The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-09 00:00:00

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IRELAND.

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DUBLIN, O.A. 8.

Yesterday was the horse fair day of Ballinasloe.
There was a poor display of animals, very few of a
better class being offered. Agents for the French
and other Continental Governments were on the
look-out for chargers, and eagerly bought up at high
prices any of even moderately good quality. Their
presence and activity did not escape general notice,
and conjectures were indulged in as to the service
for which troopers were so urgently required. There
is nothing extraordinary, however, in the attendance
of foreign buyers at this and other horse fairs, but
political events on the Continent have drawn more
attention to them this year. The supply of agricul-
tural horses was very inferior. A considerable num-
ber of young horses appeared ou the green, and
afforded no little entertainment to the crowds of
people who, despite of drenching rain, remained out
of doors to witness their feats of training. The
showers which fell during the greater part of the day
did not seem to disturb their composure in the least.
They had long since got over the prejudices which
persons who are not used to it are apt to entertain
against wet weather, and walked about as uncon-
cernedly as if they were enjoying a public promenade.
Rain, however, may be considered the national ele-
ment of the Irish peasant. It has no effect in keeping
him at home. If it had he would be more distinguished
than he is for the cultivation of the domestic virtues.
The throng of people in the streets seemed as happy
as if they were keeping holiday, though in the plight
to which many of them were reduced it must have
been difficult for their nearest friends to recognise
them. In the afternoon the weather cleared up, and
the green assumed an aspect more of business than of
pleasure. At 2 o'clock a meeting was held for the
purpose of inducing the lord of the soil and the au
thorities to change the first day of the fair in future
to the second Tuesday in October. Mr. S. Garnett
occupied the chair. A letter was read from Lord
Clancarty, expressing his willingness to assent to
the proposal, although it might involve some per-
sonal sacrifices, and recommending the meeting to
apply to the Government to use its influence next
session of Parliament to legalise the change. Reso-
lutions were passed approving this course, and re-
turning thanks to his lordship for his liberality.
The Northern Whig publishes a correspondence,
from which it would appear that the people of Bel-
fast were anxious to avail themselves of the oppor-
tunity of Earl Russell's visit to entertain him at a
public banquet. An invitation was forwarded to
the noble earl by Mr. Thos. M'Clure, a respectable
citizen, expressing the desire of a number of gentle-
man who, he said, were grateful for the many public
services which his lordship had rendered during a
long, most consistent, and illustrious career, and
who remembered his lordship's visit in 1833, and
desired to hear an expression of his views respecting
some great Irish questions which demand the im-
mediate attention of the Legislature. Earl Russell
returned a reply expressing satisfaction and pride at
receiving such an invitation from gentlemen whose
character, station, abilities, and public principle he
deeply respected, but stating that private engage-
ments and public duties would not allow him to re-
main in Belfast any longer. To the political allu-
sions in the letter his lordship thus replied :
" The great Irish questions demanding the imme-
diate attention of the Legislature require to be
further examined 'and discussed before they ca n
assume a shape in which they can be adopted by
Parliament. One of these questions—the great
question of education—is about to be sifted and
reviewed by a commission ; and with regard to all
of them, it is the conviztion of the most enlightened
men, both in Great Britain and Ireland, that they
can only be effectually dealt with by Ministers act-
ing under the authority and possessing the confi-
dence of the Crown. With regard to the adminis-
tration of the existing laws, I am satisfied that those
laws will be, as they have been, firmly and impar-
tially administered by the present Executive Go-
vernment. I could have nothing further to say on
this head. The Lord_Lieutenant has too recently
received the marks of approbation he so well de-
serves 'to allow me to doubt the sentiments of Bel-
fast upon this subject."
The fair and generous tone of the letter is justly
observed upon by the Whig.
It was hardly to be expected that the Fenian
hydra should excite so much alarm in the great
metropolis and the centres of manufacturing indus-
try in England without showing some symptom of
vitality here. There can be no doubt that the success
of its audacious proceedings at the other side of the
Irish Channel has reacted upon this country with
injurious effect. The monster has ventured into the
light again ; and though it lacks the power of doing
any mischief directly, it may do a great deal indi-
rectly by weakening public confidence and creating
in the minds of timid persons a sense of insecurity
and apprehension. On Sunday evening there was a
significant demonstration in Limerick. A man
named Kelly, who had suffered imprisonment under
the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act on suspicion of
being connected with the conspiracy, died a few
days ago, his health having, it is said, been impaired
by his confinement. His funeral took place on Sun-
day evening, and the occasion was taken advantage
of to display public sympathy in an ostentatious
way. The hearse and the heads and trappings of the
horses which drew it were decked with evergreens.
Behind it six men with green boughs in their hands
bore on their shoulders the coffin, on which wreaths
of laurel and other " emblems of nationality" were
strewn. Then came 300 men marching four abreast,
nearly all having the Yankee cut about their chins
The procession moved in broad daylight through the
principal streets, passed two police barracks, and was
accompanied by thousands of spectators. It was not
the less remarkable that it was perfectly peaceable.
It will be remembered that a fortnight ago another
demonstration of a similar kind took place in Belfast.
Such displays as these, unchecked and unpunished,
tend to produce a feeling of disquietude in the minds
of loyal people, and to revive the drooping spirits of
the disaffected. It may be fairly asked whether this
is not a party procession of the worst character,
and why it should be tolerated while the processions
of imprudent but unquestionably loyal subjects in
the north of Ireland are justly condemned and se-
verely punished. The proceeding has been reported
to the authorities, but it is doubtful if any measures
can be taken in the ordinary constitutional course
without au amendment of the law to put an end to
such exhibitions. Under the Habeas Corpus Sus-
pension Act, however, the police would have been
entitled to arrest the principal processionists if they
had been prepared to risk a collision. The outrages
in England and the manifestations of sympathy here
have suggested the propriety of adopting renewed
precautions to guard against the probability of sur-
prise. Yesterday morning iron plates pierced for
musketry were attached to the railing running along
the rear of the police station in the Lower Castle-
yard. It has long been in contemplation to put the
constabulary barracks in the country in a state of
defence. It is right that the authorities should be
on the alert, though no one here entertains any such
feeling of alarm as appears to prevail in England.
A rare instance of want of fidelity in the " brother-
hood" occurred a few days since in Longford gaol.
One of the turnkeys hastened to gratify au inmate
named Ryan, who is under sentence of imprisonment
for two years on a charge of attempting to seduce
soldiers from their allegiance, by reading for him an
account of the Fenian outrages in Manchester and
London. Ryan rewarded him by demanding to see
the Governor, to whom he related the circumstance,
and the turnkey was at once very properly dis-
missed by the Board of Superintendence.
The Corporation had a meeting yesterday, chiefly
for the purpose of considering the best means of
purifying the Liffey. It was resolved to hold a
special meeting on an early day to discuss the various
plans which have been proposed.

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