13 SEPTEMBER 1845, Page 6

IRELAND.

At the meeting of the Repeal Association, on Monday, Mr. Steele was appointed Chairman. After congratulating the Association on its tri- umphant position, and exhorting to the principles of peace, he remarked, that the Prince of Joinville had been inspecting the breakwaters of Ports- mouth and other places—all by way of amusement, of course; but the moral deducible from the fact was, that the time was fast approaching, when England would require the assistance of Irishmen_ Mr. John ('Connell read a letter from his father. Mr. O'Connell enclosed 41., the September instalment towards the Repeal rent from himself and three sons. He also gave notice of the following motion, with some allusion to the " unfounded assault " on the Corporation, [by Mr. John Reynolds,] and the handsome conduct of the Conservative members in aiding to oppose it-

" To express the gratitude of the Association to the Reformed Corporation of Dublin, and our confidence in the intelligence and integrity of that respected body. Akio, to refer to a Committee the preparation of a petition to Parliament to ex- tend the power and authority of the Reformed Corporation."

Mr. O'Connell strongly objected to some censure which had been cast on Orangemen for playing party-tunes--- - "Now thereare no such things as ' party-tunes' in the Repeal agitation. There is-a marked distinction between national airs' and 'party-tunes.' Whilst we were struggling for Emancipation there were party-times—tunes intended to con- vey insult and resistance to the Catholics and their claims: but the Catholics, as such, have no longer any claims to make: the date of party-tunes is therefore over. As to the Repealers, no Irish tune can possibly be disagreeable to them; and even if it were disagreeable, the Repealers ought cheerfully to concede to Irishmen the selection of any airs that pleased themselves. Besides, the

'Boyne Water, for example, is a beautiful air. The Southern Repeaters have in ninny places taken it up as a national air, and I hope it will soon become general with the Repealer of the North as well as those of the South. Let the Rapes/ Wardens communicate to such Catholics as are not Repeaters our earnest advice to linen cheerfully and merrily to any tunes the Orangemen may play, and thus to make music what it ought to be, the source of harmony, and not of discord, amongst Irishmen of all persuasion."

Me. O'Connell also exhorted. the Repealers to return seventy Members to tha House of Commons; closing his letter with the new motto 'Register, register, register." Mr. John O'Connell made a fierce assault on the Col- lege& Bill, and ea Mr. Wyse-for supporting it. Mr. Law also suggested:that -

parents who sent their children for the new Colleges should be held tip tla equal execration, The rent- for the week was 1731.

The Belfast Operative Protestant. Association gave an entertainment to Mr. Watson, the dismissed Magistrate, on Wednesday evening last week,—.. a kind of soirée, at which tea and cakes were the comestibles. The Earl of Roden presided; Colonel Verner, many Justices of the Peace, and several clergymen were present. The expression of sympathy with the hero of the evening was very strong; but the general run of the orator? was not remarkable; except a speech of the Chairman's- the only °thee noticeable points were one of the toasts and a passage in 'Colonel Vernetote • speech. This is the toast- " His Royal Highness Prince Albert, and the Royal offspring of the house of Brunswick. May they be brought up in mindful adherence to those Protestant principles which placed their ancestors on the throne- of these realms, and which alone can maintain our present Sovereign there." (Loud applause, =amuck - Kentish fire.)

Colonel Verner quoted with great effect the remark made by Sir Robert Peel a few years ago, that " with regard to Orange processions, it is unwise and absurd to think of preventing loyal men from celebrating an event to which they owe their liberty and the blessings they enjoy." The Camel, afterwards said-

" It has been said that Mr. Watson was dismissed because. similar conduct wag. pursued towards Repeal Magistrates: but I ask, are the loyal and disaffected to he put together—are Ribandmen and Orangemen to be looked on in the same.poiuI of view? Are Repealers and the advocates and supporters of British connexion to be put on the same footing; or, in short, to be dealt with in the same manner? I would ask if the same conduct is to be observed with regard to the two bodies? Are they to be treated alike, with equal punishments and rewards; although with regard to the latter, I believe it is long since justice was done in this respeet to the loyal Protestants of Ireland? No; rewards were reserved exclusively for' those whom it may be considered expedient to try and conciliate."

The last speech was delivered by Lord Roden; and as its effect condi:1g, in the manner rather than the substance, we must find room for it entire—.. " Brother Protestants who have honoured this meeting with your presence I assure you, gentlemen, it would be impossible for me to express my gratitude you for the honour which you have done me. I can assure you that I feel great happiness in joining with the operatives of Belfast in giving this testimony of their regard to my friend Mr. Watson, a gentleman with whom I have been acquainted since the years of my childhood. He calls forth our sympathies, because he has always been a resident landlord among the people of his own neighbourhood,, executing the duties of magistrate to the entire satisfaction of all parties. I cannot; but think that it was an enormously harsh act of the Government to deprive such a man of the commission of the peace; and I cannot but think that they theme' selves must feel that they have acted a very inconsiderate part in degrading that individual, who in times of danger acted with spirit in preserving the peace of the country. There are circumstances connected with what has taken place to •• Mr. Watson which are known to none but himself and me; and, although I have not had any communication with him on the subject, still I shall take the liberty of stating the facts to the meeting. I do this for the information of the country' and even for that Ministry who have so unjustly treated him. Some times". I took the liberty of addressing- a letter to you on the subject of the anniversary of the battle of the Boyne, in the month of July. I have always been averse to party processions, because I felt that they were fomenting discord among all classes of my fellow-countrymen. I felt, however, at the same time, that it was. disgraceful that penal laws should exist against Protestant societies, whilst thaw' connected with Repeal and Temperance societies—which are the handmaids °Mee, peal—should be tolerated. I did not like that Protestant processions should be: put down whilst they should be held up. The Party Processions Act has now' ceased to exist; and I think that the Government acted unworthy the part of sic Protestant Government in the course which they have lately adopted. When that; law expired, they should have passed a law to prevent all processions. (" Hem; hear!' from all parts of the room.) In July last, I wrote my letter to the Pre,-, testants of Ulster, cautioning them not to walk. To that letter r received. an answer from Mr. Watson, in which he stated that he had taken my letter to his' friends, with whom he was in connexion; and be stated that be was-sorry to in- form me that their opinion was 'that their minds were made up; that they were, resolved on that occasion to proceed with their procession; and,' said Mr. Watson; I thought that it was my duty to accompany them to keep them from any'. irregularities which they might fall into.' Now, I de say, that if the same course, had been adopted in Armagh, such a catastrophe never would have taken placer: therefore, I feel that the country is greatly indebted to Mr. Watson, instead .of odium being heaped upon him for doing his duty. (Tremendous cheering.) I don't know what may be the opinions of those whom I now have the honour of addressing with respect to those processions which I have adverted to; but surer am, that any advice which I gave then came from the honest convictions of my heart—that it was for the benefit of those institutions, the welfare of which we- hare all at heart, that I gave that advice. With respect to what has been ad= vested to by Colonel Verner, I will say a word or two. He said that be looked,' upon me as being the leader of the Protestants of Ireland : but I feel totally un- worthy of such a distinction. I can only say that I give them all the assistance which I can—a heart truly devoted to the Protestant interest of Ireland. It is now ninny years since first I belonged to the Orange Institution; and it wag always my pride and happiness to belong to that loyal body. It was in the vigour of youth, when the body was active and the mind clear, that I joined that body; and I can say that in 1836, the period when that body was dissolved at the wish. of the Sovereign, its principles were nothing but loyalty to the Throne and Con- stitution of Great Britain; yes, loyalty to the Crown of England was the great end and aim of those institutions. I do not know whether it is a crime to res organize them now or not—I wont say; but that will remain for those who know what is best to be done in these trying times to. the Protestant-interests of the country. I am sure that those who come to consider that subject will do- so calmly, and with a due regard for the welfare of society. I feel happy that you have chosen for your colours orange and blue, to which you are so much attached: I am proud of that, for that happens to be the colour of the very ancient livery— (Tremendous cheering and' Kentish dire)—ef my own family.. I know not. whether it is a crime, but I don't think it culpable that I should, carry about my; person the image of the glorious William. (Kentish fire.) i have done so for many years, for two reasons,=first, from my Jove and affection for the good and, glorious man himself; and next, from my love and gratitude for the man who, gave it to me, the Ead of Winchilsea. (Loud' cheers and Kentie h. fire; in the midst of which Lord Roden took, from his breast a miniature picture of William; the Third, and exhibited it to the meeting amidst the most rapturous applause.) This l received. from the Earl of Winchilsea, whose ancestor, the Earl of Notting- ham, wore it during the Revolution of /688, as the personal friend of our great deliverer. (Rhonda of Kentish/Ire.) I know not whether that I am worthy. ha be deprived of the commission of the pease; but. I do know that no persecution will deter me from giving my zealhus support to the good cause. If the Govern-. meat upholds the principles of Protestantism, so long will the country flourish but so somas they deviate from those principles, we cannot expect that she will` prosper. I never yet in the course of my life was present at any meeting where L experienced more happiness than on the present occasion; nor did I aver hear more loyal sentiments expressed,—sentiments which, I ant sure, meet with a ready e in the heart of every honest man in the kingdom." (Mach cheering.) relhe doxology was then sung, and the meeting separated.

Cavan has been threatened with fresh disturbances; but they appear to hese been checked in time. The ostensible cause of the commotion was the intended assemblage of the Teetotallers of Killesandra, to present an address to Mr. R. H. Southwell, the late proprietor of the Castle Hamilton estate; and the Dahlia Evening Mail explains why that proceeding should occasion uneasiness- ' It appears that, in consequence of the pecuniary embarrassment of Mr. South- welt, it became necessary to sell his estates, or part thereof,. for the payment of his creditors; and that Castle Hamilton, the demesne and residence of the proprie- tor; was, under a. decree of the Court Of Chancery, set up to auction, and pur- chased by Mr. James Hamilton, a respectable and wealthy merchant in this city, for the sum of 55,0-001. It also appears, that after the sale had been effected, it occurred to some of the friends of Mr. Southwell, (who had been a frequent candi- date for the county on the Liberal side,) as well as to some of his family, that a sufficient sum to repurchase the estate from Mr. Hamilton could be raised by public subscription; and that, with a view to dispose the purchaser more willingly to relinquish his rights, threatening notices and rumours of danger were served or set afoot by other parties. With the latter part of this project none of the re- spectable family, whose misfortunes are to be deplored, could have any connex- ion; nor is it clear how far Mr. Southwell himself was at first cognizant of the design to restore hint to his property by means of the subscription: but it is quite certain that the Roman Catholic clergy of the county, including the Titular, had undertaken to• forward the design, and that Mrs. Southwell had held communi- eations with them on the subject. This was very natural and very praiseworthy on the part of an attached wife; and; it may be added, without detracting from the spirit by which she was actuated, that (in the words of Mr. Southwell to Doctor Martin, in a correspondence printed and privately circulated between these gentlemen,) Mrs. Southwell, having discovered the very great excitement which prevailed, expressed, in common with almost every human being in this vicinity, her apprehension that Mr. Hamilton, a stranger, wholly unknown, would be neither safe nor comfortable in coming to this country, at a moment when some of its most respected and long-resident gentry, acting under the advice of prudent friends, bad felt it necessary to absent themselves. She did more—she wrote to Me Dickson communicating her fears.' Matters were in this position when a notice from the Teetotallers of Killesandra, calling on their brethren at large throughout the county to meet them on a certain day at Killesandra, appeared, with the professed object of addressing Mr. Southwell, and possibly of promoting the subscription on his behalf. [This address enjoined the people to come un- armed.a The alarm spread among the Protestant population that those persons badtdterior objects in their view; and, recollecting a formidable occupation of the town which had taken place by night but a few weeks since, and the dangers to which the loyal and peaceful inhabitants were exposed, the Protestant yeomen tenantry of the county came to the resolution of being at least prepared for any emergency by meeting at the same place and on the same occasion, in self-pro- tective numbers."

The Mail quotes this notice issued by "the loyal Protestants "— Norma.—We, the loyal Protestants of the county of Cavan, have resolved, since our brethren have been assassinated, some fired on, and other outrages of different kinds have been committed in several localities of ;his once peaceable county, to the terror of the loyal and well-disposed of her Majesty's subjects ; and seeing by a jesuitical placard, that it is the intention of those whom we believe to be our adver- saries, to walk and hold a meeting in Killesandra, on Monday next the 8th intent, be- ingthe anniversary of the battle of Rallinamuck, under the pretence of addressing Ro- bertHenry. Southwell, Esq.,but really for ulterior objects, namely, the dismemberment ofthe empire and the downfall of Protestantism; that we, the loyal Protestants, will as- semble and hold a meeting in Killesandra, on Monday the 8th September, at ten o'clock a.m., to move an address to the Government respecting the recent dismissal of some exemplary Magistrates, whose conduct cannot be compared with that of the gentlemen who were dismissed their situations as Magistrates for attending the O'Connell monster meetings-heretofore. "And that we hereby invite the attendance and coiiperation of our Protestant friends of ilia-neighbouring counties.

" GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, AND • NO SURRENDER!'

The authorities became alarmed; and Lord Farnham with another Magistrate issued a notice, warning the people that those who should attend the meeting with arms would be liable to punishment. At a larger meeting of Magistrates, on Friday, they issued a further notice, referring to the intended meetings of Teetotallers and of Protestants, and then saying-

" And whereas we have received information upon oath, that if said meetings should beheld itis apprehended a collision will take place between the two parties, and that the public peace will be thereby seriously endangered:

" Now we do hereby caution all persons, that they do abstain from attendance at the said meetings, or either of them ; and if in defiance of this our caution the said meetings shall take place, all persons attending the same shall be proceeded against according to law."

-Meanwhile, information was transmitted to the Government. Major-General Sir G. F. H. Berkley was sent to the spot; and a body of 1,000 troops was concentrated upon Cavan. The meetings were not held, and the peace remained unbroken.

The Teetotallers have addressed the following remonstrance to Lord Farnham, and the five other Magistrates who issued the notice forbidding the meetings.

"Killesandra, Saturday evening, 6th September. a -My Lord and Gentlemen—The members of the Total Abstinence Society of rallesandra consider it to be their duty to address you in consequence of a notice, herring your signatures as Magistrates of this county, having reached them at a late hour this afternoon.

"They have, as loyal subjects and as members of a society based. upon prin- ciples of moral rectitude, adding to temperance patience,' yielded a ready obe- dience to tins magisterial act, without questioning whether the power you have seasoned (in preventing their meeting, for the purpose of paying a compliment to a gentleman for whom they decidedly feel so much respect and attachment, on his return to this country after a long absence,) be either constitutional, legal, or discreet.

" They have taken prompt measures to circulate as widely as possible intelli- gence of your Notice,' issued at the eleventh hour'; and they trust it may retch their brethren in remote districts in time sufficient to prevent them incur- ring the legal penalties with which any disobedience of your Notice ' is threat- ened.

" They cannot allow this occasion to pass without observing to you, my Lord and' Gentlemen, that factious party-processions of armed men, with banners and music, playing- tones intended and calculated to excite animosity, (and, were it not for the good sense of the people, bloodshed,) were permitted to parade through this town on the 12th of July last, unheeded and unchecked by magisterial vigi- lante or interference; affording, they lament to say, a strong and painful contrast to the alacrity and vigour manifested in the present instance with respect to their Society, when about to exercise, in a peaceable and orderly manner, a perfectly legal purpose, free from all political or party objects."

A letter from Killesandra, dated on the 6th instant, and published in the-Dalin: Evening Post, a Whig paper, describes some further evidences of smouldering tiirhulence- " For the last few months, the Orangemen in the neighbourhood of Area is been in the habit of walking through the country at night armed with g; anti during the day, bodies of them, numbering twenty or thirty, attended a regular drill, practising military evolutions. This created very great alarm among the Catholics of the county; they summoned some of the Orangemen to Cavan, for walking armed at night,' and going through military exercises during the day.* Two Stipendiary. Magistrates, Messrs. Graves and Howley, presided; and, after hearing the witnesses examined, took informations against five persons, and sent them for trial under the Whiteboy Act. This incensed the Orangemen very much; and in court they said 'they would continue to walk as usual for the protection of their houses and families.' Mr. 1117Gauran, who attended to prosecute, then proposed, in order to put an end to such proceedings, that he would abandon the informations if they (the Orangemen) would agree to have an equal number of Protestants and Catholics sworn in each townland as special consta- bles, and that he would undertake to procure in each townland a number of re- spectable Catholic farmers who would cooperate with their Protestant brethren for the preservation of the peace and protection of their lives and properties. This proposal was indignantly refused by the leading Protestants present in Court. the informations were then taken. Lord Farnham, although he, as a Magistrate, issued a proclamation against this walling of armed bodies, has actually, within the last week, got down eight or ten cases of arms, and distributed them among Orangemen in this same neighbourhood, for, as it is asserted, defensive purposes! Some of the cases were given among the Manor Boys.' Giving these arms will; in our opinion, tend to encourage the Orangemen. " A meeting of the masters of Orange lodges was held last week in the County. Court-house, and resolutions adopted for the revival of the society."

Writing from Gweedore, in Donegal, the Times Commissioner describes the state of matters on the lands of an absentee landlord in that remote region, where ten years ago there was not a road, and where even now some landowners do not favour road-making.

The landowner is the Marquis of Conyngham. " The whole of the country for many miles in the direction of Dungloe, and beyond that town—in fact, almost the whole barony of Boylagh, belongs to this nobleman, together with the island of Arran, or Arranmore, on the West coast. Once in the course of his life—two years ago—the Marquis of Conyngham visited this estate for a few

days. His chief agent, Mr. Benbow, [M.P. for Dudley,] usually comes once a year, and the sub-agents visit the tenants every half-year to collect their rents. At short periods of a few years the farms are visited to see what increased rent

they will bear; and this is the extent of the acquaintance of the Marquis of Co- nyngham with his tenants. This nobleman himself bears the character of a kind-hearted, generous man; fond of yachting and amusement, and having an ex.. eessive distaste for every kind of business or trouble. From one end of his lame, estate here to the other, nothing is to be found but poverty, misery, wretched cul- tivation, and infinite subdivision of land. There are no gentry, no middle class; all are poor, wretchedly poor. Every shilling the tenants can raise from their half- cultivated land is paid in rent, whilst the people subsist for the most part on pota- toes and water. They are untaught, they know not how to improve, they have no examples before them of a better state of things, theyare left to themselves. As they

increase in numbers, as not a shilling of the rent is ever spent among them in the shape of capital, in giving them any kind of employment, they are driven to the

land for support, till they infinitely subdivide it; and their poverty and wretched- ness necessarily increase as their means lessen. Every rude effort that they- make to increase the amount of the produce is followed immediately by raising

their rents in proportion as it were to punish them for improving. They are, naturally enough, as discontented and full of complaints as they are wretched in_ their condition."

The Commissioner walked about among the farmers near Glenties, with the Vice-President of the Poor-law Union for his guide. " The land is not let by the acre, but by what is termed a ' cow's grass'—so many cow's grass' to a farm.. A cow's grass' is a measure of land; usually it means as much mountain grazing-land as will keep a cow during the summer, and as much arable land as

will keep the cow-house in fodder during the winter. The size of the farms varies from six to twenty acres, and larger, by the measurement of acres. The rent of arable land is about 30s. an acre. It is sandy soil and bog mixed, on a granite- rock foundation. The grazing mountain-land is let about 23. 6d. an acre. The farmer pays his rent and rates by disposing of his butter, pigs, eggs, beef, hay, oats, and milk, when he can sell it. He usually sells thewWe of his produce

except potatoes, and in dear seasons even part of his stock of potatoes, and buys meal on credit, in order to pay his rent and the county-teas. If the tenant lives near a town where he can sell his milk, he sells that also; and the common drink

to their potatoes then is an infusion of pepper—pepper and water [ :3 as being

more tasty than water. Sometimes they are so hard pushed for their rent that they will buy a heifer on credit at 6/. or 71., much above the market-price, and

sell it again for 31. or 41., to be able to pay the rent; or buy meal on credit of local usurers (giving a promissory-note) at 20s. a-barrel, and sell it again to the same usurer at the market-price for ready money at 9s. or 10s. a-barrel. If a

farmer is so well off as to have milk to his potatoes, or to be able to buy a few sprats, he is what they term here thokev '—that is, in independent circum- stances. The farmer who gave me this information pays 161. rent, holds seven cows' grass, and I was informed was the most thokey' farmer in the dis-

trict. The grazing is so poor, that last year these seven cows produced only two firkins of butter, which he sold for 6/.; he sold two pip for 51.; and he could

hardly tell how he scraped up the rest of the rent from the sale of his oats and

some potatoes. This farmer assured me, that for the half of this year, whilst hie cows gave no milk, he had to subsist on pepper and water cad potatoes. He could not afford to eat butter. Not a bit of bread have I eaten since I was born,' said this man. We must sell the corn and the butter to give to

the landlord. I have the Largest farm in the district; some don't pay more than 31. to Si. rent, and I am as well off as any in the country.' * • *

This man also assured me that many of the tenants have no beds, and lie on a 'shake-down' of straw or hay on the ground in their cottages, with but a blanket.

or a rug to cover five or six of the family. * * • I asked him if he would. show me the cottage of any small farmer who lived in the way he had described. He took me immediately to the cottages of John and Charles M'Cabe, who lived across a field close by. I state this case to you because it is a sample of the sub division which is permitted to go on. The father rented four cows' grass, for which he paid Si. 10s. rent. He was so pressed by poverty and distress in 1842,

that he sold the tenant-right of half his farm for 151. to another man, who came ire,

built a cottage, and occupied it as tenant. His son had married; and, having a family growing up, be divided the half of his remaining farm with his son, and

father and son are now subsisting with their families on a cow's grass of land each. Into these cottages I entered. They were stone-built, and well roofed; but the mud floor was uneven, damp, and filthy. In one corner was a place for the pig, with a drain from it through the wall to carry off the liquid manure, like a stable. Two chairs, a bedstead of the rudest description, a curdle, a spinning- wheel, and an iron pot, constituted the whole furniture. An inner room contained another rude bedstead. The mud floor was quite damp. In this room six children- slept on loose bay, with one dirty blanket to cover them. The father, mother, and'

an infant, slept in the first room, also on loose hay, and with but one blanket oat the bed. The children were running about as nearly naked as possible, dressed in: the cast-off rags of the father and mother: the father could not buy them clothes.

They had never been to mass for a twelvemonth, for want of decent clothes to get in Both these men assured me that theirwhole food was potatoes; and if they halt *penny to spare they bought salt or a few sprats, but very seldom these. Instead of buying salt, they sometimes bought pepper and mixed it with the water they drank. This they called 'kitchin '—it gave a flavour to their food. Both cot- tages were in the same wretched condition: and the rent of the farm had been twice raised, last time from 48s. to 51. 10s. If their rent was not punctually paid, their cattle and everything they had was immediately distrained. From these men I went to another small farmer's house. He was mowing. His name is Manna M'Ginty. lie has two cows' grass, for which he pays 31. 88. There has been no improvement on his farm for the last twenty years; but his rent was recently raised from 21. 5s. He had potatoes and milk that day for mowing for a farmer. His usual diet was potatoes and pepper-water. Ile lived in precisely the same wretched condition as that which I have just described. I give you these as examples, without any kind of selection, of the universal condition of the tenantry around on this estate.

"From this place I proceeded to Dungloc, a village sixteen miles further, direct i North—the whole of it in the same property. Near one or two small villages which I passed, a good deal of land was brought into cultivation, and bore heavy crops of oats and potatoes; but a mile beyond these villages nothing but bog and heather is to be seen. Excepting here and there a small patch of potatoes

wing, the only sign of industry I saw was a couple of men on a hill-side boring the tii e; but they were all alike filthy and wretched. Sometimes a calf as well as a q

with an iron rod and searching for timber. I entered several cottages on the road- pig would be inside them; sometimes three or four ducks in addition, dabbling in a pool of dirty water in a hole in the mud floor. If you point out this filthy condition to the women in the cottages, they generally laugh at it. In fact, they know no better; they don't know how to live differently, and they never had a better example set to them. There is everything to depress them, nothing to elevate them; and the wonder is that, half savage and uncivilized, they are so quiet and tractable as they are." At Dungloe, Mr. Commissioner passed the night at an inn, where he supped off eggs; which, with inedible bread, were the o nly food to be had; the bread being the midnight sport of the rats that gambolled about his bedroom.

Next day he visited the island of Arran, sixteen miles in circumference, with a lofty hill in its centre; peopled by 1500, and yielding 3001. or 4001. a year rent. Here the land is "let in ‘rundale.'" " This form of occupation seems to have arisen from a small community equally dividing a portion of arable land for their potatoes, and holding the surrounding land in common. As the population increased, the patch of cultivated land being found insufficient to provide them with potatoes, some individual of the community was obliged to bring a patch of the grazing-land held in common under cultivation; and the following year each member of the community claims the right of dividing this land, made arable out of commonable land, into equal shares. The consequence of this mode of occupation has been, that a tenant will hold a dozen small patches of land in dif- ferent places, and almost every potato-bed or ridge of oats belongs to a different tenant,

"I landed at a village called Labgarroo, containing twenty-four cottages; and almost the whole of its shockingly destitute and half-naked shoeless population immediately swarmed out and surrounded me, begging me to go into their cot- tages—such of them at least as could speak English—and look at their misery. Some thrust scraps of paper into my hands with petitions written on them, praying for assistance to keep them from starving, for medical assistance, to have their rents reduced, and so on: such an assemblage of wretched beggar-like hu- man beings I never saw. Picture to yourself the beggars who sometimes on Sun- days lie about the pavements in the streets of London, dressed up to excite com- miseration, and who write with a piece of chalk on the flags `Pm starving,' and then lay themselves down beside this scrawl crouched up in a violent shivering- fit as the people pass them from church, and you have an exact fac-simile of the kind of looking people around me—the tenants of the Marquis of Conyng- ham ! I asked one man, a cobler, who spoke English, to show me into one or two of the cottages near. I entered that of Nelly Gallagher: she pays 30s. rent for one cow's grass. She was preparing her dinner of potatoes and—what, think you?--sea-weed. They gather, I was told by some twenty of them, (and saw them using it,) a kind of sea-weed called 4 dillisk,' which they dry, and boil as ' kitchin' with their potatoes. It boils down to a kind of gluten with the pota- toes; and the salt in it, they say, makes the potatoes more palatable. In winter they gather the common sea-weed which grows on the rocks, and which they call ' dhoolaman' in Irish, and, cutting off the thin leaves at the extremities of the weed, boil these, when they cannot get ' &Risk,' which is a better kind of sea- weed. They showed me how they used it; and above a dozen of them told me the same story; in fact, every one that I asked about it confirmed it. * * * Some of these tenants had quantities of land as small as the fourth .part of a cow's grass. Their cottages are stone-built, with mud floors, no chimmes, rarely any furniture in them, usually hay on the floor for a bed, with a rug or old clothes for bed-covering. I walked over the whole island, and saw many such, and rarely any in the least degree better. There is a Roman Catholic chapel in the island; and a school is talked of being built, but there is not one at present. Some kelp-burning is going on now, and this has helped the people a good deal. At times, I was informed, and I can well believe it from what I saw, that their destitution is horrible. They are, however, but a degree worse than the tenants on the mainland opposite."

After returning to the mainland, he observed a characteristic trait of the coun- try. " Before leaving this estate, the high-road crosses a strand at Anagary, over which the tide flows ten feet deep. This strand is one mile across, and the water was up to the axle of the gig I was in when my guide attempted it. It was quite dusk; and I assure you it was perfectly frightful to a stranger to be in the middle of this sheet of water, the land every way at least half a mile off, and not know- tng the next step might not be into deep water. The Board of Works offered to make a road, to avoid this strand: the Marquis of Conyngham's agent, in the name of his principal, opposes this, and will not permit the road to be made through his waste bog-laud; and the public must therefore submit to the delay and inconvenience and danger of this strand. But what must this be to a poor man or woman who has no horse or gig, and who is thus compelled often to wait hours for the tide, and then to wade a mile in water a yard deep? Here, how- ever, I leave the Marquis of Conyngham's estate, with its thousands of acres of land capable of profitable cultivation, and its everywhere apparent neglect, mis- management, and misery."

The next letter presents a perfect contrast, in describing the condition of the people on Lord George 11111's estate at Gweedore. But here the force lies less in the description than in the facts, and we abridge the account.

In 1836, the condition of the people was just like that described above; in 1837, Lord George bought the estate, and resolved to reclaim it. The people spoke only Erse: he learned the language, and mixed with them. He built a corn-store, and offered to buy up, all their produce; built a shop, the only one within twenty miles, and sold them all the articles they needed in house or field; built a dispensary, a quay, a sessions-house, a school, a corn-mill, and an inn; made roads; squared out the land in ten-acre farms, not let in " rundale"; obliged each farmer to build a house, and helped him in doing it; offered pre- miums for good farming, and reclaimed bog-land. The people, however, sunk in ignorance and physical degradation, resisted every step in improvement; suspect- ing selfish motives in their landlord, and trying to "tire him out." "Nothing would tempt them to make the fences of the new farms, though they were offered to be wall paid for it; and when at length a stranger was got to begin the ditching, to sit t.hem an example, they attempted ' to frighten him from his work by throw

ing sods at him.' When he bad completed the first fence, the people assembled at night and destroyed it. Whilst they were thus engaged, a prisoner was taken by the police; and they were so frightened at this that the improvements were allowed to proceed quietly." At length, steady perseverance began to tell upon them, and they began to work ; at first, however, grumbling at being made to do so " before breakfast," as they " were n't used to it and did not like it." They next began to try for the premiums; and now they are an industrious, thriving, well-lodged, neatly-dressed, contented population. Two years ago, the tenants sold 500/. worth of oats in the store, at the market-price; last year, 1,3001. ; and this year there is a vast increase. In the year ended March 1845, for 16,590 days' work, performed by about 100 men, 6261. was paid; besides other wages paid for piece- work. This change was effected by no "tenant-right" "Did converting this Roman Catholic population to Protestantism effect this change? They are Roman Catholics yet. Did Saxonizing them and snaking them Orangemen effect it? They are all Celts. Did the getting up of monster meetings and talking nonsense about ' Repeal' effect it? No. The remedy was a social one. The people were justly dealt with, taught, shown by example, encouraged, employed. A community the most hopeless and desperate in condition and circumstances has by these means been reclaimed, and smiling content and the rewards of industry are everywhere to be seen. A barren waste has been converted into a fine pro- perty, which will eventually amply reward its present owner for his great exertions. A starving and desperate and degraded peasantry are rapidly be- coming comfortable small farmers."

The Cork Examiner says that Mr. Charles D. Vslmer, of London, in a visit to his tenantry in the county of Waterford, expressed his astonishment how they could exist in their wretched, smoky, half-thatched cabins; and directed his agent to have substantial slated houses built for all of them at his expense. [Innate Saxon hatred!]

Mes4rs. Dunn, cotton-manufacturers, of Monntmellick, last week raised the wages of their operatives, about four hundred in number, ten per cent.

A rather novel feature in our local trade is presented in the importation of foreign cattle to this port; a cargo of oxen having arrived at Cove, on Friday week, per Isabella, from Corunna. We understand they are in good condition; but certainly, after the payment of all expenses, and 11. per head import-duty under the new tariff, they are not likely to be a very remunerative speculation for the importer, particularly when offered for sale immediately after a long sea- voyage.—Cork Reporter.

Mr. O'Connell has subscribed twenty guineas to the " Ballinhassig sufferers' fund." It was enclosed in a letter to Mr. Philip O'Connell, solicitor, Cork; in. which the writer says—" I have considered with the deepest attention the case of the unhappy sufferers of Ballinhassig, and I deeply deplore the very preposterous and cruel verdict given by the Coroner's Jury. You ask what 1 advise to be done? Alas ! after the fullest consideration, I have arrived at the result that no- thing effectual can be suggested. There is not the least prospect of our procuring a bill of indictment to be found for murder, or even for manslaughter. 'Tis really shocking to think that the Police should be employed, with deadly weapons in. their hands, to decide on the necessity of arresting persons not guilty of felonious or capital offences."

Buchanan, a corporal in the Seventy-third Regiment, stationed at Cork, has killed a young soldier, named Frisby. Buchanan had recently been reduced from the rank of sergeant, for bad conduct; and was under arrest for absence on the evening of Tuesday week, having been ordered to remain a prisoner in his room. It is supposed that he resolved to shoot some sergeant in revenge for his faults having been reported; he loaded his musket at "tattoo" hour, and fired upon the parade where the sergeants were collecting; but the shot struck Frisby, who- is a private, and he died from its effects the next day. There was no enmity be- tween the man and Buchanan.