The Scotsmen, who are honest politicians and
keen, are throwing over Mr. Gladstone and all his works, although he
was for so long their greatest pride. And we are sure that the few
Englishmen who at the last election followed in his wake will see
their error, and that they will joyfully seize the first opportunity
of repairing their mistake. What would happen if the bill became law?
Nothing but evil. The Methodists would leave these parts in a body. We
could not remain with a Catholic Parliament in Dublin. We should not
be safe but for the English shield that covers us. The people, as a
whole, are quiet enough--when left alone. But they are very excitable.
Kind and civil as they may seem, they turn round in a moment. They
will believe anything they are told, their credulity is wonderful, and
their clergy have them entirely in their hands. The people might be
tolerant, but the clergy never. And Irish priests are very bitter and
very prejudiced. They say that we have bartered eternity for time, and
that, although we all thrive and do well, we have sold our souls for
earthly prosperity. My mind is made up. Once that bill becomes law you
must find room for me in England. We shall be able to live in peace on
the other side of the Channel."

Another Methodist believed that the poverty of the people was somehow
due to their religion. He knew not precisely why this was the case,
but his observations left him no other conclusion. He instanced
Strabane, the Scots settlement over the border, and although in
Tyrone, yet only divided from Donegal by the river Mourne. "They have
at Strabane an annual agricultural and horticultural exhibition, which
does a great amount of good in educating the people. Last week they
distributed eight hundred pounds in prizes, and there were two
thousand two hundred entries. We have talked about a similar show in
Donegal, but we never do more than talk. We shall never have a show
until we get a sufficient number of Scotsmen to organise it and work
it up. The necessary energy for such a big affair seems to be the
private property of people holding the Protestant faith, for when we
see an energetic Romanist we look upon it as something so remarkable
as to merit investigation, and in nearly every case we find the person
in question is, although Catholic, either Saxon or half-breed. Nearly
all the Papists are Kelts. Is their want of energy due to breed, to
religion, or to both? We hardly know. But I know a