ascendancy, “/ hope and I believe that the intelligence, the spirit, “ a.nd the independence of the lay Catholics of this country loill prevent the setting up of “ another ascendancy aver them more galling and more fatal, though coming from the midst “ of their own cornmunity I see no reason to alter or qualify a single word that I said upon that occasion. I have been referred to that decision in the course of this case. The election for the town of Galway was at that time challenged for treating, and on various grounds, and amongst others, on the ground of undue influence; I did not see any ground whatever for setting aside that election upon the evidence. I now refer to the judgment in the Longford case, delivered by Mr. Justice Fitzgerald, than whom, as we all know, there is no more accurate lawyer, no more experienced judge, no man who commands (and justly) so thoroughly the confidence of the profession, and of every one of his colleagues on the bench; he says, referring to the question of undue influence : “ In the proper exercise of that influence upon the electors the priests may counsel, advise, recommend, entreat, and point out the true line of moral duty, and explain why one candidate should be preferred to another; and may, if he thinks fit, throw the whole weight of his character into the scale” (that is wide enough, one would think. In a free country), “ but he may not appeal to the fears or terrors, or superstition of those he addresses. He must not hold out hopes of reward here or hereafter, and he must not use threats of temporal injury, or of disadvantage or of punishment hereafter; he must not, for instance, threaten to excommunicate or to withhold the sacraments, or to expose the party to any other religious disability, or denounce the voting for any particular candidate as a sin, or as an offence involving punishment here or hereafter. If he does so with a view to influence a voter or to affect an election, the law considers him guilty of undue influence;” and Judge Fitzgerald, as fearless as he is wise, added: “As priestly iifluence is so great we must regard its exercise with extreme jealousy, and seek by the utmost vigilance to keep it within due and proper boand.<5; undue clerical influence is so great an evil, that I did not hesitate for a moment when it was stated that the case was of that character to permit the amendment of the particulars wiih a view to bring that “ case before the court, and I oflfered at any subsequent stage freely to amend the bill of “ particulars TRIAL OF THE GAL^TAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 7 “ particulars Avith a vIcav to give an opportunity of proving any other case of that cha- “ racterI was not asked to do anything of that kind; if I had been, and if it had been necessary, I would have folloAved the precedent of my brother Fitzgerald ; tliat is the judgment of Mr. Justice Fitzgerald. Now I take the Limeriek case, where one of the greatest lawyers on the Bench, aye, and I believe, too, one of the purest Christians within the four seas, my colleague on the rota for the trial of Election Petitions for this year, a sincere member of the Protestant communion, Mr. Baron Fitzgerald, made use of the following language, Avhich, I think, has a most important bearing upon the present case. He says, “ As Mr. Coffey” (that is the eminent Queen’s counsel) “ sai l, if this be essentially a Roman Catholic city, and if ■“ the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy be enormous, if, more than that, from the “ position of the great majority of the electors in the city, they naturally look to “ better educated men than themselves for the management of their temporal as well as “ spiritual affairs: if that be so, hearing in mind the organised condition of the Roman Catholic clergy, and the fact tliat in every parish in this city there are at least two or “ three clergymen so connected with the poorer class of voters, a question arises in which, “ as a body, this clergy are interested. If they make the cause of the candidate their own ” (noAV mark this, and its bearing upon this petition), “ and give him the benefit of having “ what may be equivalent in its effect upon the election to a committee-room conducted by them- “ selves in every parish, they being the canvassers, and if it then turns out, at tine time of “ the election, that the candidate represents his cause as identical with that of the clergy" (Baron Fitzgerald is speaking of the city of Limerick), “ and publicly gives out that the “ question betAveen him and his adversary is, whether the clergy shall be put down or “ raised up, and is accompanied by them through the streets canvassing ; if that be so, “ though the particular clergyman of the parish be not the party who accompanied the “ candidate in canvassing, I, for my part, will doubt, long before I say that the candidate is “ not, so far as his sitting in Parliament is concerned, responsible for the acts of those “ parties in their several districts and jAarlshes. I can determine nothing ; but I say that “ is a matter upon which my mind is by no means satisfied; and if I were called upon to “ decide it at this moment, my impression would be decidedly different from that which “ is alleged by Mr. Coffey.” I have said that this judgment, and those words, were applied to the Limerick case. We have been sitting in this court-house for 50 days. If I had read it as a commentary upon the eA’idence that we have been listening to, would any man, Avoman, or child in their senses say that the language Avas inapplicable ? Ths County of Galway, so far as Ave have to do Avith it, is in its ecclesiastical relations, managed by the Archbisliop of Tuam, the Bishop of’Clonfert, the Bishop of Kihnacduagh (I think it is the united dioceses ot Kihnacduagh and Kilfenora, Kllfenora being in Clare , the Bishop of Gahvay having at present episcopal jurisdiction over Kllmacduagh and Kil¬ fenora, as well as Gahvay. There are other bishops who have jurisdictions in ])ortions of Gahvay. There is the Bishop of Killaloe, and there is the Bishop of Elphln. The Bishop of Killaloe for a long time has not been in his diocese. The Bishop of Elphin is a Avise, cautious, jAolitic, thoughtful man. No gush of Avind Avill take him from his balance. I kneAV his sainted predecessor, the beloved man Avho Avas a perfect image of the highest order of Christian piety and charity, and AAflioheld episcopal jurisdiction in this town before he Avas translated to the diocese of Elphin ; but the present Bishop of Kl[)hin, his suc¬ cessor, the Right ReA". Dr. Glllooly, does not once tuim up in the Avhole of the voluminous evidence in this case as having said one Avord, or Avrlt’ten one line, Avltli reference to the election for the county of Galway. Therefore, as far as this jAetition is concerned, three bishops alone are in it: the Archbishop of Tuam, the BishojA of Clonfert, and my Lord the Bishop of Gahvay, Avho is episcopal administrator (I believe that is the correct expi’es- sion) of the united dioceses of Kihnacduagh'and Kilfenora. The Archbishop of Tuam has reached an age Avhich is rarely vouchsafed to men in these climates ; I think he said that he Avas approaching, or in his eighty-second year. We Avere glad to see that became upon the table with all his mental, as Avell as his physical, faculties unimpaired. The Bishop of Gahvay is in the prime of life. When the last petition Avas being tried here I paid a Avilling tribute to his high intelligence, of Avhich I had knoAvn something before; and, above all things, to his straightforward conduct in the chair ; a tribute Avhich I have no desire to retract. He Avas consecrated bishop of this diocese in the year 1857, having been previously, I believe. President of St. Jarlath’s College, at Tuam, and, necessarily, a subject, as we call it, of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam; and I Avill say this: that if, in the course of nature, he should succeed to the Archbishopric of Tuam; a matter, Ibelieve (and it is not un-germain to this case), Avhich depends in the usual course, first, upon the selection of the clergy of the archdiocese, then upon the recommendation of the bishops of the province, and, finally, of course, being determined by the selection of the Pope, at Rome (and of late years Ave knoAV vciy Avell that that selection has been over and again made Avithout reference either to the clergy of the diocese or the bishops of the province); but I say that it the Bishop of Gahvay should be selected for the Arch¬ bishopric of Tuam, he is hono urably dist in guished a bqv-e manvjpf.Iiis iAAvn order by not b eing a du mb gi u u:dIin ^nBe~liutlio( his people. He hasTearned to hive up AvisdouTirom ffrtr'greaWFritings and the unsuiqAassed productions of the Apostle of the Gentiles. He has Avritten upon the epistles of that apostle a Avork of great merit; and I say that if he is selected for that great advancement in his holy calling, I do not believe that it Avould surprise or annoy any of his felloAV suffragan bishops. We have it in [)roof that the Bishop of Clonfert had been previous to his consecration a priest of the Archdiocese 241. A 4 of 8 JUDGMENT DELIVEKED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE of Tuam; he was only created a bishop in the month of January last, when, as he volun¬ teered to tell us himself, his time was altogether occupied in the cares of his institution to his sacred office. So intimate have been at all times the relations existing between the three right reverend prelates, whose conduct is said to nullify this election. Both the Bishop of Galway and the Bishop of Clonfert have been subjects of the Archbishop of Tuam, and have been promoted to their present sees out of that archdiocese. Now, what is the first fact, having called attention to that circumstance, which I con¬ sider in the view which I take of this case to be of great and grave importance ? It was known early in 1871 that Mr. Gregory was about retiring, and that Captain Nolan was in the field. Captain Ti’ench, being on his canvass, addressed a respectful letter to the Archbishop of Tuam, asking to be permitted to speak with him on the subject of his candidature. Beyond any doubt a letter written by a distinguished young ollicer in the scientific branch of the service, mild, placid, and unpresuming, the son of an Earl, might well conciliate even a person of the most rugged temper. That letter was addressed on the 22nd Jidy ; it is replied to by a short notice of this kind ; there were no compliments, the archbishop said it was “ a matter of taste, de gustibus non est disputaiidtim.” “ The Arch¬ bishop of Tuam begs to refer the Honourable Captain Le Poer Trench to a forthcoming number of the ‘Freeman’s Journal ’ for the answer to his communication, which reached the Archbishop only this day.” Again, I noticed the keen skill of Mr. Macdonogh ; Avhen he came to dwell upon this subject, he dwelt upon the letter which appeared in the “Freeman’s Journal,” which begins by saying, “The Archbishop of Tuam has tlie honour to acknowledge the letter of the Honourable Captain Le Poer Trench on the subject of the election.” But that was not an answer sent to Captain Trench; it was an answer sent to the “Freeman’s Journal” to be published first therein. It is dated the 26th July 1871—“ The Honourable Captain Le Poer Trench is probably aware that on the occasion of the late election in Galway, Captain Nolan had canvassed the electors, and received assurances of support calculated to encourage him to come to the poll with fair prospects of success. Unwilling, however, to involve the county in a contested election, he listened to the counsels of peace proffered bi/ some injlumdial friends, with the explicit promise of his being supported by them at the next election. To that covenant the Archbishop has been a ivilling partyT It says, “some influential friends with the explicit promise.” That is the explicit promise, of course, from the influential friends. “ To that covenant the Archbishop has been a willing party.” “ The Arch- bishop feels that, on the. faith of honourable covenants, he cannot recede from the promise of giving his vote and influence to Captain Nolan at the next election. Since that time Captain Nolan has earned fresh claims to the support of the tenant class, and, as it seems, to the enmity of the landlords, by his noble conduct in atoning, by large pecuniary sacri¬ fices, for some acts of landlord severity inflicted in his neighbourhood, which might be traced, as often happens, to the cupidity of evil counsellors rather than his own.” That is the letter of the Archbishop. He tells Captain 'french in that letter, that on the faith of explicit promises and honourable covenants, he is bound to give his pport and all his influence to Captain Nolan, who, he says, has made “ large pecuniary sacrifices for some acts of landlord severity,” dictated by “ the cupidity of evil counsellors.” This is the 57th day of this inquiry. We have sat 49 days without intermission, from the 1st of April, when we assembled, to this the 27th of May, tvhen I am sitting here, and not one single sixpence has been proved to have been ever paid or “ sacrificed ” in conse¬ quence of that arbitration or award to the Port-a-Carron tenants. Not one particle of foundation has been shown for the passage there, which attributes the conduct of Captain Nolan, be it commendable or the contraiy, to the cupidity of interested counselloi’s. The Bishop of Galway, when he was in the chair, said that he understood from Captain Nolan that he was to lodge, I think he said, 1,400Z. or 1,200/., or that he suggested that, and that that amount would have been lodged, only that it might have appeared to be an imputation upon his honour, I do not think that the bishop’s idea of 1,400/. or 1,200/. met instant acceptation on the part of either Captain Nolan or of his friends. Wholly independent of the imputation which would rest upon his honour, I think I heard a word Avhich reached this Bench (500/. was the sum which I heard mentioned), but whether it be 500/. or 1,200/., or whetber Ave Avere to multiply it according to the arithmetical scale adopted by the ReA\ Dr. O’Grady at Athenry, Avho, reading Reeve’s “ History of the Church,” converts 120 into 1,200, up to this hour there is no evidence of one single farthing having been paid in virtue of the decisions of this Port-a-Carron aAvard. Immediately that this letter of the Ai’chbishop is Avritten, it is inserted in a journal of great circulation, especially among the Roman Catholic party, and more especially,, I belieA'e, than otherwise, in the province of Connaught. It is a Roman Catholic journal. Catholic amongst the Catholics. It is the property,! believe, of a distinguished Member of Parliament. Immediately the letter appears in the “Freeman’s Journal ” it is transferred Avith hot haste to the “ Tuam News.” I think I saw, in looking over that sorry collection, that which realised to my mind what I thought at first, Avhen mentioned in the evidence, was a A'ery inapplicable term: the 2 ) 0 ssibility of 2 )aper “ melting ” in a man’s pocket; for, really, Avhenever I took up those ncAvspapers, the “Tuam NeAvs,” they positiA'ely Avere melting in my hands. “Tattered and torn ” as those jiapers Avere, a more dreary day, from tbe rising of a summer sun to the disapjiearance of light, never did a human being pass than I underwent in the investigation Avhich I had undertaken of the literature of the “ Tuam NeAVS.” That letter is transferred to the “ Tuam News,” as I say, Avith hot haste, by Mr. Sebastian Nolan, who has not come into that chair ; but Avho, I regret to say, I must TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 9 I must drag into that chair. We had that very respectable gentleman, -who gave his evidence fairly and clearly, the proprietor of that paper. I think his name is Mr. McPhilpin. He gave his evidence in a very manly and straightforward way, and he is not answerable for the badness of the material upon A\'hick his paper is 2 )rintsd. I believe that we have lost all the manufactoides of paper in this part of the world. There used to be a paper manufactory in Galway ; I ho 2 :)e it has not entirely dlsaj)peared. But he is not answerable for that. The Dublin or the Manchester makers must be held account¬ able. At all events, the letter is pul into the “TuamNews” on the order of Mr. Sebastian Nolan; and as the labourer is worthy of his hire (we are let behind the scenes now into a good deal of the history of provincial literature), that letter of the Archbishop is inserted at a cost of lOZ. Now, I said I would open all the documents; and I make it an invariable rule whenever I am trying a case to get at the documents, because the documents, unless they are altered, cannot err. Litera scri-pta manel. The pajjer has no memory, and it has no con¬ science. In that case it has no body. I will not for the honour of journalism say that it had no soul. However, after the appearance of the Archbishop’s letter, Mr. Macdonough cut down the number of the county of Galway constituency from 5,333 to 4,500. How gratified would the good and worthy electors of Galway,—the men from far Roundstone —the indejiendent electors of Letterfrack—the peojile who live in such Christian purity under the gentle administration of Father Conway,—be to hear that in the exuberance of Mr. ISebastlan Nolan’s generosity, he provided 6,000 circulars of the Archbishop’s letter, ju'uited at the “ Tuam News Office” at a great 2 :)rice, between the day of its appear¬ ance in the “ Freeman Journal” and the 9th of Sei)tember. That is for a constituency of 4,500, the number j^rinted being considerably more than the whole number of the con¬ stituency; and those are sent from the Tuam Office and handed to Mi-. Sebastian Nolan for circulation in the county. I take this fact, coupled with Cajitain Nolan’s own early refusal, as proved by Mr. Robert Bodkin, to sjieak to any gentleman in the county, even the Marquis of Clanricarde, on the subject of his candidature until he had consulted the Archbishoji, as the most conclusive ^n'oof that he had made a covenant with the Arch- bishoji that by him alone, if necessary, he was to be the rejiresentative of this great county. What is the next fact to which I go ? On the 6th of August, Archbishop ^IcHale and a number of clergymen, I think 16 or 17 in number, met at the house of the Rev. Mr. McGhee, at some religious conference, I think. It was followed by a dinner; Caji- tain Nolan was there ; he is introduced to some of the gentlemen ; they drink his health; I believe there is no distinct promise; some refuse ; nothing, at all events, of any imjiort- ance is done there. What is the next matter ? There is a meeting of the Tuam Deanery on the 27th September. I am going through the dates regularly. This document is admirably printed, and it declares that, “ At a meeting of the priests of the Deanery of Tuam held on Wednesday, the 27th September 1871, his Grace the Most Rev. Dr. McHale jDresiding, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted :—‘ That the land question having been brought through many difficulties to its present jiosition, which may be regarded as an instalment of justice, by the noble efforts and sacrifices of the tenant class, who should not be satisfied without fixity of tenure, they now need only unanimity and jierseverance to secure them from a repetition of evictions for their votes, which have been hitherto so dis 2 :raceful to some of the landlords of Ireland and so disastrous to the interests of its people.’ ‘ 2. That to illustrate the result of earnestness and unanimity in jirotect- ing the freeholders from Injury on account of their suffrages, we need but refer to the recent elections of Meath, Westmeath, and Limerick, so signal for the peaceful triumphs that crowned the prudent courage of the freeholders not only in returning the candidates of their choice, but likewise in disarming all opj^osltion on the of the landlords, who, to their credit, have at length acquiesced in the conclusion that the tenants were only exercising a just right guaranteed by the Constitution, which the landlords themselves so much admire.’ ‘ 3. That with this lively recollection of their jiast triumjJis, when the exercise of the franchise was not free from danger, the tenant class cannot be such foes to their own interests as now to court the re-imj^osition of the old ignominious land¬ lord yoke, when, owing to the Land Act, however imperfectly, they can exei’cise the franchise with entire security. They cannot, therefore, fail, in their own defence, to return Cajitain Nolan, the candidate who, in a manner so 2 )eculiar and so unpre¬ cedented, has nobly identified himself with the fixed and permanent interests of the tenantry, thus advocating tenant-right in the sound and genuine sense of the term, not of a mere paltry and evanescent compensation, but of a continued reciin’ocal interest in the land, representing the two sources from which the value of tenancies generally flows, and awarding to the injured tenant restoration to his farm, the only adequate compensation for the injury; and, in case that Avere impracticable, a full measure of reparation for the Avrong.” These resolutions Avere signed by “ Very Rev. John O’Grady, p.p.; Rev. John Cavanagh, p.p. ; Rev. Patrick Duggan, p.p. ; Rev. Peter Conway, p.p.; Rba". Peter AValdron, p.p. ; Rev. John M‘Gough, P.P. ; Roa-. John J. Noone, P.P.; Rev. James M‘Gee, p.p. ; Rev. David Mylotte, p.p. ; Rev. Patrick Heany, p.p. ; Rev. Austin O’Dwyer, p.p. ; Rev. Patrick Lyons, p.p. ; Rev. James Geraghty, P.P. ; Rev. Thomas Haddican, p.p. ; Roa'. Edmond Thomas, C.A.; Rev. William Joyce, C.C.; Rev. Timothy Keville, c.c.; Rev. Richard Pendergast, c.c.; Rev. James Hennelly, c.c.; Rev. John Barrett, C.C. ; Rev. Patrick Greally, c.c.; Rev. James Stephens, C.C. ; Rev. Thomas Hosty, C.C.; Roa'. Peter Geraghty, c.c.; Rev. John 241. B M‘Greal, 10 JUDGMENT DELIYEEED BY ME. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE M'Greal, C.C.; Eev. Patrick Kilkenny, C.C. ; Eev. James Eonayne, C.C. ; Eev. John Flatley, C.O.” I may say in passing, that although from the first hour I sat here, down to the present hour, I have been listening to • hear something against the landlords from every witness who came upon the table, those who came on behalf of the sitting Member as well as those who came on behalf of Captain Trench ; even the Eeverend M r. Deely, and every other witness gives the highest praise to tlie landlords, to Lord Westmeath, and even to Lord Clancarty. As to Lord Dunsandle, his praise surpasses all lay eulogium ; it is transferred to the sanctuary, and it is sounded in repeated cheers (a thing unheard of before) in the chapel in his district. Here we have heard of no bad landlords ; all are living in the greatest peace, amity, and contentment with their tenantry in this country ; there is no distinction made of Catholic or Protestant; and that is what is called in this resolution the “ old ignominiocs landlord yoke ! ” I hope that there are some of the tenants listening to me who lived Upon properties which were held by the “ old ignominious land¬ lords ” who are gone out of the county ; if there are (and I think I see one at all events), they will be able to form a just opinion. These resolutions are unanimously signed by the whole clergy of that deanery. The first name on the list is the Very Eeverend John O’Grady, p.p. ; the next is a gentleman of whom we have not heard, a Mr. Cavanagh ; and the third name on the list is the “Eeverend Patrick Duggan, p.p.,” who is now the Bishop of Clonfert. On the 27th of September there is a resolution signed by the Bishop of Clonfert, and next in place, and as I have no doubt in confidence and in honour, is the Eeverend Peter Conway, the parish ])riest of Headford. I will not go through the list. There is Mr. MacGcugh; I think, on trying my memory, that is the gentleman who said that he had a quarrel .“12 years ago with Mr. Eobert Bodkin, when they must have been both young indeed, because Mr. Bodkin was protesting then, as I daresay he would do now, against the altar being made the theatre for foreign subjects. That had rankled in the clergyman’s mind, just like the evidence given, I think, by the Eeverend Mr. Staunton, of ballindereen, that somebody had the audacity to say that the gospel was a better subject for the altar than election politics. So in the case of Mr. Eobert Bodkin ; this preacher of the gospel who has been, if he has done his duty, preaching the forgiveness of sins, the sacrament (for it is a sacrament in our Church) of penance and forgiveness, “ whose sins ye bind shall be retained, whose sins ye remit shall be forgiven that minister of the gospel tells us (and I think he shocked the Bishop of Galway when he heard him), that he ne’\ er liked Mr. Bodkin. As a priest of course he would forgive Mr. Bodkin, but he rooted up the charge upon this table, that he had a petty little quarrel with him upwards of 32 years ago, which he was as hot upon in this court-house as he might have been upon that very day when it took 2 )lace. Here, at all events, in these resolutions there is no mistake as to the part which the Archbishop of Tuam is taking throughout the whole arch-diocese, as far as Galway is concerned, and the Deanery of Tuam, led by the Archbishop, who Captain Nolan unhesitatingly describes as the “ most influential ” or “ powerful (1 forget which) man in the county.” What have we next ? The next resolutions to which I come now are those of the Kil- macduagh clei'gy, presided over by the Lord Bishop of Galway. I have searched those papers, and I cannot get out of a slight uncertainty in reference to those resolutions. In one of the papers, the “ Galway Vindicator,” a meeting is said to have taken place on the 30th of October. I read the words ; it is a short paragraph in the “ Galway Vindicator,” stating that the parties had met, and that the clergy of the Deanery of Kilmacduagh had come to a resolution on the 30th of October. It is a matter of no consequence whether I am or the paper is mistaken. I am just as likely, and perhaps more likely, having had so much to do, to be misinformed than that respectable journal. But there is no doubt at all upon this : that on the 6th of November the clergy of Kilmacduagh met, with the Bishop of Galway in the chair, and unanimously adopted a resolution in favour of the candidature of Captain Nolan for the county. Again, the bishop of the united Dioceses, being the chairman, they un¬ animously adopted a resolution pledging themselves to support Captain Nolan ; and on the 16th of November the priests of the diocese of Galway, under the same presidency, unani¬ mously adopted the candidature of Cajitain Nolan. Copies of the resolution of the united diocese of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenoi’a, and of the diocese of Galway, are communicated by the “ Eeverend P. Dooley.” This is not the Eev. John Dooley ; he was gone ; he was out of the way; but it was a namesake. I do. not know whether he is a relative. He writes to Captain Nolan on the 25th of November; “Dear Captain Nolan, I feel very great pleasure in informing you that at a meeting of the priests of this diocese, assembled in conference on the 16th instant, it was resolved to support you by every legitimate means at the forthcoming election of M.P. for the County of Galway. I have the honour to remain, P. Dooley, p.p.” Immediately, thousands of these circulars were printed ; and will be paid for, I suppose. They are sent to communicate to the electors of this county that on that day, at all events,'the 25th of November, the priests of the whole of the three dioceses of Tuam, Kilmacduagh, and Galway had pronounced unanimously in favour of Captain Nolan, with a little notice at the bottom signed by “P. Dooley let me say a name not inartistically introduced. It might very well convey to the simple electors of the County of Galway who had not heard of the death of Eev. John Dooley what I will leave persons to conjecture. Now I have got up to the 16th of November; and I have then the Archbishop of Tuam and the Bishop of Galway pledged, beyond the possibility of retractation, to the candidature of Captain Nolan. Where is the Bishop of Clonfert? We find his the third name upon the TRIAL OF THE GAL^VAY COUXTV ELECTION PETITION. 11 the resolutions of the Tuam Deanery; but at tlie end of the year he is engaged in preparing for the duties of his sacred office; bitt not so engaged, however, but that he can attend the meeting of the Tuam Deanery, and can remove the doubts of Mr. Sebastian Nolan; can remove any little scruples, hesitations, or doubts which rested upon the mind of that apparently inci'edulous gentleman, who declared early in November (on the 4th, or perhaps the 5th, but certainly early in November), to Mr. Peter Blake, of Crumlin, a magistrate of this county, and a Protestant gen¬ tleman, that “ his brother’s election was now perfectly safe, as Dr. Duggan had been appointed Bishop of Clonfert, a district of which they were not very sure hejore; that his brother now had all the game in his own hands. Let tlie Castles do what they like ! We have got the bishops ! He used those very words :—“ That his brother now had all the bishops; that Dr. McHale would propose him; that he had two of the best agents in every parish, the parish priest and his curate; that the bishops and priests ” (mind this is the language that Mr. Blake has laid to the door of Mr. Sebastian Nolan't “ would speak a few Sundays before the election to their flocks, and that the people would all vote whatever way the bishops and priests told them. That they would have mobs here and mobs there, and that it would be hard to work against that; and finally, that by those means his brother was certain of one thousand majoi’ity.” If I wanted anything on the face of the living earth to satisfy me upon the subject of this inquiry, its birth, its youth, its manhood, its maturity, its decrepitude, it is furnished to me by that conversation of Mr. Sebastian Nolan on the unquestioned and unquestionable evidence of Mr. Peter Blake. He is a magistrate of this county, as I have said; he is a Protestant gentleman. Father O’Brien, Avho proposed Captain Nolan at the election, the parish priest of a place called Gian, I think, cried—‘‘Honest Peter Blake !” Even in the midst of the polling at the election he can aff< rd a “ Hie for honest Peter Blake ! ” (for I think that is what he told us he cried), “ not a hair of his head shall be touched; he is only a Pro¬ testant. It ij, omL _Qwn Catholic renegade s who must be ex c oriated. ” This evidence of Mr. Blake is entirely unquestioned. It was given in the presence of Mr. Sebastian Nolan, who during the whole progress of this case has never, except for the passing minute, absented himself from this court-house, where I incline to think even the able, experienced counsel who act for his brother in this case, would have cheerfully dispensed with his services. Flying notes were passing, slips telling the counsel to ask questions where they always caught a Tartar; but he is not where he ought to be, namely, in that chair, to contradict, if he could, what Mr. Peter Blake, a gentleman of unquestioned and unquestionable honour, has sworn, a Protestant gentleman, what Mr. Joseph Kelly, a Roman Catholic gentleman, of a Roman Catholic family, devoted to Roman Catholicism I believe more than they are to their own lives, has sworn. Captain Nolan instructed his counsel to ask me to declare in the face of such evidence as that, that this was a free election! I have been referred to the Mayo Petition, In 1857, the very year in which my Lord Bishop of Galway was consecrated. The trial of this Election Petition bears to that Election Committee many most curious and singular affinities. The election of Mr. George Henry Moore, a gentleman of great talents, of great rhetorical powers, and con¬ nected, if I mistake not, very nearly with the Marquis of Sligo, the near relation of the much abused Marquis of Clanricarde, was challenged upon the ground of intimidation and undue influence, and especially spiritual intimidation. The Committee consisted of Sir John Hanmer, of Mr. William Scholefield, the Liberal Member for Birmingham, of Mr. George Tomline, who is still in Parliament, of Colonel North, the ISIember for Oxfordshire. That Committee after sitting, I think, nine or ten days, came to the conclusion, That undue influenc and spiritual intimidation prevailed at the last election for the county, as regards the return of Mr. George Henry Moore, and that it was a void election;” that undue influencee and spiritual intimidation prevailed to a considerable extent at the last election for the County of Mayo; and one piece of evidence which contributed most to that conclusion was a document emanating from, and drawn up in the sitting room of, the present Archbishop of Tuam. It is set forth at large upon the evidence as reported. It calls upon the peojile “ by one combined effort to elect their chosen candidates, George Henry Moore, Esq., and Captain Palmer, as they valued the voice of the Church, which called upon them to do their duty.” That address is signed the day after the consecration of the Lord Bishop of Galway, by “ John McHale, Thomas Feeny, Thomas Durban, John McEvilly.” Only fancy the poor electors of the County of Mayo! they are called upon by the voice of the Church to support the two chosen candidates. I was addivssed as to the politics of this county—as to the pure Catholicism of this county—as to the unvarying Liberalism of this county. Here was an address calling upon them to support, as they valued the voice of their Church, one gentleman, a Catholic, the other a Protestant! one gentleman an ultra-Radical and the other an ultra-Tory ! This is a matter of history, and I have a perfect right to refer to it, if I had not been referred to it, as I have been, by the counsel u])on both sides. That election was carried out to the bitter end by the clergy of the Archdiocese of Tuam, fore¬ most amongst whom was the Rev. Peter Conway, who was proved in that case, as in this, to have scattered his slanders broadcast over the land, who was shown particularly to have attacked the family of the same gentleman Avhom he has in this case attacked, I\Ir. Burke, of Ower. I am right in saying that that gentleman was produced there who has been produced here. I am called on to believe hei’e that no priests will curse ! That same Mr. Conway was proved, in the evidence to which the report refers, to have cursed, 241. B 2 in 12 JUDGMENT DELIVEKED BY ME. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE in the j)resence of an excited mob, anyone who would support the candidate to whom he Avas opposed ; for which conduct the Committee resolved that he Avas promi¬ nently active, and reported him to the House in order that he might be dealt Avith as in such case he deserverl. Their resolution Avas : ‘‘That in the exercise of such undue influence and spirtual intimidation the Keverend Peter ConAvay and the Eeverend Luke Ryan Avei’e so prominently active, that the Committee deem it their duty s])tcially to report their conduct to the House in order that such steps may be taken as may seem to the House to be proper and necessary.” That is the 5th Resolution ; and now Mr. MacDonogh, Avho 1 think very well knew Avhy I referred to the 44th section of the Act of Parliament of the 31st & 32nd of the Queen, knoAvs the meaning Avhich I attribute to it. It creates no statutable disqualification to the Sitting Member in this case, but I shall have the concurrence of my learned friends that if this trial Avas taking place in the year of 1863, instead of in the year 1872, that is within any period of the seven years pointed to by the 44th section of the Statute, the throAving doAvn of that re 2 )ort, the proving of that fact, coupled Avith the personal employment as a canvasser of the Rev. Peter Conway, Avoiild have disqualified Captain Nolan for sitting for this county. He is only relieved from that consequence by the solitary fact of the seven years having expired which are fixed by the Act of Parliament. Father CoiiAvay Avas then a curate. Mark this ! I have a great duty to discharge here, and I will not shrink from it. I have a duty to discharge to the candidates on both sides. 1 owe a duty to the Legislature, Avhich has devolved its functions upon my Aveak and inadequate hands; and Avith the blessing of God, if He spares my strength, I Avill discharge it. Father ConAvay Avas then a curate; he is noAV a jiarish priest. His name is signed, next to that of the Bishop of Clonfert, to the Resolutions of the Tuam Deanery, and this is the identical Father ConAvay Avhom Captain Nolan swears he Avas unable to check, Avere he ever so inclined, upon “his own platform,”as he called it, namely, as the reverend gentle¬ man said in high stilted tones, Avithin his “own demesne.” He is corrected by counsel: “ You mean in the chapel yard ?” “ I mean my OAvn demesne,” Avas the ansAver. Some few acrts, I suppose, that some landlord has been Avise enough to give him to stop the clapper of his tongue, which must be infinitely more offensive to a rational creature than that dreadful lugubrious Avhistle Avhich disturbed my rest for six weeks after I came into this town of Galway. Siqrpose that instead of going through this weary case I stojAped here, is there a jury in the land (and I am a jury for the purpose of this case) Avho could hesitate to say that Captain Nolan had entered into a combination, to be carried out by the illegal agencies Avhich his OAvn brother and agent spoke of, to deprive free and independent electors of this counly of the franchises which the Constitution has conferred upon them. Does it stop there ? lam only at the 16th of November. The ecclesiastical circumvalla- tinn is complete at that time-: all the dioceses are armed; every embrasure is prepared. “All our arrangements,” says the manager, Mr. Sebastian Nolan, “ are nearly comj^lete.” Those are his very Avords; the Bishop of Clonfert (peasant born, as he volunteered to tell us), has been cieated and made safe. His is, I believe, the largest diocese in the county, but of course Tuam extends over Mayo, and over part of Roscommon. God forbid that I should say one Avoid that the case does not require either of the Bishop of Clonfert or of anybody else ; I take no pleasure in draAving men doAvn from their high place; it is an unworthy ambition to seek to pull doAvn dignities. But the Bishop of Clonfert claims for himself the liberty of human feeling ; he said in touching language, Avhich I caught at the moment (it may have escaped others, hut it did not escape me), “Avhen Captain Nolan came to me, he Avas the son of my old friend, he was the grandson ” (I think he said) “ of my schoolfelloAv, his Avorthy and excellent grandfather; Oh,” he said, “ it was a hard thing on me to be obliged to refuse the son of my old friend;” Avorthy and creditable expressions. I like old friends and old faces. Let me ask hoAV many of the thousands Avho are brought up to vote against their old friends in this county had the same feelings ? We shall never know that, but there is the state of the county one month before the Loughrea meeting, before Lord Clanricarde had arrived in the county, before Lord Westmeath, that splendid specimen, I say, of an educated Irish gentleman appeared on the scene. He sat here, as it Avas his right to sit here, as one of the privileges of a peer. He represents one of the oldest Catholic families in this Kingdom, Avho fought for their faith, Avho bled for their faith, who were ennobled by their exjDatri- ated Sovereign by a title which the Lavs of the land did not allow them for centuries to. take ; but he is noAv returned back to the fountain of his race, and he is the Earl of Westmeath, not by virtue of any modern creation, but as the representa¬ tive of one of the noblest families in this part of the United Kingdom. Nay, more, he sat beside me afflicted with illness (and we all regretted to see him so), and when that miserable production signed, “ Out is ” Avas mentioned, as the old Avar-horse scents the battle from afar, I heard the old scholar mutter ovnv airtKoXti, the very Avords Avhich we found in our school days in the story of Lucian. I say that all this Avas before he inter¬ fered in the matter, before he had spoken a word, whilst there Avas still another Catholic candidate before the constituency. The only alternative Avas not as gentlemen would try to make me believe, betAveen Captain French and the “ Clancarty bigots,” ^iiid Captain Nolan, and, as the Bishop of Clonfert called it, the great principle of restitution. Arch¬ bishop M‘Hale said, “You must give some compensation to the tenants.” “ I think I could have escaped even from that,” said Captain Nolan, “ if I had gone rapidly out of the rocm.” The Bishop of Clonfert says the ballot is a good thing; but the great induce¬ ment he had to support Cajfiain Nolan, next to “ the great principle of restitution,” Avas that TRIAL OF THE GAWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 13 that of “ denominational education.’’ The Archbishop of Tuam is not clear that the fai-mers very well understand what “ denominational education ” is ; and I can believe they are about as wise on the subject as if you were to ask one of them to square the circle, or to solve a proposition in the integral or differential calculus. But at all events, all this was done, as I have said, on the 16th of No’vember, a month before the meeting at Loughrea, which took place on the 13th of Decembei’. Well, what do the right reverend prelates mean when they attribute tlie whole of this contest to the Loughi-ea resolutions, wliich, as I have said, were not passed until the 13th of December, until, as I say, every avenue of the constitution had been closed by ecclesiastical resolutions ? I have not touched on any names, Avith one exception, save those of the bishops. Up to this time not a single lay freeholder, frieze-coated or broad- clothed, was consulted ; not even Mr. M‘Donnell of Dunmore, nor Mr. O’Shaughnessy, who is so able a man in the magistracy that one county is not sufficient for him, and he is made a magistrate of two counties. The lay element, I say, is as completely out of this case on the 16th of November as if it did not exist. I noAV go to another branch of the case. Mr. Sebastian Nolan (and for all the pur¬ poses of this Inquiry Captain Nolan is Sebastian, and Sebastian is Captain Nolan) had declared that all their preparations up to that time were very nearly complete, but not quite, as I will presently show. There is, I believe, a Providence which defeats the ends of the darkest conspirators. Father Conway had made “gi-eat sacrifices.” What Avere they ? I say that the humblest man in the county Avho Avould Avalk beside him after the exhibition he made of himself here, and has made of himself in tlie public eye in every place AA’here he comes, makes a greater sacrifice than any squandering of money of Avhich Captain Nolan or any other person could be guilty. But a greater than Father ConAvay I say. Father Lavelle, appears upon the scene. There is much to be said about the meetings, and Captain Nolan appears as proud of them as if they Avere hostile batteries planted to command an enemy’s country. I got the Ordnance map ; I travelled over it, and I saAV Dunmore, Tuam, Athenry, Gort, Ballinasloe, Gahvay, Oughterard, that beauteous village, for such it Avas, and such it still is : Clifden, once the proud heritage of the Martins and the D’Arcys. Those, he tells us, in fact, decided the election. They left nothing to be desired in the way of altar denunciations, which, as my learned friend Mr. MacDermot naively said, all, or nearly all, folloAved the great meetings. There Ave have the altar denimciations in the A'ery best society. We will presently see whether that admission of _Mr. MacDermot Avas not Avlthout foundation. Now, I come to Father Lavelle. Had he been as careless about the preservation of the letter of Captain Nolan as Father ConAvay says he Avas about Sir Arthur Guinness’ A’oters, Avho Avere allowed to leave Cong in peace in his absence, Ave might have been left in the dark as to the origin and intention of those meetings; but fortunately for the ends of justice, Father Lavelle has produced here one letter of Captain Nolan’s, Avhich, if it stood alone, without another fact in this case, proves that he was engaged in can-ylng out, as one of the priests said at the Portumna meeting (the Reverend gentleman no doubt thinking himself very clever when he said it) an ecclesiastical conspiracy, “ nolem volens ” (those are the Avords, the play of the reverend gentleman at Portumna) against the free choice, the free franchises, the consciences of the Catholic electors of this (if you Avill have it so) Roman Catholic county. Now, here is the letter of Captain Nolan: — “ Ballinderry, Tuam, 16th November 1871.” Mark, this is a month before the Loughrea meeting, before poor Sir Thomas Burke spoke, Avho, one Avould think, Avas, like Lambro, in Don Juan, “ The mildest man that ever scuttled ship. Or cut a throat.” I recollect Sir Thomas Burke in Parliament, and I must say of him he Avas one of the most popular men of his time Avithin the Avails of Parliament. Here is the letter : This is before Sir Thomas Burke did anything. “ 16th November 1871. My Dear Father Lavelle,—I haA'e been lately a good deal about the country, and have tried to ascertain the sentiments of the different dioceses Avith regard to a clerical conference at Athenry ; the three leading clergymen of Kilmacduagh, V. G. Shannon ” (he is Vicar Genei'al), “ V. G. Connell, and the Rev. Mr. Nagle are all very favourable to the idea.” (To what idea? To the clerical conference at Athenry). “Father O’Grady consents” (that is the mild old gentleman about whom I shall have to say a foAV Avords, and 1 Avill be as light upon him as I can). “ In Clonfert I have seen eight or nine jwiests. Fathers BelloAv, Greene, Coen, LaurencetoAvn ” (I suppose Gahvay is not trusting to one Coen), “ Callaghy, Kirwan, Sellars, and Hines all approve of it highly. Still there is a diffi¬ culty.” Father|Savelle has shoAvn in the admirable letters addi'essed to him (AA'hich may perhaps be handed doAvn to posterity, in company with a ncAv edition of perha])s Lord Chesterfield’s letters), that still there were many difficulties. “ No priest in Clonfert likes to be the first to ask his felloAvs. The Very Reverend T. Burke ” (that is the priest at Portumna, at Lord Clanricarde’s door) “ is the natural leader. I have missed seeing him, although I Avaited two days at Portumna, hrit I fear that unless some influence is brought to hear upon him, he Avill not lead ” (I suppose if the proper influence Avas brought to bear upon him, if he AA’Ould not lead he could perhaps drive). “ I sec my Avay in this respect pretty clearly, but the one link of Father Burke. Tavo or three Tuam priests 241. B 3 might 14 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE might write to the Very Reverend Mr. Shannon and propose a conference. He would certainly agree, and might in turn invite the Galway priests and the three conjointly to the Clonj'ert, clergy. The only practical difficulty I see here, is that the invitation would have to be addressed to Father Burke. Still he coidd hardly refuse the invitation from the three dioceses. The objects for which the conference would meet are solely, first, to determine how far the clergy should go in asking tenants to vote against their landlords, so that there might he an uniform action upon this point. Secondly, to organise a popular meeting at Athenry. I find the clergy very favourable to these jioints. Some, in addi¬ tion, think that Mr. D’Arcy ought to be asked to retire. Sincerely yours, J. P. Nolan. Many thanks for your admirable letter of last week ; it is of ihe greatest importance to me.” 'I'hat is the letter that Captain Nolan addressed to his fidns Achates, Father Lavelle, on the 16 th of November, after the Archdiocese of Tuam had pronounced in his favour, after the Diocese of Kihnacdaugh and Kilfenora had pronounced in his favour, on the very day that the Diocese of Galway had pronounced in his favour, the 16 th of November. It proves first, that the gentleman to whom it was addressed is Father Lavelle; of whom Judge Fitzgerald says in the Longford case, to which I was referred, which was only decided two years ago, that Father Reynolds had asked authority that Father Lavelle should not meddle with them, and he did get that authority, and Father Lavelle did not meddle with them ; and, says. Judge Fitzgerald, “ I most entirely approve of the course taken by Father Reynolds in keeping that ‘patriot priest of Partry ’ out of the county of Longford. If he tvas doing his duty as a patriot priest, it would not be in Longford, but in attending to the wants of his own parisliioners.” This is the same pious minister whose acts were so condemned by that most learned judge in trying the Longford case only two years ago. This is the same man who, Mr. Sebastian Nolan says in his letter that Dr. Duggan, the just newly consecrated Bishop of Clonfert, is anxious should attend by all means, and speak at some of the meetings. This is the Mr. Lavelle of the “politic"! death-knell.” I adopt his words, for I thought it a great loss of time to be going into it. He is charged with saying “ Death-knell.” He says, “ Oh no, it was ‘ political death-knell.’” I would like to see the Tipperary man with a good blunderbuss in his hand who would draw a nice distinction between a “ death-knell ” and a “ political death- , knell.” This is the Mr. Lavelle, I say, of “the political death-knell.” This is the same gen¬ tleman who admits that he would set up Peter Barrett for the county. For what is he dis¬ tinguished? Why is his name introduced? Mark “death-knell,’ “political death-knell,” if you like, followed by a statement, that if necessary he would set up Peter Barrett for the county; that Peter Barrett who is only known to flime as being the son of his worthy and excellent father, of whom we have heard so much in this case, and as having been tried certainly twice; once on a Special Commission in this county, upon which I had the honour of presiding, in company with my Lord Chief Justice, and subsequently, I believe, at the Bar of the Court of Queen’s Bench, for what? For having attempted under the clouds of eventide, the cold-blooded assassination of a gentleman of this county ; talk of qualifica¬ tions for candidates ; talk of the “ parrot cry of revolutionists; ” talk of religion being lost if the influence of the priest is interfered with ! ” talk of the French Revolution having led to its unmentionable horrors, because they neglected the advice of the priests ! That is not historically true. The Abbe Gregoire, the Abbe Sieyes, the Bishop of Autun deny the statement. There were profligate priests; there were profligate cures; there were profligate abbes ; Aye, and there were profligate bishops. Who has not heard of Prince Perigord de Talleyrand, who had performed the sacrifice of the mass in his youth as the consecrated Bishop of Autun ? But talk of all those with such a pi’iestas this, still an officiating priest, who goes, to the altar, and who, as I say, does not perform but 'Hesec ratesT h^'enewal of that tremendnm mysterium which was consecrated u^:)on Calvary, who m public meetings, on public platforms, talks of “political death-knells,” and he says that he would, if necessary, prefer, I will not say an assassin, because when a man is acquitted he must be believed in the spirit of our laws to be innocent, but a man who had no other title to the notice of any human being, except that he stood twice accused at the bar of a court of justice for the attempted assassination of his fellow creature ! This is the. gentleman with whom Mr. Sebastian Nolan allies himself; I said I would draw him into this chair before I had done. This will teach him a lesson that he will do well to ponder over for the remainder of his days. This is the gentleman, the patron, I say, of accused assassins, denouncing unchristian wrath against harmless men. This is the gentleman of whom Mr. Sebastian Nolan boasts as the prime said of his gallant brother in the expres¬ sive terms that “Father Lavelle is not to be beaten; and these words attributed to him with all the other charges that I have accumulated here, he does not even for the sake of his own character, come into that chair to contradict, but appears during the greater jrortion of the inquiry to treat the whole thing as a good subject for merriment. I agree with Mr. Murphy that if, after the writing of this letter of the 16 th of November to Father Lavelle, Captain Nolan had returned to his military duties, and had never again appeared in the county until after the election was over, he would have been within the authority of the decision in the Blackburn case by Mr. Justice Willes Jiimself an Irishman, educated in Ireland, and a most truly eminent judge), and have made every bishop, every priest, from the highest to the lowest, who acted at those meetings so called into existence by Captain Nolan’s own acts, his agents for the purposes of this election; and by their acts, words, and writings he must be bound. Before I read a dictum of Mr. Justice Willes I shall dispose of that defence to which Mr. Macdonogh appeared, from the very start, to devote much of his energy. I once heard TKIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 15 heard the late Mr, O’Connell (and I had the singular privilege of heai-ing him in tliat very place where Mr. Macdonogh now stands bring forth the, greatest burst of rhetorical power and splendid advocacy that ever was heard in a court of justice. Let us do justice to the illustrious dead. I do not believe any man ever approached him. I do not believe any man will ever get within miles of him, as an advocate. That was in the case of Rutledge and Rutledge, which was tried in this very court-house). But I heard him once saying “ I acquitted more men out of the dock than any other counsel that ever was in Ireland, by always keeping away from the point, and never putting any question, any possible answer to ^^•hich could injure my client.” The astute, wise, and he will pardon me also for saying of him, wily advocate, whom I see before me, looked as serious as possible (and no one can look more pleasing when he wishes, and no one can look more solemn when it suits the purposes of his client) while he devoted all his energies from the commencement to establish the counter case. I was saying to myself every now and again, “What is the value of all this unless Captain Nolan is going to be unseated?” If Captain Nolan holds the seat, what business is it of his to establish the fact that Captain Trench cannot get it; for there cannot be two occupants of the same portion of physical space. But let me tell Mr. Macdonogh, that whether it was proved or not, that whatever was done of a reprehensible character (if such there was) to be attributed to Sir Thomas Burke’s conduct, one wrong in law cannot be set off against another. But supposing it to be a wrong: I am not now investi¬ gating (though I shall have presently to allude to it) whether Sir Thomas Burke or anybody else did anything wrong; but if he ujiheaved the whole county of Galway, if, as is said in old Lucian, he piled Pelion on Ossa, and Olympus upon that (and I thought of that when I saw the bundle of volumes of the evidence) it would not affect one particle the seat of Captain Nolan. The question that I have to decide is this: was the seat gained In any Avay by undue influence traceable to the Member, or was it carried by undue influence, whether traceable to him or not, which permeated (the expres¬ sion 1 used elsewhere) the constituency so as to invalidate the election at common law? There is no such thing as set-off in crime. “ Assuming.” said Mr. Justice Willes, “ that one side issued an impolitic or illegal circular, or did an illegal act, I must pass away from the subject by saying that no amount of illegality upon the one side could justify a hair’s breadth departure from the law upon the other. Wrong does not excuse wrong. If both parties have been misconducting themselves at the election, the members of neither party can remain in upon petition, and neither can excuse himself because a similar wrong or worse wrong was committed on the part of the opponents. The way to deal with people who do wrong is to bring them before the proper courts and to complain of them there; to get punishment if punishment is to follow, meted out by an impartial tribunal, but any other doctrine would lead to retaliation, and vengeance probably much worse.” I have referred to the letter to Father Lavelle. VYhat follows upon that letter? It suggests a line of action to draw forth a letter from two or three px’iests in one diocese, addressed to two or three 2 :)riests in another, who were then to address a letter to some¬ body else, Father Burke or Father O’Gi'ady. We have not the interesting little corre- sjjondence which followed, though I venture to say if the pigeon-holes in Pigeon Park were thoroughly overhauled, we might And them also. But we have a letter Avhich lets us in to all that we Avant. Here is a letter from that mild gentleman, Mr. Edward Thomas, the Catholic ailministrator of Tuam, of Avhom I have seen something before in this court-house. It is headed “ The Presbytery, Tuam,— Dear Father O’Cjrady,—As the bishofjs have fixed on to-morrow Aveek” (the bishops again !) “for the holding of the preliminary meeting at Athenry,” the line of conduct pointed out by Captain Nolan is not found to fit in exactly. So the. bishops solved that difficulty by resolving upon the holding of a preliminary meeting, “■ and the Archbishop >ias assented to the day. You have now only to Avrite to the jjriests in the diocese of Tuam of the county of Gahvay, or those of them who may think proper to attend for the furtherance of Captain Nolan's candidature in the spirit of our resolutions.—Faithfully yours, Edward Thomas, C. A.,” to AA’hich poor Father O’Grady rejflied, “November 29th,—My dear Thomas, I ha\^e your letter and have written this day to all the parish priests in the Deanery except the sick ones, of Abbey ” (I suppose that is Abbeyknockmoy), “ Klllimer, Killian, Spiddal, also Dumnore, and also Glenamady; I am tired out nOAv, so farewell.—Yours sincerely, John O'Grady." That is the little machinery that is put in motion headed by the Archbishop, followed by the other bishops, and suggested through that Avonderful letter, Avhich having come from the epistolary muniments of Father Lavelle, if every¬ thing else Avas wanting in this case, Avould have placed the security of Captain Nolan’s seat bej'ond the possibility of salvation. That is what he OAves to that admirable “ patriot priest,” Avhose presence is “ so necessary,” as Dr. Duggan, the Bishop of Clonfert, thinks; Avho is coaxed, and petted, and invited, by Mr. Sebastian Nolan to come, notwithstanding all difficulties; the brougham Avill be sent for him, “ could you not stay Avlth us in Ballinderry until the Avhole election is over ? You would confer upon us the greatest possible compliment.” That is the result of the communication Avith that gentleman. In ansAver to this letter of Father O’Grady’s, circular letters are received from all quarters, and, amongst others, from Dumnore, the town blessed Avith the ministration of Father Loftus. I say blessed with the ministration of Father Loftus. Forsooth, he did not knoAV of the eviction of Pat Barrett, he Avas only a Mayo priest. As he was going off the table Mr. Macdonogh said, “ I believe, Sir, you are a Mayo priest ?” He looked surprised, he did not knoAv Avhat it 241. B 4 meant. 16 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE •meant, “ How long are you at Dunmore?—Three years at Dumnore;” but he is a Mayo I priest, and I think that is important, for reasons that I will give before I end. Dunmore replies through Mr. Duffy, “ P.P.” and “ V.F.” I wish that they would adopt the old \ style in Prance of “ Cure ” and “ Abbe,” instead of all these al])habetical honours. Clifden, |i once the seigniory, as I said before, of the Martins and the D’Arcys, declares for Caj^tain |l Nolan. Here was Mr. Macmanus, who was most anxious to be examined, Avho came in hot haste, crying, “ Can’t you let me be examined? I want to go back to my parish.” I told him, “ Sir, I think they are bound to send you back in a carriage and four, if neces¬ sary, to ])erform your ecclesiastical duties.” I believe he never appeared again. Whether he has gone out on the broad Atlantic, or whether he is looking down from the Wine Pins, as I believe they call them, on the haj^py district which is under his control, I know not; but at all events he pronounced for Captain Nolan, and he gives the reason ; because he is “ the elect of his Grace the Archbishop of Tuam.” I have the letter before me. The preliminary meeting of the priests representing the four dioceses is held on the 6th of December, at Athenry, Father O’Grady in tlie chair; and, at this time there had never been a meeting in Loughrea, except that little preliminary meeting at which a few gentlemen and two ladies attended. I recollect the names of five or six gentlemen ; Mr. Burton Persse, Captain Archer Daly, Mr. John Henry Blake, the uncle of Captain Archer Daly, some uncle or brother of his ; it is of no consequence. But, up to this time, even the Athenry people had never heard a Avord at all about any intention to hold a landlord meeting, because that preliminary meeting is only held on the 5th of December. The meeting of the bishops and clergy was arranged long previous to the 5th of December. The letter replying to the circular issued by Father O’Grady Avas dated on December the 4th, and everything Avas in train Aveeks before a Avord had ever been said by Sir Thomas Burke as regards “ priestly dictation.” The preliminary meeting having been held, the resolutions are read, and one of them is in these terms : “ That the clergy of the four dioceses of Tuam, Clonfert, Kilmacduagh, and CalAvay having determined to support the candidature of Captain Nolan,” I will be glad to know Avhat becomes of the statement that the diocese of Gahvay had not deter¬ mined until the 13th of December. Why, on the 16th of November the clergy of the diocese of Gahvay, Avith the bishop in the chaii’, declared unanimously that they Avould support the candidature of Captain Nolan; and at this preliminary meeting on the 6th of December, “ the clergy of the four dioceses of Tuam, Clonfert, Kilmacduagh, and Gahvay, having determined to support the candidature of Captain Nolan at the coming election, here in conference assembled, Avith a vieAV to agreeing upon a mode of common and united action ” (uniform action, the very Avord mentioned in the letter of Ca2Atain Nolan), “ do request the clergymen of the four dioceses to explain to the electors of the several jAarishes that the Legislature, in conferring iqron them the franchise, had intended that it should be used by each elector for the jAublic Aveal, according to his conscience, and Avithout yielding to intimidation or coercion from any quarter.” Why this new-born zeal for the mind of the Legislature, and the franchise being used according to conscience ? According to conscience ! There is the determination of the clergy of the four dioceses that a jmblic meeting be held at Athenry, as the most central locality, on Tuesday, the 19th instant, Avith a view of giving jAractical effect to the foregoing resolutions. Then there are the signatures of several clergv men, among Avhich I see the names of the Rev. EdAvard Thomas, of Tuam, the Rev. Peter Dooley, of Gahvay, the Rev. Timothy Shan¬ non, ’‘P. P.,” and “V. G.,” of Avhom Ave have heard a great deal in the case; but though he Avas sitting in Court here, though he came in day after day, though Mr. Macdonogh called the attention of one witness, at least, to him (I mean Lord Gough), though he received a A'ery high character from Lord Gough, he is charged Avith the most serious offences, and yet lie never Aentured to come on the table; though he is acting as Vicar General of the united dioceses of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, jiresided over, as Ejiiscopal Administrator, by the Bishop of Galway. Every atom of this Avas jirojiosed by Cajitain Nolan in his letter, and sIioavs the determination to raise a social Avar in the county through the means of the clergy, resolved ujAon as a means of common action at this preliminary meeting, eight days, at least, before the much-traduced Sir Thomas Burke had ever breathed a Avord of Avhathe called “ priestly dictationeight days before he ever opened his mouth. But the Bishops of Clonfert and Gahvay them- seh'es, as Avell as the learned counsel Avho appeared here, still more on their behalf than on behalf of Cajitain Nolan, asked me to believe that everything thatAA^as done AvrongAvas traceable to the language of Sir Thomas Burke. There are the resolutions jiledging them ii’revocably, unless they held in the leash, as they did for other and more sacred jmrposes, a dispensation to release themselves from their OAvn settled conclusions ; and at the date I mention they Avere determined beyond recal upon supjiorting the candidature of Cajitain Nolan. Sir Thomas Burke has been maligned, has been slandered through the jiajiers jn every way that the vocabulary of the foulest literature can at all suggest, because he used the Avords “ priestly dictation.” He Avas on that table ; a variety of things have been said of him since, but not one of them was then brought under his notice. He came here at great inconvenience, from England, as he told us, Avhere he had jilaced his family in , safety ; he said in safety, intending to remain out of the country; and he Avas alloAved to go off the table Avithout giving him a single ojiportunity of defending his character against the charges Avhich were within the knoAvledge of those who instructed Mr. Macdonogh and Mr. MacDermot; not Avithin the knoAvledge of Mr. Macdonogh, he is to TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 17 too much of a gentlemau to sacrifice his own position for his position as an advocate. They were not within his knowledge, but I say that Sir Thomas Burke has been most unjustly used, he having been called here from a distant part of tlie Empire, and then traduced when he has left the town and the country, without giving him an opportunity of explaining, unless he chooses, at any tiu'ii of this tremendous battle, t'> whisk himself back again to be asked one or two questions, and as soon as he has gone, to have another series of calumnies put forward for the purpose of recalling him again. Sir Thomas Burke is traduced for using the words “ priestly dictation.” I, from this bench, having examined the whole of the evidence in this case, I solemnly believe, with more care than I ever did anything before in the w'hole course of my life (and I now speak from an ex¬ perience at the bar on this cii’cuit, where I was long known, and on the bench for now 16 or 17 years, during which time I never spared myself, and certainly I have not spared myself in this case, having worked at it 17 or 18 hours a day since the case closed); on a full review of the whole of the evidence, proclaim it to have been not “ priestly dictation,” but the most astounding attempt at ecclesiastical tyranny which the whole history of priestly intolerance presents. After an Adjournment— Mr. Justice Keogh.'\ I shall now endeavour rapidly to review the reports of these meetings; and, really, I think it would not have done any Injustice to the parties if I had not taken upon myself the duty of perusing them. But I will never again form a hasty opinion about what aif experienced coun-iel does. When all these books and docu¬ ments were tendered to Mr. Macdonogh, at seven or eight o’clock in the evening, for him to look through them, with that wisdom which characterises him, he said, “ I will have nothing at all to do with them. It will only make confusion doubly confusion and positively when I took them up in my hand last Wednesday, or Thursday, I got a fil of despair, f have endeavoured since then to do all I could with them, and if I have not succeeded it is not for the want of wish to do so. Those meetings were, I think, 12 in number, includ¬ ing what we will call Mr. Fahy’s little one. I think he is the priest of Balllndereen. If I do Injustice to any gentleman by naming the wrong person, I shall be very glad to be set right, because these things afterwards create confusion, and a perfectly innocent man may have it recorded of him that the judge said “ so-and-so,” whereas I may be making a mistake. Now, I want to call attention to the fact which these papers show, which is very remavkable, and I refer to it in justice to the Catholic families of this county. The very papers which have been put into my hand, to enable me to peruse them, remind me that of the Roman Catholic families of this ancient county, there is not one who have not been accused of having been ready, for some purpose which has never been explained, to abandon their faith, for which, tlu’ough long centuries, they have struggled. In this very newspaper, the “ Galway Vindicator ” of the 31st of December, New Year’s Eve,’ after the Loughrea meeting, after the “ priestly dictation,” after the cry was raised on every side, after all this hubbub that ‘‘ trebly swelled the gale,” I see a meeting on the 31st of December in the town of Galway, the Bisho^i of Galway being in the chaii’. And who were attending the meeting? They are the most extraordinary set of people that ever met in the world, or, at all events, they came rapidly to the stool of repentance, if they had endeavoured to throw off ecclesiastical supremacy ; for at that meeting I find Mr. Murray, the high sheriff, in the chair. I see that Mr. George Morris was there ; I see the name of Mr. Pierce Joyce, a gentleman whom I a moment ago saw in Court. I see the name of Mr. John Wilson Lynch, that gentleman who need not, I think, trimble himself about the whole mass of filth which has been raked up against him by that parish priest. There were Mr. Pierce Joyce, Mr. John Wilson Lynch, Mr. Blake, Mr. Foster, Mr. O’Flaherty, Captain Marcus Lynch, all assem¬ bling under the leadership of their bishop—to do what ? To petition Parliament in favour of denominational education; the very subject, the great religious question which we were told poisoned the whole of this election conflict; showing distinctly that no matter what was said about politics, no matter what was said at the Loughrea meeting, no matter what was said about interference, no matter what the Catholic gentlemen of this county, of ancient lineage and large fortune, thought of the manner in which they had been treated by their priests ; when a question of pure religion arose, a question on which they thought they were right ( I do not say th e y were right — far from it), and Avhich they thought affected the faith and nibrals ot tlre~people,~theywereTed^thbut one particle of regard to all that they had suffered, and were suffering, and they accepted the leadership of their respected bishop, and joined him in petitioning Parliament for a redress of the wrongs under which they thought they, as Catholics, laboured. There are 12 meetings. The first, called at the Instigation of Captain Nolan, was at Athenry. Who are there ? The Rev. Mr. O’Grady, though he thought the previous day that he wmuld not be able to attend, is in the chair. What does he say ? It might be recommendation enough for Captain Nolan that he had the sanction of the great Arch¬ bishop in his candidature.” Now, all these matters, such as the Port-a-Carron award, denominational education, vote by ballot, &c., &c., disappear. Captain Nolan has the sanction of the “great Archbishoj) ” to his candidature. Captain Nolan himself used the words, “the great Prelate of the West.” I have often asked myself whether I would prefer to be well abused or fulsomely praised; whether it was more offensive to have the 241. C slaver 18 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE slaver of the tongue or the venom of the tooth. But here is the sanction of “ the great Archbishop” to Captain Nolan’s candidature. '! here are letters read from the Arch¬ bishop, from Dr. M‘Evilly, and from Dr. Duggan. Then there are the Rev. Mr. Coen (to whom of course I must refer), the Rev. Mr. Lyons, the Rev. Mr. Thomas^ the Rev. Mr. Loftus, the Rev. Mr. Considine, the Rev. Mr. Staunton, the Rev. Thomas Walsh, Captain Nolan, Mr. Sebastian Nolan, and Mr. Thomas Higgins; that is the agent; of course it was quite right that he should attend. I have borne testimony to his high character, and I have done it deservedly. Then there are Mr. Henderson, Mr. Martin M'Donnell, Mr. Cloran, and Mr. Fahy. The resolutions are all about landlords and their evictions, and their horrible cruelty, though every witness deposes that the landlords are the best landlords that there ever were in the country. I'he only one who was found out to be a most abominable landlord, was the man who has made “noble sacrifices” (to use the language of the Ai'chbishop of Tuam) “ to atone for some indiscretions of his youth, prompted, no doubt” (of which there is not a particle of evidence in the case), “by the cupidity of interested individuals !” f Then comes Dunmore. There Father O’Brien said, “ Pontius Pilate and Herod became r©- j conciled ;” I speak in the presence of the Right Reverend Prelate ;. I believe in my soul, no i matter what may be the result of this case ; no matter what I may have to say of that Right I Reverend Prelate, that he is a true minister of the Gospel; that at this moment he regards more the interests of the Church than he does any other interests in this world; and that when the noise, and clamour, and turmoil of this case have passed away, he will see these things with a clearness of vision, across which no mist will throw obscurity. But hear what Father O’Brien said : “ Pontius Pilate and Herod became reconciled, to mock the Saviour of the world.” Is there any man in this Court who does not know that he should not take the name of God in vain ? Here is a Catholic parish priest saying, “ As Pontius Pilate and Herod be¬ came reconciled to mock the Saviour of the world, so Clancarty and Clanricarde kissed at .Loughrea.” What takes place there ? A discovery is made. I am told that in his profession there is no more distinguished man than Captain Nolan ; I have heard that before, and I have heard it here, and I believe that it is based upon well-ascertained facts, but “ ne sutor ultra crepidam" it is not an unwise maxim of life ; and I have no doubt he is a ready learner ; and he may learn that the common-place translation of these words, “ Let the cobbler stick to his last,” is not unwise advice. What does he find out ? Who made him a discoverer in the domain of theology ? The learned Bishop, of whose work I have before spoken, has with great labour, with great industry, and with great talent, applied himself to the life and writings cf the Great Apostle of the Gentiles. I am indebted to his courtesy, which 1 cheerfully acknowledge, for that admirable production. But Captain Nolan discovers what? He says, “No county Galway gentleman will deny that St. Paul was a Catholic priest, but that that did not prevent him from exercising the duties of a citizen,” I suppose after the same fashion. Fancy St. Paul exercising the duties of a citizen after the same fashion as the Loftuses, and the Conways, and the Stauntons, and the Cannons, and the whole nomenclature of the most extraordinary presentation of the Christian cha¬ racter that has ever appeared ! St. Paul to be mentioned in the presence of these people ! 1 St. Paul! The learned Bishop is full of the magnificence of his inspired oratory. I think 1 it was Mr. Fox who said that the speech of St. Paul at Athens was the finest specimen of human oratory, when he stood upon the hill of M^’s, from which Demosthenes and iEschines fulmined over Greece, and when he said, “Ye men of Athens, ye are too much given tc superstition. As I came here, I saw an altar raised to the worship of the un¬ known God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him do I make known unto you.” But to talk of St. Paul in such company as this ! Captain Nolan says, “if they are not allowed to have their own representative, to choose their own representative, it is better for them (‘ their own representative ’ being himself) to fall back upon— “ ‘ The good old rule, the simple plan That they shall take who have the power. And they shall keep who can.’ ’’ We know to what that refers. Then comes the Tuam meeting. Of course we have the Reverend Mr. Thomas there ; and the only resolution is moved by the Reverend Mr. Thomas. All the laymen disappear. Like Mecca or Cordova of old, Tuam is considered a sacred city, and let no laymen ven¬ ture there to approach with his profane feet! Captain Nolan, Mr. Higgins—yes, there is Mr. Martin M‘Donnell. Then comes the Gort meeting; there are the Reverend Mr. Shannon, the Reverend Mr. Lavelle, the Reverend Mr. Arthur, the Reverend Mr. Staunton, the Reverend Mr. Kemmy, the Reverend Mr. Forde, the Reverend Mr. Lavelle coming out of another diocese, the “ patriot priest ” to whom Judge Fitzgerald referred. Here he is conjured up from the diocese of the Archbishop of Tuam into the diocese of the Bishop of Galway, where he had no right to come without his lordship’s permission. What right had he, I say, to pollute the diocese Avhich is presided over by an intellectual, educated, solemn, grave, and religious pastor, without the special leave of the Bishop of Galway ? Had he that leave or dispensation ? What takes place ? That accomplished, most perfect gentle¬ man, Father Considine, spoke. The grace of his manner is not to be surpassed ; nothing could be too fine for him ; to certain words he objected, as being too gross for his lips. I thought they were very plain, common-sense words. However, he said the men in • America TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 19 America would do, what? What the men in America would saj^! “A curse upon the slaves who sold their faitinih’d theiFYountr'yT^ ifTKey did not vote for Captain Nolan ; “ A curse upon the shaves ! ” And this is the gentleman who swears on the table that “ he would consider it /oul dishonour and disgrace as a clergyman, deserving sus¬ pension, if he ever cursed, or did anything like cursing, refusing the rites of the church, or declining to attend or perform any duties of a religious kind towards any Roman Catholic—he never did any^ing of the kind.” There, in the very papers which have been relied upon by Captairi Nolan, to which my attention has been invited, unfortunately for him, is Mr. Considine jcursing “ the slaves that the Americans would say had sold their faith and their country if they did not vote for Captain Nolan.” And Mr. Consi¬ dine is the secretary of the meeting. Then there are the resolutions against “ the tyrannical landlords,” and “ that every Catholic is a recreant and a renegade who would support Captain Trench.” It is moved by Father Lavelle, “ That it is the duty of Catholics to vote for Captain Nolan.” Father Lavelle said, “ Sir Thomas Burke is a liar; he has unfolded the bloodstained banner of extermination.” Father Conway said, “ I hope no layman will be more merciful than the priests.” Fancy that language! But here one of them improves upon his priests; he will not be outbid by the reverend gentlemen. Father Lavelle says, “ Sir Thomas Burke is a liar.” “ Aye, your rivlrence, and a damned liar !” On it goes in that way, “ brainless baronet,” “ sounded his politi¬ cal death knell,” “ shoneen,” “ Trench a hybrid mule,” “ would set up Peter Barrett,” “ two banners, one with bloody crowbars upon it,” and so on. That is the Gort meeting. I have read the papers, I am sorry to say, and I have extracted these things from them as I went along. Headfort is the “demesne” of Father Conway. He said at the meeting there, after the monster meetings, that the Government thought that the Irish ivere too nume¬ rous ; that they tried by the famine to reduce the numbers, and that the famine was sent by the Government; that Government which Captain Nolan was returned to support! Why I have been told about 50 times here—it has been hammered into me— that Captain Nolan, the independent Member for the county of Galway, the friend of Mr. A. M. Sulivan, Sir John Gray, Father Lavelle, &c., &c., &c., was returned on the special condition of giving his support to Mr. Gladstone ; and that Captain Trench was opposed, although he was, perhaps, liberal enough for a great many, because he was not ready to bind himself to be an out-and-out, thlck-and-thin supporter of the great states¬ man who at present holds the helm of alFairs. “ The Government tried to exterminate and murder millions, but they sprang up again; ” and he says; “ the landlords should be hung up by the heels, not by the head, if they even ask their tenants’ votes ; ” and he does not deny this ; he adds, “ and the priests, too, if they do the same.” “ Yes, sir,” said Mr. Macdonogh, “ you, of course, include yourself and the parsons.” I will not insult Mr Robert Bodkin, I will not insult Mr. Wilson Lynch, by repeating here what was said of them. I have already spoken of the scurrilous reference to Mr. Mitchell Henry, the colleague of Captain Nolan. Mr. Conway, I am sure, is not a Galway man. If there is anything in the world of which I am satisfied, it is of that, and I will tell you why. The Galway properties may not be as large as they used to be, but that a Galway man should fix upon the OTvellys of Gallagh as a “recent, scurvy, modern crew,” sur¬ passes all comprehension. The ancestors of that very family (who were in my time called the OKellys of Tycooly), according to Irish books, the archives of the native Celts in this and neighbouring counties, which I have myself read, and which are familiar to the Lord Bishop of Galway, were one of the most ancient families in the county, although their properties may be small. I do not know whether they are or not; but neither Mr. Bodkin, nor Captain Lynch, nor one of the O’Kellys of Gallagh, nor any¬ body else, need be at all ashamed; they are brought into the most wondrous company. But what follows is perfectly fearful. One sentiment, which I will not sully my lips by repeating, is brought into this horrible speech— horrible, I say. I commend this to the Bishops and to the Archbishops, though I would like to speak it in a whisper. I would like, if I could, to write it on paper, as some of the witnesses were obliged to write parts of their evidence, and not to speak it at all; I refer to the parallels drawn between the Saviour of mankind and the Revolutionists ! What becomes, after this, of the cry that, if you do not do everything that the priests tell you, you will be fostering revolution? Then the Catholic “squireens” are said to be “a horde of political robbers,” and they go to the “Arabian Nights,” and “ Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.” Captain Nolan then speaks, and calls on the voters to shun anybody who tries to “ imprison them ” as they would shun typhus or scarlet fever; words which I shall presently have occasion to refer to. Then comes the Mount Bellew meeting ; and then a new word is introduced into the resolutions; “ recreant and renegado," not “ renegade.” I rubbed my eyes to see whether I was right, and it is so. I assisted my eyes with a glass, and the resolution is this : “ That we deem every Catholic a recreant and a renegado who would support Captain Trench, the son of a most notorious enemy of the Catholic religion. Lord Clan- carty, and the nominee of the bigots and anti-Catholics of the county.” What is the meaning of the word “ renegado ”? Every scholar knows it. Take that beauteous poem, from the reading of which no one has ever risen without feeling the highest admiration of the exalted genius of the greatest modern poet of England, Lord Byron; I refer to the “ Siege of Corinth.” When he who had betrayed his faith, and who had led the 241. C 2 Islamite 20 JUDGMENT DELIVEKED BY MB, JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE Islamite to storm the fortress of Corinth hecause of blighted love, meets in the last encounter the father of her whom he wanted to be his bride, he says: “ Yield thee, Mainotti; mercy take. For thy own, thy daughter’s sake.” What is the reply ? “ Never, renegado, never! Tho’ the life of thy gift should last for ever.” 1 hose are the words that are bandied about without caring for their meaning, and the result would be to leave every poor creature who dared to exercise his franchise in this county, perfectly without help, physical or moral, to stand up against the weight of oppression that would be brought to bear upon him. Then we have the Loughrea meeting, at which the Beverend Messrs. Lavelle, Sellars, Kemmy, Loftus, Belly, Coen, Cahalan, Madden, Cannon, M‘Keigne, Callagy, and the three Messrs. Nolan were present, Mr. Charles J. Blake, being in the chair. Mr. Caha¬ lan is not produced until the last moment, that is the gentleman whom I was asked to examine here when the case was closed, and the last words had been uttered by the counsel for the petitioner. Among the speakers there again is Father Lavalle, and he tells the story about the threatening letter that he had received, in which he was told that for every peer would fall an archbishop, for every baronet a bishop, for every country gentleman a parish priest, for every farmer a curate. Then there is an immense desire to endorse the House of Commons’ resolutions ; these gentleman become quite constitutional. I will say a word about that presently. At Ballinasloe the Beverend Mr. Kemmy said he would show that they were alive and kicking. All this I am asked to pass over as being mere bye-play. I recollect a very well known man, a distinguished man in Ireland, when his death appeared in a newspaper one morning (he did not like to be dead), wrote thus to the paper— “ If your correspondent will call upon me at such a place and at such a hour, he will find me, not only alive, but kicking.'’' Then there are Beverend Mr. Manning, Beverend Mr. Kirwan, Beverend Mr. Greene, Beverend Mr. Malkern, Beverend Mr. Coen, and Mr. Sullivan ; and Mr. O’Shaughnessy is in the chair, and this is a part of the first resolution : “ That we mark for scorn for all time the recreant and renegade Catho¬ lics who in this contest vote with the bigots of the county of Galway.” That is proposed by the Beverend Mr. Manning, of Aughrim, who never appears at all. He might tell us something about the ball that killed St. Buth. As to that meeting at Ballinasloe I shall have much to say, more I am afraid than I shall have time for. Then there is the Portumna meeting, and Mr. Cannon. He, I observe, is thought so much of, he is such a first rate person, that the “ Tuam News” has to crush out the speech of Captain Nolan to make room for the wondrous eloquence of Mr. Cannon. “The Venerable and Beverend Father Coghlan formally seconded the resolution amidst loud cheers. Captain Nolan then came forward amidst general acclamation ” (that is milder), “ [we are necessitated to crush out his very able speech in this issue].” Then come the Beverend Father Horan and the Beverend Father Cannon; and what does this amiable man who comes here to crush out Lord Westmeath, and his sons, and the whole family of Lord Westmeath, do ? He seconds this resolution : “ That we regard as a re¬ creant and a renegade any Catholic tenant who allows himself to be forced to vote for Captain Trench against his conscience.” That is the “ Conscience Clause,” which we know something of in the history of the National Board. That was “moved by Father Horan, p. P., Mount Shannon, in an animated speech, in the course of which he used the following words: ‘ Look at that county yonder beyond the majestic Shannon, gallant Tip¬ perary.’ ” The cities of Italy used to have names and sayings attached to them: “ Genova la Snperba “ see Naples and die but they all must yield to “ gallant Tipperary.” “ Three cheers for Tipperary ! ” What does this amiable priest say ? “ They set intimi¬ dation at defiance, and returned the man of their choice ” (I am sure Captain Nolan must have felt a tingling in his veins when he heard this), “ though a convicted felon, to show their hatred of the powers that refused us justice, and thereby goad us into rebellion.” That is Mr. Horan’s speech. This is “seconded by the Beverend Father Cannon as follows, every sentence in his most effective speech being cheered to the echo.” What does he say ? “ Either you will rise to the honour and dignity of freemen, to the illus¬ trious name of patriots, to the elevated character of a religious people, lovers of your priests, which transcends all; or you will sink, and fall down to the lowest depths of in¬ famy and degradation, to be for ever branded as renegades and recreants, with dishonour and disgrace.” What else does he say, this minister of the Gospel ? He says: “ It is a melancholy reflection to think that here amongst us, class is divided against class, race against race, and, what is worse than all, a rising up against priests.” He continues, “ Is it a rising up against the priests and our religion ? ” (the faith is transferred, is made synonymous with the ministers of the faith) “ or the absence of religion, which is Pro¬ testantism, is divided against the religion of Christ ” Gracious heavens! in a free country, where there are millions of Protestants as well as Catholics; where the Queen rules over all alike, with her mild, maternal sway, am I to have a minister of the Gospel desecrating the English language by pandering to the vilest passions of an ignorant popu¬ lation, by telling them that the priest is his religion; language which ought only to be addressed TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 21 I addressed to some of those ignorant and benighted objects who bow down and tremble before one of the fetishes on the coast of Africa ; and that Protestantism, the religion of one million and a half of even his Irish fellow-countrymen, and the religion of millions upon millions of the human iace, is no religion at all, but is “the absence of all reli¬ gion,” and “ against the religion of Christ”? Still further : “ Yes,” he says, “ it is the enemy of man that has stirred up this division ; that has created this division ; that has raised this spirit of opposition against the priests of your Church, There are,” he says, “the signs of the times; and one of the signs of the approaching dissolution of the world shall be, that the dead will arise out of their graves. And methinks 1 fancy that I see the ghost of old Oliver Cromwell, his skeleton bones arising out of that sinful grave in which he and his sins had slept together so long.” Fancy this reproduc¬ tion of the name of Oliver Cromwell. I hope I am a loyal man. I believe implicitly that no foi'm of Government that ever existed is so calculated to preserve the rights, the franchises, and the liberties of the people as the mixed constitution under which we live — the Monarchy of England; but if I were to lay my hand on any man for greatness, majestic greatness of character, for splendid genius, for everything that ennobles a great man, I would say that the greatest sovereign who ever ruled in England was that Oliver Cromwell. What is the use of going to the graves of the dead per[)etually to rake out from their ashes spectres, hideous ghouls and vampires, to affright the living? Do we not know that the whole history of the world is one scene of violence, of changing opinions, of different sentiments as to the most sacred and the most solemn things ? “ Oliver Cromwell arising from his grave! ” “ The ghost of old Oliver Cromwell! ” Was there ever a purer man in this country than our great countryman Edmund Burke ? As well as I recollect, just about a century has gone by since that great man, orator, statesman, philosopher, prophet (for he was truly said to have prophesied and warned nations), stood in this town to receive from the corporation, the mayor and burgesses of Galway, the freedom of this city. Who was the best friend of the Catholics ? Who received at Beaconsfield, in England, after or during the Reign of Terror, the exiled priests of Catholic France, he being himself a Protestant? Who housed them; who fed them ; who canvassed for them ; who begged for them; who preached, I Avill say, for them? It was our great countryman, Edmund Burke. Let me tell those who do not know it, that there are veins in Galway in Avhich the kindred blood of Burke flows. That great man spoke in the highest terms of Oliver Cromwell. What said the distin¬ guished poet about the same man ? “ Still as you rise, the State, exalted too. Finds no distemper Avhile ’tis chang’d by you,— Chang’d like the world’s great scene, when, without noise. The rising sun night’s vulgar light destroys.” And that name is to be prostituted in the manner we have seen on the vile t ongue of th at audacious priest , 'fhat is the meeting at Portumna. Then comes the MilltOAvn meeting, where the Reverend Mr. Lynsky said, “ Our generalissimo is John, Archbishop of Tuam; our subordinate generals the Bishops of Galway and Clonfert; the captains and officers of the grand army are the priests of the four dioceses; amongst whom Fathers Lavelle, Burke, Flannelly, Loftus, and himself held no insignificant position ”; and the chair is taken by Mr. Flannelly. Fathers Loftus and Lavelle are present, and so are the Messrs. Nolan. Noav let us come to the meeting at Newbridge. There the Reverend Mr. Murray takes the chair, and what does he say, being in the secret counsels and presence of Captain Nolan, without mincing the matter at all ? “ My reason for supporting him,” he says, “is that he is the nominee of Archbishop M‘Hale.” Such were the meetings. Captain Nolan and his brother Sebastian Nolan attended them all. The people Avere adjured in the name of religion, creed, and God, not to vote for the landlord’s candidate. At MllltOAvn es 2 )ecially, the “priests Avei’e said to be on the one side and the landlords on the other.” One reverend gentleman said that “ all the priests in the four dioceses, with Archbishop M‘Hale and the four bishops in the van, Avere upon the side of Captain Nolan. That is to say, class is set against class, poor against rich, they Avho hungered against those who gave them to eat. In fact, I have no hesitation in pronouncing that the Avhole of this vast county was made one Aceldama of fi’enzy and hatred. The re¬ ports of those meetings are immediately cli’culated through the county ; leaders are furnished by Mr. Sebastian Nolan to the papers; paid for by him; furnished by him, as Mr. McPhilpin told us; sent up to the “ office in Tuam,” as he called it; and he scattered all through the county placards containing libels of the most infamous kind, printed for Mr. Sebastian Nolan at the office, and furnished by him. Well might Mr. Sebastian Nolan under those circumstances say, that “ they Avould raise such a panic in the county as that the landlords Avould be afraid to go outside their demesnes,” as he told Mr. Joseph Kelly; beyond any doubt a gentleman of the mildest manners. Mr. Joseph Kelly says, although he had absolutely Avritten that letter to Captain Trench on Christmas Day, a letter declining to support Captain Trench. Here is the high-minded gentleman breaking out: “ 1 read,” he said, “ that abominable threatening letter sent to Sir Thomas Burke, and I felt that, as a Catholic gentleman of independence, I was bound to come forward and register my vote, not so much for Captain Trench as against such abominable intimidation.” Such statements as these, in the absence of all explanation from Mr. Sebastian Nolan, I am bound imidicitly to believe. Mr. Macdonogh 241. C J knoAvs 22 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE knows I am. I have the evidence of a gentleman of rank and station, and of unsullied name; if he tells me a thing and it is not questioned, of course I must believe every tittle of it. I am bound by my duty as a Judge to believe it. It is the uncontradicted evidence, it is the unquestioned evidence, of a man of the highest character ; and if there is one syllable, if there is one hair’s breadth of departure from the invariable line of truth in what he says, still the inculpated person sits in court; there he is, and he never ventures to come into that chair and contradict it. What am I to say; am I to reject that evidence ? No, I am bound to believe it implicitly. Is it a wonder that we should hear of strange apparitions at the dead hours of night? Voters are called up from their beds, receiving warning notes, and threatening notices going through the post to the tenants of Mr. Barrett, to the bailiffs of Archdeacon Butson, to the tenants of Lord Dunsandle, to Mr. William Griffith, to Mr. John William Brown, to Mangan, to Sir Thomas Burke, to Lady Anne Daly, and finally to her venerable father the Earl of Westmeath, who, I am sorry, is not present here to-day by reason of illness to hear himself vindicated. How many other threatening menaces may have been hurled at these unfortunate electors we shall never know. I know that amongst men of a certain posi¬ tion, if they get threatening letters they will fling them into the fire. I have l3een favoured with several since I came into the town, aye, and on both sides. When I say “ both sides,” I do not mean Captain Nolan, and I do not mean Captain Trench, but some fanatical creatures have pestered me with their opinions, letters, and cards with menacing quotations from the Scriptures. I discard both of them as much as I do the outrageous conduct of the priests of my own Church, and that is saying enough. The Reverend Mr. Staunton swore he thought Molloy, the summons server, “ one man in a thousand to dare to come”—to do what ? in a free country—“ to serve a priest with a process of this court!” Under these circumstances what are we, I say, to think of the difficulties encountered by the petitioner, and by, I must say, his most able and efficient solicitor in this case ? Am I to treat all these threatening notices as got up for the purpose, as has been suggested ? Am I to treat with levity the threats given by men proceeding to the election from outlying counties, as Mr. Sebastian Nolan told Mr. Kelly weeks before there Avould be? We have Mr. Sebastian Nolan felling Mr. Kelly, ‘'We will have men in from the outlying counties,” two of them being the ominous Counties of Westmeath (I believe at present proclaimed) and of Tipperary. How many proclamations have been directed against that county which wins all the admira¬ tion of the Reverend Mr. Horan ? I think I once heard a gentleman say in that county, that there was not a square yard of land which was not moistened with human blood; I do not say that, but I have heard it said. From the outlying counties, as Mr. Sebastian Nolan told Mr. Kelly, there would be organised mobs, as was proved by Mr. Cruice, a Catholic, and by Mr. Davis, a Protestant gentleman. What does he say ? Did he tell me that the intimidation had no effect ? He was an attorney, and, if I do not mistake, he is now a retired attorney. Such men are not generally made of very intimidatable stuff; they have to stand a good deal of badgering in their day; and non¬ sense does not genei’ally intimidate them. But this Mr. Davis swears he was intimidated; and he tells me so; and, in consequence, he does not vote. Mr. Cruice, a Roman Catholic gentleman, braves the danger, and described the scene to us in the most graphic language ; literally a portraiture which the gentlemen of the Galway Hunt might envy. He says: “ I was started like a hare, and I got, with the peril of my life, through the streets of Tuam ”—the episcopal town of Tuam, which is blessed by the presence of the “ great Prelate of the West! ” Am I to reject all this evidence, whilst I see before me during the whole of this inquiry, as I said befoi’e, controlling the conduct of the case, Mr. Sebastian Nolan, who held the pursestrings, who acted as the real, though not the professional conductinsj agent of his brother, who supplied 1,400/. to the agent for election expenses, to that from Mr. Mangan, who, as Mr. Murphy said, was so accustomed to money transactions that he spoke of “sheques”! The thing is too ludicrous. Mi’. Sebastian Nolan has not come into the chair to explain one of the charges against him; the darker the insinuations, the graver the charges against him, the more imperative was it upon him to come into the chair and explain them if he could. He not having done so, I must take the statements of independent and respectable witnesses in their natural sense, and draw from them, as, I hope, a man of common sense, and I think a fearless one, their natural conclusion. Up to to this point I have not touched upon a single case of individual undue influence by means of clerical intimidation. Let me, before doing so, refer to one or two instances which certainly cannot be classed under the head of spiritual, influence. I mean the firing into Mr. Barrett’s house, a magistrate of the county; the firing into Mr. Brown’s house—first into his own room, then into his son’s room, and finally into the sitting-room, in which he had taken refuge after his son had gone to raise the neighbourhood. A good deal was said on this part of the case, I am bound to say, which I could not appreciate. Mr. Brown’s tenants came to accompany him to the poll in the morning, and they dis¬ persed in panic when they heard of the outrage. Mr. Brown and his son are so frightened that they do not go—one frightened on account of his age, and the other not¬ withstanding his youth—neither of them go to the poll. They both swear that they had intended to to vote for Captain Trench, and were intimidated from doing so. What is the answer to this charge ? That you cannot fix this on Captain Nolan and his agents; whilst I am looking at Mr. Sebastian Nolan, uncalled, who told Mr. Peter Blake that they would have men here, and men there, who would create such a panic that the gentle¬ men TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 23 men would be afraid to go outside their demesnes to vote, and that he would have a ma¬ jority of 1,000. There is a Protestant gentlemen, Mr. John William Brown, the cousin of the Marquis of Sligo ; it is all very well to slight him, but because a man is old, he is not to be treated with disrespect. He is a respectable gentleman, and I am not surprised when one shot is fired into his own room, and another into his son’s bedroom, so that he had to take refuge in his parlour with his agent, Mr. Graham, which is again fired into, that he declined to go and vote for Captain Trench at the peril of his life. I did not clearly understand Mr. McDermott’s argument on this point. Do not let any passing word that I may drop detract from the great merit he has earned—I am ])roud of it for the credit of the Connaught bar in this case ; but it is very hard for a man tc carry out a great argument for three days, as he did, and to make it all equally powerful. My hill¬ side experience was aj^pealed to, and I was asked to determine that nothing seriou.s could have been intended, and that the range must have been distant when No. 5 shot was so widely scattered. I confess I cannot undertake to decide this knotty point, and I must leave it to the scientific authorities. Then I come to the case of Mr. George Morris. He is a gentleman of this county, and until very recently he was member for this ancient borough; he goes to canvass some voters in com])any with Captain b oster. By the way, talking of old families and Catholic fiimilies, large possessions, and everything of that kind, I think if the principle of restitution was to take effect, I see a good many gentlemen around me who would have reason to tremble for their estates in that gentleman’s presence. Captain Foster does not expect, and will not ask, I have no doubt, that they should give him back their properties, although it is not very certain in the “ ethical framework” of the mind of the learned Bishop of Clonfert at what particular period he would fix the limit of restitution. But those two gentlemen, Mr. Morris, a magistrate, and Captain Blake Foster, a magistrate, and an officer in the Galway Militia, are literally placed in peril of their lives, in the town of Kinvarra, by the attacks of a violent mob. What do they shout ^ “ Come out here, you dogs, we will have your life.” That was the pleasant salutation which under the benign influence of clerical power is to make the people all lambs in temperament. I will not say what it will make them in reality. Those are both Roman Catholic gentlemen, the mob being primed with drink by the orders of the parish priest. It does not matter whether he is parish priest or curate, but I believe he is parish priest. The drink is given first upon his written and then upon his personal order, and they are literally kept imprisoned up to a late hour of the night, when their assailants are wearied out. The Reverend Mr. Forde is not produced to explain one word of that matter. What shall I say of the other outrages, too numerous to go through in detail? Forde, the farmer, is a very intelligent witness, and for his class I think a man of independence. He told us (and certainly this may recommend itself to our ecclesiastical superiors), that in consequence of what was taking place he was afraid to go to Mass. That is considered a mortal sin in the Roman Catholic Church. Lord Dunsandle’s voters, who had all pre¬ viously promised his son, to the number, I think, of 160, to vote for Captain Trench, exclaimed to his son, Mr. William Daly, that gentleman who was assailed by the fellow who has paid the penalty of his misdeeds, “We cannot have the blood of St. Ruth upon us.” Fancy this state of things in the year of Grace 1872,—the blood of St. Ruth! I firmly believe that they all thought he was one of the canonized saints of the Church. I have no doubt in the world about it. He was a French general of no very great capacity. By his vanity and his self-confidence the battle of Aughrim was lost, and that I believe is the greatest of his deserts. He lost his life there, no doubt; and when I was a boy, the ball that killed him was said to be hung on the walls of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Ihe tenants of Mr. Bodkin, a gentleman of a most ancient Roman Catholic family, who so far as I know had never given offence to any living creature, expressed their desire to go with their generous and kind landlord, but one of them is threatened with a bar of iron over his head. Is that spiritual influence ? 1 hey tell him that they must vote for Captain Nolan or run the gauntlet of the des])erate tinkers (Mr. Bodkin said) who inhabit the neighbourhood of Tuam, at the peril of their lives. What does Mr. Pierce Joyce say, a Catholic gentleman of large fortune, always iden¬ tified with the Liberal party, whose splendid mansion crowns this town, and looks out upon the Bay of Galway ? He was never in any way supposed to be identified with “ Jumperism,” or with any intention to abandon the Roman Catholic faith, or to insult a priest, or to oppress a tenant. He said “ he never saw such excitement; the farmers were terribly affected, as well they might be, by the resolutions at the meetings.” Doyle, a tenant, who had promised him by letter, said that life or property was not safe. What more did he say ? “ I am sure of mercy from you, but there is no mercy elsewhere.” Does that mean, “ I am sure you are a tyrannical landlord; you are a horrible,oppressive taskmaster; you are a tyrant of the worst kind ; you arc either a Herod or a Pontius Pilate, still you have mercy in your nature,” as everyone one who knows him would well believe. There could not be higher testimony borne to his character than the honest ex¬ pression of his old tenant: “Mercy I know I will have from you;” but there is to be no mercy elsewhere amongst those Avho are the ministers of a God of mercy, or they are nothing at all. Another tenant of Mr. Joyce’s, I think a man of the name of Ryan, near Eyrecourt, “ would do much” for his old friend and landlord, but he says he could not go against both the mob and the priest. Lord Delvin, the son of Lord Westmeath, had to absent himself from church. Do 241. C4 24 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE those ministers of religion believe what they say, because that is a question which is inte¬ resting to the Roman Catholic community. Do they believe that it is ; ^lortal sin to absent yourself without cause from Mass? If it is, they have made scores c^^bn, gentle¬ men in this county, absent themselves, because they Avere unwilling to be 'defamed, to be slandered, to be characterised in the chapel, Avhen they came to witness the celebration (I use the Avords of that ordinance to Avhich I called the attention of the Bishop of Clon- fert) of that tremendum mysterium ; it is Latin, but it is English also, that “ tremendous mystery.” Lord Delvin had to absent himself from chapel, and Avas afraid to allcAv his little children outside his demesne. Mr. Sebastian Nolan said, “ There Avill be mobs here and mobs there ; they Avill come from the neighbouring counties, and the gentry will be afraid to go outside their demesnes.” Take it analytically and take it sympa¬ thetically, there you have his very prophesy fulfilled. Lord Delvin absents himself, though, no doubt, as a good Catholic, he deeply regretted to have done so, from the cele¬ bration of the most necessary sacrifice of his Church. And his little innocent children, of whom the Founder of Christianity, Avhen rebuking His disciples, said, “ Suffer them to come unto me,” are not alloAved to pass out of his demesne in order to go to a place of worship ! The Gurtnamona tenants absolutely boasted of having voted for Lord Dunlo, the brother of Captain Trench, and they freely pi’omised Mr. Morris to support the Captain, but before the day of the polling came they Avere in fear of their lives. “ See there,” said a poor man of the name of Cannon, to Mr. Morris, “ the priests said that John Daly will never vote for Captain Trench, and he is dead.” I will be bound that the priest, Avhen he made that prophetic observation, had calculated the chances of its fulfilment. John Daly Avas dying at the time, of a bad disease of the lungs, as it Avas proved, or some very bad disease, and it Avas therefore, without being a doctor, very easy to prophesy his decease; and it is held up to the people that of John Daly the priest said, “ He Avould never vote for Captain Trench,” and he neAcr did. I remember a priest once (I do not knoAv Avhether it Avas in the west of Ireland), Avho was a shreAvd man; something Avas said to him about praying for fine Aveather, and he said, “ Prayer, indeed, for fine weather 1 I Avill tell you Avhat it is ; as long as the Avind is in that point it is of no use praying for fine Aveather.” John Roland said he Avould be started like a hare from the chapel door. Mr. Daly complains, and I think he has a perfect right to complain, that even in the hunting field, where all animosity ceases, Avhere all religious bickering, even in the most bigotted counties is hunted out, he Avas perpetually annoyed. The Galway farmers used to delight in “ the breezy call of incense-breathing morn“ a southerly wind and a cloudy sky,” l)ut nOAv, from Avail to Avail and from fence to fence, the Catholic gentlemen of Galway, taking their fine manly sport, Avere hunted by such felloAvs as followed that obscene monster Pat Barrett. A trench is cut across the road at SjAiddal to prevent Mr. Morris from jAroceeding to the poll at Oughterard. Well might he say, in graphic Avords Avhich I shall not easily forget, it had nothing to do Avith laAV; it did not include undue influence, or intimidation, or any of the legal phraseology, but Mr. Morris said, “ It Avas a rebellion against all fair i)lay.” AVho can foi’get the trying scene Avhich that high-class, high-minded gentleman had to pass through, Avho lost his seat in Parliament (as everyone, even his political opponents regretted, and as I regretted myself; when I made the decision, I said truly, that I regretted it), by the cupidity of interested friends, a defeat Avhich he bore like a gentle¬ man of high spirit, and never even made an injurious or unworthy obseiwation or remark. Who Avill forget that gentleman. Sir Artliur Guinness, lately retiuaied to this country Avlth his noble bride, with everything to attach him to life, but Avho Avith proud and fearless bearing, resolved not to submit to intimidation. The only influence Avhich he used Avith his tenants Avas, that he said, “ 'i he side Avhich you take Avill never make any difference Avith me, but I had hoped you Avould not Avish me to go alone, Avhen you had heard that my life Avas threatened.” Loyalty to a brave man has ahvays been one of the attributes of the Gahvay men, possunt quia posse videntur. They escape the delicate attentions of Father CoiiAvay’s flock, Avhom he had told to attend them on their departure. Am to I suppose it Avas as a guard of honour that Father ConAvay told them to go doAvn and Avitness the embarkation of all “ the Trenchites” for Oughterard. Sir Arthur Guinness’s brave little band escaped the kind attentions of that guard of honour ; but Avhen they reached the opposite shore, they had literally to renew the dangers of the Khyber Pass. Sir Arthur Guinness Avas himself severely cut in the head, and several of his men were badly wounded. The cry is, “ Master, we Avill be murdered ! ” They had actually to fight their Avay to the poll. Let this be told in England; let it be knoAvn beyond the limits of this island. Parliament is still sitting. It is not too late to stand betAveen the living and the dead, and to stay this fell plague. TAventy-seven voters in number had to fight their Avay to the poll, headed by their gallant landlord ; and they sustain all these outrages notAvithstanding that they had for an escort 50 of Her Majesty’s Infantry, 15 of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and 10 of Her Majesty’s Hussars. I Avill venture to say, that under the guidance of a gallant leader, that party could scatter an army of these audacious assailants, and would have done so, only that they are as for¬ bearing as they are brave. Is all this imagination ? Is the attack on Mr. Joshua SeAvard on the day of the polling to be treated as nought? He detailed to us the gauntlet Avhich he had to run through the village of W oodford, adjoining Sir Thomas Burke’s residence, I think, though I do not know that part of the country; Avhere, as the constabulary officer tells us, there are but TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 25 but -^0 inhabitants in the village. It was no 25olling-place ; that is remarkable ; but on the'oay of ^M^olling- over 2,000 strangers had assembled there from the Shannon and the adjoinii^Pwnstricts of Ti]) 2 )ei'ary. Has that no significance, coupled Avith the state¬ ments of Mr.‘'Sebastian Nolan? What is the result? Is not the country to be [utied in Avhich such a thing can I)e truly tohi ? Are there no men below the rank of gentle¬ men ca 2 )able of seeing that their own dearest interests are compromised for ever by all these transactions? What is the result of this treatment of Mr. Seward ? He told me in the chair that he had laid out thousands on his place. He ])ointed with pride to the frieze coat in Avhich the gentlemen of the county are not ashamed to come into any place in this county, for the gentlemen, and the noblemen of Galway have never been ashamed to Avalk into that magnificent jjlacc of meeting at Ballinasloe with their staves in their hands and their frieze coats on their backs—-a scene which, I say, is to an Irishman more beautiful than E 2 )som on the Derby-day. I speak of that Avondrous display on the 4th of October in the park of Lord Clancarty. Mr. Seward violated to his frieze coat with pride, and he said, ‘AYhy, this coat upon my back Avas Avorked for me. The ^nece of frieze Avas made (or me by a farmer’s Avife in the neighbourhood, to Avhom I Avas able to do some little kindness.” M’hat is noAV the case of Mr. Sewaid? He told me that he had resolved to sell his jjroperty, and c^uit the country. I saAV myself, Avhilst I sat here, the advertisement for the sale of his projAerty in the local pajAers, and the day for the sale of that property has long since jAassed (such is the length of this inquiry), and I have no reason to believe that eA'ery Avord Avhich he stated Avas not literally true. I now proceed to the individual cases, first jAremising that I hold the agency of those gentlemen to be established on the general grounds Avhich I have already stated, alto¬ gether apart from the jAarticular evidence to Avhich I can ^Aoint. I apply' myself, to estab¬ lish that ^proposition, to the letters of Captain Nolan and Mr. Sebastian Nolan, evi¬ dencing agency in A'arious ways, such as those addressed to the Reverend Messrs. Loftus, Faby O’Brien, La\’elle, Keevil, Considine, Coen, and various others. I refer also to the letters of thanks (for I jAi’omised to read the documents, and I have read them) addressed by CajAtaiu Nolan to those gentlemen after the election, some of them from the library of the House of Commons. I sjAecially aioply myself to a letter from Air. Sebastian Nolan to Air. Considine, of the 26th. January 1872, in Avhich it ajApears that he absolutely anti- eijAates the result of a jAetition. “ Conscience makes coAvards of us all.” He absolutely, on the 26th January 1872, in a letter to that Avise gentleman, Air. Considine, antieqAates as the result of a petition, the unseating of his brother. Captain Nolan. Tavo months and more before this Court ever sat, before a day Avas fixed for the hearing of the jAetitlou, he antieijAates the ejection of his brother. He, Avho I say because of what he knew Avithin his OAvn heart had been done, dared not submit himself to the ^process of examination, in order to haA'e it extracted from him, tells us A'ery comjAlacently that it does not much matter, that he has another brother, a gentleman Avhose name has never been Introduced into this case, excejJ in that letter, Alajor Nolan, I think of the 17th Lancens, Avho has the same jjrinciples as Captain Nolan, and Avho has this additional advantage, to Avhich Air. Sebastian Nolan thinks it right to call marked attention, He has never evicted.” That is a very significant remark, as significant, I Avas going to say (but that I sjAcak under subjection), as a lady’s postscript. I can only say, as regards that suggestion, that if Alajor Nolan is a wise man, he Avlll keep aAvay from it, and I believe he will. I Avould like to give good advice to his father’s sons, though they may think me noAv their greatest enemy. I shall take care, at all events, that for seven long years the same machinery shall not be put in motion in this county. There is such a thing as seven years’ jAenal servitude. If it be penal servitude to the Roman Catholic hierarchy and the clergy o!' this county tc make them desist from undue influence and clerical intimi¬ dation, then that jAenal servitude they shall go through. The laAv Avill not alloAV any other person to be induced by the allurements of Air. Sebastian Nolan to come into this county and avail himself of the same machinery to accomplish the same object. If he does so, he does so with full notice, and the jAetition Avhich may be brought to challenge his election, if he is elected, believe me, Avill not be as famous in story, or as long in duration, by 99 parts out of 100, as the petition Avhicli I am noAv trying. I shall now take up the cases in which charges have been made, and the reverend gentlemen have not appeared in any way to ansAver them. I must go through them, be¬ cause I cannot avoid it. I am told that there are 150 clergy in this county. 1 Avill venture to say that there are 50 or 60 of them, taking the number en bloc, Avhose conduct is challenged in this case. That is ajAretty good projAOrtion, I must say. For every tAvo left at home to do the duties of their parishes the conduct of one has been called in question. Reasons have already been stated Avhy a variety of things may have occurred, of Avhich Ave liaA e no evidence. NotAvithstanding the testimony of Air. O’Shaughnessy, and Air. AlcDonnell, of Dunmore, I come to the conclusion from all I have seen in tliis case, that much as I have heard, there is a great deal more behind. But there is one gentleman to Avhom I Avill pay a tribute of resjACCt. I do not care Avhat he did, or Avhat he said. He came like a man upon that table ; he ansAvered the truth; he is an honour to his cloth. The only evidence against him Avas that of one jADor ])oliccman. It Avould have been very easy to furbish uj) something against that poor man Scully. If Air. Aladden had anything in him of that milk of Christian charity Avhich is so jjatent ujAon the evidence of Air. Cannon, he might very easily have managed to hear something before he came into court, and then to say Avith truth ujaou the table that he heard that Scully, as Air. Cannon said of Coolahan, had been some 30 years ago “accidental” to the 241. D commi.ssion 26 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BV MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE commission of a murder. Accessory,” says my learned friend, Mr. MacDermott, “ he meant.” Notabitofit. He would not be corrected in his English even by Mr. MacDermott, and he sticks to his “ accidental.” It was worthy to rank in the enlightened vocabulary of the admirable education which that gentleman received, I suppose, either at St. Jarlath’s or at Maynooth, with the other finished expression of his “ the musicianer,” who was kept all night in the National School House. These are the gentlemen who say they ought to have all our education in their hands ! These are the people who say that there can be no education given properly unless it is handed over root and branch to the gentlemen who keep “ musicianers ” in national schools! Oh ! what will the Com¬ missioners of National Education say if they ever hear this?—the clergymen who keep “ musicianers ” in national school liouses, to get up a merry dance for the voters who are to come in the following morning to vote, “ according to their consciences for the man of their choice.” I have heard a good deal about the national system of education. I recollect that my friend, the Right Honourable Alexander McDonald, the late Com¬ missioner of Education, a most accomplished and educated gentleman, had a very high opinion of the moral character of the national schoolmaster. I need not trouble myself to dwell upon that now, but I havp a strong oj)inion that a man who is not paid better or as well as a common labourer, is not likely to be an admirable child’s guide. A good deal has been said about the conduct of those gentlemen in Gort. One of them, a national schoolmaster (I think he is absolutely a cheque clerk in Gort), draws out the resolutions, I say the threatening resolutions, I might say the threatening notices, for Mr. Shaw Taylor. I do not hesitate a bit to pronounce that in every respect in which language can be understood, that letter sent to Mr. Shaw Taylor by “ V. G. Shannon ” (if that means Vicar General Shannon), was in its real meaning a document of a most menacing and threatening character. I hope that the Commissiojiers of National Education will see into this matter. I have said that the Revenend IMr. Madden was deserving of praise, and he shall have it. He is the mildest of them all, I think, and he is certainly a most truthful and faithful man. How brilliantly he stands out through the whole of this dreadful confusion ! For 50 days this inquiry has been going on. Diogenes went with a lantern to look for a man; at length we have found a man. Out of the whole rabble rout, as I call it, there is one man who comes up upon that chair and, without prevarication or hesitation, says, “ I said substantially the words, I did not intend it exactly in that sense, but it was well calculated to convey that impression to the policeman, and I do not contradict him at all.” Ihe policeman had stated that he said, “ that Captain Nolan was the choice and wish of the bishops and priests, tliat no good Catholic would vote for Captain Trench, that those who did so were wolves in shee])’s clothing, that they should not be recognised, by their fellow Catholicsf' and then as a necessary consequence he went with the voters to the poll tvearing green ribbons, and the little children of the national school were decked out in the same colours. In that very neighbourhood the police are attacked, and Sub-Inspector Knox has to telegraph for more men to Portumna, having, I believe, about 50 at the time. That ends Mr. Madden. Though I quote his language against him (and I say that it is a case of most undue influence on his part), yet I honour him for having had the manliness uird the truth, when once betrayed into a fault, not to seek to conceal it, but to admit as a minister ot religion that he did what was wrong. The Reverend Mr. Manning, of Clonfert, is charged with saying that airy Catholic who would vote for Captain Trench would have the finger of scorn pointed at him, that the people were not to associate with him, that he shoidd not be considered worthy to associate Avith his fellow Catholics. He mentioned Kelly as a bailiff of Lord Cionbrock’s, who had been canvassing, and he said that if the man went to their houses again he rvould ask them to give him a coklrvater bath. He said, to show the animosity in which Captain Trench and his adlierents were held, one of his agents on the day of the meeting at Portumna had been more than insulted, and would have been torn in pieces by the mob. This gentle¬ man, to illustrate his orvn proposition, and to enforce his own courage upon the attention of his hearers, says that there rvas an agent of Captain Trench rvho would have been torn in pieces by the mob, ordy for him, and he said that there was an ancestor of Captain Trench who caused a woman to be flogged for some theft, and that she u as flogged partly undressed. I make no doubt that this Avas what Father O’Mara alluded to Avhen he took the poor man by the coat, Avhen attending the funeral of the mother of Father Horan. This Father O’Mara Avho came out of the diocese of Killaloe, Avhere I believe there is only one Gahvay parish, i.e., Whitegates, said, “ Do not dare to vote for the descendant of the man that hanged the Avoman.” That is all proved. The Reverend Mr. Manning never comes forward to say one Avord in explanation or contradiction of it, and I am asked to believe and to find that this is a free and fair election, Avhile in one of those cases the man by his silence virtually admits the Avhole charge, and in the other habemus reum confitentem. Then comes the Reverend Mr. Macdonogh ; he said the landlords had no more right to the votes of their tenants than to their souls. Then Ave have the Reverend Mr. O’Brien, who said at the polling-booth, “ Hie! for Peter Blake ! there will not be a hair of your head disturbed ; nothing Avill be done to you,” and “that,” says Mr. Blake, a Protestant gentleman, “gave me great pluck at that time,” as Avell he might. He said that “ they Avere only our own renegade Catholics Avho AA'Ould be excoriated.” Father O’Brien says nothing about that, and does not appear to contradict it. And he is the gentleman Avho proposed Captain Nolan. The Reverend Mr. Greene said, with regard to the election, that he Avould like to have the TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 27 the names of the people who would vote for Captain Nolan ; that he excluded Lord Clancarty’s own tenants, but that any other person who voted for Captain Trench he would not say mass for in his house during his life. Mr. Macdonogh has become perfectly acquainted with all the ceremonial rules of the Roman Catholic Church, “You are aware, sir ” (said Mr. Macdonogh, again trying to get his ship clear of all shoals and quicksands, as I said;, “that no Roman Catholic clergyman is bound to say mass for any person in their house or out of their place of worship?” “ I do not know,” said the witness; but we are left in no doubt at all about it, because the Lord Bishop has told us that His Holiness has been graciously pleased, taking into account the condition of the Roman Catholic peasantry of Ireland, to extend to the Roman Catholic clergy the privilege of saying mass at the houses where they hold stations; that nothing is more customary, and that it is in fact the pi-actice (as I know it is) in the whole of the province. Mr. Greene said that he would not say mass for any one who voted for Captain Trench during his life, which he supposed might not be long. He believes it is not the duty of a priest to say mass in a house, unless the person is sick or unwell; says the poor man, “ I have heard of those things both in private confession, and one thing and another. Mass is said in houses, at stations, and it is a disgrace not to have it.” He is recalled, and re-cross-examined by Mr. Macdonogh. Beaten off the ground about the mass, he never gives up whilst thei'e is a point of vantage upon which he can rest; he asks, “ Did you hear of a priest refusing to hold a station?” At first the witness said he knew nothing about it; he then said, “ Don’t press me about that now.” The instant he said that, as one who has trodden upon a snake in the grass, he immediately drew back; but not so the other side, “Now Ave wfill have it,” said they ; and accordingly he tells us that he heard from John Barrett of Clontasket, Avho voted for Captain Trench, that he thought he passed his house. “ But ” (says the poor man, anxious to do as Father Staunton suggested to Pat Kinneen that he ought to do, to let doAvn the clergy as easy as he could), “ that is no proof that he refused.” Being a little driven, he brings in for the occasion John Barrett of Clontasket; but in the absence of Father Greene, we hear the charge and we hear the detail, and it is left uu- contradicted. I say that the thing is proved, and proved better by his absence than by a hundred witnesses. He says that he stood at the door of the chapel and spoke to the people of their votes. He asked one man if he would vote with him, and the man said “ he would not be against him,” and he said that wouldn’t do. “ To the best of my belief,” said Michael Kelly, “he said he wouldn’t say mass in any person’s house who would vote for Trench except the Clancarty tenants.” That is evidence which is per¬ fectly uncontradicted by Father Greene, who is parish priest of Clontasket. If I do not mistake, he apjiears in the Catholic Directory as residing in Ballinasloe; but of that I could not be sure. Father Floran, of Mount Shannon, in the diocese of Killaloe, who ought to have been thinking of his deceased parent, requested them to do the same as they had done in other places like Tipperaiy, where they returned a convict; as to people who would not vote for Captain Nolan, he said that “ they Avould be looked upon as renegades.” That Avas the Avord Avhich the Avitness thinks Avas iised. Father Horan had 25 days or more to come and dispute that, if he could, but he did not appear. Father O’Mara is proved to have told George Macdonnell not to dare A’ote for the man that hanged the Avoman. Macdonnell says; “ I was at the parish chapel at a marriage, and I Avas going back out of it, and only for the curate of the chapel my head might have been broken.” We have heard, “ The funeral baked meats ill furnished forth the marriage feast; ” but here the marriage feast, only for the curate, Avould have been furnished Avith funeral baked meats. He Avould have had his head broken but for the curate ; that is uncontradicted. Then comes the Rev'erend Mr. Bodkin. What does he say? He says that he heard that the voters were going against him, and he hoped they Avould not bring disgi’ace upon him and his parish ; that they Avanted to put down jAriests, and some of them Avere con¬ nected Avith priests. After the election, he said, that those who had not voted Avere cowards, and that he hoped they Avere despised by the ojiposite party “ as Avell as by us.” There is a letter to this gentleman written by Mr. Sebastian Nolan, dated the 2nd of February, in Avhich he says, “ It is most necessary, however, to poll every vote, as on our majority would depend the possibility of a petition.” And there is a letter from Captain Nolan on the 19th of February, a fortnight after the election, to this same Father Bodkin, in Avhich he says, “ Permit me to thank you for your most efficient aid at tlie late elec¬ tion ; you had a most difficult district to deal with, and managed it admirably.” There is Mr. Sebastian Nolan saying before the election, that on every vote polled depended the possibility of a petition. There is the letter of Captain Nolan after the election, thanking Father Bodkin, Avho hoped his parishioners Avould not bring disgrace upon him and the parish ; and expecting that all Avho Avent against him would be desjjised by the opposite party. There are tlie letters thanking him after the election, and saying, “ You had a most difficult district to deal Avith, and managed it admirably !” Father Bodkin hears the charge, and he too never appears. Father Coen, of Clonfert, is charsed^y a gentleman of unquestioned respectability and ancient family in the serA'ice of Her Majesty, Captain Blake of the Bengal service, Avhose father is Mr. Blake, of Holley Park, nephew of the late Right Honourable Anthony Richard Blake, for many years Chief Remembrancer of the Court of Exchequer in Ireland, Avell known as having formed one of the members of that Inner Cabinet Avhich governed Ireland in the halcyon days of Lord Anglesey and Lord AVel- 241. D 2 lesley, 28 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE lesley, the great Catholic emancipators, to both of whom he was sincerely attached. What does Captain Blake say ? Father Coen said from the altar in his vestments before the last gospel, “ That all his parishioners, freeholders, were bound to vote for Captain Nolan, as it was a matter of religion, and that even if they had previously promised their landlords, they were bound to break their promise and vote with him.” The Lord Archbishop of Tuam said, that he considered that it was the first principle of ethical morals to keep a promise, and that having promised ("aptain Nolan, nothing on earth could induce him to break his promise. Is there to be one moral law for an archbishop and another moral law for the poor farmers of the county of Galway ? Father Coen told them that “ even if they had previously promised their landlords, they were bound to break their promise, and to vote with him “ that he would take them to Galway, and any of them who did not actually vote for Captain Nolan would be marked as black sheep, rotten branches, and would be traitors to their countiy “that it would not suffice for them to stay away, and vote for neither, but that they were bound to vote for Captain Nolan.” Now, mark that every word of that alone would unseat any Member. No one knows that better than the able and accomplished counsel who leads here for the Sitting Member. That one fact alone, brought back and traced either to the Sitting Member himself, or to anyone who is in the character of his agent, would unseat a Alember. It was thought, indeed, that something to contradict this view could be found in my judgment in the Town of Galway case. There is not a single word in that judgment to which 1 do not adhere; and there is not a single line of it wnich is not perfectly recon¬ cilable with every word which I have been using, long as I have been speaking in this court to-day. I said in that case, “ The higher the person who used this undue influence the more fearlessly lie ought to be dealt with. I care not whether he be curate, parish priest, administrator, bishop, or archbishop. I cannot go higher than that in this country; but if undue influence at an-election were proved before me to have been exer¬ cised within the limits of the law, and of my own reason, consulting as to the proper deductions to be drawn from the facts, I would, without the slightest hesitation in the world. And that to have been an undue election.” I declared that “ if a single elector, the most miserable freeman that crawls about this town, had been refused the rites of the church in order to compel him to vote, or because he had voted, or because a member of his family had voted in a particular way, I would have avoided this election without the least hesita¬ tion.” What becomes of that statement of this reverend gentleman. Father Greene, to Avhom I alluded a moment ago, that he would not say mass in any house during the course of his life, which might not be very long? What becomes of this Father Coen, when he said that those who would not vote for Captain Nolan would be marked as black sheep, rotten branches, and would be traitors to their country; that it would not suffice for them to stop away,and vote for neither, but that they were bound to vote for Captain Nolan? Accordingly this same gentleman puts three men out of the chapel—Michael Foi'd, John Donohue, and Fai’dy Haines—because they would not give him a promise to vote. The poor men themselves were anxious to let “ a remarkable man ’’ down lightly. They were not put out; it was, “ Go away, go aw'ay ;” but they were put out of the chapel by this Father Coen J "What did F ather Coen say, which was reluctantly proved by Mr. Bernard O’Flaherty ? MrTBernard O’Flaherty, a Roman Catholic gentleman residing in this town, is absolutely taken, at the peril of his life, out of his bed and out of his house, to give evidence in this case. He refuses to give evidence on this point, on which he knew he was to be examined, until he is coerced by the order of this court; and I told him, “ Sir, you must give the evidence.” What does he then tell us? T hat this insane disgrace to th e Roma n Catholic relig i on said t hey would use the confessio nal (which it is the first cardinal doctrine of a Roman Catholic’s faith to believe to be as closed to the exterior air as ever was the inner temjfle of the Delphic Oracle, or the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem) under the ballot, if they required i t! The Ballot Bill is not yet the law of the land. Parlia¬ ment is, as I have said, sitting; they must have all the evidence in this case, and my report also, before them. Let them know this piece of evidence; let the Prime Minister know it. I do not care one particle who is Prime Minister; they are all the same alike to me: as I have said before, I have had of public life and of judicial life satis superque, and perhaps also of animal life, but if I was to perish this moment I would do my duty in this case, and I say that Mini stexd .and the Legislature ought to kn o^v_ that the Roman (^tholic clergy (if that Father Coen is a representative oTtliem) mean to use the confes s iQnaTT oFth'e^ pur poses of election intimidation j ^f the ha Uot is made theMa w of the land, and Father Coen does not dare to come into th at .chair to co ntr adict Q’Flahert ^ Is that proved, oFlF it not? Is it admitted? “ We have not the power,” I think Mr. Macdonogh said (I do not blame him for saying it, of course ; on the contrary, I applaud him for saying it, it is in a sense true, as far as he was instructed), “ to compel those gentlemen to come into court.” Compel them indeed ! They who flocked “thick as autumnal leaves in Vallom- brosa,” on the morning of the election to the very polling-place, and who ci’owded this court as long as as they were here upon the subpoena of Captain Trench, and until they were dismissed from that subpoena, they cannot be coerced to come into court I that thougli Father Cocnjlid ^not con t radict tha t, it concerned the whole Rom an Catholic ClunxliTn this country; every minister i n this country, every communic ant with hini^ cy^y T Tslidp. eyery a rcnbislia p, tg conp-ad icCrf atdhc panl Qp-his life , if h e^coukt do s^ aTuTthe Jaetis patent, and admitted tha t Father Coen did not dare to oK so. I Then there is the Reverend Mr. Malony, biiFindeed I ought not to go through all these things ; according to sub-constable Macdonnell, a day or two before the meeting at Gort, Mr. TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 25 Air. Alalony made “what I should call a strong speech,” that all should vote for Captain Nolan, and he read a jiainphlet. There is nothing in that; I will tear that gentle¬ man out of my list, because I say that there is nothing proved against him ; he does not appear. There is Father Ilosty’s name, which crops up in that Blue Book ; I think he comes from Clonburr, or some name of that kind. xVgain, Air. .Joyce is dragged upon the scene ; he has an old tenant named Alulreay. I am to consider this case ; here is a case of landlord intimidation I I suppose that I ought to report Air. .Joyce to the House of Commons for having intimidated Mulreay. What is the fact ? Alulreay comes to him and he says, when he is pa.ying his rent (I think that was the way the conversation commenced), “ Alaster, I would like to vote for Cap¬ tain Trench, if you have no objection.” “ Well,” says Mr. .Joyce, “ that is a queer thing.” At this time the landlords had not taken any part in the election, they pi’obably thought that better counsels would prevail amongst the clergy. Air. .Joyce said, “ Do you want to vote for Captain Trench ; what is the cause of that?” “ Well, your honour,” said he, “I have a cousin who received great kindness from one of the family, and he would like to return it; and he tells me he would be very much obliged to me would I vote for his friend, and I would like to pay him the compliment.” Air. Joyce said (not having made up his mind for whom ho would vote), “All right, Alul¬ reay. Alost of us wouldj like to oblige a friend. AYte as you like.” That .Mulreay wanted to vote for Captain Trench there cannot be any doubt ; he gives him a reason why he wished to vote for Captain Trench. There was no landlord interference, and nothing else except his own cousin. Afterwards, Mr. .Joyce is astonished to hear from him that he was called up the steps of the altar by that amiable clergyman. Father Hosty, who told him, in the presence of the assembled congregation, “ Either Pierce .Joyce or you is a liar.” I see tint Air. iMacdonogh is a little startled, but I can assure him that if he entertains the least doubt as to my accuracy, I have all the books in the next room laid out, perfectly prepared and ready to be referred to at a moment’s notice, and I shall be very happy, if I am wrong, to be set right. Accordingly, the \Yitness points out Air. Hosty, who is in court at the time, and says that he gave him a letter; but Air. Hosty said, that he had not the letter. There was a pig-market near Alulreay’s shoj), and the Galway butchers who came there to buy pigs, said that the market would be moved oft’a mile unless he voted for Captain Nolan. He told Mr. .Joyce that Father Hosty had something to do with that, and accordingly he did vote for Caj)tain Nolan, telling Air. Pierce Joyce that he was intimidated, and that he was threatened to have his pig-market removed Irom his neighbourhood, which would be ruin to him. Air. Pierce .Jovme was going on to say something, to which Mr. Alacdonogh objected, and it was jiroperly excluded. Father Hosty was present at that time, and he was challenged about the letter. Father Hosty, like the rest, as Ave used to say in the old time of the sherifts’ return, “ non est." 'I'hen there is the case of the Reverend Air. Forde, who said that all Catholic voters should vole for Captain Nolan, and that anyone Avho did not do so would be a renegade. He said Captain Nolan was the choice of the bishops and priests. He said, of course, that the landlords were tyrants; and that whoever voted for Cajitain Trench would be looked upon as “ soupers,” and as acting contrary to faith and as renegades; Air. Forde was present. That is the gentleman at Kinvarra, of Avhom Air. George Alorris said A’ery fairly, as might have been expected from him, “ I mention these matters; I do not know whether they are true or not; I do not know of my own knowledge ; but I thought it right to mention them to give Air. Forde an opportunity of clearing his character on the subject.” And Air. Forde, anxious as he is no doubt to clear his character, has never appeared here, 'fhere Avas a celebrated general (I forget his name uoav, but he Avas a man Avell knoAvn in the last century) Avho said that he Avould give 20,000 1 . for a character. He Avas a very profligate man, and one of his friends said, “ JViiy Avould you give 20,000 1 . for a character?” “Oh!” he said, “ it Avould be Avorth more than 40,000 Z. to me.” That is the evidence against the Reverend Mr. Forde by Thomas Fahy; and Air. Forde does not appear. Then comes the case of the Reverend Air. Shannon. This is a case to Avhich I called s^Aecial attention. This reverend gentleman is the Vicar General of the united dioceses of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora. He is the gentleman Avho corresponds Avith the bishop about the government of that diocese. Here is the letter of the bishop to the Reverend Air. Shannon. He tolls him, “ The time for the election is noAV very near at hand. I “ am informed by Father Consldine that it seems to you. Father Conolly, and others, that “ a meeting of the clergy of Kilmacduagh Avould be very desirable. I Avould feel obliged “ to you to convene such a meeting, in order that the clergy Avould concert the most ‘'effectual means of carrying into effect the free Avishes of their jjcople. The sooner the “ better. Say Alonday next. You remember that at the last conference held in Gort all the “ clergy, Avith one exception, pledged themselves to oppose Captain Trench. No pressure “ whatever Avas brought to bear by me. I told all to give the freest e.xnression.” (To be sure! after declaring that Captain Nolan was the man AA'hom they unanimously adopted they Avere to give iheir free opinions). “ Even the one exception, Avho did not deem it pru- “ dent in his district to canvass against Captain Trench, attended several meetings, from “ AAdiich I inferred he changed his oinnlons. Perhaps it might be desirable that tAvo or “ three priests, as you may arrange and select at your meeting, AA’ould accompany each “ P. P. or administrator in his parish, Avherever any doubt e.xists, in order to ])rovc to “these doubters that none of the clergy are apathetic. But in all this I need not say it 241. T) .‘5 is 30 JUDGMENT UELIVEEED BY ME. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE “ is necessary rrotliing would be done that would savour of undue influence or intimida- “ tion of any sort. Indeed, I feel the above observation unnecessary as regards the “ clergy of your diocese. Very sincerely yours, + J. MacEvVly.’’' Father Shannon was here the whole time. IMr. Macdonogh called Lord Gough’s attention specially to him, and Lord Gough bore testimony to the kindness of his manner, and thankfully acknow¬ ledged the courtesy he had received from Father Shannon. Lord Gough, the son of a great Irish warrior, of whom we are all pi’oud, stated that two of his tenants, the Cartys, said that their ])riest would not give them absolution or the rites of the Church unless they voted for Captain Nolan. Daly, another man, said that the priest had called on him and he could not vote ; 40 promised to vote, and six only did vote. One can understand Mr. Launcelot .Mangan, the talking baker, at the eleventh hour, a sermon having been preached on the subject of supporting Captain 'french’s candidature, thinking it more de¬ sirable. having had a little touch of Father Kemmy’s mind as to the manner in which his bread would be baked if he voted for Captain Trench, to refrain from doing so. But here is this charge made, as I say, against one and all. If there were 20 of them, they ouo'ht to have oft'ered themselves for a thorough sifting cross-examination on the table, when a nobleman like Lord Gough, in the presence of the vicar general of the diocese— the second man to the bishop himself, his first lieutenant, if I can apply such a vrord to the ecclesiastical calling —makes such a charge as that he was told by^ voters, vvdiom he named, that the priest had said that he would not give absolution, or the rites of ihe Church, to the two Cartys, unless they voted for Captain Nolan. The vicar general disappears, and never comes into the box to contradict that statement, although Father Considine, against whom the charge was not made more than against Father Shannon, came into the chair to contradict other things which were alleged against him. E'ather Joyce, Mr. Bodkin’s clergyman, said that he was sorry to be obliged to speak ; that it was the first time, and he hoped it would be the last, that Captain Nolan had com¬ pletely answered Cajitain Trench’s I’eply to the charges of Father Greene, of Ballinasloe, who had published some libellous letter about the Earl of Clanearty. Father Joyme says: “ Do not be against Captain Nolan because of anything you have heard about him ; do not “ be for Captain Trench because of anything you have heard in favour of Captain Trench, “ or at all.” He told them it was a matter of religion, and that he expecled that all Catholics would vote for Captain Nolan. Father Greene is not produced- and Father Joyce is not produced. Of the Eeverend Mr. Forde, of Kinvarra, I have before spoken. The Eeverend Mr. IMolony said that all Catholics should be for Captain Nolan. The Eeverend Mr. McGovern, who I think lives in some out-of-the-way place, called Ballygar, near the borders of Eoscommon, is proved to have said that any man who would vote for Ca])tain Trench he would count worse than any “jumper” who was ever in Ballygar ; that he would point his finger at him to be a black sheep amongst the flock; and he told them all to come round and put down their names in the vestry. He said that the Trenches were friends of Cromwell (here we have “Old Oliver” coming uj) again), the breed of drummers of the battle of Aughrim. This is nice language to use about noblemen and gentlemen. What crime have they committed? They have not done like the men who si)end their priiicely fortunes in London and in Paris, as the late Marquis of Hertford did, who drew 60,000 1. a year from this country, and did not know his own town of Lisburn when he drove through it. Lord Clonbrock, Lord Dunsandle, and Lord Westmeath remain in the country. They spend their moneys in the country^; they en¬ courage the country ; they improve agriculture, and they improve the people; and they are to be denounced as “ drummers ” and “ tyrants ” by this Eeverend Mr. McGovern ! The amount of history which is to be found in that gentleman’s head, I will venture io say', could be contained in the smallest pippin that ever was cracked after dinner. This gentleman talks about the levelling of the guns at St. Euth, at the battle of Aughrim— sowing di'agons’ teeth in order that they may rise up armed men. I once heard a pleasant story about a distinguished Eoman Catholic prelate who is still living in the country—an admirable ecclesiastic, who looks after his clergy, and makes them attend to their religious duties, and not to brawling and fighting, and campaigning and dragooning their flocks. He arrived at a priest’s house in the country, and went in quietly, as is his manner. The housekeeper almost fell in a faint when she saw the bishop. “ His reverence is “ out; he is attending a sick person,” said the poor woman. “ A good thing for him to be “ after,” said the bishop. He looked at a little glass case, where there were a number of dismissed soda-water bottles and a copy of the “ Catholic Directory,” and the bishop said, “ This is his little library, I suppose.” Here is this Mr. McGovern from Ballygar, who tells the people that the Trenches are “ friends of Cromwell,” and of the “ breed of drummers”! I hear all this talk about the Earl of Clanearty. Do the people know what they are talking about ? The name is connected with the most famous conventions in Europe. Have they all foi’gotten the Treaty of Vienna? Is there no one to tell these fools that the intellectual portion of Ireland are laughing at them, when they' talk such arrant nonsense ? The Earl of Clanearty, since this inquiry has commenced, to the great regret of his friends, and I have no doubt to the sreat loss of his adherents, has closed an honourable life. He proselytised, it is said. Would the Christian religion have existed if there had been no proselytisers ? Proselytisers, indeed ! I do not approve of proselytising. I think it never, in these days, comes to anything ; and I regret to^see men of good estate and good account doing anything which leads to heartburning TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 1 O I and recrimination. But that ministers of religion shall be perpetually hounding on their flocks, taking up the mottoes of old, not forgotten, hut obsolete feuds, A\hich ought to be forgotten, is terrible indeed. 1 forget where the lines are : “ They take from Heaven the sacred spell, But read it by a torch from Hell.” I am afrai d to quote the cLssics in this presence, where there are so many accomplished ~ ^lidTars, as I kn o w the re a reTiBelongTh g to thjs s ^enJ id university, if people would only avail th emselv es pf_it; accomptished^cholars in the lugl ic iYra iiK. Only the other day tEe~son of' a Galway tradesman, upon the best answering that ever was seen in the great examination for the Indian Civil Service, came out second. The son of a respectable Galway tradesman, educated first at Erasmus Smith’s school (under my friend whom I see opjiosite me, and who sat beside me both at school and in college), and afterwards at the Galway College, came out in an examination never surpassed, conferring honour upon his town, and carving out a bright career for himself— which the son of ^'ery tradesman in^ Gahyay could do if h e were only allowed to doul, ]^r no one do ubts their capacity. The TKou^ts dT"our youth come back upon us. We all recolleYt thUold story of Jupiter, perhaps a typical myth of the coming revelation. Who knows but it was ? Mr. Lewis thinks thei’e are such things in the old Pagan ideas. Jupiter was saved by the priests of Cybele making a noise, lest his father, Saturn, who had sivorn to devour him, should hear his cries. Some witty writer says that the ministers of modern religions remind him of those priests of Cybele, clapping their cymbals to drown the voice of their God. I have now done with all those cases as to which no one has come forward, with the exception of two. The Reverend Mr. McKirgue, according to Mr. John Henry Blake, said at the altar that “ anyone who voted for Captain Trench, it would be-Temembered to “him—I say remembered to him;” and he stamped his foot. Then there is Father Kenny, a gentleman who is in Dublin just now, I am told, and who told the people they ‘‘ would not have that house over their head if Lord Clancarty could help it; that any ‘‘ voter would have to account in the other world.” That was said in Irish. His curate said that if they persisted in canvassing for Captain Trench, the consequences would be more serious than they expected. That is proved by Charles Cottenham and George O’Flaherty. Mr. Davoren is called on the other side. Father Kenny does not appear him¬ self. Mr. Davoren admits that Father Kenny said “ I’endering an account in another world,” but he brought in the never-failing “conscience clause;” and John Geraghty admits that he heard nothing but “ in the next world ;” but the curate of that very Mr. Kenny, the Reverend Mr. Kernes, is called for another purpose. He was a very determined-looking sort of gentleman, and he is called to contradict something about his having touched a voter in a booth at Oughterard, who was so ti’ansfixed by the signs that they put upon him (whatever they were), that at first he said he w'ould vote for Captain Nolan and Captain Trench; he was told then that he could not vote for both, and he finally said that he would vote for his master.” That was the Law Life Assurance Company ; and lest there should be anything further than that, this Father Kernes said, “ Come down. Sir ; “ come down. Sir; tliat will do.” He came off the table, and did not vote at all. That Mr. Kernes, who is called to give a shilly-shally explanation of the transaction, is never asked a word about a far more important thing—the charge made against the Reverend Mr. Kenny (to whom he is the curate), and of having himself said that the consequences would be more serious than they expected if they persisted in canvassing for Captain Trench. I shall feel it my duty to report to the House of Commons every single one of those clergymen who have not appeared, as having been guilty of undue spiritual intimidation, and undue clerical influence. I now come to some of the disputed cases, and I will not undertake to go through the whole of them. I take first (I will not say, as was said by ono of the counsel, that he is first in rank, but I suppose he thinks himself first in dignity) the Reverend Mr. Loftus. That certainly was an edifying exhibition! I am quite sure that if the right reverend prelates of Clonfert and Galway were present, and especially the latter, they must have sorely felt the exhibition which they were compelled to witness. Father Loftus is charged with having said, on the 14th of January, “ The blackguard had the audacity to canvass “ my voters; he went around on Christmas Day to spoil our meeting.” He said, “ there “ was no such person as Mr. Griffith, only Mrs., Master Griffith; that any one who Avould “ vote for Trench would go doAvn to their graves with the brand of Cain on them, “ and their children after them.” That is sworn by Charles O’Laughlin, Avho Avrote down all this Avithin half an hour, and sent it that very night to Dublin. He said, “ that Sir Thomas Burke” (I Avill i-ead it out, there is no use in mincing matters) “ Avas “ in delirium tremens for tAvelve months; and then he cursed Mrs. Griffith in Irish, and “ the Avord ‘renegade’Avas used, and the people AA^erc beating their breasts.” Is there any Roman Catholic Avho does not knoAv A\diat that means ? “ The people AA'ere beating “ their breasts and looking at each other; and after they Avent out they conferred all “ about the chapel, and disapproved of his conduct; and some of them said that It vA'as a shame “ to S 2 )eak of a good lady in that Avay.” He said that she Avore (I Avill not say Avhat). He said that it Avas unfortunate that she had not a little son left to send among the voters. It is jn’OA'ed that she had lost all her sons. This Mr. Loftus comes U 2 )on the table, and, with a small exception, he gives a general denial to the charge. He says he never used the curse; he said she Avore the so-and-so; he admits that he spoke in an unhandsome manner, but that Avas all. Heaping slander upon slander, he declares he said it because 241. D 4 he 32 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE he heard, from a man of the name of Finnagan, that she had been tearing tlie carpets in lier fury about the voters thinking of voting against her and the gentry. Amiable man; an ornament to the Church I How a Bossuet, or a IMassillon, or a Fdnelon would have been delighted to have such a gentleman within the bounds of their respective jurisdic¬ tions ! To introduce himself favourably to tbe Court, he said he would not keep company with any man who would not conduct himself properly. Now mark that; and then he admits that he did use the words “ brand of Cain,” and “ committing a great sin.” He will swear that he did not speak of Sir Thomas Burke being in delirium tremens. “ He could scarcely have done so, as he did not know anything at all about him, or his state of health; ” therefore he will swear that he did not refer to that fact; and as he does swear that if he did so, he knew nothing at all about Sir Thomas Burke, he must make a charge of that description against another person Avithout having any foundation whatsoever for doing so. That is as clear as a mathematical proposition. He did not speak of “ graves.” Great reliance Avas put upon the “ graves.” He did not speak in Irish of Mrs. Griffith. Finally, he SAvears solemnly that he did not speak Irish at all that day, and that he did not say anything about her not having a son. He admits that Mr. Griffith Avas a humane man, and ought to be liked; and other v/itnesses of credit say the same; but still he thinks that he Avas right in introducing Mrs. Griffith’s name. He most solemnly protests that, neither directly nor indirectly had he any act or part in any “ renegade” or “recreant” resolu¬ tion at Dimmore, although the resolutions were prepared in his house; and he SAvears that he did not knoAv of the flag which Avas floating from the belfry of his chapel on the morning of the election. There is the charge, and there are the contradictions. If 50 persons had sworn it, I Avould hold it to be every single Avord and letter a deliberate perjury. What are the facts ? Every syllable of this abominable charge-sheet is either admitted out of his OAVU lips, or by the Avitnesses AA’hom he produces to aid him by their expected Avant of memory. Tbe “brand of Cain,” Avhich he SAVore he did not use, is admitted by himself Avith the “ conscience clause.” The use of the Avord “ graves,” Avith “ the brand of Cain,” AAdiich Avord “graves” he solemnly denied having used, is proved by his Avitness Mr. Martin IMacdonnell. The same Avitness, Mr. Martin Macdonuell, proves that he spoke of the O’Laughlins going over to Mr. Lyons, the parson; that is, that they might go and change their religion. There is a pretty specimen of a Roman Catholic priest. That is the Avay in Avhich he sjieaks, if a man acts as an agent like this young attorney. Mi’. O’Laughlin, the sou and the grandson of tAvo respectable gentlemen in their profession. The father still lives. I Avill say nothing further about him ; and the grandfather was as honourable a mao as ever stood in a court of justice. Mr. Macdonnell says that Father Loftus told them that they might go over to Mr. Lyons; that is, that they might change their religion, because this young man, to earn his bread, has the audacity to be employed by a candidate for tins county. It is the doctrine of our Church that changing your religion, unless you believe in the truth of the religion to Avhich you go, dooms to eternal perdition your immortal soul; and this man, Avho is still a minister of religion, says, “ Because you dare to canvass the voters of this district on behalf of Captain Trench, “ you may go noAv and change your religion as soon as you like, and go to Mr. Lyons.” He having SAvorn in the most positive terms that he did not utter a word of Irish on that day at all, Mr. Martin Macdonnell says that he did speak in Irish on that day; and Father Loftus having said, “ I Avas speaking about bribery and about conscience, and you “ can understand me, my Lord” (“ conscience” and “ bribery” were again and again introduced), “ it Avas that Avay I said it.” Mr. Martin Macdonnell said he did not hear a Avord about bribery at all; and all he can say about the curse is that he did not hear it; and I Avill tell you Avhy he did not hear it, for the best of all reasons in the world—because he left Avhen Father Loftus began to speak in Irish about Mrs. Hancock, the lady Avhom he Avas praising. All admit that Avhatever Avas said of Mrs. Griffith in the Avay of a curse Avas after the compliment to Mrs. Hancock, and Mr. Macdonnell left Avhen he began to speak about Mrs. Hancock, and consequently bad left before he came to Mrs. Griffith. Therefore his not hearing the curse about Mrs. Griffith is not Avorth a farthing. Again, a gentleman of this county, Mr. Daniel de Vere Hunt, Avho is called by Father Loftus, admits that he heard everything SAvorn against him except “ Cain,” and the curse ; “ Cain,” Avhich Father Loftus himself admits, and the curse Avhich, if uttered at all, Avas in Irish ; and Mr. Hunt swears that Father Loftus spoke no Irish, contradicting Mr. Macdonnell again, and therefore Mr. Hunt must have left the church before the Irish Avas spoken, as Mr. Macdonnell admits that he had done. But in addition. Father Loftus, having SAA’orn that he did not speak a word about Sir Thomas Burke, or, at all events, that he had no recollection of having done so, Mr. Hunt, the agent of Captain Nolan, who had canvassed for him before the election, and Avho described himself as being his friend, and as being in communication with him, Avhen he came into the petition, says that Father Loftus did speak of Sir Thomas Burke in a A ery unhandsome manner from the altar, and says Mr. Hunt, “ He “ attacked all the gentry right and left.” And Avhat does Mr. Hunt prove ? That this Avretch (for I can call him nothing else), Avho never can have climbed a father’s knee or embraced a mother’s neck, or he would never have alluded to such a subject, did say that it was very unfortunate that Mrs. Griffith had no son. What must I think of Mr. Loftus after that ? First, for his having dared to introduce the subject, as he did, and aftei’Avards, as a minister of religion, having sAvorn in this court of justice, in the most solemn manner, that he never used a Avord of the kind. Mr. Hunt is no partisan ; he is the friend of Captain Nolan, and canvassed for him, and he moved a resolution in his favour at a meeting, and finally he is called by Mr. Loftus as a Avitness to vamp up, as I say, the debauched TKIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 33 debauched evidence of that dreadful priest ! There is nearly every word proved out of his own mouth and the mouths of his own witnesses. But it does not stop there. As regards young Mr. O’Laughlin, the son and the grandson, as I have said, of those gentle¬ men, the very witnesses for the defence bear testimony to his character. He is not a “ blackguard.” Nothing has been said to show that he is a “ blackguard.” Mr. Mac- donogh never called him such a thing, or insinuated that he was so. Of course, he would have done so if he had been so instructed, and if he believed it was true and for the interest of his client to do it. Mr. O’Laughlin wrote down the thing that very night, and sent it to Dublin, and never saw it again until Mr. Macdonogh called for it and put it into his hand on the table. The people inside the church were beating their breasts and staring at each other, and outside they were condemning Mr. Loftus’s conduct; and from them Mr. O’Laughlin, who does not speak Irish, learned that it was a curse; but two days after, such was the impression that it made, Patrick iMonaghan and two other labourers were talking in the field about it. O’Laughlin comes up, and then Pat Mona¬ ghan gives him the exact meaning, and he (Monaghan) comes here on the table and swears to the curse, though he is doubtful as to which of two Irish synonyms was used, “ Zao” or “ moulth'” ; “ lao" is “ melting,” and “ mnuUh" is “curse.” What he said was that it was either everything she would go through,” or “ the curse of the congregation,” he does not know which word was used. 1 know that in the Mayo case the very words proved against Father Conway were “moulth an pupple,^’’ “the curse of the people.” I regret to say that I cannot speak Irish. Jennings, an unimpeached witness, says that INIrs. Griffith’s name was introduced in Irish, and the people were looking aghast at each other. This is the man who dares to come upon that table and ask me to believe him with his “ conscience clause !” Conscience, indeed ! 1 venture to say that when this trial is closed, and the counsel in this case have departed (as God knows they-ought to wish to do), that very word “ conscience” will pass into the light artillery of Nisi Prius practi¬ tioners, as for many years after the Queen’s trial did, and even still does, the an¬ swer, “ Non mi ricordo^' of the famous or infamous Theodore Majocchi. I do believe this Mr. Loftus when he says that he never canvassed any respectable person! I will engage that he did not. I do believe him when he says that he sees nothing wrong in the language which he used; that it is “due” influence and the custom of the diocese, and that his archbishop is aware of the custom. But I do not believe him in anything else. Is it necessary to go further? Who forgets Patrick Barrett on the Athenry platforms? The obscene creature whose words were too filthy to be repeated by Mr. Routledge, who had to prove them by writing. This wretch, Pat Barrett, who stated to the Ballinasloe constable “ not to be angry with him, that he was well paid for his work, and would get a “ good farm from Captain Nolan who appears to have been kept to outrage all law, all decency, all delicacy, in the interests of his emjiloyei’S; whose only notoriety arises from the fact of his son having been twice tried for attempted assassination; most fitly therefore did he cry, “ Doum with the landlords !” and most appropriately for Mr. Loftus did he echo the words “ Down with the landlords! Well done, Pat Barrett!” But he is pained (that amiable man!) to think “ that any one should think him cajDable of such things!” These are his words, “ AYhy should he applaud a man whom he hardly knew ” (this is on the direct examination), “ whom he had not heard speak a single word ” until he came to be cross-examined ? And then the murder is out. What does he then say on his oath ? “ I do not know that I said, ‘ Well done, Pat Barrett!’ I might have said it in a passing “ way;” and at length he said, “ I believe I did say it,” and, “ I might have said, “Down with the landlords!” This is his own admission as to that scene after he had solemnly sworn the contrary. But mark ! the truth had already been, established without his admission by Mr. Thomas Kirwan, a Roman Catholic gentleman of ancient lineage and good possessions, a grand juror and a deputy lieutenant of the county ; by young Mr. John Kirwan, the son of the deceased Mr. Kirwan, of Castle Hackett, whose memory, I say, will shine the purer through the foul Stygean vapours in which it has been sought to envelop it; by Mr. David Routledge, the son of a man of good fortune, who had been high sheriff of a neighbouring county, and was beloved by all his acquaintances, every one of whom the Reverend Mr. Loftus contradicts, although he will not undertake to swear that any one of them would, to save his life, tell the smallest untruth upon his oath. I shall not dwell upon that other scene, in which he contradicts another magistrate, Mr. Barrett, and his son, upon their oaths, in ribald words, in ribald curses, I will say in this very court, which I in vain essayed to stop. This recalls Thersites, who, I think, is addressed in the first Iliad,— juoi, avai^driv lirieipive. (“ Oh, thou clad in impudence.”) I believe that is not far from the proper translation, though it is so long since I saw it that I may be in error. If such conduct as I liave been describing does not meet with its just punishment, I have only to say that it Avere far better that the canons of the Church, of Councils, Qilcumenical or Synodical, Trent or Thurles, Tuam or Dublin, should never again be mentioned in a court of justice. This Mr. Loftus is an approved accredited agent of Captain Nolan. He is contradicted upon his oath by those witnesses, one a deputy lieutenant, three magistrates, one an officer in Her Majesty’s service, the son of that amiable Mr. Kirwan, by the son of the Crown solicitor, two respectable farmers, Madigan the policeman, as well as out of the mouth of his own witnesses, Mr. Macdonnell and Mr. Hunt, llarrett, the confrhe of this Mr. Loftus, told the policeman 241. E in 34 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE in Ballinasloe that he was well j)aid fox’ his work; and, “ Do not be angry with me,” said he to the policeman who knew him in better days; “ Do not be angry with me,” said even this wretch, Pat Barrett, xvith some little compunctions visiting of those early times when he coixld show an honest face. “ Ah !” said he to the policeman xvho had known him, “ do not be angi’y with me. I am well paid for my work, and I will get a better “ farm than I lost from Captain Nolan.” I am as convinced as that I live, that Captain Nolan never held out to him any such inducement; that Captain Nolan never pi-omised him any such thing. I say that I am as satisfied as I am of my own existence, that that British officer, distinguished in the scientific branch of the service, never condescended to complicity with so loathsome a prodigy. I will not accuse any one else of having such complicity, but I say that it was incumbent upon Captain Nolan’s principal agent, Mr. Sebastian Nolan, to have come into the chair, and to have satisfied us that neither directly or indirectly had he hand, act, or part, in any transaction with that abominable Pat Bai’rett. I now pass from that case, and I come ixow to another case which is nearer home, that of the Reverend Mr. Staunton, f think, of Clarenbi'idge. He is charged by James Lynch, Edwai'd Ushei’, and Pat Kinneen with having said to his congregation, “ If the agents “ of Trench come among you, hunt them from you like devils.” “ Better for those who “ have horses that the horses should have their legs cut from under them than that they “ should hire them to Trench.” “ Thank God if they had them long.” “ That Trench’s “ money would melt like the froth of the sea.” He said he would “ brand them as “ traitors for ten geixerations if they did anything for Trench.” What does he say? He comes forward to give his evidence; he admits saying that they were fighting for their altars and for their children’s children unto the fourth generation. He says he told them that on their side were the bishops, pi’iests, and people. He said that, “ One who was “ hiring cars for Captain Trench has the inxpertinence to talk of the Gospel.” What is the impertinence? That this poor fellow knew a great deal better than any of his priesthood that the altar of God was not the place for xxnseemly exhibitions of this kind, but that its true work was the explanation of the Gospel. He says, “ I did not tell them “ to do as I am chai’ged. I mei'ely said that they were to put them away if they came “ againand he made a gesture with his hand, and he said he could not trust himself to speak further on the subject. He said, “My parishioners would have been most dis- “ edified if I did not canvas them for Captain Nolan.” The tenants of Mr. Redington and others would have been “ most disedified ” if he did not canvass them for Captain Nolan! What did this gentleman do ? He admits that he told Molloy, the summons servex’, that he xvas “ one maix in a thousand,” to come and serve him. When asked why, he said, “ Because the people xnight rise up and do something.” He was asked, “ Might do what ?” and he replied, “ Oh! I do not know; anything “ that xnight be within reach, handy and convenient, and disjxose of them.” He contradicts as honourable a gentleman, I believe, as ever stood in the county, connected with some of the noblest families who adorn what was the city of the independent Papacy, but which is noxv the capital of Italy. He coixtradicts Mr. Thomas Joyce, axid he contradicts this other poor man, but he adxnits that he told Pat Kinneen that “ there were two ways of telling the truth.” When he came on this table to answer on his oath, the spectacle was awful and disgusting, and I believe there were people in this court of high position axxd great authority, who screened their veiy faces not to see the man while he was making such an exhibitioxx of himself. He admits that he suggested to Kinneen to “ polish ” his evidence for Mr. Concannon ; by which he said he meant that, “ a man could either add to or diminish xvhat was the real fact; and that he “ might volunteer axxy evidence he liked to Mr. Concannoxx until he came upon the table,” He admits that Mr. Moloney, Mr. Fahy, and Mr. Ford, had read Mr. Redington’s letter, which he suppressed from the tenants. He contx’adicts on his oath. Lynch, Usher, Mr. Thomas Joyce, and Kinneen ; but he will not say that Lynch is a man to pex-jure hixnself. When he says that Kixmeen is to “ tell the truth in two ways,” is it any woixder that several of his parishoners, who were summoned by Mr. Concannon, went home unexamined, when he admits that he was capable of telling them that a man might venture to give evidence, and say, “ that he saw one man beat another ” in a nominal manner. That he might put one man up to deceive another, not being on his oath. “ Only ixiy Lord,” said he, “ to an attorney.” Can I attach any weight to his evidence, or to that of Miles Keevan, the poor xxian who came to corroborate him '! This is precious morality for the people of Galway, who heard him tell Lynch, an agent of Captain Trench, to take as xnuch money as he could get, and to vote for Captain Nolan. There is the Reverend Mr. Staunton, and there I leave him. I now come to a vexy iixxportant case; perhaps the most important that I have had to deal with, and certainly the most painful. I shall deal with it fearlessly. I shall do, as I said in the Galway case, my duty, not caring whether the person inculpated be curate, parish priest, administrator, bishop, or archbishop. The person to whom I now apply myself is the Bishop of Clonfert. It is too late in this inquiry to do anything about it; but I may just mention that I saw a most audacious letter, which was printed in a Dublin paper. I cannot fix axxything upon it; it is natural enough that a country paper should reproduce articles in Dublin papers. I refer to a most audacious letter signed by the Rev. Mr. Mulkerrin, absolutely having the audacity to say that the case made against the Bishop of Clonfert, himself, and others, was wholly unworthy of belief in this court, and that the witnesses were not worthy of belief on their oath. If he had thought TKIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 35 thought a little, it would have been much better for him to have remained silent. The Bishop of Clonfert, who came upon that table in the view of this county, Avho, until he was consecrated bishop, on I think the 10th or 14th of January in the present year, was the Rev. P. Duggan, whose name w:is signed to the resolutions of the Tuam Deanery, was nothing more than a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Tuam, up to the 10th of January last. He was at the Tuam Deanery meeting, and as he volunteered to tell us (and it is no charge Avhatever against him; some of the greatest dignitaries ever in the Church sprang from the lowest ranks of the people, even, I believe. Popes), “that he was peasant- born.” If this trial had been going on before the 9th of January, I should have been bound to deal with that gentleman as I should deal with any other parish priest or curate, and I do not see why I should deal any otherwise now. The charge made against him is that he Avent to the chapel at Ballinasloe, he having been engaged, as he said, in preparing for the great solemnities of liis consecration, which we are taught to believe established his episcopal descent from the Apostles of our Lord. I shall not dwell upon the letter written at that moment to the Athenry meeting or upon the hot haste Avith Avhich he runs, upon the first Sunday after his conseeration, to preach in Ballinasloe, amongst other things, upon the subject of this election. He goes there, and he himself admits that he did preach upon it. 'I he Avitness to Avhom I refer has been much assailed upon that. He has every right to claim the protection of this court. If any contemptuous priest dares to Avrite in the public pap»ers, pending this inquiry, that he has SAVorn a falsehood, I say emphatically that I, Avho have heard the case, have no reason to say that he has SAvorn a falsehood; and I say that it would have Avell become the Reverend Mr. Mulkerrin, if he could have contradicted Carter’s evidence, he (Mr. Mulkerrin) being a curate in Ballinasloe, to have come foi'Avaid and proved it in this case, before he challenged that man for having committed Avilful and corrupt perjury. This Mr. Carter SAvears that the bishop told the people that he kncAv Avhat they Avere expecting to hear; that he kncAV, in the first place, they Avould like to hear Avhat sort of man he Avas, and that they expected him to speak about the election. Mr. Carter distinctly charges tlie bishop Avith having said that no one should be sent to Parliament who Avould not advocate the cause of the Pope. He had a perfect right to say so, if that Avas his vieAV of the case. Why not ? TVho disputes it ? I do not. Any man has a right to counsel every one of his felloAvs to do certain things; and more, to urge them not to do certain things ; but not to hold OAit spiritual terror,” in the Avords of Sir Samuel Romiliy, on “hopes of future happiness,” or to “threaten them Avith eteimal misery.” Carter SAvears that the bishop stated that “ anathema ” Avould be hurled against all who Avould not do as he and the clergy said; and he swears that in the organ loft, J think, or Avhere the sacred music is performed (he Avas there a singer, having a tenor A'oice), a man of the name of Carroll (Avho noAv admits that he was standing beside him) Avas standing beside him, and that he turned round and nudged him, and said, “ Carter, that’s for you.” He says that he afterAvards voted for Captain Trench, and tliat immediately thereupon his services in the choir Avere discontinued and his little children Avere turned out of the convent school in Ballinasloe, Avhere they had preAuously received their tender education, as some small compensation for his services in the Avayhe described. “ But indeed,” said Carter, “ I do not believe the bishop had anything to do with it.” He Avas asked, M^ho else did ?” He replied, “ I attribute it to Father Mul¬ kerrin.” That is the gentleman Avho has had the audacity to Avrlte a letter to the papers contradicting this man’s testimony, though he never ventured to come upon the table to say one Avord on the evidence Avhich he had given. Every man, certainly every Roman Catholic, knoAvs that if a bishop ajApears to preach in a chur.;h, he does not do so Avithout the presence, at all events, of a curate, or probably of many of them. On his first appearance after his consecration every one of the priests Avill be there to meet him ; the parish priests or the curates, as the case may be. Does any one in the Avorld doubt that there must have been, Avhen Bishop Duggan Avas preaching, some one of the clergymen of Ballinasloe present? Not a single one of those clergymen comes forward to give the sup¬ port of his oath to the recollection of the bishop ! I do not accuse him of Avilfully misstating the truth or of suppressing the truth, but they do not give us the warrant of hare memory, and say that the bishop’s recollection is not faulty as to his having introduced that subject. Above all things Ave Avould have expected that Mr. Mulkerrin would have come forward to give evidence, his attention being specially called to the fact that Mr. Carter accused him of being the person who had caused the children to be sent aAvay from the school. Instead of the parish priest coming forward to give that testimony ; Instead of Mr. Mul¬ kerrin coming forward to give that testimony, that excellent gentleman Avho was here early in the case, Mr. O’Shaughne.ssy, Avho is a magistrate of two counties, is produced; and Mr. Carroll is produced to lead me to disbelieve Carter. There is another charge against Carter to Avhich I Avill refer. Am I to believe that Carter deliberately, for the purpose of having himself contradicted, would call attention to a fact not at all material to the case ; namely, to the fact that Carroll turned and said, “ That’s for you. Carter,” thereby making the ground clear, if it was an invention, for a faithAVOrthy Avitness to be brought to contradict him? Am I to believe that that is the Avay in Avhich perjury is generally concocted ? Mr. Carroll, a rival draper in the town of Ballinasloe, positively swears on this table that he did not knoAV, until he came into this toAvn, how Carter had voted. Every Avind of an intention to. vote one way or another in one of these toAvns goes as rapidly as a hurricane flies over the land, and yet this Mr. Carroll pledged himself, on his oath, that he did not know hoAv Carter had voted. I Avill venture to say that every 241. E 2 man 36 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE man in the town of Ballinasloe, from Craig’s hotel to the gates of Garbally, had been talking of it, more or less, ever since until this petition ; yet Carroll did not know how Carter had voted, though he knew he had ceased to sing in the organ loft, and though his children had been sent away from the nunnery school. There is nothing like a little circumstance to show how precise and accurate a witness is. He recollects particularly that the bishop did not use the words charged, because he saAV him twisting his episcopal ring upon his little finger. He particularly remembers that the bishop could not be mistaken in his memory, because he saw the bishop twisting his ring (a matter about which he has no possible doubt, for I called his attention spe¬ cially to it) upon his little finger. Well, if I am not much mistaken, and as every Roman Catholic knows, whoever bends his head to kiss the episcopal ring, thnt ring is not carried upon the little finger, but upon the finger next thereto. I called his attention to that several times, but he persisted in that evidence. Him I do not believe. Carter I do not disbelieve. When the bishop says that he did not use that language, I do not Insinuate that he now recollects having used it; but I am asked to determine upon the evidence (and that is all I can go upon) whether I accept the testimony of Carter, or whether I reject it. That is all I am required to do. Which course do I adopt ? Avhich do I believe to be the cause of truth? lam giving my reasons for adopting that of Carter. Mr. 0‘Shaughnessy, the next gentleman, comes upon the table rough and ready, and he says that the bishop did not use any such words ; and he goes on in the most ex¬ traordinary sort of conversation (I do not know what to call it; a sort of trans-Shannonite gibberish) to tell me that he will swear positively that the bishop did not use it, but that he might have used it in another way when he was talking about the Pope. Though he will not positively swear that he heard the bishop use that expression at ab, and though the bishop says he did not use it at all, yet Mr. 0‘Shaughnessy will equally positively swear that he might have used it in another way. Of all the pieces of evidence which I ever heard, that is the most extraordinary. But who is this Mr. 0‘Shaughnessy ? He is the gentleman who ])resided at the Uallinasloe meeting. He is described by Constable Kells, a respectable witness of the police force, who is not assailed in any way, as having been seen by him in Ballinasloe upon that eventful morning with a mob at his back: “ a “noisy, yelling, shouting mob.” Now this is a reluctant witness. I heard either my friend Mr. Serjeant Armstrong, or Mr. Murphy, ask whether if it was a “ noisy, “ yelling, shonting mob, ” he would consider it a mob, and at last he made up his mind that a noisy, yelling, shouting mob was a mob. Kells says that Mr. 0‘Shaughnessy was present when Mr. Crawford Allen, that respectable gentleman (but bi'oken down by ill- health), was attacked by the “ noisy, yelling, shouting mob.” He says that Mr. Crawford Allen in the peacefnl town of Ballinasloe, almost the central point of Ireland, only saved himself from the mob by getting into a house ; and that after the door was closed upon them, the mob had the audacity to try and break into the bouse in which he was; that when they attacked the house of some one who was more a favourite than the rest (I think Mr. Rock’s house), even the priest cried out that he was ashamed of them, and Mr. 0‘Shaughnessy, the magistrate, who Avas present, never once interfered. One unfortu¬ nate man shouted for Captain Trench; he Avas ill-used, and he would have had severe treatment only that the priest, not the police, saved him. ShoAving, as I said in the Droglieda case, that they had absolute dominion ov'er the people, and that they could by a turn of the hand urge the unlicensed rabble either to commit, or to refrain from com¬ mitting unparelled outrage. It is mentioned in Cicero that it is the duty of the leading men to repress levitati mnltitndinis resistere, but surely the ministers of a religion of peace are, above all, called upon to be active, earnest, diligent, and instrumental in preventing the commission of outrage. There is the defence against the use of those Avords by the right reverend prelate. Father Greene Avas in Galway; he Avas beside the counsel; the attention of the witness Avas called lo Father Greene on the eleventh day of this trial; but Father Greene is not called to give evidence. Father Kirwan is the gentleman to Avhomthat Avorthy man, Mr. Deely, Avrote (Ave shall never forget that gentleman; I shall never forget his face Avhilst I live), asking him “ to give him the names of the voters who “went against Captain Nolan.” That is the gentleman to whom Father Deely Avrote. Father Kirwan is not produced. Father Mulkerrin, Avho had rushed into print asknoAving all about this transaction, but not until after this inquiry has closed, has never appeared to fortify what of course I must believe every one of them Avould have been only too proud to fortify, if they could, namely, the evidence of their neAv bishop Avhen he gives the voucher of his oath that he did not use the word “ anathema ” on that occasion. It is idle to tell me that the bishop has a good memory, and that the episcopal memory is better than other memories. I have good reason for saying that that right reverend bishop’s memory is not very good. Necessarily I asked about the canons of the Council of Trent. I have got here since I came to this town a copy of them, Avhich belonged to one of their predecessors of the Lord Bishop of Galway ; his sainted predecessor, if I may make use of that expression, Avho preceded Dr. 0‘Donnell in this See, namely. Dr. BroAvn ; and there I find a canon upon Avhicli there may be different interpretations ; and far be it from me to set my opinion or my scholarship against those of others. But beyond any doubt I the Bishop of Clonfert told me off at once, when I put him the question, that he did not \ know anything about the canons; that he had been employed in missionary labours. I I was applied to upon the following day to allow the Lord Bishop of Galway, who had them I at his fingers’ ends, to explain the canons, he being a ripe scholar both in the matters of il his church and otherwise, and I cheerfully consented. I saw afterwards the Bishop of Clonfert TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 37 Clonfert reappearing. The best thing that I can say is, that he left the impression upon my mind, that if he ever knew anything of tliose councils, he had entirely forgotten them. » Now I dismiss that case, and I come to the next case, to which, as I have gone along, I have in some degree referred before, but I must do so again as long as time spares, and then when time is gone I will stop. There is Father Conway, that man who I am certain forced himself upon the table ; I had two or three times to stop, absolutely the only interruption of our proceedings which has taken place from the first moment to the present hour in the case. Not one single jarring word passed in those 50 long days as between one counsel and the other, not one single rude or hasty word was addressed to the Court by any of the counsel; I own most cheerfully my own deficiencies, but I am bound to say they were kindly and amply allowed for by the very able men whom I have before me. I am happy to say that this inquiry closes without a single recollection to jar the general harmony of the whole case, as far as the counsel and the Court are con¬ cerned. But that man stood there, he would force himself into the most prominent position, and I did not fail to hear from his lips many an audacious word, not addressed to this Court, not addressed to me (for I would have known well how to protect myself), but against his superior as a man, Iiis superior as a scholar, his superior in every gradation of life in which a human being wishes to be thought well of, and above all things, his Bishop; for it was his Bishop who sat there meekly to hear what I cannot but think he more than once heard. Now what does this Mr. Conway say ? There was in the case of another clergyman the old malignity against Mr. Bodkin; 32 years will not wipe out some little paltry ha«ty word, as to which I have not a doubt in my mind on the face of the earth that Mr. 'Bodkin was right; 32 years, I said rvhen he used the expression, Tantcene animis calestihus tree? Who is this Mr. Conway who has assailed Mr. Burke of Ower? In 1857 he had attacked the old gentleman, who was pro¬ tected by the gallantry of his son. That is a matter of history. He soon made Mr. Conway yield to the only undue influence he recognises ; and that is, I believe, in the history of the Mayo Petition, the presentation of a double-barrelled pistol when his father’s life was in danger, or some such transaction. Mr. Burke of Ower swears that the Reverend Mr. Conway, in the chapel at Headford (as he calls it “within his own “ demesne ”), said, “ the landloi’ds should be hung by the heels, and not by the head.” He said this at Mass ; he said this after the Communion; he said this with his vestments on; he said this with the chalice on the altar. He talked of “tumbling ” the “land¬ lords,” with of course all the usual farrago of qualification, and he specially alluded, he said, to the masters of Clyda, Ower, and Craig ; not like the ancient “ Cawtholic''^ family “ of Mr. Brown of Claren,” but I suppose the modern families of Burke of Ower, Lynch of Clyda, and Blake of Craig. Those are all the most respected Catholic families in the district. Is this rebel against all authority to be continued as a parish priest doing these nefarious acts against all law and order, while I have before me the Resolution of the Committee of the House of Commons in the year 1857, reporting his conduct to the House, for which he has been in that archdiocese transferred from a humble curacy to a valuable parish ? Letting alone the Council of Trent, here are the ordinances of the Synod of Thurles (I acknowledge the courtesy by which I have received them from the Lord Bishop of Galway) which say that not for any cause what¬ soever {cjndcunque de causa) shall any name be mentioned in the chapel, and for the wisest reason, lest quarrels and objurgations and things that are unfitting to that sacred celebration should find their way within the House of God. Does anyone who has ever read the Testament forget the scene which is recorded of our Divine Master having turned the money-changers out of the Temple, where he spoke of the Temple being the House of God, and of the Pharisees converting it into a den of thieves ? It is proved by Mr. Joyce that Father Conway called Mr. Joyce “ a renegade.” He admits he said to Dr. Turner that Mr. Kirwan, just dead, was a bad man to the poor, and that he hoped now he would not want out-door relief; but he denied in the most solemn manner that he ever said in the chapel that the landlords should be hung by the heels ; that he only said it at the meeting, and that he coupled it with saying that similar treatment should be accorded to priest or parson if they did in like manner. Does he expect, or do the counsel for the sitting Member expect, that when I come to weigh the evidence (which must be weighed, and note ounted), I will accept the evidence of the Rev. Peter Conway, as worth a single hair’s weight as against that of Mr. Wil¬ liam Burke, an honoured and respected member of the Bar, as he Avas at one time, now residing as quietly as he can upon his property; against the evidence of Mrs. BarbaraBurke, his lady ; against that of Ellen Butler, his servant, Avho says the pew Avas broken after that; against the evidence of Mr. Pierce Joyce, who proved that Mr. ConAvay called him “ a renegade ;” and against the evidence of Dr. Turner and of Mr. Charles Blake, of Tuam? Am I to prefer his evidence in that horrible scene, that of the Englishman brought over from Liverpool, or Avherever he lives, and of the Spaniard, Don Fernando, who may be another “ Mendiz Pinto,” but Avhatever his name, is not called to give us any version of the transaction ? i As to the Rev. Peter ConAvay, all I can say of him is splendide mendax ! Upon that table what an odious exhibition he made of himself! Though I have no doubt he thought 1 it was highly to his credit, as he SAvelled and fumed, talked and raged, tried a little bit of fun, and then Avas dreadfully indignant. This is the gentleman as to Avhom Captain Nolan said, that “ he had made so many sacrifices in his cause ; ” one of the sacrifices being the 241. E 3 feelings 38 JUDGMENT DELIVEEED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE feelings of as honourable a gentleman as ever walked this county, the cherished friend of his deceased father, his next neighbour, avIio plainly and manifestly was trying to forego his own settled political convictions and opinions in order that he might not register a vote against the son of his old friend and companion, a gentleman upon whom Father Conway in his presence poiu’ed a flood of abuse too filthy to be repeated. There is a passagp in Vivgil which describes those cruel birds who came down ujion the tables and consumed the food. The harpy Celaeno was the principal, I think, amongst them. The passage describes them in language which gives a painful and disgusting image of them : — “ Tristiiis baud illis monstrum, nec saevlor ulla Pestis et ira Deiiin stygiis sese extulit undis.” I leave Father Peter Conway to the kind regards, to the tender mercies, and I am not quite clear that I do not leave him to the speedy promotion of his diocesan, if he takes the same view of his transactions in this case which he did after the Report and Resolu¬ tions of the House of Commons in the Mayo case in the year 1857. Now I come to Mr. Considine. Mr. Considiue is charged by a constable (for how was evidence otherwise to be got with all those appalled peasants to be appealed to ?) in the Royal Irish Constabulary. They have been faithful to their allegiance, faithful to their oaths, and they have served their Sovereign under trying circumstances. I saw tried and proved the valour of those men when some three, four, or five of them presented their undaunted breasts to hundreds of aianed rebels, and the better side won. I do not believe there is a constable in that force who would hear his Sovereijjn denounced and the British institutions lacerated in the way in which they were at those meetings, for any promotion which the Sovereign could confer iqion him. Constable Healy swears that Mr. Considine said, “ that any renegade Catholic who would not vote for Captain Nolan ivoukl be a dis- “ grace to his God, his religion, and his country, and that he would go to Hell; that there “ were black sheep; not many, thank God! That anyone who would vote for Captain Trench “ he would not attend.'’ This is the gentleman as to whom my lord Bishop writes, The “ time for the election is now at hand, I am informed by Mr. Considine.’’ That is in the letter addressed to Mr. Shannon, the vicar general, who does not dare to appear, chal¬ lenged as he is by Lord Gough to do so. Mr. Considine said that Captain Nolan was the choice of the bishops and the jiriests, and that anyone who would not l ote for him (stereotyped exjiression I) would be a disgrace to his religion. All this abominable language is mentioned to him ; he is produced in court, and he himself frankly says that he agrees that he ought to be suspended if he used such abominable language. He says, “ On my “ solemn oath I never used that atrocious, unchristian, and abominable language.” Well, that is a strong contradiction. The charge is deposed to by Michael Healy, and by another constable named Gaddis at the other chapel of Tiernesan, about three miles out¬ side Gort. What do I find about this gentleman, Mr. Considine ? I am no respecter of persons in this Court; “ Curate, priest, administrator, bishop, or archbishop.” I will carry out those words. In the first place, he is the chosen confidant of Mr. Sebastian Nolan; letter after letter is addressed to him; he is the person to whom those atrocious placards are sent for distribution; he stayed up all night and went to carry off Mr. Shaw Tayloi’’s tenants at four o’clock in the morning. Is that the business for a minister of religion, I ask ? He says that he never would use such language. I look at those meetings and I find that in Gort one of the very first I’esolutions was moved by Mr. Con¬ sidine, that ” every Catholic is a recreant and a renegade who will not vote for Captain “ Nolan.” In making his speech Mr. Considiue used this language : “ I tell you from this “ platform that wherever an Irishman is found in the cities of America, from Maine to “ Louisiana, or in the Gold Fields of Australia, he shall hang his head in shame and sorrow, “ and say, ‘ a curse upon the slaves who had sold their faith and their eountry;’” and the Rev. Mr. Shannon invoked the blessing of Almighty God upon the meeting I it is only of apiece with Father Conway calling out “ Hallelujah— Te Deum laudamus" in the midst of all that vile ribaldry. “ Hallelujah!” Milton calls it, “ Hymn of high praise.” 1 suppose in the educated mind of the Rev. Mr. Cannon, Milton, whose pen was almost touched by the celestial fire, will be consigned to the same dark receptacle as the man whom he served as secretary, namely, Oliver Cromwell! Then what does Father Considine say as to the second resolution? “1 have you “ there,” he says, and smiles. “ I never projiosed that resolution at all; it is printed in “ the ‘ Tuara News ’ as having been proposed by me, but I never proposed it; it was “proposed by Father Lavelle.” Father Lavelle comes upon the table, and he says: “ I have you there, too; that resolution was never proposed by me ; it was proposed by “ Father Considine;” therefore there they are, the two Dromios, Father Lavelle and Father Considine, playing these A^ery resolutions between them. The curses are hurled, and the Avords “ recreants and renegades ” uttered against the free electors of the county of Galway. A man of the name of Glyn, from Gort, swears that Mr. Considine did not say “ go to Hell; ” he gives this as a reason : he Avould not deny “ black sheep;” he Avould not deny “ renegade,” or “ disgrace to religion;” he forgets altogether whether Mass Avas over, and he afterwards admits that the language was used before the last Gospel. Now, after those canons of the the Council of Thurles, and of the other Council in Dublin, Avere produced, I saw a change come over the whole spirit of the ecclesiastical dream; and then one of them, I think, assented to the suggestion of Captain Nolan’s counsel, that the Mass was divisible into four parts, and that if you heard (I think he positively TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 39 positively used the word) a little bit of each part it would “ count;” I think that was the • word. He assented to it at Mr. McDermott’s suggestion. First divide the tremendum . mysterium into four parts, and get a little bit of each, and it will “ count,” Avhich is pretty j nearly the language of the ball-alley or the billiard table. I leave that to my eoclesias- tical supenors to deal with, as I leave the evidence of Mr. Glynn of Gort. I now come to the evidence of Father Quin of Craughwell; he is charged by a multitude of witnesses. Mr. Thomas Davis charges him, Mr. Edward Davis charges him, Mr. Pat Cawley charges him, Mr. Thomas Joyce charges him, and Mr. Blake charges him, that he said that “ any voter for Captain Trench should be shunned “ as if he had small-pox or feverthat it was no longer a question between the two captains, but “ between faith and infidelityand that there were two of his parishioners as to whom, if they did not retract their promises, their houses should be avoided as if they had typhus or small-pox. Pat Cawley told Mrs. De Vere (a very remarkable thing) that his house would be avoided as if he had typhus or small-pox ; and that they and their children would be handed down for three generations, from parish priest to parish priest, as renegades. He named two of the parishioners who Avould be denounced the next iSunday, and Mr. Joyce and Mr. John Blake of Craig support that; educated, intelligent men, in the prime of their manhood, every one of them proves it: but Mr. Quin comes up, and he saj's : “ I admit the faith and infidelity, but I deny all “ the rest.” He said that it was merely a metaphorical expression to be used to those who Avanted to persuade the Alters to go against their consciences. He said that every one of those gentlemen were liars, so far as they had given evidence against him ; and yet when he is examined about that wonderful scene in the vestry, as to Avhich.Ave have heard so much, Mr. Joyce having stated that he Avas turned out of tlie vestry because of his knoAvn ojjinions, the bishop having stated it Avas a matter long in dubio, and referring a good deal to certain matters to which it is not necessary for me noAV to allude ; poor Father Arthur swears that he put them out of the vestry because he kneAv that if he did not do so, Mr. Joyce and his elegant and accomplished family Avould be both assaulted and insulted. Did he knoAV Avhat evidence he Avas giving against the sitting Member when he said that? He was vouching his clerical character to the fact that so odious to the people was the instigation and excitement by Avhich they were surrounded, that they would absolutely assault and insult a gentleman and his family in his place of Avorship if he did not take the precaution of turning them out of the sacristy into the body of the chapel! He says the congregation Avere very angry (very like the peasantry of the county of Galway) that a gentleman and lady of high position, and their elegant and accomplished daugh¬ ters should have a little precedence in the chapel. It is difficult to persuade me of that. This gentleman, when cross-examined, shuffles about that key Avhich Avas lost, and Avas not lost; the key which Father Arthur said was lost; the key Avhich was then found ; the key of which “ he knew nothing, for he Avas not in charge of It.” He is asked, “ Do you “ know anything about that?” he says, “ No ; I cannot SAvear anything about it. I know “ nothing of that. I was not in charge of it.” He is pi’essed, and he says, “ I cannot say “ anything about that.” Then comes the descending, the sliding scale : “ I knoAv nothing “ at all about it. It may have been lost.” On his being pressed a little further, and told, “you must either say It or not,” he says, “I believe it Avas not lost:” that is Mr. Quin. I said that I would come to the case of the Rev. Mr. O’Grady. The Rev. Mr. O’Grady is an old gentleman who had the letters making the arrangement for the meetings written to him. He is evidently, as far as I can see, in declining years; and I Avould say, also, declining In other Avays besides physically. He said himself that he Avas not likely to be able to attend the meeting. He was in bed Avhen he had that interesting conversation with that Pat Barrett, who, disgusting creature as he is (and not even a counsel can be found to say a word on his behalf), knoAving he must destroy the case of the sitting Member certainly, irretrievably, and completely by his liaA'ing anything at all to do with him, yet on the morning of the election he is in the parish priest’s sitting-room, talking with him through the door into the bedroom; and the old priest says to Pat Barrett, “ What shuffling is this ? ” and immediately Pat Barrett starts off Avith the cui’ate for the place of A'oting, and for one day the platform of the Athenry station is released from his foul presence. I call attention to the fact that this amiable gentleman has a curate, Avho went with Pat Barrett to Gahvay, they being entrusted Avith the arrangements for cars— for Barrett comes in and asks the parish priest about the cars. What is the meaning of the parish priest saying to Barrett, “ You are shuffling; what shuffling is this ?” Barrett goes off Avith the curate, and the curate is never produced to this hour. His name is Thomas or John Walsh; not the Walsh of Clare, Gahvay. Really I have had those gentlemen so constantly introduced before me that I have got them almost pictured upon the retina of my eye. That curate is not introduced here at this trial; he is not ^^roduced to tell us anything about his companion Pat Barrett, Avho Avent Avith him in the morning to Galway ; but upon this poor gentleman’s statement upon the table I am asked to doubt the evidence of Captain Lynch, in the full maturity of his physical and mental capacities, a retired officer in Her Majesty’s service, the representative of one of the oldest Catholic families in this county, Avho still preserves his ancient and beauteous place; Avho is no partisan of Captain Trench, Avho was a partisan of Captain Nolan to the extent of giving him a promise of support, which he swore on that table, unchallenged, that he Avould have given, but that a single vote made no difference, and that he Avould have had to travel into Clifden, over 40 miles, to record it; therefore he Avas a friend of Captain Nolan’s; 241. E 4 and. 40 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE and, therefore, he had no sympathy whatever with the other cause. He happened to be visiting some friends in the neighbourliood of Athenry, and he went on that eventful Sunday to that chapel. He Avas accompanied by his lady, whose graceful and clear evidence must have proved the fact satisfactorily to every being who heard it ', and they both in the most unmistakable terms deposed to what that Avorthy gentleman said. Again, Ave have the little library, “ Heeves’s History of the Church ; ” one of those three-and-sixpenny volumes, with a green back upon it, Avhich I recommend everyone to avoid. His eyes are becoming dim, poor man, though I am sure I hope he Avill be long spared. He found 120 priests mentioned somcAvliere in Reeves’s History,” and at once he magnified it into 1,200. Little Avonder that Mrs. Lynch should say, ‘‘ 1 really scarcely knoAV whether he said 1,200 or 12,000;” but it is clear that he mentioned 1,200, because he says it himself; and he said, “ It is history; it is there; it is chapter 22 in that valuable work;” which I hope is not included in the ‘'Index Expurgatorius.'^ It is “120” priests instead of “ 1,200.” He added, “ that their blood Avould be on the heads “of those Avho did not vote for Ca])tain Nolan;” “that no true Catholic would “ vote for Captain Trench, Avho Avas a friend to the party Avho had massacred the 1,200 priests;” of Avhom 1,080 AA^ere not massacred at all. I protest that if this case was not so terrible, there is grotesque scenery about it Avhich is better than any farce in Avhich the English comic actor performs. He says that the Clancarty family especially were the descendants of those Avho massacred the priests. Poor Mr. O’Grady does not think that Captain Lynch or his lady gave us a sufficiently accurate version of Avhat he said, for he adds, “No, I did not say that the blood would be upon any of them, I did “ not say that.” He is asked, “ What if you heard that Captain Lynch said you did ?” He said, “Well, I did not say that.” He is asked, “What if you heard that Mrs. Lynch “ said so?” and he replies, “ Well, I did not say it; I spoke of the 1,200 priests having “ been hanged, quartered, and their limbs cut off.” Hoav they Avent through that process of first being hanged, then being quartered, and then having their limbs cut ofli I do not knoAv ; but he said that he read it in a church history. He never used the Avords “ massacre,” “ faction,” “ co-reiigiouists,” and particularly that Avicked Avord Avhich found its Avay to Mrs. Lynch’s ear, that they should not “dare” to Amte for Captain Nolan. He says, oh, no, he never used the word “ dare ” at all. “ For the love of Heaven,” said Mr. Ser¬ jeant Armstrong, “tell us Avhat you did introduce it for; do tell us,” said that splendid cross-examiner, “ for goodness sake,” in the best of good humour Avith the old gentleman, Avhom he did nut like to frighten. “Well,” he said, “ I made the suggestion to prevent “ the penal laAvs being re-enacted ;” and Dr. Leonard, and Mr. Dermot Fox, and a man of the name of Lardner (I Avonder Avhether he is any descendant of the celebrated Dr. Lardner) told him that he did not say that. Fancy the old gentlemen being told by those three ])eople that he did not say what he certainly did say. Mr. liardner is not produced. Mr. Walsh, his curate, is not produced. The reverend gentleman says, faix’ly enough, that he thinks the use of the Avord “ renegade ” Avould be a violation of the discipline of the Church, as propounded in the decrees of the councils, and as explained by my Imrd Bishop; and I say the same. Hoav many batches of them have been fixed, by their own admission, to the use of the Avord “renegade!” Then this Mr. Leonard (or Dr. Leonard, as he is called), said that Father O’Grady did not use the Avord, but that he said that there Avould be a conference in Tuam, and that after that he Avould tell them the best candidate. Then, some time afterwards, he told them that Captain Nolan Avas adopted by the four bishops; and he says he referred to Sir Thomas Burke by name. Where now is the nomine prolato of which Ave heard so much? Here is old Father O’Gi’ady, the parish priest of Athenry, who appears to treat the decrees of the Synod of Thurles Avith the most sovereign contempt; for he not only introduces Sir Thomas Burke’s name, but he introduces him in relation to a game Avhich I Avas often delighted to play at, upon the terms of going home heavily laden with the spoils of the day; he describes him as playing at marbles. Dermot Fox, Avho appeared to be a frank, honest felloAv, deserving of a great deal of praise (I Avould like to have him for a tenant, if I were a landlord in this county), swore that Father O’Grady certainly said “ that the Protestants Avould restore the penal “ laAvs.” I think, “ under the present king, Bezonian,” if they can hold their own, they ought to eat their pudding in silence, and to be very thankful. But they Avere going to restore the penal laAvs. Now an idea has gone abroad, Avhich once and for ever I Avill deal Avith. Do the infatuated people of this country believe that there has ever been in this realm, not even putting aside the worst days of Henry the Eighth, or of Elizabeth, his virgin daughter, or of Oliver Cromwell, the tithe of the persecution for religion’s sake which has been inflicted in France upon the Huguenots, in the valleys of SAvitzerland and Piedmont, upon the Waldenses and Albigenses, in Spain, upon the unhappy Jews and Moors, whose expulsion has left Spain in many places an arid, rocky, unproductive Avaste, in Avhich, from one end to the other, you scarcely see a thriving man, except a Catholic ecclesiastic ? Through the whole of Germany, hundreds and thousands of men have been sent to their last account in the sacred but polluted name of “ religious “uniformity.” But Fox swore that Father O’Grady said, from the altar, “that the “ Protestants would restore the penal laws ; ” that he said that “ Captain Nolan Avas the “ chosen of the Archbishop of Tuam.” He says the word “ co-religionists ” was used, thereby contradicting Father O’Grady. Mr. Kell)^, Avho appeared to be a sick gentleman, swore that Father O’Grady said he hoped the people would not desert the priests; and that then he “ referred to the twelve hundred priests; ” and he said that Cajxtain Nolan Avas the chosen of the Archbishop. He said he did not recollect “ co-religionists ” being talked of. TKIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 41 of. Mr. Leonard having proved that Father O’Grady spoke of Sir Thomas Burke i)lay- ingjit marbles. Mr. Kelly says he did not speak of marbles, or Marble Hill, or anything like that; but that “ he would take their votes at a 2 )articular horn-, on a particular day; ‘‘ and that after that hoar he would not even condescend to take their votes.” If that is not a case of undue influence, brought home to the sitting Member by his own letter, brought home by the letter to Father Lavelle, brought home by the 2 )reparation for the meeting at Athenry, through this very Father O’Grady, the preliminary meeting at Athenry, and the public meeting, I do not know what evidence is ! I have not a shadow of doubt, that every single word that Captain Lynch and Mrs. Lynch have stated is literally and accu¬ rately true. Captain Lynch was a supporter of Captain Nolan, a partisan of his in tliis election, and a thoroughly faith-worthy gentleman, against >vhom no one has insinuated a word of reproach or imputation. I have no doubt that he Avould have given a great deal if ho had had the luck to be among the Pyrenees, or on the Alps, when this inquiry commenced ; and I think, if he had found himself there, he Avould not have come back until the matter was determined, when my ])owers would not reach him. Now I come to that voluble gentleman. Father Deely ; I said we should never forget him. I never shall, at all events. John Fahy and Lawrence Walsh are the witnesses against him. He has a curate named Cahalan, who was produced when the whole case was closed the other day. John Fahy said he had |)reviously spoken of a man named Lawrence Walsh, I think, as “a lying, spying bailliff;” and a mob came to Walsh’s house at night, and he was put in terror and did not vote. Immediately the word is given out. It is a very serious thing to use a man’s name. It was wise and politic of the Synod of Thnrles to say, “ On no account {quacuiique de caiisd) shall you mention a man’s “ name.” 'We know, unhappily, that there have been instances in this country in which tlie mention of a man’s name from the altar has been too soon followed by what is called “ the wild justice of revenge.” That very night a mob came to this man’s house and put him in terror; and he does not vote. John Fahy and his Avife went to this station where Massis being celebrated, and went “obviously (says Father Deely) with the vieAv of having “ confession, but I did not gi^-e them confession. I do not know Avhether they got con¬ fession ; the curate would be able to tell tliat.” “ Who is your curate ? ” I said, because I saw, I may tell you, the significance of it. I wanted to see whether there had been a refusal of one of the Sacraments of the Church to this man. I called special attention to that Mr. Cahalan. Trumpery witnesses to prove nothing Avere put up day after day, just to fill space sometimes ; but after I put that Aveighty inquiry, days upon days elapsed, and no Mr. Cahalan. Mr. Deely scatters scandal about in every direction. He said, “Fahy was an insolent fellow.” I saAv plainly that he came there to insult me, and his “ Avife Avas Avorse than himself, and I would not take his money. It is true that I have “ condescended to take 10 /. or 20 1. since for marrying his daughter ” (a pretty fair day’s work), “but on that day, I said, ‘ None of your money for me. You Avill not promise me “ ‘to vote for Captain Nolan, and I Avill not touch your money.’ ” Fancy this man going to the house of poor people Avhere they think it an honour to have a prayer said for them, and refusing the man’s money! The poor fellow lingers at the door, but the wife (as very often happens), having more courage and spirit than the husband, says, “Come “ aAvay,” and he is taken aAvay. He did not get his breakfast, and did not Avait for his breakfast, and did not vote. Then Mr. Deely says he did not knoAv whether the man got confession or not; but he did not confess him. He said Fahy Avas most insolent; he said that he Avould not compliment Mr. Cruice, by calling him a “ land shark.” Fancy all the “ tyrannical landlords ” Avho are denounced all through the county! This Mr. Deely, avIio certainly shoAved no very great appreciation of the landlord rule, this man Avho denounced the small farmers, who called the large farmers “ land sharks,” said that “ land shark ” Avas a Avord “ compounded out of a dictionary ; ” like the man mentioned in one of those most inimitable novels, Avho Avrote an article on Chinese metaphysics. “ Hoav “ did you produce it? ” said his companion. “ Why,” said he, “ the easiest thing in the “ Avorld ! I looked under ‘ C ’ for ‘ China,’ and under ‘ M ’ for ‘ Metaphysics,’ and com- pounded them, and I produced an admirable article.” So this Avorthy Mr. Deely Avith his “ land sharks.” Truly it is Avell to test these gentlemen occasionally by their OAvn affairs. He is asked Avhether he has not a brother avIio Avould come under his definition of “ land shark.” He knows nothing at all about his brother; he could not tell you for the life of him Avhether his brother had a large farm or not, whether he Avas the holder of 500 ac.res or not; but every one is a “ land shark ” who has a large farm. What Avill say the large farmers of the county of Galway ! that that reverend gentleman who pronounced that complimentary definition of “land shark” Avill not tell anything about his OAvn brother. But even this gentleman says that he gives the highest praise to Lord Dun- sandle, for Avhich I suppose his Lordship is eminently grateful. He also says, “ I must say, indeed, that Lord Clancarty ” (avIio is noAV no more, and it is no harm to praise him ; he has gone to his cold grave, followed by a train of faithful and attached retainers), “was an admirable landlord.” “What do you think of the Eaid of Westmeath?” “ Oh! the Earl of Westmeath ? I have nothing to say against him,” as Avell he might say. The Earl of Westmeath, this “tyrannical landlord,” who told us on the table tliat he had plenty of tenants who OAved him three years’ and three and a half years’ rent! Sir Thomas Burke, he says, is a good landlord; and Mr. Kelly (I suppose he means of NewtOAvn) is a capital landlord. He SAvears j) 0 sitively that he did not even knoAV that Walsh Avas a bailiff He says it Avas Avell knoAvn in the county that the big farmers were anxious to vote for Captain Trench; 241. F and 42 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE and that is denied altogether by another clergyman; but he told Fahy that he would rather that he would vote for Captain Trench than stay at home; and he means by “ land sharks,” the Cruices, and a man of the name of Raftery. But this gentleman, on the 4th of February, the Sunday after the nomination (the polling taking place upon Tuesday the 6th) tells all the voters that they were free as tar as he was concerned; and he has been since, he says, speaking very civilly to the supporters of Captain Trench. Had that anything to do with the anticipation which Mr. Sebastian Nolan entertained of the Petition ? He says he has been speaking very civilly to them, and that he felt very kindly towards them ; though on the 7th of Februaiy he wrote to the Rev. Mr. Kirwan for the names of the persons who had voted against Captain Nolan in the Baronies of Killian and Clonmacnoone, which he solemnly and distinctly denied upon his oath until the letter was drawn out and put into his hand, and he was desired to read it, and then of course he was obliged to admit it. This is the man to whom Ca])taii> Nolan writes to give him on the day of the nomination (of all the times in the world! ) the benefit of his countenance! I accept Mr. Murphy’s description of this witness’s “irrepressible and “ uncontrollable ” evidence. I believe he was ready to adopt every species of terrorism, not excepting the refusal of the rites of the Church, until he smelt the Petition in the distance; and I say that the non-production of Mr. Cahalan the curate, to whom I specially called attention in a manner which could not have escaped the experienced counsel whom I see before me, until after the very last word in the case was said, goes far to establish the chaj’ge that even that last impiety, the refusal of one of the Sacraments of the Church, was perpetrated as against this man Fahy and his wife. There are many otliers. There is the Rev. Mr. Fahy ; there is there is the Rev. Mr. Keevil, that reverend gentleman against whom evidence is given by Mr. Joseph Kelly. There are the Rev. Mr. Furlong, and the Rev. Mr. Melvin his curate, who literally paralysed that poor man Hogan, the tenant of Mr. Burton Persse, when ho was getting on the table. 1 see the whole scene. The poor man came on the table. He said, “ I could not see even a priest, the only thing I could see were the black coats around me. I “ could see no one around me, everybody was looking at me in such a way.” He comes down off the table without giving his vote for either of the candidates, and when I say to this Mr. Melvin, “May I take the liberty of asking you what right you had to interfere “ with a voter coming up to give his vote ? ” he is absolutely startled at the question. It never dawned upon his ecclesiastical mind. “ I only-.” “ What right,” I said, “had you to do it ? ” “I only-.” He could give no other answer than this:—“I “ only-did it as a curate.” Of all the ideas of fi-eedom of election that ever passed into the mind of man, this is the most extraordinary ! They are always crying out for an extension of the franchise, freedom of election, free education. That is another thing. We know what freedom of election is. I do not know but that some of us, or at all events some of us who are younger than I am, may live to know what free education is. This i\ir. Furlong indulges in the most frightful language ; he talks about their “going to their graves in shame and disgrace.” While Mr. Furlong is preaching, a man of the name of Geraghty says to Forde; “ That is the way to keep down the Orange “ flag.” As I heard a peasant once say in a court of justice, “ That is the talk that has “ the skin upon it.” Then he speaks of “ the finger of scorn,” “renegades to religion,” and “ the old serpent traitor; ” “ he would remember it; ” that after the election “ there would “ be no community with them ; ” and this is all proved by the two Killeens, by John Forde, and by another man (I forget his name). Mr. Furlong admits that he used the words “ the finger of scorn,” and that he warned them to “ hearken to the voice of con- “ science.” Fle recommended them to vote for Captain Nolan in the first instance, and then that nothing should make them act in opposition to their “ conscience,” That is the theological device : first you persuade a man that his conscience must lead him to vote for a ])articular person, and then you menace any man who votes against his “conscience,” with all the terrors and the deprivations which ecclesiastical influence can supply. Then these witnesses S 2 )eak about his saying that'“the bones of our countrymen are whitening on the shores of America.” And I am asked to discredit, on the evidence before me, the positive swearing of Rogers and of the two Killeens, the Killeens being admitted by Mr. Furlong himself to be resjjectable men, and the only charge against Rogers being that his name appears to a receijjt for 5 1. which he had received from Mr. Eyre, to which Mr. Macdonogh appears to attach vital importance u 2 )on the principle that I alluded to : Keep as far from the point as possible, if you cannot do better, do not do worse. It does not appear whether it was Mr. Eyre, senior, or Mr. Eyre, junior, but he swore he was not an agent of Captain Trench, as he might if he treated his paymaster Mr. Eyre as having been his employer. Then I have that case, trio juncta in uno, of the Reverend Messrs. Lyons, Kilkenny, and Kernes. There is another case of “mesmerising” of voters; I think the name of the poor fellow was Peter Walsh, of Letterfrack (Mr. George O’Flaherty gives the evidence) : Walsh comes into the booth, he is taj)ped on the shoulder by the clergymen ; he says first he will vote for both candidates, and then ultimately he voted for no one, and Mr. Kernes gives him the cou-p de grace, and tells him to “ come out of that.” The Reverend Mr. Arthur, an amiable gentleman, is “ ordered to attend at Gort; ” those are his words, and he must go, though it is against his grain; really I am struck with the wanton cruelty of putting this poor gentleman on the table; I mean, of course, not by the counsel, but by those who are made to instruct the counsel, and I protest that I am disposed to exonerate Captain Nolan from being at the bottom of this at all. But this poor TEIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 43 poor venerable gentleman, Mr. Arthur, is driven into that chair, to do what ? To deny on his oath the truth of his own Avritten statements, Avritten Avheu he had no object to subserve ! This is a very sei'ious matter. Said Mr. Macdonogh, “ The observations Avhich you have made Avere greatly dictated by your admiration of Mr. Gladstone '! ” If this case Avas tried before a jury of Gladstoniaus, that Avould perhaps be a very 2 )OAverful argu- Jl ment; hut although I had the honour of once serving in a Government Avitli that dis- tinguished man, under the chief Avhom I first folloAved, Avhen he Avas first Minister of the Crown, the Earl of Aberdeen, the travelled Thane, Athenian Aberdeen,” still I do not care in any Avay Avhether Mr. Gladstone, or Mr. Disraeli, or any other j^erson, jAeer or commoner, is Prime Minister of England. Therefore the Avhole of that Avas throAvn away upon me. As far as I am concerned, I have outlived every care upon the subject. This gentleman is brought uj) to dis^jrove his oavu Avrit*'en statement, and a most extraordinary thing takes ^dace ! I only rely upon that to shoAV tlie extraordinary im])ortance that Avas J attached to carrying this election, no matter by Avhat means, by the members of the Epis¬ copate ; or rather, I Avould say, by a member of the E 2 )isco 2 )ate, Avhom, if I could place in the highest honour, I should he happy to do so. I Avill not dwell ujAon that much polluted Avord “ conscientiously ; ” but in the discharge of my duty I am bound to refer to the decree of the Synod of Thurles, Avhich has been handed to me by the right reverend ju-elate, and Avhicb says that Masses are not to be celebrated after mid-day. d his is no new construction of mine ; that is the translation of the Bishoji : MisscB-post meridiem non celehrentury The ju’ovinclal Synod of Tuam, held on the 28th of May 1857, and Avhich my Lord Bishoj) SAA^ore Avas still binding in the jArovince of Tuam, used these remarkable Avords: “ Ohservandum est missam ultimam parorhialem nunquam incipiendarn esse ante meridiem, neepost primarn horam pomeridianam,” Avhich the Bishop Avas good enough to translate : “ It is to he regarded as an observance “ that the last parochial Mass is never to be commenced before mid-day, or after one o’clock in the afternoon.” Therefore there is the ordinance of the provincial Synod of Tuam, Avhich is still binding, as the bishop tells me, to this hour in the province of Tuam. Of course I am sure that the poAver rests Avith the bishop to disjiense even with an ordinance of that kind; but such importance is attached to the meet ing at Gort, where this foul, dreadful language that I have repeated is used by Father Lavelle, that the ordinance of the Synod of Tuam, directing that the last parochial Mass is never to be commenced before mid-day, is dispensed Avith in the Avliole of the diocese of Galway, and in the dioceses of Kihnacduagh and Kilfenora. Poor Father Arthur gets his dls- jAensation : “Mass may be said at 10 o’clock. Let the Avhole pojAidation be let loose for the “ meeting at Gort.” To be sure, I am told that it is lest they should not get Mass ; but Avhat is done Avith the lame, and the halt, and the Aveary, and the old, and the blind, and the religious old farmers, and the much-more-likely-to-be-religlous houscAvives, Avho could not leave their homes at that early hour of the morning in dee^A Avinter, Avho jAerhajAS had to trudge along the roads for miles to get Mass at 10 o’clock, and who must have risen in the dark, if they had to come four or five miles, on a Avinter morning ? What is to become of all those jAeojAle who could only reach (and that was the reason of that ordinance of the (Synod of I'uain) the last Mass by its being deferred until noonday ? But all those peojAle Avho did not care a jack-straAv either for CaiAtain Trench or for Captain Nolan, Avere obliged to lose Mass, Avhlch'they look upon as a most precious thing, and the loss of Avhich they consider as almost perilling their salvation. What became of those persons ujAon that eventful day, in order to enable the young, the athletic, and the healthy to hear the lessons of piety and wisdom Avhich were to be instilled into their ears by Father Lavelle, who is to ajAjAear there as a shining light, but Avho, Father ConAvay thinks (he Avas asked the question, and therefore I rejAeat the Avords), “sold the jAass ” to Sir Arthur Guinness upon the morning of the election. Then I come to Mr. Kemmy. That is a gentleman about whom a great deal Avas said. When he heard that AAutnesses Avere coming in to this Petition, he took the laAV into his own hands, and said, “ I will give you all penal servitude if one of you says an untrue “ Avord about me.” He told Mangan he Avould take away his trade, and he did so. Other persons ceased to deal with him. Mr. OAven Lynch slipped out a Avord, and swore that he said that all the landlords Avere “ serfs.” Of course, Avhat he must have meant was that they Avere treating the jAeople like serfs. Father Kemmy used a most imjAortant negative ; Avhat Ave should call a negative pregnant. He said, “I said that the landloi’ds should be put doAvn; but mind, I said, ‘ I do not mean that you should shoot them.’ ” What other inference can anyone draw from those expressions, but that having used the words from his OAvn lips, “ Put them doAvn,” they might be interjAreted as meaning “ Shoot them,” and he, being a minister of religion, to guard them against that, is obliged to tell his OAvn flock, “ Mind, I do not mean that you should commit assassination ! ” Then he Avrites to Mr. Robert PoAver —I may say, to our old friend Mr. Robert PoAver, for I entertain a positive affection for that most amiable gentleman and most honoured solicitor, Avho passed through his long years of practice Avithout the smallest imputation on his character, as I am sure Avould be Avillingly borne testimony to by all the counsel upon both sides of the case. What happened ? He Avrites this letter to Mr. Robert PoAver ; and what is in it ? 19th January 1872.—Sir, I spoke to your tenants at Gurthimna immediately after their confession and Holy Communion at the station there, and they believe that if they voted for Captain Trench, they would vote contrary to the dictates of their consciences; besides, they and I believe it would be a terrible act of scandal and disedification to “ vote for a Trench; ” and then he adds, “ It is mv duty as their priest to see that they will 241. F 2 ■ not 44 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE not be guilty of the above crimes.” This remarkable letter is in the evidence, and we have heard Mr. Robert Power’s reply. This gentleman comes upon the table and he virtually admits what Mr. Robert Power charges him with. Mr. Robert Pouer further tells us that several of his tenants told him they were afraid in consequence of the mobs who threatened them ; and my Lord Bishop of Galway pays him a visit, not on the subject of that letter, but, as Mr. Power tells us, upon the subject of the tenants who were threatened by the mobs on that occasion. Then there is Mr. Cannon, who spoke of the “ black sheep ” and the “ spissauns,” and said he would send the list to the bishop ; poor Coolahan is the witness against him. I dare say that if I had Coolahan again upon the table he would appear a more cultivated man (though he is only a blacksmith) than the Rev. Mr. Cannon, who tells us that Coolahan was “accidental ” to a murder 1/) years ago, though now he is only about 28 years of age. Now I pass from all this, and God knows it has been a sufficiently odious and miserable task to go through it. There are many other cases with which I must not detain the gentlemeu whom I see here before me, and I now hasten to the determination of this case. I have gone through the cases in which the gentlemen have not appeared, and I have gone through the cases in which the gentlemen have appeared. In considering these cases I have looked at them from two points of view very anxlou.sly, as the schoolmen Avould say, a parte ante and a, parte post. A parte ante, I have the prediction of Mr. Sebastian Nolan, as proved by Mr. Peter Blake the magistrate, “ that the bishops and priests would speak to their flocks afeto Sundays before the election, and they loould all vote as the bishops and priests told, them, aind that his brother's majority would be ‘ over a thousand.’ ” This prediction has been fulfilled. A parte post, I have it from the mouth of every witness of credit, that since this election every road has been tormented, every traveller has been beset with the hideous cries of moral anarchy and sectarian hatred. It was not to be expected that the people who saw their clergy in the town of Tuam, marching with their obsequious followers to the poll, under banners emblazoned with mitres, and stamped with the mottoes (as it was proved) of “ Galway and God,” and “ Nolan and God,” could have suddenly learned or as suddenly forgotten such lessons of impiety. Who were the teachers, and what was the teaching, which brought the people to this abyss of servitude? The Sellar-’s circular, the letter of the Bishop of Galway to Vicar General Shannon (who is not produced), the dispensation sent to Father Arthur, which I have mentioned, autho¬ rising him to put aside the ordinance of the Synod of Tuam, the dispensation given under the hands of Mr. Thomas ; and this appears to me to be a most serious matter. Mr. Thomas is the administrator to the parish of the Archbishop of Tuam, and he writes to the Rev. Mr. Lynsky in short set phrase, “ Say all the parochial masses that are necessary on the Sunday, in the event of Father O’Brien going to Galway for the purpose of nomi¬ nating Captain Nolan.” The Bishop of Galway Informed me that even on Sunday, without dispensation, the priest cannot say more than one mass, or two masses with a dispensation, which is given for the purposes of the people, I suppose once for all, where there is only one clergyman, and where two masses must be said; but the Bishop of Galway informed me in terms which admit of no doubt, and which I can never foi’get, that under no circumstances could a bishop, or even an archbishop, authorise the saying of more than one mass upon a week-day; and I asked his Lordship this question: “ Then I suppose Rome should be applied to for that purpose ? ” for I had in my eye that document that had been previously produced in the case. His Lordship told me that certainly it could not be done without application to Rome; but that he had never heard of an application of the kind being made to the Holy See. Here is a letter on a dirty piece of paper written by Mr. Edmund Thomas, the Catholic administrator of Tuam; a curious production ! Even in the humbler affairs of the law we are in the habit of putting our orders, and our direc¬ tions, and our papers, in something like a seemly form. Here it is: “In the event of Father O’Brien going to Galway, either on the day of the nomination, or for the puiqiose of nominating Captain Nolan, the archbishop has given permission to the Rev. Mr. Lynsky to say the necessary parochial masses on the Sunday following.” Supposing now that the necessary parochial masses upon that Sunday were three in number, I say that that Rev. Mr. Lynsky would have violated every law of his Church, as deposed to me by the Lord Bishop of Galway, by that reckless dispensation which is thrown into his hand, all for the purpose of securing the brilliant oratory of the Rev. Mr. O’Brien the parish priest, who proposed Captain Nolan upon that occasion and who can do nothing better in the streets of Tuam than say, “ Hey for honest Peter Blake the Protestant. It is only our own renegade Catholics whom we intend to excoriate !” “ All this establishes to my mind the foregone conclusion on the part of the archbishop, his suffragan bishops, and the greater portion, if not the whole, of the parish priests and curates, Avho have been named in evidence, to strain every point, to move every engine, to use every influence, to dispense with every one of those ordinances of the Church to accomplish their object. That object I solemnly believe to have been, Avhether so intended or not, the overthrow of all free will and civil liberty in this portion of Ireland. I have gone as far as I could through those horrid altar denunciations, of which I will only say, if I do not wander into proscribed domains, ‘fmdet hcec opprobia nobis” (the classical recollection of the Lord Bishop of Galway will remind him of the end of the Y)VLS,s,a.gQ), “ et did potuisse et non potuisse refelli.” Now I am asked to believe that but for the exercise of this influence all religion would be lost, and the next moment I am told that the people had made up their minds and would have done the same. At one moment TEIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 45 moment I am told that, but for undue influence, Captain Nolan would not have been returned, and the next moment I am told to look to Kerry and be satisfied that the land¬ lords could not compel their tenants to vote. I ansAver that I have nothing to do with what might have been, or Avhether this was for the best or the worst. The only question for my consideration is this : was undue influence used on behalf of Captain Nolan, either so generally as to avoid the election at common law, whether brought home to Captain Nolan as connected with it or not, or is it proved in even a single case with which he was connected by himself or his agents, in Avhich case it Avill invalidate the election ? I am satisfied that, both at common law and under the statute, this election must be declared irretrievably void. Now I come to the case for seating Captain Trench. Captain Trench founds his claim to the seat upon the ineligibility of Captain Nolan, upon the fact of his status having been destroyed (as I have now decided that his status was destroyed') long before ; and I say that it was destroyed long before the period of the election by the acts upon which 1 have been commenting, and to which I shall not again refer. He says, “You are not an eligible candidate.” According to the old-constitutional forms, Mr. Speaker issued his Avarrant and the Clerk of the Crown in Hanaper issued the Avrit, directing the electors of the county of Gahvay to meet (as it used to be Avell called) in “ County Court,” to select, to belt, and to spur (as used to be the old foi’rn) a fitting knight of the shi)-e to represent the constituency in Parliament; but, both the common and the statute laAV said from the commencement (and in doing so they only pronounced a truth which is inherent in the very nature of the case), “ The voters must be free, the constituency must be free, or no election has taken pliice.” OtherAvise Ave should be recalling the days of old Rome AA'hen it baffled even the eloquence of Cicero to Avin back to reason the contaminated masses Avho Avere urged forAvard to excesses by a Clodius or a Flaccus. The voters Avere hunted from the Comitia; they Avere pursued by bands of armed men; they Avere folloAved by mobs ; they Avere denounced by augurs. Intimidation, both temporal and spiritual, Avas as rife then as it has been proved to be noAV. The remedy of the ballot Avas suggested in those days; and those Avho care to go and look at one of the letters of Pliny Avill find an admirable article on the subject. Then it Avas thought, as noAV, the ballot Avould be a remedy for such diseases. If such practices pre¬ vail, Ave all know that there can be no freedom of election. My classical friends recollect that there is a tradition handed cloAvn even from the days of Cicero (all the traditionary lore is not confined to the Church), Avhich tells that when a dreadful conflict Avas going on in the Roman Forum, and, as I saitl, the electors Avere being hurled from the Comitia by hired mobs and bands of armed gladiators, Marcus Tullius Cicero ascended the rostrum, and immediately his soothing eloquence calmed the infuriated multitude; and it is said that to that scene the IMantuan bard referred, Avhen he used those beauteous lines to which I think Mr. Murphy referred. The words I believe are: — “ Ac veluti magno in populo cum sa3pe cobrta est “ Seditio, saevitque animis ignoblle vulgus; “ Jainque faces et saxa volant; furor anna mlnistrat: “ Turn, pletate gravem ac meritis si forte virum quern “ Conspexere, silent, arrectisque auribus adstant; “ Ille reglt dictis animos, et pectora mulcet.” That is a beauteous description of the influence of a great orator, and one of the best of Conservative statesmen, Avho kneAv that liberty and disorder could not exist for an hour together; and Avho, though in fighting the cause of laAV and order he sacrificed his glorious life, purchased for himself immortality and condemned his assassins and Antony to eternal infamy. And noAV, Avlth such scenes as Avere passing here, I am asked to say that this Avas a free election. It had not one particle of freedom about it; and that is the first fact upon which the learned counsel for Captain Trench insisted as having totally and entirely destroyed the status of Captain Nolan. I hold that his status Avas so destroyed, and from an early period indeed of this contest. The next proposition is this: You, the electors of the county of Gahvay, meet in county court, and you ought to knoAV from notice conveyed to you that Captain Nolan was disqualified to be your Member. You Avere called upon to elect a fitting Member and not to give your votes for an unfitting Member. You chose deliberately to give your votes to a man Avho Avas entirely disqualified, and therefore (the learned counsel for the Petitioner say) you may be taken to have done that Avilfully ; and, by giving your votes to an unqualified person, to have virtually assented to the return of the only other quali¬ fied person Avho was before the constituency, that person being Captain Tr*ench. The legal decisions upon this subject frorn a very early period have been, as indeed one would expect from the shifting character of the tribunal, conflicting. Notice to each individual voter was, at one tinie, considered to be absolutely necessary, though in other cases it Avas not insisted upon; Clltheroe is a remarkable case. I think that our late honoured and respected friend, Mr. George Alexander Hamilton, Avas the Chairman of that Committee. Mr. Butt, Avho aLvays shines in a legal argument, Avas also a member of that Committee, he being then, if I do not mistake, the Member for Youghal. There were other Members of that Committee on the Clithcroe case. Resolutions Avere j)asscd, stating the contradictory condition in Avhich the laAV Avas, and apparently suggesting to 241. F 3 Parliament 46 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE Parliament that some measures should be taken to make it clear. Mr. Butt (or whoever drew those resolutions) put the case that one Committee had decided so-and-so, and that probably another Committee would decide otherwise. I mentioned early in this case the decision of the Committee for the borough of Horsham, when Lord Edward Howard, the present Lord Howard of Glossop, was a candidate ; and when three gentlemen, one of whom was the present Right Honourable William Monsell, the present Postmaster Geuei’al, held that the present Sir Seymour Fitzgerald, now the Governor of Bombay, had disqualified himself as an eligible candidate for Horsham by treating at the previous election; and that Lord Howard having come down tlie night before and given notice to the electors by posting placards, and I think by delivering notices to each elector. Sir Seymour was on that ground wholly disqualified, and had nothing to complain of; and they declared the Lord Howard of Glossop (then Lord Edward Howard) duly elected for the borough of Horsham. Now if Captain Trench, or those acting on his behalf, had been able to serve every voter in this county with a notice to that effect, clearly it would bring this case within the ])recedent of the borough of Horsham ; of that there could be no doubt whatsoever. The previous case, that is the Cheltenham case, to which Mr. Macdonogh referred, was antecedent to the Horsham case, and did not fall between the Horsham case and the Clitheroe case. It is unnecessary for me to refer to all the older and much more settled cases, in which it was held that the notice was not necessary if the facts Avere such as to be in themselves necessarily Avithin the cognisance of the voter. If the disqualification of tlie candidate was a matter of pei’fect notoriety, in that case the electors had to look to their votes, and if they did not take care of them, theirs Avas the fault. Let them»be losers or not, the candidate who gave them the notice, and who had thus the greater number of duly qualified votes, Avas entitled to be returned. In the view Avhich I take of this case, I Avill not now decide that point. I consider it a most important matter of laAV ; I consider it a most grave and serious question, affecting the electoral jirivileges of this great county. I have been all this day endeavouring, as far as it is in my poAver, to see that some sort of freedom is secured to the electors ; and, if I do not very much mistake, my certificate to the Speaker of the House of Commons Avill never leave my hands until I have taken the most decided and satisfactory means for preventing the repetition of such scenes in this ancient county, Avhich, hoAvever it may have been Avritten about by the brilliant ])en of my distinguished friend, Mr. Charles Level’, as a place Avhere “ pistols for tAvo, and coffee for one ” Avas a matutinal order, has yet, through every vicissitude of its fortune maintained the graces and decencies of life, and kept before the Avorld a high tone, Avhich made a Galway gentleman honoured at every Court in Europe. But, as I have been defending them, I Avill not peril, by any hasty decision of mine, the electoral privileges in another Avay of the constituency of the county of Galway. 1 have examined carefully, as far as my limited means of reference in this tOAvn Avould alloAV, the authorities and decisions upon the subject; and I will not now exjiress (as I am not going to decide the point) in what direction my oAvn mind leans. I will reserve that question for the decision of the Court of Common Pleas. I Avill take care that the question of law shall be argued Avith as little delay, either to the constituency, to Captain Nolan, if he chooses to appear upon it, or to Captain Trench, as I can possibly obtain. I shall draAv up the case; I have the sole and entire control of it; it is Avithin my dominion, as sitting here as judge to try this case by the law of the land. I shall submit that case, giving the learned counsel on both sides an opportunity to argue it. But I now announce to them that I shall state on that case, from the view Avhich I take of the facts, and of the mixed questions of laAV and fact, in the first place as regards notice, that every preparation appears to have been made by the agents of Captain Trench to serve the voters ; that every reasonable means Avere used to serve them until the service Avas prevented by the agents of Captain Nolan, namely, those gentlemen, one of whom had the audacity absolutely to apply to the dejruty sheriff to turn the men Avho Avere serving the notices out of the bootli, saying, “ What right has this fellow to be allowed to be here ; an agent of Captain Trench, to serve the voters with those notices ?” I shall certify that the service of them was rendered impossible by the agents of Captain Nolan. I shall certify that the jAlacards Avere posted in every jjolling district; tliat the incapacity and ineligibility of Captain Nolan Avas advertised in all the papers circulated in the district; and finally, I Avill make it a part of the case that the incapacity of CajAtain Nolan was a matter of perfect notoriety, and that it was known to his OAvn brother, Avho, I say, was his principal agent, and Avho has testified to that in the writings to which I have referred. But more than all, in the vieAV which I take of this case, I shall certify that the people themselves were passive instruments in carrying out that A'ery conspiracy to destroy their franchises Avhich the decision of this Court this day has prevented. That question of law I will reserve for the Court of Common Pleas. I have very little more to do ; and 1 shall get through my work as quickly as I can. The most extraordinary thing which struck me in the Avhole of this case Avas, that from the very commencement the learned counsel for the sitting member were making a case to incapacitate the petitioner, the petitioner not having a particle of ground to stand upon unless the seat Avas lost. Counsel cannot create cases, as I know very well; but the learned counsel for the sitting member say : “ Well, for the sake of argument, granted now that Captain Nolan is disqualified, granted that the seat is vacant. Captain Trench has no right to get it.” That question I have reserved; but, “ Granted,” say the learned counsel, “ that the question which you ai*e going to reserve, is decided by the Court of Common Pleas in favour of Captain Trench upon argument,” it certainly will not last as TKTAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 47 long as this trial, because there we shall not have legions of clergy and others to go through in examination; hut granted, that the learned counsel themselves were of opinion that Captain Trench was entitled to the seat, and granted, that the Court of Common Pleas decide that Captain Trench is entitled to the seat, you must decide now, upon the evidence which we have produced, that Captain Trench has disqualified himself, not in the same way, hut in a similar way to Captain Nolan, by having been through his agents guilty of bribery and treating. That is a perfectly legitimate and sound proposi¬ tion of law, if the facts are as stated, Now I ask myself: Is Captain Trench Incapacitated by anything that has been proved against him (for that I must decide here) on the score of bribery and treating ? I must decide that he is not. As to the treating at Daly’s, not a particle of it can be attri¬ buted to any other cause than the necessity of affbi-ding some protection to Captain Trench’s party during the excitement which prevailed around, when it was not consi¬ dered safe for any one, voter or agent, to leave the place for his usual abode. None of those refreshments provided under such circumstances can be fixed with any corrupt intent; and it is too ridiculous to suppose that if corruption was intended, Mr. Concannon, the most able agent for the petitioner, who telegraphed to Mr. Daly, I think, from this town, to close his shop, would have entrusted himself for such a corrupt purpose to Mr. Daly, who absolutely took the chair at one of Captain Nolan’s meetings, who was an avowed partisan of Captain Nolan, and who ultimately voted for Captain Nolan. “For these courtesies,” as was the expression of Shylock in the Merchant of Venice, taking the chair at the meeting, being an active partisan, and ultimately voting for Captain Nolan, he is charged, as it may be gratifying to him to know, with having defaced his book of account to support the cause of Captain Trench; and, moreover, I think, with having been guilty of perjury on the table. I looked at my notes this morning to fix my atten¬ tion upon that point, and I think that my learned friend, Mr. Macdei’mott, did not hesitate to go the length of charging Mr. Daly with perjury. If the clei’gynien were to be tried by the same measure of justice whleli has been accorded to Mr. Daly, I fear there would be a great many Indictments for perjury found against them. I have foiind already that there is no such case of treating on the petitioner’s side as that of Hanley and Tracy, which 1 have discarded as against the sitting member. Then as to the cases of alleged bribery. Bribery, indeed ! No one knows better than Mr. Macdonogh what a triumphant march he would have made through the Dublin election petition, and how gallantly he would have carried the case of Sir Arthur Guinness, if the only cases of bribery against him had been such as those of O’Dee, Molony, and the Morrises. I scarcely think that they were seriously made ; but, at all events, I am of opinion that they are none of them established. O’Dee’s case is one in which Captain Trench said he could have nothing to do with him, the man having asked for employment for a child six years of age. He gets 30 s. ■worth of clothes at a shop in the town of Headford on the supposition that he would act as a canvasser. He does nothing of the kind. He voted, I believe, for Captain Nolan. He came on the table in the clothes which he obtained in that manner. I am sure that he will not pay for them if he can help it; but I am clearly of opinion, having gone into every detail of the case this very morning, until which time I had no opportunity of making up my mind on that branch of the case, that that is not a case of bribery. Molony is charged wdth having been bribed by O’Loughlen and Bowles; but all about Bowles was, that he said he would be sent for if his services were required. It is not clear that he did not vote for Captain Nolan. The case of Edward Morris is founded upon a letter of the 2nd of March, making a claim as an agent, which is not recognised, and which, in any case, has nothing to do w'lth bribery. The case of Pat Morris is one of real agency, sought to be converted into one of bribery, because Mr. Carter chose to write that it might be desirable not to have his agency known, as he had a vote, a fact which would have caused his vote to be struck off upon a scrutiny, if he had voted. But it in no view amounts to a case of bribery. 1 think it is very like one of those very mysterious and very doubtful class of cases with which Mr. Macdonogh will recollect that I had anxiously to deal with in the case of Lord St. Lawrence, in which a perfectly,legal thing was done ; but the crooked mind of the agent, expecting that he had done something very illegal, proceeded at once to vamp it up in every possible way, and to sustain it absolutely afterwards by very discreditable testimony. I had great difficulty in distinguishing between what was misrepresentation in Court and what was bribery at the election; and, on the trial of the petition, I made the dis¬ tinction, I hope rightly, and certainly with the full belief that I did what was correct. I think that this case comes far, far behind that, and is scarcely worthy of being mentioned in connection with the cases to which Mr. Macdonogh knows that I refer. I therefore come to the conclusion that neither on the ground of treating nor on the ground of alleged bribery is Captain Treneh disqualified from taking his seat in the Im¬ perial Parliament, as the representative of this great county, provided that the Court of Common Pleas, of which I am one member, are of opinion that, upon the true state of the law, he is entitled to be so seated. The next and only remaining topic is one upon which I never heard a judge addressed before upon the trial of any election petition. It may have been done, but I am not aware of it. Mr. Macdonogh and Mr. Macdeiinott, acting on behalf of Captain Nolan but in this particular instance they should have been acting more on behalf of the public 241. r 4 right), 48 JUDGMENT DELIVEKED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGH ON THE right), ask me to report to the House of Commons tliat the Marquis of Clanricarde, Mr. Lynch Staunton, Sir Thomas Burke, and I think a gentleman of the name of Roe, have been guilty of intimidation and undue influence against some of the voters of this county, being their tenants. Now, all the arguments which were addressed to me U[)on this subject were arguments in which neither of the parties were concerned. I say that I never heard an argument of the kind addressed to a judge before. It is exti’aneous to the rights of the parties, and it is for the judge, 1 conceive, himself to see whether there is proper ground for such a report. However, whether the point was made or not, I should have had to consider it; and if I thought that the IVlarquis of Clanricarde was guilty of illegal intimidation and undue influence towards any portion of this constituency, I suppose that no one here is weak-minded enough to think that I should care one par¬ ticle or hesitate for one moment to report the Marquis of Clanricarde just as soon as I would report the meanest frieze-coated voter in the county. I knew intimately tlie son of the Marquis of Clanricarde; and I believe that any one who knew him must have regretted him. The Marquis of Clanricarde is now almost the only survivor of an illus¬ trious line, the origin of whose race is concealed, I may say, in remote antiquity. He has been always, as I am told, a Libei’al in politics. He has always been entrusted with the confidence of the people of the county of Galway. He has also been upon many occa¬ sions entrusted with the confidence of his Sovereign; and at this present moment he is Lord Lieutenant of the county of Galway. That he has been a kind, easy, benevolent landlord, I am not at liberty to doubt, for it has been proved by a succession of witnesses. Only fancy what they would think about this “ horrible serpent,” this “ old persecutor,” this “ hydra-headed monster,” il' they had him as the owner of wide demesnes in the rich plains of Limerick, the Golden Vale, or the vast tracts of Cork or Tipperary ! Would not the farmers there chuckle if they had a landlord whose lands were let proverbially for 25 per cent, under Griffith’s valuation ? But that will not affect the legal decision of this point; nor will it be affected by the high chai’acter of Mr. Lynch Staunton (who wears his years so well, as I was glad to see), or by the fact that he is the nei^hew of Sir G;eorge Staunton, the friend of Edmund Burke. All those things must be passed aside when a dry question of law has to be determined. Sir Thomas Burke has been spoken of already, and I do solemnly believe that a kinder-hearted man never had in his hands the conti’ol of tenantry. But, for all that, if he has imprudently allowed himself to violate the law, he must be reported to Parliament just as well as Mr. Roe, about whom I know nothing, and who is also accused in such admirable company of having been a despotic and an unduly-influencing or intimidating landlord. Only fancy that in this vast county, containing a quarter of a million of inhabitants, 80 miles one way by 60 in another, with 5,333 registered electors upon the poll, whilst I have been discussing cases of undue influence by the score, perhaps I ought to have said by the hundred, permeating the whole constituency, gathering it up into one tremendous focus to be hurled at the devoted head, not only of the candidate who presented himself against it, but against every gentle¬ man of property oj- of 2 )ositiori, Protestant or Catholic, except that one case of the happy Mr. Peter Blake, who ventured or dared to vote for Captain Trench, yet {^audi alteram parlern) upon the other side we are only able to point to four cases in which I could even make a suggestion to the House of Commons. Noav what is the case against the Marquis of Clanricarde? He comes here, and he goes out shooting one day with his agent, Mr. John Henry Blake; and they meet a great number of his tenants. One of them tells him that it would be against his conscience to support Captain Trench, and the Marquis says: “ By all means, then, do not go against your conscience.” But he says to a number of others: “ If you can vote for my friend Captain Trench, I shall be delighted if you Avill do so ; if you cannot vote for him, at all events stay at home and do not vote against him,” or something to that effect: and, after the election, he changes his baker, and he does not buy any more slates from a man rvhose account, I believe, has been closed. There is something of that kind ; he discontinues his custom, this man having voted for Captain Nolan, and not for Captain Trench, the Mar¬ quis of Clanricarde being out of the country. If he was in the country, I utterly deny the proposition; I meet it at once Avith a doAvnright denial, that any Resolution of the House of Commons Avould make laAV. The first judges Avho have ever sat upon the Bench have denied it. I do not fear to deny that a Resolution of the House of Commons can make law; but I say still more, that the House of Commons by its Resolutions never intended to deprive any nobleman, who was also a landlord, of his legitimate Influence. I say that it Avould be a sorry day for this country (and for none more than for the tenant class themselves), if landlords, noblemen, or gentlemen Avere entirely shut off from the exercise of that legitimate influence Avhich a landlord has a right to use. I am not so little . acquainted Avith the proceedings of Parliament) and Avith the historical precedents in Par¬ liament, as not to knoAV that over and over again things of this kind Avere brought before Parliament; and it is a remarkable thing that one of the very first cases of a violation of that Resolution Avhich Avas brought before Parliament was in the case, I think, of a Bishop of Winchester, and by an ancestor of the present Sir John Pakington. There was another case in the time of the late Earl Fitzhardinge, against Avhom his own brother stood up in Parliament, and had the grace to press the case against the Earl Fitzhardinge. That was the Honourable Grantley Berkeley. There were other cases, such as that of the Duke of Newcastle, who went against his own son, and turned him out of Parliament, because he was disposed to vote for the repeal of the Corn LaAvs. That Avas the late Duke of Noav- castle. When I knew him he was the Earl of Lincoln. But that AA^as a very extraordinary case. TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. 49 case, and a very strong case. The attack was made uiDon Sir Robert Peel, who was then Prime Minister, and Avho, it was supposed, would lean to this charge, because the Duke of Newcastle was turning out his son on the ground that he chose to be a supporter of Sir Robert Peel; but Sir Robert Peel, with that high character which he always sustained in Parliament, said: “ No matter what this nobleman may have done or said against me, I know the principles of the British Constitution, and I will stand by them.” There was a volume to which Mr. Murphy was about referring me here, until I told him that I was perfectly familiar with it. “ God forbid,” I think he said, “ that those Resolutions should ever be intended to exclude the legitimate influence of Peers”; and in every single case in which those charges were brought before the House of Commons, the House of Com¬ mons, with that innate sagacity which governs a great assembly such as it is, left the charges where it found them, and took the determination of doing nothing. I do not consider that Lord Clanricarde has overstepped the bounds of that legitimate influence which he has a right to exercise. I do not consider that Lord Clanricarde has done any¬ thing which, unless I was to make him an abject slave under the terms of the Act of Parliament, I could prevent his doing. I shall not report the Marquis of Clanricarde as having exceeded either any principle of the Common Law or any provision of the Statute Law. Then I take the case of Mr. Lynch Staunton. That case, when it appeared here first, seemed, in all seriousness, like a most aggravated outrage committed by a heartless land¬ lord upon a most excellent tenant. What turns out ? That this man is in the employment of Mr. Staunton, nor does he dismiss him ; he told us here that he had never raised his rents since the year 1818, but that it remained as it was in those days ; nay, more; that in the bad times, as we call them, the rents went down, and were never raised again : but he had this man as his herd or steward, and he told him, “ There is such a one leaving his land, and, if the land will suit you, I will be glad if you get it and use it, but, mind, I will not allow you to have those two houses which are upon it.” As his son grew in years Mr. Staunton became more determined upon that subject, and he said, “ I thought it very likely, as happens among the peasantry of Ireland, that the son would be marrying and having a family. I knew,” said Mr. Staunton, ‘Ghat if he came there he could not live upon the land, and that he must become a pauper upon ray estate; and I became every day more anxious that there should be no temptation with regard to those houses; nay, more, I intended that the stones of those very places should be used for surrounding a churchyard, in order that the bones of the dead and the remains of the dead might not be desecrated ” in the awful manner in which they are treated in this town. I hope some of the Town Commissioners, or people in authority, hear me. Mr. Staunton said, “ I intended that those stones should be used in erecting a wall to surround a burial-place,” in order that the bones of the dead, the mortal remains of all that we revere, might not be treated in the horrible manner in which I am bound to say they are treated in this town. Mr. Staunton finds the whole country, as Mr. Morris said, in a state of rebellion or civil war. He is away with his family in England; he now says, “ All relations are broken between you and me; you have treated me with a great deal of disrespect.” The tenant put in his pocket the keys of the place into which he was only allowed as a favour. “ I know now,” he says, “ if I let you stand here I shall get short accounts about this house, which I shall not allow you to have.” I do not consider that Mr. Staunton’s act was Intended to be an act in consequence of the vote, but that it was an act to guard himself against the perpetration of injustice by that man after the relations which had previously existed between them had been altered and disturbed. I shall not report Mr. Lynch Staunton. Then as to Sir Thomas Burke, I am asked to report him, and if I did I would venture to say that the members of the House of Commons would exclaim, “ That must be the strangest judge in the world to accuse Sir Thomas Bui'ke of Injustice !” But, not caring whether they did so or not, if there were a case made out against him, I should report Sir Thomas Burke. Sir Thomas Burke is charged by a man named Tierney with having turned him away in consequence of his having voted at the election. Lady Mary Burke gave one account of it; Sir Thomas Burke did not give a very distinct account of it; but the gist of the whole matter is this; that this man, who was Sir Thomas Burke’s bailiff, came and said that he would not vote against Captain Trench. I do not know whether he said he would vote for Captain Trench or not; I think he only said he would not vote against Captain Trench. It afterwards, I think, crept out, either in the evidence of Lady Mary Burke, or of blr Thomas Burke, that Tierney, having been the legitimate leader of the tenantry under Sir Thomas Burke himself, was guilty of the greatest insolence, that he was making the greatest shouts, that he was in fact leading on the very civil disorder which brought anarchy to the door of every gentleman in this county, and Avhich, in the case of Sir Thomas Burke drove him out of the county with his family, he not feeling that it would be safe for them to remain in it. I consider that Sir Thomas Burke was perfectly entitled to dismiss that man upon the grounds he has stated. He had often before had occasion to threaten him; and I consider that he took a wise precaution not to leave his property and his place under the guardianship of a man who had acted so indecently upon that occasion. This does not touch in the slightest degree the interests of the parties. It is a matter between the House of Commons and myself, and I take all the responsibility upon myself. I am as clear as ever I was in my life that if I did report any of those gentlemen, I should commit a great outrage in doing so, after the dreadful disclosures which have been made during the last 50 days before me of the 241. G revolutionary 50 JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MR. JUSTICE KEOGII ON THE revolutionary attitude which this contest had assumed. Then I am told that there is a man of the name of Morgan, who was a baililF of Sir Thomas Burke, and that he had read a letter from Sir Thomas Burke to his tenants telling them that, if they voted against Captain Trench, they might look out for compensation under the Land Act. In the first place, Morgan is not a bailiff of Sir Thomas Burke’s; he is the son of a bailiff of Sir Tliomas Burke’s ; but as regards this whole matter I attach no weight or importance at all to it; and for this simple reason, that I am not entitled to consider it. Sir Thomas Burke having been in the chair ; and it being proved before me that, whatever knowledge there existed about this transaction, it was within the knowledge of those acting for the sitting Member (not of the counsel), but of j^ersons, acting for the sitting Member; and they not having questioned Sir Thomas Burke upon the subject, I must assume that he was not questioned upon the subject, either because the parties to whom that information was given did not themselves believe it, or because they knew that if they put the question to Sir Thomas Burke that would have given him an op 20 ortunity of confuting it. I reject the evidence altogether upon that subject as utterly unworthy of my consideration. I shall not report Sir Thomas Burke to the House of Commons. I shall certainly not report either Mr. or Mrs. Roe (I do not know' which of the two is the ow’ner of the jJace), to whom those voters in the first instance absolutely proffered their votes, they being afterwai-ds kept comfortably, eitlier in an adjoining house, or in that house, in order to prevent their being dragged to the poll, having been intimidated and coerced by temjioral and spiritual influence between the time when they had volunteered to their good landlady, Mrs. Roe, to give their votes for Captain Trench, and the time when they took up their comfortable quarters in Mrs. Roe’s house, upon the evening that Father Loftus w'as upon his voyage of discovery as to the conscientious supporters of Captain Nolan. I will not report Mrs. Roe. I shall state to the House of Commons the result of all the evidence that I have now investigated as regards the organised system of intimidation which has pervaded this county in every quarter, in every direction, in every barony, in every town, in every place. I shall report to the House of Commons that the Archbishop of Tuam, the Bishop of Galway, the Bishop of Clonfert, all the.clergymen whose cases I have gone through, and who have not appeared (with one excej^tion, which I tore out of my jiaper lest I should make any mistake about it), and all the clergy who have appeared, with, 1 think, a few exceptions, which I Avill look most carefully into (I observe that the English Judges have frequently reserved that pow'er as to particular cases), have been guilty of an organised attempt to defeat the free franchises and the free votes of the electors of this county, and that Captain Nolan, by himself, and Mr. Sebastian Nolan, his brother, as his agent, in company with all those episcopal and clerical persons Avhom I shall set out by name, have been guilty of these practices; and I will guard the franchises of the people of this county for seven years, at least, for the Statute will not allow any one of those persons to be again engaged in conducting or managing an election, or canvassing for a candidate aspiring to be the representative of Galway. Noav I have done my task. For me, I may truly say that it has been a laborious and a j)alnful one. For a moment ujion Thursday morning I thought the whole of this in¬ quiry Avould fall to the ground, and that I should never be able to take my place in this court to deliver a satisfactory judgment. I trembled at that idea. I knew in the first place'Avhat the ever-slanderous Avorld would be ready to say. I did not care one particle about that, but 1 trembled for the Injustice that would be done (for the re-opening of an inquiry of this kind Avas perfectly out of the question) to the claimant of the seat; and the still more imjAortant injustice that Avould be done to his 680 odd supjjorters. Finally, I believe the greatest injustice of all Avould be done to those 2,800 A'oters Avhom Mr. Macdonogh dAvelt so much upon as the supporters of Cajitain Nolan ; who, I say, Avere the mindless, brainless, coward instrume nts in^the Jpamls^f jecclesiagticaf despjolis^ It^as pleased ProHden^ to enable me^to go^tHrou^ the fatigues of this inquiry since Thursday last, Avheu I postponed it until this morning, and I am noAV very near thp conclusion, I have not the pleasure of knowing either of the candidates. I have spoken my honest recollections of the honoured father of one of them ; I have the fdeasure of knoAA'ing his brothei', a member of this bar, A\'ho has been already marked out for pi’o- fessional distinction, and is Avell knoAvn to his professional brethren as a Avell and highly educated and accomjdlshed lawyer, and a thorough and unblemished gentleman. I hope 1 may live to see the day, Avhich I believe is certain to come, Avhcn he Avill rise to great eminence in his j)rofesslon. I think it right to say, to jArevent all misunderstanding on the part of Mr. Francis Nolan, that although he naturally and projAerly and rightly (and it does him honour) sympathises Avith his brother, and stands by him through good or evil report, yet in the Avhole of this tremendous inquiry the name of Mr. Francis Nolan has never been mentioned in connection Avith a single transaction which could reflect the smallest shadow of discredit upon him, either personally or professionally. I AA'ish, Avhen I leave this j)lace, that I could leave behind me assured tranquillity aud lasting jAeace. I showed no indisposition to make great alloAvances Avhen I sat in this place three years ago. If I could, with any regard to my own independence, and to the public rights, to the interests of the parties, and to the security of free election, I Avouhl have made great alloAvances in this case too. I am sure, notwithstanding all that has happened, that there is one prelate, at all events, who Avill be glad to contribute to the blessed results to which I have pointed. He has deA'oted too much of his learned leisure to the illustration of the life and of the Avorks of the AjAnstle of the Gentiles not to draAv a sounder TRIAL OF THE GALWAY COUNTY ELECTION PETITION. a sounder moral from his claim of Roman citizenship and his appeal to Cassar, than that he was a Catholic priest (as stated by Captain Nolan), and therefore that every Catholic priest, such as I have been commenting on, was justified in assailing at pleasure British institutions; those much maligned institutions, the dream of the philosophic historian of antiquity, in which liberty and order and dignity are all blended in one happy harmony together; those institutions, under which no one knows better than my Lord Bishop of Galway, that the Roman Catholic Church enjoys at this moment a greater amount of practical freedom than in any other country in the world. How long it may continue to enjoy these immunities, if siich transactions as the last Galway election indicate are repeated, it is not for me to say. My friend, Mr. McDermott, reminded me in his brilliant discourse that we owe Catholic emancipation to the united e -'Srtions of the patriotic priests and the emancipated peasants. I spoke of our great countryman, Edmund Burke, of whom another great countryman of ours wrote in playful wit:— “ Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such. We neither can praise him nor blame him too much ; Who, born for the universe, narrowed his mind. And gave up to party what was meant for mankind.” I have mentioned that about a century ago he received, as a reward for his great services, the freedom of this ancient town. Although he was not born here, but iu Dublin, he had relatives and friends here. Does not my friend Mr. McDermott know that in a remote, almost unnoticed part of this town was born the Eight Honourable John Wilson Croker, no mean worker in the Catholic cause ? Is he not aware that in this very neighbourhood, by the admission of all his contemporaries, the greatest orator in the British Parliament, Lord Plunkett, delighted to pass the evening of his days ? Are the efforts, the Protestant efforts, of Mr. Grattan {clarum et venerabile nomen), of our own immortal Canning, the grandfather of Lord Canning Burke, of Lord Castlereagh, one of the greatest statesmen (no matter what may be said against him) that has ever guided the councils of the British empire, of Lord Plunkett, and a hundred others, to be ungratefully forgotten ? Is the whole glory to be attributed to a combination of priests and peasants ? I deny the historical conclusion, and I should be ungrateful if, enfranchised by those exertions, those brilliant and indefatigable exertions, of my Protestant fellow- countrymen, and I should be unworthy of the place which I now occupy, mainly by their exertions, if I allowed such a statement to pass unnoticed. In the year 1869, sitting in this very place, I expressed, as I express now, the belief that if an attempt was made to set up a Roman Catholic ascendancy in the place of that which Parliament was then ‘engaged in abolishing, the intelligence, the spirit, and the independence of the lay Catholics of this country would prevent its establishment. I shall never forget the way in which that statement was received in a court, crowded, as the present court is, by all classes, rich and poor, whilst the Roman Catholic Bishop of Galway sat in the place to which I now point under this bench, looking at the whole of the crowded audience which filled every point to hear the decision of the then Galway Election Petition. I say I shall never forget the way in which that sentiment, uttered by a Roman Catholic, born in this Roman Catholic town, of Roman Catholic parents, with scarcely a relative in the world who was not a Roman Catholic, was received by a densely-crowded court. The sentiment which I uttered did not grate upon the feelings of any one then present. That attempt, I am bound to say, though three years have only just expired since I uttered those words, has been since made. It has been met and defeated by the spirit, the inde¬ pendence, and the intelligence of the Roman Catholic gentry of this great county, and I cannot say that I feel otherwise than proud of my countrymen at having had the spirit, the courage, and the independence, rich and poor, the peer and the peasant, the gentle lady and the stalwart yeoman, to come into this court and give their evidence, as they have done, with the most perfect frankness, veracity, and truth. I now, in closing this case, entertain a well-founded belief that the lesson to be learned from the whole of these transactions will not be thrown away ; I, at all events, sincerely pray that when the agitation caused by this Petition has subsided, all parties and classes will recur to the maxims of our Great Teacher, whose every word was a parable of love: “ By whom we learn our hopes and fears to guide ; To bear with envy, to contend with pride ; When grieved, to pray; when injured, to forgive ; And with the world in charity to live.” There is only one other and a very painful matter for my consideration. It necessarily follows, from the decision at which I have arrived; the seat for this county must be declared void, and Captain Nolan must pay to his antagonist the expenses of this Petition. 24 L. H So '' <( ■. 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