New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-01-29

self for iorty-nine years . Whyl / shall have
the land for nothing in two or three years -
Here is a glimpse Of the Moonlighters and their
methods:
MolahifYe, on the road to TralclJ
This is MP. Curtns house"
And who may Mr.. Curtin b'p'
What have you never heard OF that niiaIr
He killed last year by the Moonlightaer s.o
Killed E. d. . Was he then party man, herce
Orangemanp' =, IT.
was one Of the most peacesble, the most Ifish at
heart the most esteemed man in this part OF the
country. His misfortune was to own TWO rines
The Moonl ghters wanted those weapons. Une
night they came and demanded them t ime Yhcn
Mr. Curtin arrived and looked as though ne were
going to resist Al once sdn exploded %s IN she
warning to everybody Since that time no one
disobcys the Moonlighters. But all the same it Is
unfortunate that the victim should have Deeh
Mr.. Curtin"
The reason given for killing the unhappy Mr.
Curtis, namely, that he looked as if he were
going to resist" is certainly very Irish At the
same time it shows to what low point respect
for human life may be brought Nj. Daryl heard
that the people generally were SO AFRAID OF the
MoonIighters that they would not seek protection
against them from the police. Here is an Illus
traton:
The constables perambuIating tho country hear
screams. desperate appeals for help In farm
house They rush to it hcadlOng and knock at
the door. At once silence reigns. They are
asked from the inside of the house what they want
We heard screams. Do you not want pro-
tccton?'
What business is that of yours? is the an
swer Go on your way, ana 90 not come lh. Ut
fering and preventing honest folks enjoying the
possession of their house undisturbedl
The unluclSy constabes can only beat retreat
and go their round: often to meet shortly WIN
the Moonlighters, who will laugh at them, having
comfortably finished their business.
On one occasion he himself encountered one Of
a party Of constables who were ambushed. watch
ing house which they had been informed was
about to be attacked by the Moonlighters. This
constable explained the secrecy used by saying:
we must try not to be seen by the people on the
farm for they would hasten TO tell their assall-
ants"
On the road he overlook a man driving some
COWS, and queer story belonged to the ca'tc
and their driver the reader will see:
On the dusty road before are slowly walking
five COWS in rather an emaciated condition ihos9
beasts strike me by an odd appearance Whivn
am unable to make out at first When am ci1sc
to them l see what 1t is; they nave no 'a as
The absence Of that ornament gives the poor aiii-
mails the awxwardcst and most absurd LOOK
turn to my guide who IS Laughing IN ms saeg I've
Look at their master! nc "hiSpers l." ~"
V0icS Wenq"
The COWS have no tails, and the man has no
It is true The unlucly wretch vainly en-
dcavorcd to hide his head, rs round as cheese;
under the brim Of his battered Gid hat' nc oiu
By Jove, who arranged you In this gnlse,
you and your cows ?' l said to the poor devil,
stopping before him.
lie made a few grmaces before explaining: but
the offer Of cigar that rarely misses It's erect,
at last Embossed his tongue. He then tod me
that the Moonlighters had come with a razor 10
cut his ears, n week after having cut the talis
of his q warning.
And what could have been the motive of such
ilnti anp
though the League had expressly forbidden II IN
other words, he was what the Irish call " land
grabbcr.' -,
Where ara you going with your cOws?'
40 sell them at ListoweL if I may, which
is not certain"
Why is it not certain? Because they are
unprovidcd with a tail At the worst that would
only prevent them being made into oN-tall soup
say, trying to enliven the conversation by an
That's not it, answers the man. Bat the
interdict applies 20 the sale of the cows as wen
as to having any intercourse With me. am ior-
hidden to buy anything and any one speaking
TO me is fined ten shllngs
Il is not every boycolted man who can bear
the inniction with the philosophy shown by the
farmer whose statement follows:
aYes. 7 am boycottcd for having, single among
all his tenants paid to my landlord the entire
rent of those meadows You see yOnder How 90
take my situation? Well. as "A philosopher. 40
deprived of rev bread, TO do without meat ana
worse still to be left without servants. But
have learned by degrees 70 accommodate my,rn
10 my new condition ] have made provlSons
for n siege I have found a few servants
strangers to the district. and made my arranGc-
mcnts TO send my butter to Cork by ran. On
the whole there is not much to Complain OF; i
should of course prefer things TO follow their
usual course 1t is tedious at times 70 find ones
self ont of the pale Of humanity Bnt YOU e enc
by discovering that solitude has its advantages.
Non develop accomplishments MP to that tme
latent in vOu. For instance, | shoe my horses
%se cbmn S learnt ID hSSS p
in cooking We eat great many chickens now
and then we kill sheep; when we want ~, butcher,
meat we must send rather far for it. The same
for beer, wine, and many other commodities
1t is inconvenient-no more
NJ DARYL has a chapter on the Irish clergy, in
which he makes some rash deductions. Having
met few priests who were well dressed and full
fed he Jumps to the conclusion that all Irish
priests live in clover. and possess an average IN
come Of So 600 year That this is an egregous
error every one familiar with Ireland will at once
perceive. In fact there are hundreds or active
and jealous piests there who probably fare little
If at all better than their poor parishioners; and
the income stated by NJ. Daryl must be quite
exceptional. Nor is he more accurate in declaring
that the faith Of the Irish peasant is entire,
unquestionng, absolute as that of thirteenth
century serf." That state Of things has practi-
callv ceased to exist. To-day the hold of the
clergy upon the peasantry is conditioned upon the
allegiance of the former to the patriotic asplra-
tons of the latter The League, in fact has
superseded the Church and taken the first position
1t leads, and the other must follow. And Nj.
Darys observations led him to conclude that " the
agrarian revolution has no agents more active.
Almost everywhere the parish priest Is the presl-
dent Of the local Land League Board" And he
admits that " q priest who had the unluclSy idea
of pronouncing himself against the League would
soon see his subsidies stopped. His flock would
besides lose all confidence in him. and oil respect
for his person." And he goes to cite a case In
point where the congregation played a rough
practical joke on their priest because one day he
denounced the League at the altar.
In Ulster the author found the people talking
D,,lo