IRELAND.
Mr. Monsell was reelected for the County of Limerick on Wednesday, without opposition. In the course of his speech after the election, Monad ll made some remarks on the system of competitive examinations. "The portion of that most important change with which I myself was concerned was the competitive examination for the Artillery and Engineers, a service so popular that every father of three or four sons is anxious to get one of them into it. The success of Irishmen in those examinations is an important fact for us to consider. What has been the result of the system? During the last year there have been four competitive examinations,—two for what is called the practical class' of Woolwich for lads of from seventeen to nineteen years old, and the other two for provisional C01111/1isgions for lads of from twenty to twenty-two years of age. In every one of these examinations an Irishman has taken the first prize. There was no exception. I have the return in my hand. It states, that at the January ex amination of 1856, seven out of seventeen were Irishmen ; in that of June, the five first prizes were had by Irishmen ; in the examination for provisional commissions, six out of eleven were Irishmen ; and in every instance the first prize was got by an Irishman." Mr. Monad's audience did not fail to express their pleasure at hearing these remarks.
Mr. Bagwell was elected for Clonmel at the close of last week ; beating his opponent, Mr. Murray, by a majority of 154. As it was known that some technical objection would be taken against his return, his party secured the second place for his brother, Mr. Bagwell Purefoy.
Mr. Henry Manley, and not Sergeant O'Brien, as reported early in the week, has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the Encumbered Estates Court, in the room of Baron Richards, who has resumed his place in his own court.
Mr. George Harrison, who occupies Colonel Maberly's farm at Dromlalegit, near Ballinasloe, has narrowly escaped assassination. As he was driving home in the evening, a miscreant fired a gun at him, taking deliberate aim; the horse started. forward at the moment, and Mr. Harrison escaped unhurt. The outrage is supposed to have originated in the removal of some bad tenants.
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