ordinary business of the Board was transacting, Mr. Pilkington would be there only by the courtesy of the Board;” and treating the allusions of Grogan to Pilkington as a part of the business of the Board, he said, “A motion is before the Board, does any one second it?” Another guardian, Collins, got up, and said “I do.”  Thereupon the Chairman put it to the vote whether Pilkington should be requested to leave.  The ayes had it, and the Chairman of the Board thereupon invited Pilkington to leave the meeting which the Board had invited him to attend!

Grogan has now been prosecuted for the offence of “wrongfully, and without legal authority, using violence and intimidation to and towards George Pilkington of Tarmon West, with a view to cause the said Pilkington to abstain from doing an act which he had a legal right to do, namely, to hold, occupy, and work on a certain farm of land at Tarmon West.”

Plainly this case is one of a grapple between the two Governments which have been and are now contending for the control of Ireland:  the Government of the Queen of Ireland, which authorises Pilkington to take and farm a piece of land, and the Government of the National League, which forbids him to do this.  Is it possible to doubt which of the two is the government of Liberty, as well as the government of Law?

It illustrates the demoralising influence upon society in Ireland of the protracted toleration of such a contest as has been waging between the authority of the Law and the authority of the League, that, when this case came up for consideration ten days ago, an official here actually thought it ought to be put off.  Colonel Turner insisted it should be dealt with at once; and so Mr. Grogan was proceeded against, with the result I have stated.

The trees on this demesne are the finest I have so far seen in Ireland, beautiful and vigorous pencil-cedars, ilexes, Scotch firs, and Irish yews.  There is one noble cedar of Lebanon here worth a special trip to see.  In conversation about the country to-night, Mr. Stacpoole mentioned that tobacco was grown here, strong and of good quality, and he was much interested, as I remember were also the charming chatelaine of Newtown Anner and Mr. Le Poer of Gurteen four or five years ago, to learn how immensely successful has been the tobacco-culture introduced into Pennsylvania only a quarter of a century ago, as a consequence of the Civil War.  The climatic conditions here are certainly not more unfavourable to such an experiment in agriculture than they were at first supposed to be in the Pennsylvanian counties of York and Lancaster.  Of course the Imperial excise would deal with it as harshly as it is now dealing with a similar experiment in England.  But the Irish tobacco-growers would not now have to fear such hostile legislation as ruined the Irish linen industries in the last century.  The “Moonlighters” of 1888 lineally represent, if they do not simply reproduce, the “Whiteboys” of 1760; and