by the Press, and became familiar to journalists in both countries. I addressed a similar notice to the Sheriff who had framed the panels, specifying the Catholic and Liberal Protestant jurors whom he had omitted or postponed, pointing out the duty the law imposed upon him, and his shameful violation of it. The effect upon public opinion was considerable. Many Irish towns, among them my native town, spoke in the most decisive tone, demanding if this was the justice the Whigs desired to maintain in Ireland. The Irish electors in various English boroughs instructed their representatives to inquire whether they approved of the judicial system established in Ireland, and if not what they would do to control it? At last the smiling complacency of the Irish members was ruffled by so much clamour, and they sent a deputation to Lord Clarendon, then on a visit to London, to ascertain if the business could not be managed a little more decently, or at any rate a little more discreetly.
The Archbishop of Tuam suggested that the country should have an opportunity of expressing an opinion on these practices. A memorial to the Lord-Lieutenant was drawn up by the " Irish Priest," and revised by my counsel, which for unequivocal plain speaking resembled one of the trenchant addresses sent by the Corporation of London to George III. A single paragraph will sufficiently indicate its spirit:—
"Let your Excellency bear in mind that deeply at the root of the deadly hatred of English domination that festered in the hearts of the great mass of the Catholic population since that domination was first established over them, lies a feeling of utter distrust, and, in State Trials, of utter despair of an impartial administration of law"
In a brief time, in a country disheartened by famine and failure, it received more than forty thousand signatures, and the signatories included the men of foremost rank in the Church and in the professions. I advised that this address should be presented to the Lord- Lieutenant by a deputation whom he could not venture to treat with disrespect. This was done accordingly. Lord Clarendon read his reply with a manifest consciousness that he had a nation for an audience. It was elaborate and circumstantial, but absurdly fallacious. He had no control, he affirmed, over the Sheriff whose panel was
