Representative British Orations Volume 4 (of 4): With Introductions and Explanatory Notes — John Shaqi
Representative British Orations Volume 4 (of 4): With Introductions and Explanatory Notes
History
Representative British Orations Volume 4 (of 4): With Introductions and Explanatory Notes
Speeches, addresses, etc., English
I have read this passage from the _Hibernian Journal_ of the 7th of
this month. I know not whether you can hear, unmoved, a paragraph
which makes my blood boil to read; but I shall only tell you, that the
Attorney-General refused to prosecute this libeller. Gentlemen, there
have been several murders committed in the county of Monaghan, in which
Ballybay lies. The persons killed happened to be Roman Catholics;
their murderers are Orangemen. Several of the persons accused of these
murders are to be tried at the ensuing assizes. The agent applied to me
personally, with this newspaper; he stated that the obvious intention
was to create a prejudice upon the approaching trials favorable to
the murderers, and against the prosecutors. He stated what you--_even
you_--will easily believe, that there never was a falsehood more
flagitiously destitute of truth than the entire paragraph. I advised
him, gentlemen, to wait on the Attorney-General in the most respectful
manner possible; to show him this paragraph, then to request to be
allowed to satisfy him as to the utter falsehood of the assertions
which this paragraph contained, which could be more easily done, as
the judges who went that circuit could prove part of it to be false;
and I directed him to entreat that the Attorney-General, when fully
satisfied of the falsehood, would prosecute the publisher of this,
which, I think, I may call an atrocious libel.
Gentlemen, the Attorney-General was accordingly waited on; he was
respectfully requested to prosecute upon the terms of having the
falsehood of these assertions first proved to him. I need not tell you
he refused. These are not the libellers _he_ prosecutes. Gentlemen,
this not being a libel on any individual, no private individual can
prosecute for it; and the Attorney-General turns his Press loose on
the Catholics of the county of Monaghan, whilst he virulently assails
Mr. Magee for what must be admitted to be comparatively mild and
inoffensive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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