THE ASSAULT ON THE CHILDREN AT CASTLEDAWSON.
I. TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Stu, —I have lately been to see with my own eyes the women and children sufferers from the assault of the Ancient Order of Hibernians at Castledawson. I took down the quiet, scared, surprised tales of twenty-five of the Sunday-school excursion, so sad and without passion. These people are some of them still under doctors—shock in some cases, one with heart affected, one developed St. Vitus dance, several have nerves broken, fits, &c., two women, kicked in the stomach, seriously affected. A dear little girl (four years) was found lying, hat bloody (not known how), unwounded ; many fainted, others are suffering from knocks and bruises. One of the fathers quietly showed me the scar of a cut two and a half inches long on his temple from a pike. I asked how they were all kicked so high on their bodies, and the reply was always "knocked down first." The minister's wife was at the rear, her husband in front with their band (boys). She had got his message "to keep well to their own side," but thought nothing of it, just doing as she was asked, and, looking up to see who was coming, saw the rush of the armed men at the band and flag, and scattering women, girls, and children with blows and kicks and stones. One poor little fellow in panic tried to get over a barbed wire fence and was greatly hurt. A woman with the Hibernians spoke a word to quell them, and was instantly kicked by them. The first batch of terrified ones ran to a near cottage, but these were Roman Catholics and turned them out! The crushing part is this : all these excursionists were friendly with their neighbours of a different belief. Not one has expressed regret, and many have since avoided them. One of the men told me he was a retired soldier, and had seen nothing so barbarous in four years in South Africa. He admitted "it was fighting for the flag be was." He could not "thole" to see "them brutes" fly at the Union Jack. The facts were specially brought before the Viceroy and Chief Secretary, who have just now remitted the sentence of the judge and liberated the bullies at the request of Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P.—I am, Sir, &c., E
MARY VERINA SINCLAIR-
Holy Hill, Strabane, Co. Tyrone.
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