Before the election was over, Mr. T. Harrington, who was•
on Mr. Parnell's side, declared that there had been so much priestly coercion, that if Sir John Pope Hennessy should be returned, there would certainly be a petition. And that seems very probable, unless Mr. Parnell thinks, looking to the great force of priestly influence arrayed against him, that it would be more prudent not to irritate the priests further, and therefore- advises Mr. Scully to drop the•petition. The situation would be very grotesque if a petition were lodged, and Sir John Pope Hen- nessy were unseated in consequence of the vehemencewith which. the priests have supported him. We should then have the English Nonconformists and the Scotch Anti-Parnellites ranged on the side of the Irish Roman Catholic priesthood._ Already there are rumours that the Scottish Gladstonians are getting very restless at the mere thought of Mr. Glad- stone's receiving his chief Irish support from the priest. hood of Ireland. The Scotch Liberals can bear anything, they say, except that from Mr. Gladstone.
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