s.'

With one last quotation I cease to draw upon what may be termed outside
contributions, and it is one which gratified me at the time.

It is taken from the _Cork Examiner_ of December 12, 1884:--

'Dear Sir,--Authoritative statements having been made in the Press and
elsewhere, that some persons living in Mr. Hussey's immediate
neighbourhood must have been the perpetrators of the horrible outrage,
or, at least, must have given active and guilty assistance to the
principal parties concerned in it; now we, the undersigned, tenants on
the property, and living in the closest proximity to Edenburn House and
demesne, take this opportunity of declaring in the most public and
solemn manner that neither directly nor indirectly, by word or deed, by
counsel or approval, had we any participation in the tragic disaster of
November 28. The relations hitherto existing between Mr. Hussey and us
have ever been of the most friendly character. As a landlord, his
dealings with us were such as gave unqualified satisfaction and were
marked by justice, impartiality, and very great indulgence. As a
neighbour he was extremely kind and obliging, ready whenever applied to,
to help us, as far as he was able, in every difficulty or trial in which
we might be placed. The bare suspicion, therefore, of being ever so
remotely connected with the recent explosion, is, to us, a source of the
deepest pain, a suspicion we repudiate with honest indignation.
Furthermore, the singular charity, benevolence, and amiability of Mrs.
Hussey are long and intimately known to us. We witness almost daily her
bountiful treatment of the poor, and tender care of the sick and infirm.
Her ears never refuse to listen with sympathy to every tale of distress,
nor will she hesitate with her own hands to wash and dress the festering
wounds and sores of those who flock to her from all the surrounding
parishes. With such knowledge as this, we should indeed be worse than
fiends did we raise a hand against the Hussey family, or engage in any
enterprise that would necessitate their departure from among us:--

'Richard Fitzgerald.
Denis Daly.
John Reynolds.
Cornelius Daly.
William Hogan.
Darby Leary.
John Mason.
Jeremiah Dinan.
J. O'connell.
John Neligan.
Daniel Neill.
John Daly.
Thomas Connor.
Jeremiah Connor.
Thomas Shanahen.
Michael Moynihar.
Widow Aherne.
James O'sullivan.
John M'elligott.
Henry Gentle