SELECT COMMITTEE ON FICTITIOUS VOTES, IRELAND. > 2.5 y 6706. Did he receive that evidence ?— No, he did not. Tt Courtenay, Esq. 6707. Mr. O'Cornell.'] Do you mean witnesses to value?— Yes ; he stated that — he conceived the claimant, the poor man himself, to be the best judge of the value 23 March 1838. of his land. 6708. Mr. Lefroy.] Were the witnesses called on the other side, of a respect- able class?— They were some of the magistrates of the county, grand jurors, who said, being in court, they wished to be examined. 6709. Chairman.'] Were they likely, as grand jurors, to be acquainted with the value of lands?— Holding large tracts of land themselves, perhaps in the neighbour- hood where those persons resided. 6710. Mr. Lefroy.] Persons in the habit of letting lands of their own, of the same quality as those of the claimants ?— Yes. 6711. Mr. O'ConnelL] That is as you suppose?— I know the county of Long- ford pretty well. 6712. Are all the grand jurors men of property ?— They are not. 6713. Chairman.] Do you mean to state that the grand jurors who offered to give that evidence at the time, so far as you were acquainted with them, were persons qualified to pass a good opinion as to the value of these lands which were under discussion ?— They were. 6714. Mr. O'Connell.] Can you name any of those grand jurors ?— I can. 6715. What are their names?— Mr. William Lloyd Galbraith, he served the office of high sheriff some years ago; Mr. John Robinson, of Lisglassick, both large landowners. 6716. Was Mr. Galbraith of any profession?— I believe he was in the militia, but I do not know that he belonged to any other profession. 6717. Was he clerk of the Crown?— No. 6718. Mr. Lefroy.] Did any gentlemen of the county tender themselves as wit- nesses and give evidence upon any occasion?— Those two that I mentioned did. 6719. Mr. O'Connell.] You mean then to pledge yourself that Mr. Tighe, the barrister, refused to hear evidence that the land out of which the man came to register was not of the value of 101. ?— I do most distinctly; that he refused the evidence. 6720. Refused to hear it?— Refused the evidence. I do not say that he refused to hear it, but he refused the evidence. 6721. Were the witnesses sworn ?— They were. 6722. Did they depose to that fact?— They did. 6723. Then what you mean by refusing the evidence is, deciding against it?—• Deciding against it; I understood the question to be put in that point of view, that he heard it and refused it; if the question had been whether he refused the witness, I should have understood it in that point of view just put, but having used the words 44 refused the evidence," I thought the meaning was, whether he had heard it and refused it. 6724. They were sworn and examined and cross- examined ?— Yes. 6725. Witnesses have been sworn for the claimant?— The claimant himself, and perhaps witnesses for him. G726. Examined and cross- examined?— Examined and cross- examined. 6727. And then the decision was in favour of the claimant, and against the wit- nesses who came to impugn his right?—- Yes. 6728. That is what you meant by refusing the evidence?— Yes. 6729. Mr. Lefroy.] " Do you say that in that case which you mentioned, witnesses had been examined for the claimant?— I cannot say positively that witnesses had been examined, but the man himself bad been examined. 6730. Mr. O'Connell.] According to your recollection, were there witnesses examined also?— I do not recollect that there were. 6731. You will not pledge yourself that there were not?— I will not. 6732. Mr. Lefroy.] Did Mr. Tighe lay down any general rule as to his acting upon the evidence of the man himself in preference to the evidence of those gen tlemen who were examined upon that occasion ?— He said he considered the poor man himself to be the best judge of the value of his holding. 6733. And he decided against the evidence of those gentlemen that were examined?— He did. 6734. Had that any effect with respect to the possibility of getting respectable witnesses to come forward upon future occasions?— It had. 6735. What cffect ?— They could not be got to come forward, because they did not choose to subject themselves in an open court to be discredited when they came there to give testimony without having any interest in it. 643. c 3 6736. Was