rs which have elapsed since first I visited the town. There
is a Catholic church for every hundred yards of street, and on
Thursday last one of them at least was full to overflowing. It was the
festival of Saints Peter and Paul, and England was being solemnly
dedicated to Rome. There was no getting inside to witness the
operation, for the kneeling crowds extended into the street and
flopped down on their marrow-bones on the side walks. The men with the
collection plates could hardly hold their ground in the portals, and
many worshippers were sent empty away, raising their hats as they
reluctantly turned from the sacred precincts. This was between eleven
and twelve in the forenoon, so that the day's work was hopelessly
broken. Ireland has endless customs demanding cessation of labour, but
none demanding the pious to go to work. The Methodist and Presbyterian
churches were closed, and possibly their adherents were stealing a
march on the Catholics in the matter of business. The Church of
Ireland has a bright green spire, which at first puzzles the
unlearned. Its hoisting of the national colour is due to the fact that
the whole structure is covered with copper, which in its turn is
covered with verdigris. The surroundings of the town are pleasant,
and, although thatched cottages abound, they are very superior to the
dirty dens of Tipperary. Nearly all have the half-doors so convenient
for gossiping, and the female population of these cabins spend much
of their time in leaning over the lower half. The superiority of
Dundalk is by most people attributed to the strong mixture of
Northerners there resident, and the favourable position of the port.
Earnest Unionists are by no means scarce, and, as usual, they are the
pick of the population. The Parnellites are also present in strong
force, and this may account for the fact that Mr. Timothy Healy, the
respected member for North Louth, is unable to visit the chief town of
his constituency without a guard of two hundred policemen, paid and
commanded by his life-long foe--the base and brutal Saxon. A prominent
citizen said:--

"We have a number of Englishmen coming over here, and most of them are
Unionists. But a few birds of passage I have seen have vexed me with
their confident ignorance, and caused me to believe that English
Gladstonians are the densest donkeys under the sun. They are so
self-opiniated, and so full of self-satisfaction, that it is hard to
be patient with them.