/ J SELECT COMMITTEE ON FICTITIOUS VOTES, IRELAND. 79 knowledge, a much inferior qualification as to value than those who were Mr. Patrick Flood rejected upon the Liberal side?— Most decidedly; that is in 1832 that I speak of particularly. ' 8 May 1838. 8198. Who were the registering barristers at that registry ?— Mr. Fosberry was the first that came down, and Mr. Dogherty came down afterwards. There were two in the latter part, as he was not able to get through such a number. 8199. Do you know of any practice that prevails at the registry sessions of obtaining duplicate certificates ?— I do. 8200. By whom were those certificates obtained ?— By Mr. Courtney and Mr. Griffith, the agents for Lord Forbes and Mr. Lefroy. 8201. Have you any reason to know whether those duplicate certificates were ever afterwards attempted to be used ?— I know they were; there was a man of the name of Matthew M'Keon, of Balinalee, in the barony of Granard, came up to vote afterwards upon one of them. 8201*. Matthew M'Keon came up to vote upon a certificate at the election of 1832 ?— He did. 8202. Was that certificate a genuine document ?— He obtained it from the clerk of the peace and the barrister presiding, of course ; it was signed by the barrister and by the clerk of the peace; I was inspector at the election for one of the candidates in that barony. 8203. Was his vote admitted by the assessor ?— No ; the first vote was rejected before the assessor. 8204. Upon what ground was it rejected?— The man admitted himself that he was not a 20 /. freeholder; I passed him ; I did not object. 8205. He was rejected by the assessor upon his own admission that he was not a 20/. freeholder?— Yes. 8206. Did he come up again to vote at the election?— He did; the last day but one of the election he was brought up again. 8207. Wrhat day of the election was it that he first came up to poll ?— The second day of the election. 8208. On what day of the election did he come up to poll the second time ? — The fourth day. 8209. In what capacity, or under what qualification, did he come up to poll the second time ?— As a 10 /. freeholder. 8210. Did he produce a certificate as a 10 /. freeholder upon the second time that he came up to vote ?— He did. 8211. Was that certificate regular apparently, and signed by the registering barrister and the clerk of the peace ?•— It was. 8212. Wras his vote admitted upon that second occasion?— It was not. 8213. Upon what ground was he rejected on the second occasion ?— I put the affidavit to him. 8214. What affidavit?— The affidavit where it runs that he had not voted at this election before ; and when he came to that part— I knew the man myself, and 1 threatened him about taking the affidavit, that if he did he would be pro- secuted, and he went as far as that and he stopped; he would not take the affidavit. 8215. Then he would not swear that part of the affidavit which related to his not having voted before at that election ?— Yes. 8216. In consequence of that his vote was not received upon the second occasion ?— It was not put upon the poll on the second occasion; he was put on the poll at first, but struck off by the assessor. 8217. Were either of the two certificates which he produced upon the second day, or upon the fourth day, examined with a view to ascertain whether they were genuine certificates 01* not ?— They were handed up, and were acknow- ledged to be genuine. We did not object at all to the certificates ; we believed the certificates to be genuine. They were handed up as genuine by the clerk of the peace and the registering barrister; but we were aware that the man could not have two certificates without he obtained one of them through the clerk of the peace; through the confusion there was in the court, he came up disguised ; he was brought up by the agent, by Mr. Griffith the attorney, and lie was dressed in different clothes ; they thought that we would not know him upon the fourth day. I knew the man well for about two years before that. 8218. Mr. Hogg.] What do you mean by his being disguised ?— He came up in a different dress to poll, and I objected to his having polled upon the second 643. L 4 day