The police were patient, the clergy determined on
keeping the excitement down, and all passed off quietly enough. There
were a few uncomplimentary remarks, such as addressing the police as
"thim bucks" which remark might as well have been addressed to the court
house for any effect it had. There were a few hard expressions slung at
Mr. White which informed all who heard them that Mr. White was cashiered
from the army for flogging a man to death, that he had well earned his
name of Jack the flogger, &c.
The crowd dispersed from the bridge. The youthful military passed on the
march for the train to return to their barracks, the crowd, now good-
natured, giving them a few jokes of a pleasant kind as they passed; the
soldiers looking straight ahead in the most soldierly manner they could
assume, but smiling all the same, poor boys, for surely compliments are
better than hisses and hoots.
I never heard a sound so dreadful as the universal groan or hoot of this
great crowd. There was some speaking, a good deal of speaking, from the
window of the hotel, praising the crowd for their self-control, and
advising them to go home quietly for the honor of the country and the
good cause.
After the sale, the three bands and the great crowd, paraded the
streets. The cattle were brought round in the procession, their heads
snooded up for the occasion with green ribbon. I do not think the cattle
liked it a bit; they had had a full share of excitement in the first
part of the day.
The most active partisan of the Land League was an elderly girl. She was
the inventor and issuer of the most aggravating epithets that were put
into circulation during the whole proceedings. Her hair was dark and
gray (dhu glas), every hair curling by itself in the most defiant
manner. The heat of her patriotism had worn off some of the hair, for
she was getting a little bald through her curls - such an assertive
upturned little nose, such a firm mouth, such a determined protruding
chin. This patriot had a short jacket of blue cloth, and could step as
light and give a jump as if she had feathered heels. She reminded me of
certain citizenesses in Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities." May God of His
great mercy give wisdom and firmness to the rulers of this land.
XXV.
THE LABORING CLASSES IN MANOR HAMILTON - THEIR HOMES - LOOKING FOR HER
SHARE - CHARGES AGAINST AN UNPOPULAR LANDLORD.
I called upon a clergyman in Manor Hamilton in pursuit of information
as to the condition of the laboring class. Manor Hamilton is a small
inland town, depending solely on agriculture. Want of work is the
complaint. Out of work is the chronic state of things among the laboring
population.
