92] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



CHAPTKR VUI. 



Continuance of Irish hisurrtction Act. — Mr. Wilbesforce s Motion fur an 

 Aildreas to the Prince Ref;ent relative to the Foreign Slave Trade. — Far- 

 liament clones. — Prince Regent's i'peech. 



IRISH INSURRECniON ACT. 



ON June 13th the order of the 

 day being on the subject of 

 going into .a comniittee on the 

 bill for continuing the Irish In- 

 surrection Act, Sir Henry Pnrnell 

 rose to move th:it it should be re- 

 ferred to a conimittf-e foi' this day 

 8e"nnight, in place of this evening, 

 for the purpose of the appoint- 

 ment of a committee to inquire 

 whether there existed any neces- 

 sity for such a measure. The 

 chief secretary for Ireland had 

 laid before the House, in the last 

 and present session, certain docu- 

 ments referring to disturbances 

 in Ireland, the latter of which 

 mentioned outrages which had 

 occurred in the county of Louth. 

 It was upon the last of these do- 

 cuments that the right hon. gen- 

 tleman had- called upon the House 

 to continue these most se\cre 

 and unconstitutional measures ; 

 but it was incumbent upon the 

 House to exercise its inquisito- 

 rial powers, and to examine whe- 

 ther the disturbed state of only 

 four baronies in one county of 

 Ireland was a sufficiently strong 

 case for such an expedient. The 

 law was one of uncommon seve- 

 rity : it went to create six new 

 transportable offences ; to enable 

 the magistrates at sessions to pro- 

 ceiul to tiiiU without either grand 



or petit juries ; and to sentence 

 persons guilty of no greater crime 

 than being absent from their 

 homes after sunset, to be trans- 

 porter! for seven years. But the 

 right hon. gentleman, in pallia- 

 tion of his case, says, " the law is 

 not general; the House may de- 

 pend upon the moderation of the 

 magistrates in requiring its en- 

 forcement, and upon tlie foibear- 

 ance of government." But the 

 occurrence in the county of Louth 

 fully proved the disposition of the 

 magistrates ; for they were ltd to 

 a))})ly to government in conse- 

 quence of a single outrage, which, 

 tliough not of great enormity, had 

 the effect of producing a com- 

 pliance with their wishes. The 

 continuance of the Insurrection 

 Act appeared to the hon. member 

 ])articularly objectionable, because 

 it seemed to be one intended to 

 conqjlete the new system for the 

 future government of Iieland. 

 Though we were now in a state 

 of peace with all the world, the 

 right hon. gentleman had pro- 

 ceeded just as if we Avere in the 

 n)idst of a war. He had first ob- 

 tained an arms bill ; he had then 

 made his own particular law, the 

 })eace act, stronger than before ; 

 and he now aims at the continu- 

 ance of the Insurrection Act. 



The hon. baronet would not go 

 80 far as to say, that the facts 



produced 



