BETWEEN THE MARQUIS OF LONDONDERRY AND MR. GRATTAN. January 13, 1839.
In consequence of some expressions which were made use of by the Marquis of Londonderry in the House of Lords, in reference to a speech reported to have been made by Mr. Henry Grattan at a public meeting in Dublin, Mr. Grattan addressed a letter of inquiry to the Marquis, to which the following answer was returned:—
“Lord Londonderry presents his compliments to Mr. Henry Grattan. Lord Londonderry read, in his place in the House of Lords, an extract from the reports of the newspapers of a speech of Mr. O’Connell’s, stated to have been made at a public meeting in Dublin, to address the Queen; in which accusations were made against that party to which Lord Londonderry is proud to belong. The paragraph Lord L. cited is as follows:—‘Mr. Grattan had said, that her Majesty’s life would not be safe if the Tories came into power; and he (Mr. O’Connell) declared solemnly he was convinced she would not live six months, if that event took place.’ Lord Londonderry at once admits, if these sentiments are accurately reported, accusing the Tory party of the intention of murdering the Queen, he considers them as base and infamous. It was to such accusations Lord Londonderry’s epithets applied.”
In a second letter, Mr. Grattan begged to say, that he was not accountable for any opinion or expression in Mr. O’Connell’s speeches. As he had not alluded, in any speech of his, in any way to Lord Londonderry, he requested his lordship would distinctly say, whether he intended that the words ‘base’ and ‘infamous’ should be applied to him? In answer to this letter. Lord Londonderry observed, that, unwilling as he should be to fix upon any individual the responsibility of having uttered such sentiments as those reported in the public accounts of the meeting to which he alluded, he must adhere to the opinion he had already expressed, as applying to any individual who was prepared to avow such language. The epithets complained of were, he said, applied, not to individuals, but to injurious accusations reported to have been publicly uttered against a political body; and since there was no disavowal, on Mr. Henry Grattan’s part, of the language and sentiments reported to have been used, Lord Londonderry regretted he could not recede from the opinions he had already expressed.