\ 254 M I N U T E S OF E V I D E N C E T A K E N B E F O R E T HE Rev. E. weaver. servative ?— Indeed I believe they did ; when I was a boy growing up I think they did. X June 1838. 12753. That was the general system?— Yes; there were two families repre- senting the county, Lord Forbes and Sir Thomas Featherstone, and there was seldom a contest, as far as I could hear. 12754. Mr. Lefroy.~] Did you never hear of a contest by Mr. White?— Yes ; they represented'it when I was a child, Sir Thomas Featherstone, and I believe Lord Forbes ; but after that ( I was in Paris at that time, I was then at college, and it was in my absence) Mr. White had the first contest I ever heard of in Longford. 12755. Did not all Lady Ross's tenants vote with her on that occasion ?— I do not know, for I was not in the county at that time. 12756. Mr. Milnes Gaskell.] How did they go at the last election?— Indeed I believe the generality of them voted according to Lady Ross's views when she lived. 12757. Mr. Hogg] How did that portion of them who are included in your flock of parishioners vote; that portion of Lady Ross's tenantry, do they vote with you or against you ?— I must take a survey of the freeholders in my parish, to see whether we have any of Lady Ross's tenants. 12758. You enumerated Lady Ross just now as one of those whose tenants your parishioners were ?— Those were not freeholders. 12759. there be any freehold tenants of Lady Ross among your flock, tell me how they voted; according to Lady Ross's views, or according to your views ?— I do not think there are any tenants of Lady Ross among my parish- ioners who are registered freeholders ; she has a great number of freeholders who are Protestants, and they vote with her. 12760. Mr. Milnes Gaskell.] Which way do Mr. Bonynga's tenants and Mr. Slater's tenants vote ?— Mr. Slater has no leases upon his land. There was one of Mr. Bonynga's tenants who lives upon Mr. Slater's land, and, with a view of getting a lease, he said to me, " If you will get me a lease I will hold with you." He got the lease, and he did not register. Mr. Slater says, " As long as you remain quiet I will let you remain, but if you register I will put you out." 12761. Mr. Lefroy.~\ He said, " If you will get me a lease I will hold with you"?— Yes. 12762. And you got him a lease ?— Yes. 12763. How do you reconcile that with your notions, that a man should not act, in giving his vote, under the influence of any inducement of that sort; how do you reconcile that with the moral obligation you felt in restraining your flock from acting in that way ?— Very easily ; if a man holds back from a fear of per- secution, or the fear of being dispossessed of land, that I consider tantamount to a bribe; but if he is merely induced to act as he would otherwise do, supposing all inducements are set aside, that he votes as he would if he were perfectly free, that is easily reconciled; and there is a great difference between a man voting contrary to his conscience, and voting as he would if all kinds of threats and discouragements were removed; in that case he would vote after getting the lease as if neither threats nor discouragements were held out to him. 12764. And you think that clearly reconciles your conduct, in that instance; with the principle you avowed you acted upon in the former part of your evi- dence ?— I do ; if I have not explained myself I will endeavour to make myself better understood. I think a man acting as he would wish to act, or as he would have acted in case there was no one to punish him for that act, is not influenced but left free. 12765. Chairman.] If I understand you correctly, your idea is that every Roman- catholic in the county of Longford, who has a right to vote, and does not vote for those candidates whose principles you approve, must necessarily act under some motive either of constraint or some improper motive ?— No, I do not draw the conclusion in that way; I first consider that every man who has a vote ought to vote for the man he believes in his conscience will do most good to the community at large ; with that view, a man who has a right to register ought to register, and when registered ought to vote for that person. That is not because I think so ; of course if I am right, others who think with me will be right also; but it is not because I consider this or that, that every person should vote as I think, but as long as I consider I am right I should wish to bring every man to my side, to reason as I do reason. 12766. I think