S E L E C T C O M M I T T E E ON F I C T I T I O U S VOTES, I R E L A N D . 181 // c' 10871. Did it appear to you that he was acting partially ?— Yes, I thought so Mr. James Ternan. in some cases. ' 10872. Will you give some instances ?— My opinion of Mr. Fosberry was, that 22 May 1838. he was more under the influence of the Conservative party than he was of the others. 10873. Will you specify some of those instances in which you conceive he acted partially ?— The principal thing that struck me was, that whenever the agents of the Conservative side ran short of men to bring up to register, when they had not their claimants ready, they complained to Mr. Fosberry that the court was overcrowded, when it was not really so, and he gave directions to clear the court out by the police; and they generally cleared the side upon which the Liberals were, and put them out of court, by which means I consider the Con- servative party gained time to bring in their men. 10874. Did Mr. Fosberry direct the police to clear that side of the court?— Yes, he did, whenever there was a complaint made by the agents upon the opposite side. 10875. He directed the police to clear the side from which the disturbance came ?— I could not see any disturbance upon those occasions. 10876. Mr. O'Connell In point of fact, there was no disturbance ? — There was no disturbance; but the agents were very clever, active men, and used to do those things to gain time. 10877. Mr. Lefroy.] And Mr. Fosberry, at their instance, always had the court cleared ?— Not always, but frequently. 10878. And you think he did that to give them time ?— I do. 10879. Can you state any other instances of partiality?— I cannot state instances, but, in general, my feeling and conviction was that he leant more to the Conservative side than he did to the other. 10880. You are a pretty warm party- man yourself; you have strong political feelings on the other side ?— Yes, I have, tolerably so. 10881. Then you do not doubt that your own feelings and impressions are under the influence of that political bias also ?— No ; I will not admit that my feelings are. 10882. You think that your judgment was not at all warped, and is not liable to be warped, by your political bias ?— Not at all; I was acting in a public capacity; I never allowed it to do so ; I was then acting as assistant in the clerk of the peace's office. 10883. The question refers not to your official conduct, but to the judgment you formed of Mr. Fosberry. Is not it possible that your judgment of Mr. Fosberry, your impression with respect to the bias upon his mind, might have been influenced by the bias upon your mind on the other side ?— It might, but I do not think it was. 10884. Mr. O'Connell.] You were not there as the agent of either party, but as a public officer ?— Then as an assistant to a public officer. 10885. Mr. Lefroy.'] Mr. Fosberry was there to administer impartial justice between both parties, under the sanction of an oath ?— I believe so. 10886. Do not you think it is fair to give him the same privilege as a public officer that you claim for yourself ?— Yes, I think he has a right to the same privilege. 10887. And to make the same fair estimate of his conduct as a public officer that you claim for your own ?— Decidedly. 10888. Mr. O'Connell.] And after giving him that credit, your judgment is, that he acted with a bias towards one party against the other ?— Certainly. 10889. Collecting that opinion from the facts that passed before your eyes? — Yes. 10890. And it is not a pleasant thing to you to come to such a result?— Indeed it is not; I would be very sorry to express such an opinion of any one. 10891. Mr. Lefroy.] Will you state some other instances of Mr. Fosberry's partiality? — I cannot particularize any instances at this moment; the only thing that strikes me at this moment is, that Mr. Fosberry appeared to be under the control, in a great measure, of Mr. Lefroy, jun., and Mr. Courtenay. 10892. What do you mean by under their control?— Any statement coming from them he appeared to pay great attention to, and in all cases attended to it when he would not attend to complaints of the same kind from the opposite party. 643. A A 3 10893. This «