an alphabetical rhyme, which he thought rather
appropriate to the present time, and which ended as follows:--"X is
the excellent way they (the authorities) were beaten, and exceeding
amount of dirt they have eaten. Y is the yielding to blackguards
unshorn, which cannot and will not much longer be borne. Z is the zeal
with which England put down the Protestant boys who stood up for the
crown." In 1883 Lord Mayor Dawson of Dublin wished to lecture at
Derry, but the Boys took the Hall and held it, declining to permit the
"colleague of Carey" (on the Dublin Town Council) to speak in the
city. There you have the present spirit of Derry.

Two miles outside the town I came on a fine Home Ruler, who had
somewhere failed to sell a pig. "Sorra one o' me 'll do any good till
we get Home Rule." He paid L5 a year for two acres of land with a
house. "'Tis the one-half too much, Av I paid fifty shillings, I'd be
aisy," he said. Truly a small sum to stand between him and affluence.
I failed to sympathise with this worthy man, but my spirits fell as I
walked through a collar factory, and thought of Mr. Gladstone. The
dislocation of the shirt trade is less serious. Few Irish patriots
have any personal interest in this particular branch of industry.

Dublin, April 8th.

MR. BALFOUR IN DUBLIN.

Mr. Balfour is the most popular man in Ireland, and his Dublin visit
will be for ever memorable. The Leinster Hall, which holds several
thousands, was packed by half-past five; ninety minutes before
starting time, and the multitude outside was of enormous proportions.
The people were respectable, quiet, good-humoured, as are Unionist
crowds in general, though it was plain that the Dubliners are more
demonstrative than the Belfast men. The line of police in Hawkins
Street had much difficulty in regulating the surging throng which
pressed tumultuously on the great entrance without the smallest hope
of ever getting in. The turmoil of cheering and singing was incessant,
and everyone seemed under the influence of pleasurable excitement. As
you caught the eye of any member of the crowd he would smile with a
"What-a-day-we're-having" kind of expression. The college students
were in great form, cheering with an inexhaustible vigour, every man
smoking and carrying a "thrifle iv a switch." Portraits of Mr. Balfour
found a ready sale, and Tussaud's great exhibition of waxworks next
door to the hall was quite unable to compete with the living hero.