The violence of the factions in Cork increases as the
polling- day draws near. The mobs now turn out regularly armed with blackthorns, the wounded men on each aide perceptibly increase the numbers in hospital, and but for the strenuous exertions of the police, who are obliged to use their batons freely on the mobs, men would be killed every day. On Wednesday, Mr. Dillon attended a meeting in Waterford, and his party were attacked by the Parnellites with such fierce determination, that a hundred and fifty persons were taken to hospital, many of them seriously wounded. Mr. Dillon was himself protected by the priests, who assembled in great numbers, but who begin to lose their customary immunity from physical assault. The presence of a large body of police, drafted in from the county, alone saved the oity from rioting on a dangerous scale, the usual war-cry being that the Clerical Party are Mr. Parnell's " murderers." No trustworthy estimates have yet been published as to the pro- bable result of the Cork election, which is complicated by the appearance of the Unionist candidate, Captain Sarsfield ; but the priesthood are desperately in earnest, and as fighting will be prevented during the actual polling, it is probable that they will induce so many Parnellites to abstain, that the Clericals will have a considerable majority. The daily scenes would on the Continent be held to justify the soldiery in firing; but the police prevent loss of life without resorting to that extreme course, and the mobs enjoy the fighting as a sort of lively play
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