The return of Mr. Martin for the county of Meath
is a signifi- cant event. The premier county of Ireland has chosen, instead of Mr. Plunkett, a Catholic aristocrat of unblemished character, backed by Cardinal Cullen and the priests, and supported, too, by the Castle, an Ulster Presbyterian, sometime editor of the Irish Felon, and transported for ten years for treason-felony in 1848. No doubt, Mr. Martin has some of the best qualities to be found anywhere in his violent party, is as gentle and high-minded a rebel as ever rebelled, well-educated, well-read, well-travelled, of good but not great abilities, and in every way as estimable a nationalist as exists. Still his success against a Liberal Catholic of rank is a formidable sign of the times, and is due, we suspect, in no small degree to the disgust with which the country received the net of gracious clemency accorded to the Fenian prisoners.
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