IRELAND.

The Irish Members forming the " Council of National Distress and National Safety " held a final meeting in Dublin on Tuesday, and adopted the following resolutions.

I. That the existing distress renders it imperative upon us to impress upon the Govern- ment the necessity of their taking the alarming state of this country into their imme- diate consideration on the approaching meeting of Parliament, with a view to remedial measures.

2. That whilst we are anxious to carry out the principle of a poor-law in stints in- tegiity, and to promote by all means in our power the collection of rates, we are con- vinced that the resources available from them alone will not be sufficient, generally, to meet the distress which most be relieved.

3. That any balance which may remain unexpended of the amount voted for the re- lief of this country, during the past session, should be Immediately applied in such manner as may afford employment to the people, in order to enable them to obtain food.

4. That the failure of the staple food of Ireland, an integral part of the British cm, Ore, should be considered and met as a national calamity ; and that the funds neces- sary far the relief of Ireland, in its present emergency, should be contributed from the resources of the Imperial treasury. 5. That it appears to us indispensably necessary that depots of food should be esta- blished without delay, in order to save the people from starving before employment can be found for them.

6. That we call upon the Government to direct a selection of such unfinished projects, commenced under the Labour-rate Act, as shall be approved of by competent authori- ties, with a view to their immediate completion ; thus correcting the existing evils of that enactment, whilst employment is promoted, and past expenditure rendered availing.

7. That much and useful employment might be Immediately afforded by advances from the) State to railway companies for the formation of earth-works (repayment being secured) ; by similar advances for increasing the drainage of tributary streams to the rivers now being sunk (repayment being secured upon the lands improved) ; and by increase of the amount of advances under the Land Improvement Act, (the monies already voted having been all applied for,) and extending the scope and objects of that act.

8. That the legislation between landlord and tenant should be directed towards giving that security to the tenant which (preserving to the landlord his rights I shall encourage the expenditure on the land of the tenant's capital, with perfect certainty that he shall enjoy the benefit hereof; and that it is expedient the existing claims of the tenantry of Ireland be adjusted on an equitable footing, and be determined by law ; and that it lies become indispensably necessary this question should occupy the atten- tion of Parliament.

9. That it is the opinion of this meeting that it is just and expedient that a special tax should be imposed upon absentees, in aid of local taxation.

10. That in a country in which the circulation of money Vs so limited as in Ireland, owing to the heavy absentee, loan, and mortgage drains, it Is of the utmost importance to increase that circulation In every legitimate manner : that it is hi the power of the Government immediately to advance this desirable and necessary object, by a more equitable distribution of the executive expenditure in Great Britain and Ireland ; as, for instance, sharing the naval expenditure by the formation of dockyards in Ireland— stationing men of war In Irish ports, and creating safety harbours along our coasts— by restoring the branch of Ordnance department recently removed from this country— enlarging the establishment of Woods and Forests here—and by giving an encourage- ment for the supply of connects for Army and Police clothing, or the stores of the various departments, revenue, pilot service, &c., for printing. stationery, and other Go- vernment requisites, to Irish manufacturers ; and in every fair and legitimate manner stimulating Irish enterprise. 11. That Ireland being in maritime position the portion of Europe nearest to Ame- rica, and the numerous safe and convenient harbours on the Western and Southern line of coast affording every necessary and desirable facility for the establishment of packet stations, thereby making Ireland the depot for the trade of the greater part of Europe with America, we feel it our duty to impress by all means In our power on the Go- vernment and Legislature the advantage and necessity of establishing such packet sta- tions in our harbours.

12. That in order permanently to improve the condition of Ireland, and to protect her inhabitants from the dreadful effects of famine and its accompanying evils, it is abso- lutely necessary to afford employment of a reproductive nature to her able-bodied popu- lation ; and we are of opinion, that the reclamation of her waste lands affords a means for such employment. We therefore recommend to her Majesty's Government the immediate consideration of this most important subject.

13. That considering the great importance of the Irish coast and deep-sea fisheries as a means of increasing the national wealth, and of affording constant reproductive em- ployment to the able-bodied population, we are of opinion that every possible aid ought to be extended by Parliament to the development of our fishery resources. 14. That with the desire for emigration which exists in some portions of the country, It is the duty of the Government to make such arrangements as shall cause it to be a means of relief to the destitute population, as well as prevent the recurrence of those hardships which have befallen emigrants on their passage and arrival out. 15. That the laws which permit the deportation of the Irish poor from England when they become chargeable to the poor-rate, require immediate revision, with the view of protecting our poorer fellow countrymen from the cruelties at present practised under the operation of the laws relative to the removal of the Irish poor. 16. That, under the present workhouse system, large masses of paupers are congre- gated together in idleness, demoralizing to themselves and useless to the community ; and that we are of opinion, that for the purpose of employing them in reproductive la- bour, power ought to be given to the Board of Guardians to take additional land in sufficient quantities in each union for the purpose of raising food for the support of the establishment ; and that the workhouses be made, as far as possible, self-supporting establishments.

17. That as it is by Industry alone, even under the beat laws, that a nation can be. come wealthy and powerful, we consider that the Industrial education of the people is of the lint importance ; that of the inmates of workhouses and of young persons being more especially deserving of the attention of the Legislature. 18. That it is expedient that a Parliamentary Committee be appointed to inquire into and report upon the financial relations at present existing between Great Britain and Ireland.

19. That it is desirable that accounts showing the international trade carried on between Great Britain and Ireland, such as those which ceased to be kept when this trade was placed upon the footing of a coasting trade in the year 1825, be hereafter kept, so as to show accurately the amount of reciprocal exports and imports, respectively, of both kingdoms.

20. That every facility should be afforded for the transfer, exchange, and partition of estates. and for bringing to sale those which are heavily encumbered ; and that arrange- ments shall be made to encourage the sale of such estates in small divisions.

21. That such amendment in the drainage law as may give increased facility to that valuable enactment, would contribute to the employment of the people and the territo- rial improvement of the country ; and that we suggest the expediency of correcting the delay and impediments now arising from that provision, which render it necessary to secure the preliminary and recorded assents of the proprietary of one half the amount of the drainage districts ; and we are of opinion that such would be effectually removed by an amendment that shall presume the assent of each proprietor if his dissent after due notice given by the Drainage Commissioners be not recorded.

22. That it Is expedient to encourage proprietors under settlement to invest their dis- posable capital in the Improvement of their estates, by enabling them to charge the Inheritance with the amount expended in such improvement, upon the principle al- ready sanctioned by the Legislature in the case of loans to landed proprietors, under the Improvement Act of lent session.

23. That It is expedient to commute renewal fines upon leases of lives renewable for ever Into fixed annual payments, and to convert tenures of nibs class into perpetual esfates, upon such terms as shall be consistent with the just rights of both lessor and lasses.

24. That the tenures of persons holding under ecclesiastical, collegiate, and other similar corporations, ought to be converted either into perpetuities, or into terms of such increased length as will stimulate instead of discouraging Improvement of land.

25. That parties Interested in the working of Irish mines labour under great tits- advantages, in consequence of the provisions of an act passed in the reign of his late Majesty King George I., entitled "an act for the further encouragement of finding and working mines and minerals within this kingdom," which prohibits the proprietors of mines from letting such mines to individuals or to joint-stock companies, except upon such terms as to amount, In many instances, to a total prohibition. Resolved there- fore, that we are willing to support a bill enacting that the proprietors of Irish mines, and the guardians of lunatics and trustees of other incapacitated persona, shall be at liberty to grant leases of mines at their full improved value, In precisely the same manner as they are now by law permitted to deal with their lands or houses.

26. That It is the opinion of this Council, that the Corn and Navigation laws should be still longer suspended.

27. That the laws at present regulating the elective franchise in Ireland, registration of voters,' and the polling of electors, give general dissatisfaction, and call fur imme- diate revision.

28. That the laws regulating the fiscal affairs sf the counties and cities of Ireland require further rer Won ; and that the powers of grand juries relating thereto should be vested in bodies of a more permanent character.

29. That the laws regulating the relations of debtor and creditor in Ireland demand revision and correction ; and that the system prevailing in the city of Dublin and other corporate towns in Ireland, of issuing city attachments, is most unjust in its nature, In- dicting great evils on the trading classes of those ciUes and corporate towns.

30. That the existing banking acts imperatively demand revision, with a view to the extension of additional legitimate banking accommodation to the people of this country ; and we are farther of opinion that joint stock banks In Ireland, not being banks of issue, ought to enjoy the same rights and privileges as are now enjoyed by similar Institutions In Great Britain.

31. That we recommend the adoption of a decimal system of coinage, and also a uni- form decimal system of weights and measures.

32. That it is the duty of every Irishman to promote by all the means in his power the encouragement of domestic industry ; and that all individuals and companies en- gaged in manufacturing enterprise be invited to communicate to the Irish Members whatever changes In the laws or other measures may appe to them expedient for promoting the arts or manufactures In which they are engaged, or for establishing new ones. .• 33. That justice and necessity demand the passing-of an act of Parliament to as- similate and equalize Irish and English municipal rights and privileges.

34. That the state of our populous cities and towns demands the passing of a general Sanatory act.

35. That all remedial measures must utterly fall unless there is a due observance of the laws which exist for the protection of life and property; and we most earnestly recommend to our fellow subjects of all classes to: abstain from offences which crip- ple the powers of their Representatives, arrest the progress of industry, and retard the Improvement of the country. While we entreat them to submission to the laws, we pledge ourselves to struggle for the removal of every real cause of discontent, and to endeavour to the utmost of our power to ameliorate their condition, now so lamentably depressed by poverty, famine, and disease.

HENRY Gaarrarr, Chairman.

Additional Resolution—That a Committee be appointed, in whom shall be invested the power of calling the Irish Members together in London whenever It may be con- sidered conducive to the interests of Ireland ; and that such Committee, on receiving a requisition signed by ten of the body, be bound to summons meeting of the members.

A great tenant-right meeting took place at Cashel on Sunday. Accord- ing to the Freeman's Journal, 15,000 persons attended; and there were present a great number of priests, with four Members of Parliament, in- cluding Mr. John O'Connell. The principal oratorical display was made by the Venerable Archdeacon Laffan; who said that " he rose with a feel- ing of deep sensation "- He looked around him, and be saw an assemblage of his brother Tipperary men—the good and the noble-hearted, though perhaps excitable Tipperary men- (Cheers)—who were called by the Englishmen murderers. (Groans.) The Saxon scoundrel, with his bellyful of Irish meat, could very well afford to call his poor, honest, starving fellow countrymen, savages and assassins; but if in the vic- tualling department John Bull suffered one-fifth of the privations to which the Tipperary men were subject, if he had courage enough, he would stand upon one side and shoot the first man he would meet with a decent coat upon his back. (Cheer's.) But the Saxon had not courage to do'anything like a man—he growls out like a hungry tiger. Look to that fertile valley teeming with luxuriance and beauty beneath our eyes—taking in the richness of the district to the Devil's Bit, and from Barnane to the princely Shannon—inhabited by as fine a race of men, and by as lovely and virtuous a race of women, as any to be found in the world: with all this richness, all this beauty, and all this goodness, what was it that made Tipperary so often a scene of blood? The cause was evident to all men's eyest; landlordism was the demon that blasted what was meant for happiness— landlordism, which, without mercy, would level the hovels of the poor man— which had sent the bone and sinew of the land to fertilize and enrich the forests and prairies of America—which had sent the poor man to starve in workhouses, or to die by the road-side beneath the canopy of heaven, and under the rain which God had sent to fertilize the earth. Did he stand up in defence of the murderer? God forbid I He had ever preached, as far as his humble intellect could direct, and with all the sincerity and energy with which his soul was animated, that the blood of man cried to Heaven for vengeance, and that sooner or later the murderer would come to his own destruction. • • • He was an advocate for peace. They were assembled today to call upon the British Parliament, and say to them, " Come, if your Saxon hearts be insensible to the miseries of the poor of Ireland, do not be insensible to the lives of the landlords. Stand up in the House of Com- mons and do justice between the landlord and the tenant." Every acre of land in Ireland was set beyond its value—the screw was put upon it. Once before he had implored the illustrious father of the gentleman whom they had all heard with such delight on the same subject: he had said to him, "Do, for God's sake, exert your power in the House to have a law made to protect the landlord from the vengeance of the tenant. If you do not, there is no knowing where oppression may stop on the one side, and madness on the other—there is no calculating to what extremes they may be driven: though good in heart, their exasperated feelings will overcome their goodness." The Liberator did try to do so; but he was cried down by the beastly bellowings of a set of fellows in the Saxon House of Commons, dressed like gentlemen, but really ragamuffins in cha- racter.

One of the resolutions was proposed by Mr. Maher of Monntwilliam; who evoked a significant battle-cry-

He esteemed it a consolation to the people of the country that the Members who at the hustings last August pledged themselves to sustain the tenant-right had taken the first public opportunity of coming forward to support that pledge. They would be supported by others; and they would form in the House of Com mons, if he might be allowed so to designate it, a Constitutional Irish Brigade— who would fight the constitutional battle of Ireland, and he hoped with the same success that the Irish Brigade in a foreign land formerly fought their enemies. A Voice—"A cheer for Fontenoy !" (Loud cheers.)

A petition to the Legislature for tenant-right was agreed to, and the meeting separated with cheers for " O'Connell, Repeal, and Tenant-right"

A deputation from the " Irish Confederation " was publicly received in the Music Hall of Belfast on Monday evening, for the purpose of establish- ing a branch of the Confederation in Belfast. The room, capable of con- taining 1,200 persons, was densely crowded; the body of the hall contained a miscellaneous assemblage of Old and Young Irelanders; the reserved seats were filled by " a respectable section of the middle classes"; and the gallery was graced by the presence of about fifty ladies. The temper of the assemblage became evident soon after the opening of the doors; some one demanding "three cheers for John O'Connell"; which was answered by shouts for " Old Ireland!" Dr. Burden was called to the chair; and allowed, though with some interruption, to say a few words. The rising of Mr. T. D. M'Gee, however, was the signal for a tempest of discordant noises, of which the predominant sound was the Kentish fire, so loud as to frustrate all attempts at obtaining a hearing. Mr. Smith O'Brien and Mr. Maguire tried to get in a few words, but in vain. At length a butcher named Burke rose in the body of the ball to propose " a vote of confidence in John O'Connell." This proposition met with the mostnoisy reception, and the tumult was renewed with increased vigour. Mr. Meagher then tried his hand, but matters became worse. He vowed he would stay there all night; but that only made the opposition to increase. Powder and combustibles were exploded, windows were broken, " sticks," or rather spars of wood, were thrown at the platform; the object being to clear that post of elevation. At length, a few Policemen with bayonets made their way into the room, and up to the platform; whence they removed some of the ringleaders; and the hubbub a little subsided.

Mr. Meagher now, by dint of reiterating his intention to remain on his legs "till tomorrow's dawn," lived out the tumult, and made a speech all about Repeal, in the Young Ireland vein. He attempted to make himeell agreeable to his Protestant hearers, by declaring that there was a spirit growing up among the young Catholics of Ireland which would not bend to any clerical authority beyond the sanctuary: " Catholic ascendancy," he exclaimed, was a ghost; and while Irishmen stood trembling before it, the Union was playing the thief behind their backs-

" Orangemen of Ireland," he cried, " stand to your colours; keep up your anniversaries; but don't damn the Pope at the skirts of England." Other nations of far less ability and natural resources have maintained their independence— Switzerland, Norway, Greece, Holland—and should Ireland, with her eight mil- lions of inhabitants, her fertile soil, and magnificent harbours, sink into "a plague- spot, a wilderness a sepulchre?" He called upon the men of the North to swear that they would 'have another anniversary " Boyne " to celebrate, not for a "King," but for a " Nation." Mr. M'Gee, Mr. Mitchell, and Mr. Smith O'Brien were each allowed tef make their speeches. Mr. M'Gee pointed out that their object was, tO spread over the country a series of educational political clubs, and to (Testa through them a Parliamentary party. Mr. O'Brien intimatist that depu- tations from the Confederation would visit Derry, Dungannon, Arnaagfk and Newry. He moved as an amendment on the vote of confidence in John O'Connell, the general proposition, " that the claim of any body to make laws for this country, other than the Queen, Lords, and Commons 1 Ireland, was unconstitutional, illegal, and a grievance." The Northerti Whig states that this amendment was carried all but unanimously.

A more numerous meeting than usual assembled in Conciliation Hall on Monday. The chair was occupied by the Honourable Cecil Lawless. Mr. Maurice O'Connell announced the " certainty " of a petition against the return of Mr. Reynolds. Mr. John O'Connell described the state of the country as "most frightful." He expressed his conviction that if the Eng- lish Parliament did not at once bring in a measure to give food and em- ployment to the people, famine and pestilence would be fearfully aggravated. and torrents of blood would flow. Should he find, next week, that the Government neglected to settle the differences between landlord and tenant while pressing forward a coercion bill, he would die on the floor of the House before he would permit the latter to be carried through. Rent 381.

The national collection for the O'Connell monument was made on Sun= day. The Dublin subscriptions, exclusively of two wards, amounted tot 1,2901.; the Waterford collection to 200/.; the Wexford to 1051.; the Cork. to 3401.; and other places contributed in proportion. The whoie is esti- mated at 15,0001.

•

The Irish papers supply some remarkable illustrations of the mode in which landlords are accused of "extermination." One case is that of Mr. Ussher, who has been at two periods denounced from the altar, and whose case is narrated in detail by the Dublin Evening Nail--- "Mr. Thither inherited from his father the estate of Ballysaggart, near Limners. At the period of Mr. Uaaher's obtaining possession of it, he found it a vast track principally mountain land, with a frontage to the Blackwater, along the banks of which a few acres of good land lay; the whole of the remainder, to the amount of nearly eight thousand acres, consisted of heath and gorse, or furze, all reclaim= able, but at that period in a state of nature, or nearly so. 'thirty years ago, Mr. Usher undertook the Herculean task of rendering this barren moor a ferule dig:- trick of enclosing a park, and establishing his own residence upon it. A princely demesne has been created—planting to the extent of over a thousand acres been executed; and one of the moat beautiful residences in Ireland formed. A suns little if at all short of 60,0001. sterling was expended in wages during that period, and from eighty to one hundred men daily employed and punctusny paid; and thus, for upwards of thirty years, from five to six hundred persons have been en- tirely supported by this gentleman, described now as ' a plague and a curse' to his district. Mr. Masher's efforts were not, however, confined to forming his own residence. He undertook the reclamation of the remainder of the mountain land; and fur that purpose, about the year 1833, he let off on lease to a considerable number of persons portions of the land, varying in extent from thirty to eighty

yam. The terms of the lease, in every case, were these—for the first seven years el occupancy, a peppercorn rent; for the second seven years, five shillings per acre; and for the remainder of the term of twenty-one years (the duration of the lease) a rent of twelve shillings and sixpence per acre. In many. cases be con- etructed the houses on those farms; in all cases he gave efficient aid in their con- struction. He granted them also a right of turbary to the extent of what they required for their own use; bat, because turbary is an article quickly exhaustible, be prohibited the cutting of turf for sale to strangers: he secured also for the tenants a supply of limestone free of charge—the only thing needful, along with

their own industry, to secure the complete reclamation of the soil, and the comfort and even affluence of the tenantry, as the land was all highly improveable. Things went on satisfactorily enough for the first and part of the second period of the term; but, during the last two or three years of the second period, which expired last year, an organized system was got up to resist the increased rent of the last period. The tenants, in many instances, ceased to attend to their farms, which were now in a flourishing condition, and commenced a system of selling the turf on the moorland adjoining, to which they had no claim whatever; thus, not only robbing Mr. Ussher of his property, but absolutely rendering it impossible to carry further the reclamation of the estate, as where the surface was pared off to the gravel no possibility ex- isted of reclaiming the soil left. Mr. Usaher was absent, for the purpose of edu- cating his family, for a few years; and on his return he found the organization spoken of complete, and a system of wholesale robbery and spoliation of his estate going on. It need be hardly mentioned that he resisted it, and put a stop to this plunder, and also intimated his intention of enforcing his rights to the rent reserved in his leases; offering, at the same time, however, to accept a surrender from all or any of the tenantry who wished to give up their farms. The storm now broke loth: threatening letters were sent—denunciations from the altar poured out—and, finally, they proved, as is usual, only the precursors to a des- perate attempt to murder this unfortunategentleman. At noon-day, almost in Sight of the town of Lismore, a villain, hired by the tenantry of the estate, made the attempt to shoot this gentleman." This "plague and curse," as Mr. Ussher was designated by the Reverend Father Fogarty, providentially escaped the blow, and two of the persons engaged in the attempt were tried and found guilty at the last Waterford Summer Assizes; and but for the intercession of Mr. Ussher would have been hanged. Six more of the party are in gaol, awaiting their trial for being engaged in the same attempt. " There is not, in fact, a particle of doubt but that the whole of the people around him, tenants and labourers, with the exception of some six or seven persons, were fully aware of, if not deeply implicated in this conspiracy; and, although the bulk of them had eaten of his bread, and lived in comfort on the means provided for them through his humane and truly patriotic efforts, they saw him depart on the morning of the day the attempt was made on his life, believing they would behold him a corpse before night: yet no warning voice was .raised—no hint given, to turn the doomed man from his fate."

Another case is that of Mr. Ormsby Gore; whose proceedings were de- nounced in a local paper by "An Observer," under the head of "Irish Ex- tenmination in Leitrim," with many violent comments on the landlord's cruelty. One of Mr. Gore's agents, Mr. William Lawder, gives an explana- tion of the circumstances of the ejectment at Leganommer-

" He states," says Mr. Lawder, speaking of the Observer, " that the tenants on the lands only owed three half-years' rent to September 1847; which is untrue, as they owed several years' rent. He further states, that of those three half-years they offered a years rent, which I refused to accept from any persons holding less than twenty acres of land. This is also untrue, as not one of them offered me a shilling; and although I cautioned them on the 18th of August, and frequently afterwards, that if they did not pay a year's rent they would be ejected, they never showed the hest desire to pay anything. At length I was obliged, by their eeckless conduct, to have the wnt of habere executed; which was not done until the last moment, to afford them every opportunity of avoiding eviction. Your correspondent further states, persons in fever, and an aged man, were dragged from their.sick beds: which is also untrue, as I did not turn out a single sick person; and the only aged man I saw walked quietly out of the house, and did not render it necessary for the Sheriff to have him 'dragged oat.'" Mr. Gore has notified his intention to enable those unable to hold farms to emigrate to America in the spring, and to provide them with habitations during the winter.

A tenant of Mr. Gore's, named Walker, who is also his agent in West- meath, has likewise written a letter in confirmation of Mr. Gore's liberality and kindness-

" During thirty years," he says, "no tenant has been removed on any account from that property by him; nor has he ever given, in the selection of tenants, any preference on account of the religion or political feelings of the applicant. I have frequently had occasion to apply to Mr. Gore for subscriptions and as- sistance towards improvements in the neighbourhood, public and private, and also in' the absence of the agent (non-resident) to recommend tenants for indulgences and ggrraannts, owing to various causes; and in no instance has his purse over been lased against ins."

Mr. Walker further states, that having lately recommended a liberal allowance

an last year's rent, Mr. Gore's reply was—" You. know the several cases of my tenants' circumstances better than I can: grant them such allowance as you may think proper and just, and I shall be satisfied." " I am now," continues Mr. Walker, "in the receipt of the rents; the tenants are paying well, they are contented and happy with the abatements I have given; and no party leaves me without giving a blessing to their landlord." One of the sufferers, the Reverend John Wolseley, incumbent of St_ Mi- timed's, Portarlington, in King's County, sends a letter to the Times, com- plaining of his hard position- " For nearly twenty years I have been a minister of the Established Church; and during that time I have had nothing whatever to do with tithes, for my bene- fice is a chapelry of 901. a Tear, and is paid partly out of land set apart for the and partly by the-Ecclesiastical Commissioners of Ireland from a fund cached to small livings by Primate Boulter." He has, he says, devoted much attention to the employment of the poor; has never shown favour or partiality to any one sect; has lived simply, and attended to his duties; has never brought an ejectment, or taken any other law proceedings against a tenant. " What, then, was my surprise and horror to find an assassin lying in wait for me for three successive days • and—for this is still more horrifying—that most of the people of the neighbourhood where I live have been so far from expressing joy at the escape I have had, that they show evident disappointment at my not being shot!"

" A Southern Landlord " writes to the• Times complaining of the priestly denunciations from the altar, now apparently becoming systematic in Ireland— "Of the countless instances which have occurred, I shall only remind you of two; your paper would not contain the number of cases I could adduce. "The one was the case of a very poor man in the county Tipperary, named, I think Canape. The priest was the Reverend Mr. T—. The following is the evidence of the reverend functionary, as given at the trials.

Dieyou denounce the murdered man from the altar?'—' I did.' When did you denounce him ?'—' On Sunday at mass.' ' When was lie murdered ?'—' At five o'clock the same evening.'

"The other is the case of the late Major Mahon. He was denounced by the pieta on Sunday ;, and on the following Monday-, while returning from his charita- ble office in Roscommon, he was shot dead in his carriage. ‘, I cannot but think that these reverend ministers of the gospel are amenable to the laws: they are clearly accessories before the fact, and the crime of murder is the never-failing effect of their unhallowed exhortations.

"I do not know if I am right in this supposition. If I am, the sooner a few stringent examples are made, the sooner a few of these reverend plotters are tried, convicted, and sentenced to imprisonment, or in very gross cases to transportation, the quicker will be the return of this unhappy country to a state bordering oo civilization. Until this is done, and done with energy and promptness, the reign of terror will still continue, and the minister of God will remain the minister of death."

The Poor-law Commissioners are resorting to active measures for enfor- cing the collection of the poor-rates. They have issued further instruc- tions to the permanent and the temporary Union Inspectors, directing the most rigid superintendence over the returns of the collectors, and the pre- paration of lists of defaulters, especially of those highly rated.

The rapid increase of murderous crime in Tipperary, Limerick, King's and Queen's County, and Roscommon, and its extension to Fermanagh, has produced a panic among the gentry, which is to be deplored, though it can hardly be wondered at.

On Lord de Freyne's estate at French Park, an armed party of "Molly Ma-

'res" molested a superintendent of drainage works and a herd; swearing them, the former to leave the country, and the latter to give up his charge of cattle., Headed, however, by Mr. Fitzstephen French, the tenantry turned out, and esta- blished in conjunction with the Police an armed surveillance; and this demonstra- tion, it is supposed, will insure the peacefulness of the district for the remainder of the year.

Mr. Hassard, Treasurer to the Grand Jury for the county of Fermanagh, was returning from Enniskillen on Saturday evening, to his house in the neighbour- hood of that town; just as he entered his own avenue, a gun was fired at him by a man concealed in a young plantation. The contents of the gun—shot, slugs, and nails—lodged in Mr. Hassard's thigh: he died of his wounds early on Mon- day morning. On the same Saturday, an attempt was made to kill Mr. Richard Uniacke Bayley, a Magistrate of Ballynaclough. "He and his brother-in-law, Mr. Head, were driving in a gig, and had gone about a mile from Nenagh, when a little country girl caught hold of the back rail of the vehicle, and ran along for about half a mile by means of the assistance thus obtained; and the gentlemen offered no objection, although suspicion would have been excited had it been an adult who was near them. The gig had just got to the end of a steep hill on the road to Thurles, and the horse was about to be put into a smart trot again, when the girl cried out, 'Come on now, boys, or you will miss them l' This had been scarcely said, when three armed men appeared by the side of the ditch, and tired at the gentlemen. Mr. Head escaped with the raising of the skin under his hat; but Mr. Bayley was desperately wounded, his jaw having been broken by one of the slugs, and others penetrating his face. Mr. Head jumped out of the gig, and made a prisoner of the girl, and then drew a little distance to some houses on the road-side; but the inmates shut their doors, and refused to admit the wounded gentleman. Ills brother-in-law had to take him to an empty forge, and laid him on the floor, after which he galloped into Nenagh and procured medical assistance. When he came back, Mr. Bayley was in a most pitiable state, having lost a great quantity of blood."

A wife has perished, near the village of Murree, in shielding her husband from the gun of an assassin. On Friday evening, two armed men, with blackened faces, entered the house of John Ryan; presenting their pieces, they called out, "Heads down !" and swore they would have Ryan's life. One Tucker was present, and Ryan got behind him: the assassins dragged them asunder: Ryan grasped a chair to defend himself, and his wife threw herself before him: unmoved by her heroism, one of the ruffians discharged his piece; killing the woman on the instant The distracted husband darted into another room to get a gun; but when he returned the butchers had escaped, and there was only the bleeding corpse of his wife stretched before him. Ryan's house was burnt down last year by incendiaries; and threatening notices had been sent to him.

A ganger on the Great Southern Railway has been murdered at Ballytrophy, by some of the navigators under his direction; in consequence, it is said, of a question as to work-

A Policeman has been murdered near the scene of Major Mahon's assassina- tion, while making inquiries respecting parties implicated in that crime.

" One consequence of the recent assassination at Strokestown," says a writer in Dublin, " isi that rents and rate have literally ceased to be collected. Prior to that dreadful crime, the small farmers were giving something, here and there paying, or making fair promises; but now repudiation is the order of the day."