There was an interlude in the general debate in the
Lords, -the Duke of Marlborough and Earl Spencer, two passed Viceroys, fighting over the non-renewal of the Peace Preserva-
tion Act. The Duke observed that secret associations existed in Ireland, and were the constant source of danger;
and maintained that while the special laws did not infringe the liberty of the sukee, they were essential—quoting the Arms pro- vision in particular—to the maintenance of good-order. Out- rages, he believed, had during the early mouths of this year greatly increwed in number, owing to the agrarian agitation. Earl Spencer, in reply, contended that many of the clauses in the Act were useless, and that many more were only repetitions of provisions in other Acts—instancing the power of sending police to a disturbed district, and charging it for expenses—and denied that the agrarian agitation, as formerly, was driven forward by secret associations. Her Majesty's Government were not blind to the unfortunate state of things which existed, but they hoped for loyal support from the people. He added that as regarded processions, the Act did not apply, as they occurred in districts not "proclaimed."
