There is another thing that has not been brought under your attention as Grand Jurors-and that is an occurrence which took place in the Co. Mayo that excited the wonder and amazement of a great part of the United Kingdom, and the sorrow of a considerable portion of Ireland-that transaction in connexion with Captain Boycott. That gentlemen was agent for a small property, the interest of which did not produce more to him than 150 a-year. He was also a large farmer. For some reason or other into which I need not go-nor am I in a position to do so he became what is called. unpopular; and we all know what that means. He was placed in what we used to know as Coventry-no one to speak to him or have any dealings with him and he could not get his crops saved. We then see a number of men coming down from the North of Ireland to help him to save his crops; and we recognise the fact that it was deemed necessary to send an army positively to protect these men who were engaged in assisting that unfortunate gentleman to save his crops. He has left the country since for the protection of his life, and no more. I need only mention these facts. Ireland was a country once famed for its hospitality—it was a country where 'Though they loved woman and golden store, Ireland is rapidly in danger of losing that character if transactions like that of Captain Boycott's are to be the rule and not the exception. I have laid before you a state of facts without extenuating anything or setting down aught in malice-the facts of the criminal condition of the province. I might be asked, What is the result of all this? All I can say is, that this is neither the time nor the place for me or for you to discuss the causes of that condition of affairs. These causes may lie far behind in the history of our country. They may be alarmingly near at hand. It is not for me to discuss them here. This is neither the time nor the place to discuss the remedies for this state of affairs, except so far as the remedies are bound up with the law, the wise and firm administration of which I hope all will take part in during the present Assizes. This, however, I will take the liberty of saying, for I think it is the time. and the place to do so, that if this state of affairs is allowed to continue much longer, immediate danger to Ireland will be the consequence, and ultimate disgrace to the empire of which she forms a part. No true friend of Ireland, no real lover of liberty, as contradistinguished from licentiousness, can dare approve of the state of facts I lay before you. I speak not alone in the interest of the victims of this Reign of Terror, as it is properly called, but also in the interests of the poor people themselves, who are too often the tools of men who are more crafty and designing than themselves. I speak in the interests of the whole country, which in every part, from North to South, from East to West, in the study of the professional man, in the wareroom of the trader, in the home of the country gentleman, and in the cottage of the farmer, feels the terrible influence of this dreadful disease, some of the more dangerous symptoms of which I have laid before you. I hope it is not out of character for me to say that I fervently pray to God that this cloud of discontent and crime which is brooding over this Province may be speedily removed, and that peace and happiness, truth and justice, may be once more established within its borders. BARON DOWSE THREATENED. The following extract from the Evening Telegraph of Tuesday, the 14th of December, 1880, supplies a final proof of the pitch of insolence which the Revolutionary Spirit in Ireland has been allowed to reach : Mr. Baron Dowse resumed this morning the hearing of the business of the Connaught Winter Assizes. After taking his seat his Lordship said-Before the business of the Court commences I wish to mention a matter of public importance. On coming down stairs to my sitting room this morning I saw a letter, which was lying amongst other letters on the table, directed to "Baron Dowse, Connaught Assizes, Galway," in a very good hand. It had the Limerick postmark of December 13th, 1880, and the Galway postmark of December the 14th, 1880; andas the time of delicacy has altogether passed, I think it is better to read the letter in full. It is written in a disguised hand-evidently with the left-hand— and is the work of a person of more than ordinary education. It is couched in the following terms: Irishtown, Limerick. Dowse, you b, you infernal Protestant, take warning of Lord Montmorres, for you will surely meet his fate, even on the Bench, if you convict any Land Leger. At last now our power, as you now see we frightened that other b in Cork as we will you, or any other tirant like you. A COUNTY LIMERICK MAN. To h- with Victoria la Reine-Vive Parnell Notre Roi. |